# Invalid line offset for pointer for external reports **URL:** \ **Category:** SonarQube Server / Community Build\ **Created:** [February 28, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030 "2025-02-28T14:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alfetahe](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/sonarsource/user_avatar/community.sonarsource.com/alfetahe/32/67329_2.png) [@alfetahe](https://community.sonarsource.com/u/alfetahe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030/1 "2025-02-28T14:01:34Z")
Hello, we are getting errors with our external phpcs report using bitbucket pipelines. The `phpcs-report.json` is reporting a valid issue but sonarcloud is unable to handle it. Heres the error: ```auto java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: 1 is not a valid line offset for pointer. File has 0 character(s) at line 30 at org.sonar.api.utils.Preconditions.checkArgument(Preconditions.java:43) at org.sonar.api.batch.fs.internal.DefaultInputFile.checkValid(DefaultInputFile.java:338) at org.sonar.api.batch.fs.internal.DefaultInputFile.newPointer(DefaultInputFile.java:271) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssueImporter.fillLocation(ExternalIssueImporter.java:213) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssueImporter.populateCommonValues(ExternalIssueImporter.java:129) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssueImporter.importIssue(ExternalIssueImporter.java:167) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssueImporter.importCctFormat(ExternalIssueImporter.java:91) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssueImporter.execute(ExternalIssueImporter.java:48) at org.sonar.scanner.externalissue.ExternalIssuesImportSensor.execute(ExternalIssuesImportSensor.java:59) at org.sonar.scanner.sensor.AbstractSensorWrapper.analyse(AbstractSensorWrapper.java:63) at org.sonar.scanner.sensor.ModuleSensorsExecutor.execute(ModuleSensorsExecutor.java:75) at org.sonar.scanner.sensor.ModuleSensorsExecutor.lambda$execute$1(ModuleSensorsExecutor.java:48) at org.sonar.scanner.sensor.ModuleSensorsExecutor.withModuleStrategy(ModuleSensorsExecutor.java:66) at org.sonar.scanner.sensor.ModuleSensorsExecutor.execute(ModuleSensorsExecutor.java:48) at org.sonar.scanner.scan.ModuleScanContainer.doAfterStart(ModuleScanContainer.java:64) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.startComponents(ComponentContainer.java:123) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.execute(ComponentContainer.java:109) at org.sonar.scanner.scan.ProjectScanContainer.scan(ProjectScanContainer.java:190) at org.sonar.scanner.scan.ProjectScanContainer.scanRecursively(ProjectScanContainer.java:186) at org.sonar.scanner.scan.ProjectScanContainer.doAfterStart(ProjectScanContainer.java:157) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.startComponents(ComponentContainer.java:123) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.execute(ComponentContainer.java:109) at org.sonar.scanner.bootstrap.ScannerContainer.doAfterStart(ScannerContainer.java:416) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.startComponents(ComponentContainer.java:123) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.execute(ComponentContainer.java:109) at org.sonar.scanner.bootstrap.GlobalContainer.doAfterStart(GlobalContainer.java:128) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.startComponents(ComponentContainer.java:123) at org.sonar.core.platform.ComponentContainer.execute(ComponentContainer.java:109) at org.sonar.scanner.bootstrap.ScannerMain.runScannerEngine(ScannerMain.java:137) at org.sonar.scanner.bootstrap.ScannerMain.run(ScannerMain.java:52) at org.sonar.scanner.bootstrap.ScannerMain.main(ScannerMain.java:38) ``` I’ve read other similar issues and but have not yet found anything that works. I have tried so far: - Added `sonar.sourceEncoding=UTF-8` - Tried different sonarcloud-scan versions - Removed caching Any ideas on how to fix the issue or anything we can do on our end? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/sonarsource/user_avatar/community.sonarsource.com/colin/32/55255_2.png) [@Colin](https://community.sonarsource.com/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 10:13am UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030/2 "2025-03-03T10:13:12Z")
Hey there. > [@alfetahe](#): > > ```auto > java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: 1 is not a valid line offset for pointer. File has 0 character(s) at line 30 > > ``` Does this file actually have any content at line 30? ---
**Author:** ![alfetahe](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/sonarsource/user_avatar/community.sonarsource.com/alfetahe/32/67329_2.png) [@alfetahe](https://community.sonarsource.com/u/alfetahe)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030/3 "2025-03-03T14:42:19Z")
No, it’s empty line and PHP Code Sniffer is reporting it’s a standard issue and should be removed. I was not expecting SonarCloud to thrown an error because of it. Instead I am hoping SonarCloud show that as an issue on the dashboard. Example code: ```auto $myvar = 1; // Two empty lines coming instead of 1. $anothervar = 1; ``` ---
**Author:** ![Colin](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/sonarsource/user_avatar/community.sonarsource.com/colin/32/55255_2.png) [@Colin](https://community.sonarsource.com/u/Colin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030/4 "2025-03-03T15:23:46Z")
Thanks! The issue here is that as far as SonarQube Cloud is concerned, Line 30 doesn’t have a column 1. It’s an empty line, like you said. [As noted in the docs](https://docs.sonarsource.com/sonarqube-server/latest/analyzing-source-code/importing-external-issues/generic-issue-import-format/): > `startColumn` must not be specified for empty lines. So probably, you should raise an issue with PHP Code Sniffer, or whatever tool is converting the report to the generic issue format. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/sonarsource/user_avatar/community.sonarsource.com/system/32/31083_2.png) [@system](https://community.sonarsource.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.sonarsource.com/t/invalid-line-offset-for-pointer-for-external-reports/136030/5 "2025-04-03T16:10:58Z")
Closed on April 3, 2025, 4:10pm UTC This topic was automatically closed 7 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.