apache/iceberg · error · UnsupportedOperationException

Spark does not support geography edge algorithm:

Error message

Spark does not support geography edge algorithm: 

What it means

Spark's geometry support recognizes only the spherical edge interpolation algorithm; convertAlgorithm maps Iceberg edge algorithms to Spark's and throws UnsupportedOperationException for any other (e.g. planar/edge algorithms from the geo spec). The comment notes PruneColumnsWithoutReordering compares algorithms across type systems.

Solutions

1. Recreate or rewrite the geography column with the SPHERICAL algorithm
2. Prune the geography column from the Spark read projection
3. Upgrade Spark/Iceberg if support for the algorithm is added later

Types.GeographyType geo = (Types.GeographyType) t; boolean ok = geo.algorithm() == EdgeAlgorithm.SPHERICAL;

boolean isSphericalGeography(Type t) { return t instanceof Types.GeographyType g && g.algorithm() == EdgeAlgorithm.SPHERICAL; }

try { convertAlgorithm(alg); } catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) { LOG.error("Unsupported edge algorithm {}", alg, e); throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Converting a geography-typed column whose edge algorithm is not SPHERICAL — tables created by engines/spec writers using non-spherical geography edges, read or pruned via Spark.

Common situations: Geo tables produced by non-Spark engines using planar edges; schema evolution changing the geography edge algorithm; cross-engine catalog access.

Related errors

• Unsupported manifest content type
• Already closed files for partition:
• ALTER TABLE contains multiple distribution clauses
• ALTER TABLE contains multiple distribution clauses
• ALTER TABLE contains multiple distribution clauses

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/429963b99a010955. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at spark/v4.1/spark/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/TypeToSparkType.java:192

    // IllegalArgumentException).
    return GeometryType$.MODULE$.apply(geometry.crs());
  }

  private DataType geographyType(Types.GeographyType geography) {
    // The spec requires a geography CRS to be geographic; Spark recognizes only OGC:CRS84, so any
    // other CRS throws SparkIllegalArgumentException (an IllegalArgumentException).
    return GeographyType$.MODULE$.apply(geography.crs(), convertAlgorithm(geography.algorithm()));
  }

  // Translates Iceberg's edge-interpolation algorithm to Spark's. Spark supports only the spherical
  // algorithm (the Iceberg default); every other algorithm is rejected with a clear error. Shared
  // with PruneColumnsWithoutReordering, which compares algorithms across the two type systems.
  static EdgeInterpolationAlgorithm convertAlgorithm(EdgeAlgorithm algorithm) {
    switch (algorithm) {
      case SPHERICAL:
        return SPARK_SPHERICAL;
      default:
        throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
            "Spark does not support geography edge algorithm: " + algorithm);
    }
  }

  private Metadata fieldMetadata(int fieldId) {
    if (MetadataColumns.metadataFieldIds().contains(fieldId)) {
      return new MetadataBuilder().putBoolean(METADATA_COL_ATTR_KEY, true).build();
    }

    return Metadata.empty();
  }
}

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