PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR · error · TypeError

The input data is inconsistent with expectations.

Error message

The input data is inconsistent with expectations.

What it means

Raised by the structure_table hubserving module's predict method when the input does not satisfy its contract: exactly one non-empty list of either `images` (numpy arrays) or `paths` (file path strings). All other inputs fall to the else branch and raise TypeError.

Source

Thrown at deploy/hubserving/structure_table/module.py:113

            images.append(img)
        return images

    def predict(self, images=[], paths=[]):
        """
        Get the chinese texts in the predicted images.
        Args:
            images (list(numpy.ndarray)): images data, shape of each is [H, W, C]. If images not paths
            paths (list[str]): The paths of images. If paths not images
        Returns:
            res (list): The result of chinese texts and save path of images.
        """

        if images != [] and isinstance(images, list) and paths == []:
            predicted_data = images
        elif images == [] and isinstance(paths, list) and paths != []:
            predicted_data = self.read_images(paths)
        else:
            raise TypeError("The input data is inconsistent with expectations.")

        assert (
            predicted_data != []
        ), "There is not any image to be predicted. Please check the input data."

        all_results = []
        for img in predicted_data:
            if img is None:
                logger.info("error in loading image")
                all_results.append([])
                continue
            starttime = time.time()
            res, _ = self.table_sys(img)
            elapse = time.time() - starttime
            logger.info("Predict time: {}".format(elapse))

            all_results.append({"html": res["html"]})
        return all_results

View on GitHub (pinned to 2661c7c0ef)

Solutions

1. Send exactly one non-empty array field: {"images": [...]} or {"paths": [...]}.
2. Wrap single inputs in a one-element list.
3. Validate the payload shape client-side before POSTing.

Example fix

# before
res = mod.predict(images=[], paths="invoice.png")  # string -> TypeError

# after
res = mod.predict(images=[], paths=["invoice.png"])

def valid_table_payload(data: dict) -> bool:
    imgs, paths = data.get("images", []), data.get("paths", [])
    return (isinstance(imgs, list) and imgs and not paths) or (
        isinstance(paths, list) and paths and not imgs
    )

def is_nonempty_list(v) -> bool:
    return isinstance(v, list) and len(v) > 0

try:
    res = mod.predict(images=images, paths=paths)
except TypeError as e:
    if "inconsistent" in str(e):
        raise ValueError("exactly one non-empty list required: images or paths") from e
    raise

When it happens

Trigger: predict called with both fields populated, both empty, or a non-list value (bare string, single ndarray) for either argument.

Common situations: Table-recognition clients sending {"paths": "table.png"}; batch jobs that pass images plus their paths together; empty payloads from upstream document splitters.

Related errors

• The input data is inconsistent with expectations.
• The input data is inconsistent with expectations.
• The input data is inconsistent with expectations.
• The input data is inconsistent with expectations.
• The input data is inconsistent with expectations.

AI-assisted analysis of PaddlePaddle/PaddleOCR@2661c7c0ef (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1aab68320125614e. Report an issue: GitHub.