apache/seatunnel · error · IllegalArgumentException

column does not exist.

Error message

column ${fieldName} does not exist.

What it means

convertSqlSelectToPaimonProjectionIndex maps the SELECT's column list to indices of the Paimon table's field names; when a requested column (after stripping backticks) is not found in fieldNames it throws IllegalArgumentException('column X does not exist.').

Solutions

1. Verify the column exists in the Paimon table schema (list fields) and correct the SELECT column list
2. Match exact case and remove unsupported quoting characters
3. Sync the Paimon table schema if the column was recently added upstream (schema evolution)
4. Rebuild the projection list from the actual table fields instead of hardcoding

Example fix

// before
String sql = "SELECT User_Name, age FROM t"; // table has field userName
// after
String sql = "SELECT userName, age FROM t";

for (String col : requestedColumns) { String f = col.replace("`", ""); if (!Arrays.asList(fieldNames).contains(f)) throw new IllegalArgumentException("column " + f + " does not exist"); }

boolean columnsExist(List<String> cols, String[] fieldNames) { return cols.stream().map(c -> c.replace("`", "")).allMatch(c -> Arrays.asList(fieldNames).contains(c)); }

try { int[] idx = converter.convertSqlSelectToPaimonProjectionIndex(query, fieldNames); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { if (e.getMessage().endsWith("does not exist.")) { /* fix projection list */ } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: A projection SELECT references a column name that does not match any field of the Paimon table schema — wrong name, wrong case, missing quoting, or referencing a column added upstream but not yet synced to Paimon.

Common situations: Schema drift between source and Paimon table; typos in projection lists; case-sensitivity differences (CamelCase vs snake_case); backtick handling mismatches; querying a renamed column.

Related errors

• The column named [ ] is not exists
• Empty value list in IN clause is not allowed
• Error parsing SQL.
• Expected Column expression, but got
• Failed to convert value in IN clause

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fdcce9f9b6c38d86. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-paimon/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/paimon/source/converter/SqlToPaimonPredicateConverter.java:132

        List<String> columnNames = new ArrayList<>();
        for (SelectItem selectItem : selectItems) {
            if (selectItem.getExpression() instanceof AllColumns) {
                return null;
            } else {
                String columnName = ((Column) selectItem.getExpression()).getColumnName();
                columnNames.add(columnName);
            }
        }

        projectionIndex =
                columnNames.stream()
                        .mapToInt(
                                columnName -> {
                                    String fieldName = columnName.replace("`", "");
                                    int index = Arrays.asList(fieldNames).indexOf(fieldName);
                                    if (index == -1) {
                                        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                                                "column " + fieldName + " does not exist.");
                                    }
                                    return index;
                                })
                        .toArray();

        return projectionIndex;
    }

    public static Predicate convertSqlWhereToPaimonPredicate(
            RowType rowType, PlainSelect plainSelect) {
        Expression whereExpression = plainSelect.getWhere();
        if (Objects.isNull(whereExpression)) {
            return null;
        }
        PredicateBuilder builder = new PredicateBuilder(rowType);
        return parseExpressionToPredicate(builder, rowType, whereExpression);
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)