apache/seatunnel · error · java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

Unable to convert to LocalDate from a java.sql.Date value '

Error message

Unable to convert to LocalDate from a java.sql.Date value '

What it means

TemporalConversions.toLocalTime converts time-like objects into java.time.LocalTime, but a java.sql.Date carries only a date (no time-of-day information), so it is unconvertible. The library explicitly throws this IllegalArgumentException instead of silently returning midnight. The message text mistakenly says 'LocalDate' (a copy-paste bug) but the operation is toLocalTime.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-cdc/connector-cdc-base/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/cdc/debezium/utils/TemporalConversions.java:109

        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                "Unable to convert to LocalDate from unexpected value '"
                        + obj
                        + "' of type "
                        + obj.getClass().getName());
    }

    public static LocalTime toLocalTime(Object obj) {
        if (obj == null) {
            return null;
        }
        if (obj instanceof LocalTime) {
            return (LocalTime) obj;
        }
        if (obj instanceof LocalDateTime) {
            return ((LocalDateTime) obj).toLocalTime();
        }
        if (obj instanceof java.sql.Date) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "Unable to convert to LocalDate from a java.sql.Date value '" + obj + "'");
        }
        if (obj instanceof java.sql.Time) {
            java.sql.Time time = (java.sql.Time) obj;
            long millis = (int) (time.getTime() % MILLISECONDS_PER_SECOND);
            int nanosOfSecond = (int) (millis * NANOSECONDS_PER_MILLISECOND);
            return LocalTime.of(
                    time.getHours(), time.getMinutes(), time.getSeconds(), nanosOfSecond);
        }
        if (obj instanceof java.sql.Timestamp) {
            java.sql.Timestamp timestamp = (java.sql.Timestamp) obj;
            return LocalTime.of(
                    timestamp.getHours(),
                    timestamp.getMinutes(),
                    timestamp.getSeconds(),
                    timestamp.getNanos());
        }
        if (obj instanceof java.util.Date) {

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

Fix the column-type mapping so java.sql.Date values go through toLocalDate, not toLocalTime
If midnight is acceptable, convert explicitly: date -> LocalDate -> atStartOfDay().toLocalTime() instead of calling toLocalTime
Correct upstream Debezium config/SMT that changes the column type emitted for this field
Guard the call site by checking the runtime type before conversion

Example fix

// before
LocalTime t = TemporalConversions.toLocalTime(sqlDate); // throws
// after
LocalDate d = TemporalConversions.toLocalDate(sqlDate, null);
LocalTime t = d.atStartOfDay().toLocalTime(); // or fix the mapping

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

boolean isConvertibleToTime(Object v) {
    return v instanceof LocalTime || v instanceof LocalDateTime
        || v instanceof java.sql.Time || v instanceof Duration
        || v instanceof String;
}

Type guard

boolean isDateOnly(Object v) {
    return v instanceof java.sql.Date;
}

Try / catch

try {
    LocalTime t = TemporalConversions.toLocalTime(value);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    LOG.warn("Cannot convert value {} to LocalTime; treating as midnight", value);
    return LocalTime.MIDNIGHT;
}

Prevention

Route java.sql.Date values to toLocalDate, never to toLocalTime
Validate column types in schema mapping before deserialization
Check for schema drift (DATE vs TIME) when this appears after source changes
Add a type-dispatch helper wrapping all TemporalConversions calls

When it happens

Trigger: Calling toLocalTime/localTime with a java.sql.Date object — typically when a DATE column value is fed into time conversion code, or column type inference mapped a date column to a time field.

Common situations: Schema drift where the source column changed from TIME to DATE; a generic row-deserializer that routes all java.sql.* temporal values to toLocalTime; misconfigured CDC table mapping (reading a date column as a TIME column).

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8b989477c8a3e7c2. Report an issue: GitHub.