apache/flink · error · IllegalArgumentException

Type at position {} is not a basic or value type.

Error message

Type at position {} is not a basic or value type.

What it means

Thrown by TupleTypeInfo.getBasicAndBasicValueTupleTypeInfo(Class<?>...) when the Class is not a basic type AND is either a Value type that is not a basic Value type, or fails the isBasicValueType() check. This method accepts basic types or Flink Value types that wrap basic types (e.g. IntValue, StringValue, LongValue). This is a plain IllegalArgumentException.

Source

Thrown at flink-core/src/main/java/org/apache/flink/api/java/typeutils/TupleTypeInfo.java:254

    public static <X extends Tuple> TupleTypeInfo<X> getBasicAndBasicValueTupleTypeInfo(
            Class<?>... basicTypes) {
        if (basicTypes == null || basicTypes.length == 0) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException();
        }

        TypeInformation<?>[] infos = new TypeInformation<?>[basicTypes.length];
        for (int i = 0; i < infos.length; i++) {
            Class<?> type = basicTypes[i];
            if (type == null) {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Type at position " + i + " is null.");
            }

            TypeInformation<?> info = BasicTypeInfo.getInfoFor(type);
            if (info == null) {
                try {
                    info = ValueTypeInfo.getValueTypeInfo((Class<Value>) type);
                    if (!((ValueTypeInfo<?>) info).isBasicValueType()) {
                        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                                "Type at position " + i + " is not a basic or value type.");
                    }
                } catch (ClassCastException | InvalidTypesException e) {
                    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                            "Type at position " + i + " is not a basic or value type.", e);
                }
            }
            infos[i] = info;
        }

        return (TupleTypeInfo<X>) new TupleTypeInfo<>(infos);
    }

    private static int[] listToPrimitives(ArrayList<Integer> ints) {
        int[] result = new int[ints.size()];
        for (int i = 0; i < result.length; i++) {
            result[i] = ints.get(i);
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to 2f3c205e92)

Solutions

1. Use only basic types or their Value wrappers (IntValue, LongValue, DoubleValue, StringValue, etc.).
2. For arbitrary Value types, use 'new TupleTypeInfo<>(TypeInformation.of(MyValue.class))'.
3. For arbitrary classes, use the TupleTypeInfo constructor with explicit TypeInformation.

Example fix

// before
TupleTypeInfo.getBasicAndBasicValueTupleTypeInfo(MyCustomValue.class);
// after
TupleTypeInfo.getBasicAndBasicValueTupleTypeInfo(IntValue.class);

for (Class<?> c : basicTypes) {
    if (BasicTypeInfo.getInfoFor(c) == null
            && !(Value.class.isAssignableFrom(c)
                && ((ValueTypeInfo<?>) ValueTypeInfo.getValueTypeInfo((Class<Value>) c))
                    .isBasicValueType())) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
            "Not a basic or basic-value type: " + c);
    }
}

boolean isBasicOrBasicValue(Class<?> c) {
    if (BasicTypeInfo.getInfoFor(c) != null) return true;
    if (!Value.class.isAssignableFrom(c)) return false;
    return ((ValueTypeInfo<?>) ValueTypeInfo.getValueTypeInfo((Class<Value>) c))
        .isBasicValueType();
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getBasicAndBasicValueTupleTypeInfo(MyCustomValue.class) where MyCustomValue extends Value but is not a basic value type, or passing a Class that is a Value but not one of the basic value wrappers.

Common situations: Developer passes a custom Value implementation or a non-basic Value type expecting it to work. The method is specifically for tuples of basic types and their Value-wrapper equivalents.

Related errors

• Type at position {} is not a basic type.
• Type at position {} is null.
• Specifying keys via field positions is only valid for tuple
• Invalid tuple field reference "{}".
• Tuple field expression "{}" out of bounds of {}.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/flink@2f3c205e92 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/39908c006e396a1a. Report an issue: GitHub.