apache/flink · error · IllegalArgumentException

The record must not be null.

Error message

The record must not be null.

What it means

ShortPrimitiveArraySerializer writes the array length then each short. serialize() rejects null because a null array has no length to emit and primitive-array type information is non-nullable by contract.

Source

Thrown at flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/api/common/typeutils/base/array/ShortPrimitiveArraySerializer.java:71

        short[] copy = new short[from.length];
        System.arraycopy(from, 0, copy, 0, from.length);
        return copy;
    }

    @Override
    public short[] copy(short[] from, short[] reuse) {
        return copy(from);
    }

    @Override
    public int getLength() {
        return -1;
    }

    @Override
    public void serialize(short[] record, DataOutputView target) throws IOException {
        if (record == null) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("The record must not be null.");
        }

        final int len = record.length;
        target.writeInt(len);
        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            target.writeShort(record[i]);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public short[] deserialize(DataInputView source) throws IOException {
        final int len = source.readInt();
        short[] array = new short[len];

        for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
            array[i] = source.readShort();
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2f3c205e92)

Solutions

1. Initialize short[] fields to an empty array instead of null before the sink/state.
2. Filter out records with null arrays upstream.
3. If nullability is legitimate, switch to an object/nullable type (e.g., Short[] or a Row with null handling).
4. Add a null check in your mapper to default null arrays to empty.

Example fix

// before: out.codes may be null -> serializer.serialize(codes) throws
// after: data.map(r -> { if (r.codes == null) r.codes = new short[0]; return r; })

// Validate before serialize
short[] safe = record == null ? new short[0] : record;
serializer.serialize(safe, target);

try {
    serializer.serialize(record, target);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().equals("The record must not be null.")) {
        record = new short[0];
        serializer.serialize(record, target);
    } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling serialize(null, target) on the short[] serializer — a field typed short[] that resolved to null at runtime.

Common situations: A short[] field that is null due to a null source value; a UDF returning null where a short array is expected; a nullable SQL column mapped to a primitive short[].

Related errors

• The record must not be null.
• The record must not be null.
• The record must not be null.
• The record must not be null.
• The record must not be null.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/flink@2f3c205e92 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7b174b3a459292c9. Report an issue: GitHub.