What causes "Failed getting table %s" in apache/seatunnel?

Inspect the chained cause for the concrete exception (SQL error vs. type-mapping error)

apache/seatunnel · error · CatalogException

Failed getting table %s

Error message

Failed getting table %s

What it means

IrisCatalog.getTable wraps any exception raised while reading table metadata (after the existence check) into CatalogException("Failed getting table %s"). Includes SQL errors from the metadata query, connection problems, or errors building the CatalogTable/connector options.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/jdbc/catalog/iris/IrisCatalog.java:219

                Optional<PrimaryKey> primaryKey = getPrimaryKey(metaData, tablePath);
                List<ConstraintKey> constraintKeys = getConstraintKeys(metaData, tablePath);
                TableSchema.Builder builder = TableSchema.builder();
                buildColumnsWithErrorCheck(tablePath, resultSet, builder);
                // add primary key
                primaryKey.ifPresent(builder::primaryKey);
                // add constraint key
                constraintKeys.forEach(builder::constraintKey);
                TableIdentifier tableIdentifier = getTableIdentifier(tablePath);
                return CatalogTable.of(
                        tableIdentifier,
                        builder.build(),
                        buildConnectorOptions(tablePath),
                        Collections.emptyList(),
                        "",
                        catalogName);
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new CatalogException(
                    String.format("Failed getting table %s", tablePath.getFullName()), e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void createDatabase(TablePath tablePath, boolean ignoreIfExists)
            throws DatabaseAlreadyExistException, CatalogException {
        checkNotNull(tablePath.getDatabaseName(), "Database name cannot be null");
        createDatabaseInternal(tablePath.getDatabaseName());
    }

    @Override
    public void createTable(
            TablePath tablePath, CatalogTable table, boolean ignoreIfExists, boolean createIndex)
            throws TableAlreadyExistException, DatabaseNotExistException, CatalogException {
        checkNotNull(tablePath, "Table path cannot be null");
        if (defaultSchema.isPresent()) {
            tablePath =

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

Inspect the chained cause for the concrete exception (SQL error vs. type-mapping error)
Re-run the metadata SQL manually in IRIS to see which column/datatype fails
Confirm the catalog user can read the table's column metadata (INFORMATION_SCHEMA/system views)
Retry on transient connection failures; verify URL and credentials from getUrlFromDatabaseName
If a datatype is unmappable, extend the IRIS type converter or cast the column in IRIS

Example fix

// before
CatalogTable t = catalog.getTable(tablePath); // CatalogException
// after
try {
    CatalogTable t = catalog.getTable(tablePath);
} catch (CatalogException e) {
    LOG.error("getTable {} failed: {}", tablePath.getFullName(), e.getCause());
    throw e;
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (!catalog.tableExists(tablePath)) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Table missing before getTable: " + tablePath.getFullName());
}

Try / catch

try {
    CatalogTable t = catalog.getTable(tablePath);
} catch (CatalogException e) {
    LOG.error("getTable {} failed: {}", tablePath.getFullName(), e.getCause(), e);
    throw e;
}

Prevention

Read getCause() to distinguish SQL vs type-mapping failures
Verify the catalog user can read column metadata
Avoid concurrent ALTERs while reading metadata
Extend the IRIS type converter for unmappable datatypes

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getTable(TablePath) when the metadata SELECT fails (SQLException), the connection URL from getUrlFromDatabaseName is bad, or catalog/connector option building throws for the discovered schema.

Common situations: IRIS datatype returned by the metadata query is unmappable to SeaTunnel types; transient connection drops; privileges to read column metadata missing; table altered concurrently so metadata query breaks.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a7d6d61dec79e5c5. Report an issue: GitHub.