apache/seatunnel · error · org.apache.seatunnel.common.exception.SeaTunnelRuntimeException

COMMON-16

COMMON-16

Error message

'<connector>' <type> unsupported convert type '<dataType>' of '<field>' to SeaTunnel data type.

What it means

HiveTypeConvertor.covertHiveTypeToSeaTunnelType maps Hive column types to SeaTunnel types. Hive CHAR (e.g. char(n)) has no supported SeaTunnel mapping here and is rejected with COMMON-16 convertToSeaTunnelTypeError naming the connector, type, and field. Note varchar maps to STRING but char intentionally throws.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-hive/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/hive/utils/HiveTypeConvertor.java:39

import org.apache.seatunnel.api.table.type.BasicType;
import org.apache.seatunnel.api.table.type.DecimalType;
import org.apache.seatunnel.api.table.type.PrimitiveByteArrayType;
import org.apache.seatunnel.api.table.type.SeaTunnelDataType;
import org.apache.seatunnel.common.constants.PluginType;
import org.apache.seatunnel.common.exception.CommonError;
import org.apache.seatunnel.common.utils.JsonUtils;
import org.apache.seatunnel.connectors.seatunnel.hive.config.HiveConstants;

import java.util.LinkedHashMap;

public class HiveTypeConvertor {

    public static SeaTunnelDataType<?> covertHiveTypeToSeaTunnelType(String name, String hiveType) {
        if (hiveType.contains("varchar")) {
            return BasicType.STRING_TYPE;
        }
        if (hiveType.contains("char")) {
            throw CommonError.convertToSeaTunnelTypeError(
                    HiveConstants.CONNECTOR_NAME, PluginType.SOURCE, hiveType, name);
        }
        if (hiveType.contains("binary")) {
            return PrimitiveByteArrayType.INSTANCE;
        }
        if (hiveType.contains("struct")) {
            LinkedHashMap<String, Object> fields = new LinkedHashMap<>();
            int start = hiveType.indexOf("<");
            int end = hiveType.lastIndexOf(">");
            String[] columns = hiveType.substring(start + 1, end).split(",");
            for (String column : columns) {
                String[] splits = column.split(":");
                fields.put(
                        splits[0], covertHiveTypeToSeaTunnelType(splits[0], splits[1]).toString());
            }
            return SeaTunnelDataTypeConvertorUtil.deserializeSeaTunnelDataType(
                    name, JsonUtils.toJsonString(fields));
        }

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Alter the Hive table column from char(n) to string (or varchar) and re-sync metadata
2. Change the SeaTunnel table schema/config so the field is read as string via a supported type
3. Cast the char column in the Hive view/query feeding SeaTunnel
4. Upgrade SeaTunnel to a version that maps char types if available

Example fix

// before
CREATE TABLE t (c CHAR(10));
// after
ALTER TABLE t CHANGE COLUMN c c STRING;

// Check Hive schema for CHAR columns before running the job
SHOW CREATE TABLE my_table; -- reject any column of type CHAR(n)

boolean hasCharColumn(java.util.List<String> hiveTypes) {
    return hiveTypes.stream().anyMatch(t -> t.trim().toLowerCase().startsWith("char("));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Reading a Hive table whose schema contains a column of Hive type char(n) (or any type string containing 'char') during source split/schema conversion.

Common situations: Hive tables created with CHAR columns (common in legacy warehouses); partitions or tables where DDL uses char instead of string/varchar.

Related errors

• ROW type requires non-empty field names and types with equal
• TABLE_SCHEMA_GET_FAILED
• ROW type requires non-empty field names and types
• ARRAY type requires element type
• MAP type requires key and value types

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4523c214d4d19370. Report an issue: GitHub.