apache/beam · error · UnsupportedOperationException

Only INT64 is supported as the interval value for BigQuery.

Error message

Only INT64 is supported as the interval value for BigQuery.

What it means

BeamBigQuerySqlDialect.unparseSqlIntervalLiteral converts a SQL INTERVAL literal back into BigQuery-compatible syntax. BigQuery only accepts INT64 interval values in this dialect, so when the literal's value cannot be parsed as a Long the dialect throws UnsupportedOperationException instead of emitting invalid SQL.

Solutions

1. Use whole-number INT64 interval values, e.g. INTERVAL 2 DAY instead of INTERVAL '1.5' DAY
2. Compute fractional durations with arithmetic on integers (e.g. 1 DAY + 12 HOUR)
3. Evaluate the interval expression in Beam instead of pushing it to BigQuery

Example fix

// before
SELECT * FROM t WHERE ts > CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL '1.5' DAY
// after
SELECT * FROM t WHERE ts > CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() - INTERVAL 1 DAY - INTERVAL 12 HOUR

// validate interval literal before using it in a BigQuery-pushable query
Object v = literal.getValue();
Long.parseLong(String.valueOf(v)); // throws NumberFormatException early
if (!String.valueOf(v).matches("^-?\\d+$")) throw new IllegalArgumentException("BigQuery dialect requires INT64 interval values");

boolean isInt64Interval(RexLiteral l) {
  try { Long.parseLong(String.valueOf(l.getValue())); return true; }
  catch (NumberFormatException e) { return false; }
}

try {
  runQuery(sql);
} catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("Only INT64")) { /* rewrite interval */ }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Unparsing (generating SQL for) an INTERVAL literal whose value string is not parseable by Long.parseLong — e.g. INTERVAL '1.5' DAY or non-numeric interval text — when serializing a Calcite plan for BigQuery.

Common situations: Using fractional or non-integer interval constants in queries pushed to BigQuery; passing interval literals created from string/decimal expressions; dialect differences between Calcite-standard intervals and BigQuery's limited interval support.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

• Predicate node ' ' should be a boolean expression, but was
• Bounded Source is not BigQueryStorageStreamSource, unable…
• Cannot convert BigQuery type '' to '' because the BigQuery…
• Conflicting field types for field
• custom_gcs_temp_location must be str or ValueProvider

AI-assisted analysis of apache/beam@12126d8942 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/87f9db341b361dbf. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sdks/java/extensions/sql/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/extensions/sql/meta/provider/bigquery/BeamBigQuerySqlDialect.java:146

        super.unparseCall(writer, call, leftPrec, rightPrec);
    }
  }

  /** BigQuery interval syntax: INTERVAL int64 time_unit. */
  @Override
  public void unparseSqlIntervalLiteral(
      SqlWriter writer, SqlIntervalLiteral literal, int leftPrec, int rightPrec) {
    SqlIntervalLiteral.IntervalValue interval =
        (SqlIntervalLiteral.IntervalValue) literal.getValue();
    writer.keyword("INTERVAL");
    if (interval.getSign() == -1) {
      writer.print("-");
    }
    Long intervalValueInLong;
    try {
      intervalValueInLong = Long.parseLong(literal.getValue().toString());
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
      throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
          "Only INT64 is supported as the interval value for BigQuery.");
    }
    writer.literal(intervalValueInLong.toString());
    unparseSqlIntervalQualifier(writer, interval.getIntervalQualifier(), RelDataTypeSystem.DEFAULT);
  }

  private void unparseDoubleLiteralWrapperFunction(SqlWriter writer, String funName) {
    writer.literal(DOUBLE_LITERAL_WRAPPERS.get(funName));
  }

  private void unparseNumericLiteralWrapperFunction(
      SqlWriter writer, SqlCall call, int leftPrec, int rightPrec) {
    writer.literal("NUMERIC '");
    call.operand(0).unparse(writer, leftPrec, rightPrec);
    writer.literal("'");
  }

  /**

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