apache/seatunnel · error · FileConnectorException

FileConnectorErrorCode.FILE_TYPE_INVALID

FileConnectorErrorCode.FILE_TYPE_INVALID

Error message

This file [%s] is not a orc file, please check the format of this file

What it means

OrcReadStrategy.read() verifies the file actually has the ORC magic header before opening it. When checkFileType returns false, the file is not a valid ORC file and reading is aborted with FILE_TYPE_INVALID. This guards against feeding mislabeled or corrupt files to the ORC reader.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-file/connector-file-base/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/file/source/reader/OrcReadStrategy.java:92

import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

import static org.apache.seatunnel.api.table.type.TypeUtil.canConvert;
import static org.apache.seatunnel.connectors.seatunnel.file.sink.writer.OrcWriteStrategy.buildFieldWithRowType;

@Slf4j
public class OrcReadStrategy extends AbstractReadStrategy {
    private static final long MIN_SIZE = 16 * 1024;

    @Override
    public void read(String path, String tableId, Collector<SeaTunnelRow> output)
            throws FileConnectorException, IOException {
        if (Boolean.FALSE.equals(checkFileType(path))) {
            String errorMsg =
                    String.format(
                            "This file [%s] is not a orc file, please check the format of this file",
                            path);
            throw new FileConnectorException(FileConnectorErrorCode.FILE_TYPE_INVALID, errorMsg);
        }

        Charset charset = StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
        if (pluginConfig != null) {
            charset =
                    ReadonlyConfig.fromConfig(pluginConfig)
                            .getOptional(FileBaseSourceOptions.ENCODING)
                            .map(Charset::forName)
                            .orElse(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
        }

        Map<String, String> partitionsMap = parsePartitionsByPath(path);
        try (Reader reader =
                hadoopFileSystemProxy.doWithHadoopAuth(
                        (configuration, userGroupInformation) -> {
                            OrcFile.ReaderOptions readerOptions =
                                    OrcFile.readerOptions(configuration);
                            return OrcFile.createReader(new Path(path), readerOptions);

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Check the file's header bytes (should start with 'ORC') to confirm its real format.
2. Correct the file_type in the source config to match the actual file format (e.g. text/parquet).
3. Remove or regenerate the corrupt/mislabeled file.
4. Re-run the upstream writer if the file was truncated mid-write.

Example fix

// before
file_format_type = orc   # file is actually parquet
// after
file_format_type = parquet

// check ORC magic before configuring source
head -c 3 file.orc  # must print 'ORC'

function looksLikeOrc(bytes) { return bytes.length >= 3 && bytes[0]===0x4F && bytes[1]===0x52 && bytes[2]===0x43; }

try { strategy.read(path); } catch (FileConnectorException e) { if (e.getErrorCode() == FileConnectorErrorCode.FILE_TYPE_INVALID) { log.error("{} is not ORC; detect actual format", path); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling OrcReadStrategy.read(path) on a file whose first bytes are not 'ORC' (plain text/JSON/CSV renamed to .orc, empty file, or truncated download).

Common situations: Directory mixes formats but file_type=orc is configured; an upstream job wrote text files into the ORC directory; partial upload left a non-ORC zero-byte file; using FileFormatOption ORC with a path of mixed extensions.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is not a compatible type" / "cannot merge" errors: when a value's type doesn't match what the library requires — this error's family across 65 libraries.

Related errors

• FILE_TYPE_INVALID
• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• SeaTunnelAPIErrorCode.CONFIG_VALIDATION_FAILED
• CommonErrorCodeDeprecated.TABLE_SCHEMA_GET_FAILED
• Json parsing exception.

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3bf3184399ff9ed1. Report an issue: GitHub.