Troubleshooting: "Year, Month, and Day parameters describe an un-representable DateTime" Error

Written By Brian Faeran

Last updated 3 months ago

Some users have reported seeing the following error when clicking on a game in LaunchBox:

Year, Month, and Day parameters describe an un-representable DateTime.

App: LaunchBox 
Type: System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException 
Site: Void ThrowArgumentOutOfRange_BadYearMonthDay() 
Source: System.Private.CoreLib

at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.GameSuggestion..ctor(DbSearchResult dbGame, Int32 totalScore, IEnumerable1 scores) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.GameSuggester.GetSuggestions(GameBase game, Int32 max, Boolean allowSameDbId) at CentralAnalyzerOrder.IncludeModuleObject(Object, GameBase game, Int32 max, Boolean allowSameDbId, CentralAnalyzerOrder) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.GameSuggester.GetSuggestions(Int32 max, Boolean allowSameDbId) at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.ViewModels.GameDetailsViewModel.LogRandomPolicy() at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Threading.<>c__DisplayClass4_0.SetConvertibleVerifierResolver() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) --- End of stack trace from previous location --- at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.RunInternal(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state)

This occurs when the Related Games feature is triggered.

Why does this happen?

A user submission to the LaunchBox Games Database included an invalid Release Year for a game. Unfortunately, this made it through moderation and was synced down to local database files.

When LaunchBox attempts to load in Related Games, if that corrupted game happens to be included in the results, the error occurs.

Who might see this error?

  • You do have games related closely enough to trigger the corrupted entry in Related Games.

  • You have "Include games not in my library" enabled in the Options for any of these:

    • Similar Games

    • Recommended Games

    • Possible Ports

  • You have the Related Games feature turned on.

If none of these apply to you, you won’t see the error.

What has already been done?

Our development team immediately investigated. The corrupted entry was located, corrected, and a new server-side metadata file was generated to replace the affected one.

How to fix it on your system

If you are still seeing the error, you may be running on the old version of the metadata file. Here are ways to force an update:

  1. Go to Tools > Download > Force Update Games Database Metadata...

  2. Alternatively, run any import or perform a Game Metadata Search — both will also download the latest metadata file.

Sorry for the headache. The fix is already live, and we’re adding extra safeguards on both the server and in the app to help prevent this kind of issue in the future.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!