apache/iceberg · error · java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s

Error message

Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s

What it means

FlinkOrcReader.primitive() throws IllegalArgumentException 'Invalid iceberg type <type> corresponding to ORC type <type>' when the combination of an Iceberg primitive type and the actual ORC column type is not supported by the reader — typically a mismatch between the declared Iceberg schema and the physical ORC type on disk.

Source

Thrown at flink/v2.1/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/flink/data/FlinkOrcReader.java:132

          }
        case TIMESTAMP_NANO:
          Types.TimestampNanoType timestampNanoType = (Types.TimestampNanoType) iPrimitive;
          if (timestampNanoType.shouldAdjustToUTC()) {
            return FlinkOrcReaders.timestampTzs();
          } else {
            return FlinkOrcReaders.timestamps();
          }
        case STRING:
          return FlinkOrcReaders.strings();
        case UUID:
        case FIXED:
        case BINARY:
          return OrcValueReaders.bytes();
        case DECIMAL:
          Types.DecimalType decimalType = (Types.DecimalType) iPrimitive;
          return FlinkOrcReaders.decimals(decimalType.precision(), decimalType.scale());
        default:
          throw new IllegalArgumentException(
              String.format(
                  "Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s", iPrimitive, primitive));
      }
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 86d9c8fc54)

Solutions

  1. Align the Iceberg schema with the actual ORC file types (check with orc-tools `meta`).
  2. Rewrite the ORC files with the correct Iceberg types (rewrite_data_files action).
  3. If files were written by external tools, register/import them with a matching schema.
  4. Upgrade iceberg-flink in case the type pairing gained support in newer versions.

Example fix

// before
// schema says DECIMAL(38,10), ORC file column is DOUBLE -> reader throws
// after
// fix schema or rewrite files so the ORC column type matches the Iceberg type
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// verify ORC physical types match the Iceberg schema before reading
Configuration conf = new Configuration();
Reader orcReader = OrcFile.createReader(path, OrcFile.readerOptions(conf));
orcReader.getSchema().getChildren().forEach(t ->
    LOG.info("ORC column: {} {}", t.getCategory(), t.getTypeName()));

Try / catch

try (CloseableIterable<RowData> rows = reader.read()) {
  rows.forEach(r -> out.collect(r));
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("Invalid iceberg type")) {
    throw new IOException("ORC file types do not match table schema: " + e.getMessage(), e);
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Reading ORC files where the ORC primitive type for a column does not match any supported pairing for the Iceberg primitive in the schema (e.g. an Iceberg DECIMAL column whose ORC type is not ORC decimal, or an unexpected primitive/physical combo).

Common situations: ORC files written by other tools with divergent type mappings; schema evolution changing an Iceberg type without rewriting ORC files; wrong table metadata pointing at foreign ORC files.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is not a compatible type" / "cannot merge" errors: when a value's type doesn't match what the library requires — this error's family across 65 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3a270bacd17efa02. Report an issue: GitHub.