apache/beam · error · java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

Either table or query must be specified.

Error message

Either table or query must be specified.

What it means

SnowflakeReadSchemaTransformProvider.validate() enforces that a read specifies exactly one data source: a table or a query. When neither is present it throws IllegalArgumentException('Either table or query must be specified.').

Solutions

1. Add table: <table_name> to the transform configuration.
2. Or provide query: <SELECT ...> instead of a table name.
3. Check for empty-string values — an empty table is treated as absent; remove the key or give it a real value.
4. Validate the YAML/arguments mapping keys match the provider's expected parameter names (e.g. 'table' not 'tableName').

Example fix

// before
SnowflakeReadSchemaTransformConfiguration.builder().setServerName(...).build();
// after
SnowflakeReadSchemaTransformConfiguration.builder().setServerName(...).setTable("my_table").build();

if ((table == null || table.isEmpty()) && (query == null || query.isEmpty())) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Set either table or query for the Snowflake read transform");
}

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing a SnowflakeReadSchemaTransform (e.g. via SchemaTransform catalog/YAML) with serverName/database/schema set but both 'table' and 'query' left null or empty strings.

Common situations: YAML config missing the 'table' key; passing an empty string for table thinking it means 'default'; forgetting the table parameter when converting a pipeline from direct code to schema transforms.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• name + " cannot be empty"
• table and query are mutually exclusive.
• Batch size is too large! It should be smaller or equal than
• Column delimiter should be set if headers are present.
• Column headers should be supplied when delimiter is present.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/beam@12126d8942 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4659f342e445d458. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sdks/java/io/snowflake/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/snowflake/SnowflakeReadSchemaTransformProvider.java:230

      requireNonEmpty(getSnowflakeSchema(), "snowflakeSchema");
      requireNonEmpty(getStagingBucketName(), "stagingBucketName");
      requireNonEmpty(getStorageIntegrationName(), "storageIntegrationName");
      requireNonEmpty(getSchema(), "schema");

      SnowflakeSchemaTransformUtils.validateAuthentication(
          getUsername(),
          getPassword(),
          getOauthToken(),
          getPrivateKey(),
          getPrivateKeyPassphrase());

      String table = getTable();
      boolean tablePresent = table != null && !table.isEmpty();
      String query = getQuery();
      boolean queryPresent = query != null && !query.isEmpty();

      if (!tablePresent && !queryPresent) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Either table or query must be specified.");
      }

      if (tablePresent && queryPresent) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("table and query are mutually exclusive.");
      }

      if (!getStagingBucketName().endsWith("/")) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("stagingBucketName must end with '/'");
      }

      // Validate JSON schema early.
      JsonUtils.beamSchemaFromJsonSchema(getSchema());
    }

    private static void requireNonEmpty(String value, String name) {
      if (value == null || value.isEmpty()) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(name + " cannot be empty");
      }

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