apache/beam · error · IllegalArgumentException

This option is only available with Extended Error Info.

Error message

This option is only available with Extended Error Info.

What it means

JsonToRow's JsonToRowWithErrFn builder only supports writing parse errors into a dedicated error field when Extended Error Info is enabled. Calling setErrorField without that option is rejected because the error-field feature would otherwise be meaningless/disabled.

Solutions

Enable extended error info before setting the error field: JsonToRow.withErrStr(...).withExtendedErrorInfo().setErrorField("err")
Or remove the setErrorField call and rely on the default error reporting without a custom field

Example fix

// before
JsonToRow.withErrStr(schema).setErrorField("parse_error");
// after
JsonToRow.withErrStr(schema).withExtendedErrorInfo().setErrorField("parse_error");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (needsErrorField && !builder.getExtendedErrorInfo()) {
  builder = builder.withExtendedErrorInfo();
}

Type guard

boolean canSetErrorField(JsonToRow.JsonToRowWithErrFn b) {
  return b.getExtendedErrorInfo();
}

Try / catch

try {
  return builder.setErrorField("err");
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("Extended Error Info")) {
    return builder.withExtendedErrorInfo().setErrorField("err");
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

Always enable withExtendedErrorInfo() before configuring error fields
Read the JsonToRow builder docs for option prerequisites
Keep builder option setup in one helper so prerequisites are enforced in one place

When it happens

Trigger: Calling JsonToRowWithErrFn.setErrorField(...) on a builder created without .setExtendedErrorInfo(true) (or the equivalent withExtendedErrorInfo).

Common situations: Developers copying the error-handling example but forgetting to enable extended error info; toggling options in different order and hitting validation in the builder.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/beam@12126d8942 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6ac4ab10280056d2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sdks/java/core/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/transforms/JsonToRow.java:249

    }

    /**
     * Sets the field name for the line field in the returned Row.
     *
     * @return {@link JsonToRow}
     */
    public JsonToRowWithErrFn setLineField(String lineField) {
      return this.toBuilder().setLineFieldName(lineField).build();
    }

    /**
     * Adds the error message to the returned error Row.
     *
     * @return {@link JsonToRow}
     */
    public JsonToRowWithErrFn setErrorField(String errorField) {
      if (!this.getExtendedErrorInfo()) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
            "This option is only available with Extended Error Info.");
      }
      return this.toBuilder().setErrorFieldName(errorField).build();
    }

    /**
     * Sets the behavior of the deserializer according to {@link NullBehavior}.
     *
     * @return {@link JsonToRow}
     */
    public JsonToRowWithErrFn withNullBehavior(NullBehavior nullBehavior) {
      return this.toBuilder().setNullBehavior(nullBehavior).build();
    }

    @Override
    public ParseResult expand(PCollection<String> jsonStrings) {

      PCollectionTuple result =

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