apache/cassandra · error · SyntaxException

Syntax error parsing

Error message

Syntax error parsing '%s' at char %d: unexpected end of string

What it means

TypeParser.getKeyValueParameters() parses a parenthesized key=value parameter list (used by types like DynamicCompositeType). This SyntaxException is thrown when the string ends before the closing ')' is found — the parameter list was opened with '(' but never properly closed.

Solutions

Balance the parentheses in the type string: every '(' needs a matching ')', e.g. DynamicCompositeType(a=BytesType, b=UTF8Type)
Check the char index in the message to see where the parser ran off the end; look for truncation or a swallowed closing paren there
If the string comes from stored schema metadata, fix it via ALTER TABLE or schema repair before restarting nodes
Validate the type string with AbstractType.parse() in a test or cqlsh before applying it to production schema

Example fix

// before
AbstractType.parse("DynamicCompositeType(a = UTF8Type");
// after
AbstractType.parse("DynamicCompositeType(a = UTF8Type)");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

static void validateTypeString(String s) {
    long open = s.chars().filter(c -> c == '(').count();
    long close = s.chars().filter(c -> c == ')').count();
    if (open != close || s.trim().endsWith("("))
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unbalanced parentheses in type string: " + s);
}

Type guard

static boolean isBalanced(String s) {
    int depth = 0;
    for (char c : s.toCharArray()) {
        if (c == '(') depth++;
        else if (c == ')') depth--;
        if (depth < 0) return false;
    }
    return depth == 0;
}

Try / catch

try {
    AbstractType<?> type = TypeParser.parse(typeString);
} catch (SyntaxException e) {
    logger.error("Invalid type string, check parentheses: {}", e.getMessage());
    throw new SchemaConfigurationException("Malformed type definition", e);
}

Prevention

Always balance parentheses — count '(' vs ')' before submitting schema changes
Build parameterized type strings with helper methods like stringifyTKeyValueParameters instead of manual concatenation
Test type strings with AbstractType.parse() in a unit test before applying them to a cluster

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getKeyValueParameters() on a TypeParser whose string has '(' but the loop exits via skipBlankAndComma() returning false because the parser reached end-of-string before seeing ')', e.g. TypeParser.parse("DynamicCompositeType(a=BytesType") or "DynamicCompositeType(a=BytesType, ".

Common situations: Typos in comparator strings in schema definitions (cqlsh CREATE TABLE ... WITH comparator options), hand-edited cassandra-cli comparator metadata, migration scripts carrying truncated type strings, or programmatic AbstractType.parse() calls with unbalanced parentheses.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/cassandra@88fd0f6a0e (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/95a9c0b3062568ed. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/java/org/apache/cassandra/db/marshal/TypeParser.java:238

                return map;
            }

            String k = readNextIdentifier();
            String v = "";
            skipBlank();
            if (str.charAt(idx) == '=')
            {
                ++idx;
                skipBlank();
                v = readNextIdentifier();
            }
            else if (str.charAt(idx) != ',' && str.charAt(idx) != ')')
            {
                throwSyntaxError("unexpected character '" + str.charAt(idx) + "'");
            }
            map.put(k, v);
        }
        throw new SyntaxException(String.format("Syntax error parsing '%s' at char %d: unexpected end of string", str, idx));
    }

    public static String stringifyVectorParameters(AbstractType<?> type, boolean ignoreFreezing, int dimension)
    {
        return "(" + type.toString(ignoreFreezing) + " , " + dimension + ")";
    }

    public Vector getVectorParameters()
    {
        if (isEOS())
            return null;
        if (str.charAt(idx) != '(')
            throw new IllegalStateException();

        ++idx; // skipping '('
        AbstractType<?> type = parse();
        if (!skipBlankAndComma())
            throw new IllegalStateException();

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