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

Guard in FlinkOrcReader.primitive: while mapping an ORC column reader, the Iceberg primitive type paired with the ORC type has no case in this switch (e.g. a timestamp_ntz, variant, or newly added primitive). The formatted message shows both the Iceberg and ORC types, pointing at the column whose type pair is unhandled.

Source

Thrown at flink/v2.3/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. Upgrade iceberg-flink to a version whose FlinkOrcReader supports the type.
2. Inspect the ORC file schema vs the Iceberg schema and align types (e.g. cast unsupported columns).
3. Add a reader mapping for the missing primitive if you own a patched build.

Types.NestedField f = schema.asStruct().field(name);
if (f != null && !ORC_SUPPORTED.contains(f.type().asPrimitiveType().typeId())) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Type not readable from ORC: " + f.type());
}

try { reader = FlinkOrcReader.factory.create(icebergType, orcType); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { /* skip column or fail fast */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Reading ORC files whose projected Iceberg schema contains a primitive unsupported by the reader switch (only known primitives like BINARY/DECIMAL etc. are handled at that branch).

Common situations: Tables with newer Iceberg types read by an older iceberg-flink runtime; mismatched ORC type tags produced by other writers.

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

• Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to Flink logical type
• Invalid precision:
• Invalid primary key '%s'. A primary key must not contain dup
• Invalid primary key '%s'. Column '%s' does not exist.
• Invalid primary key '%s'. Column '%s' is not a physical colu

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ef9fd836e5b98dfc. Report an issue: GitHub.