apache/seatunnel · error · FileConnectorException

UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION

UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION

Error message

SeaTunnel does not support user-defined schema for [parquet, orc, binary] files

What it means

Columnar and binary file formats (PARQUET, ORC, BINARY) carry their own schema, so SeaTunnel forbids declaring a user-defined `schema` block in the source config for them. BaseFileSource raises UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION as soon as it sees schema config combined with one of these formats.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-file/connector-file-base/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/file/source/BaseFileSource.java:118

        }

        // support user-defined schema
        CatalogTable userDefinedCatalogTable;
        // only json text csv type support user-defined schema now
        if (pluginConfig.getOptional(ConnectorCommonOptions.SCHEMA).isPresent()) {
            switch (fileFormat) {
                case CSV:
                case TEXT:
                case JSON:
                case EXCEL:
                case XML:
                    userDefinedCatalogTable = CatalogTableUtil.buildWithConfig(pluginConfig);
                    readStrategy.setCatalogTable(userDefinedCatalogTable);
                    break;
                case ORC:
                case PARQUET:
                case BINARY:
                    throw new FileConnectorException(
                            CommonErrorCodeDeprecated.UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION,
                            "SeaTunnel does not support user-defined schema for [parquet, orc, binary] files");
                default:
                    // never got in there
                    throw new FileConnectorException(
                            CommonErrorCodeDeprecated.ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT,
                            "SeaTunnel does not supported this file format");
            }
        } else {
            if (filePaths.isEmpty()) {
                userDefinedCatalogTable = buildCatalogTableForEmptyPath(path, fileFormat);
            } else {
                try {
                    SeaTunnelRowType rowType =
                            readStrategy.getSeaTunnelRowTypeInfo(filePaths.get(0));
                    userDefinedCatalogTable = CatalogTableUtil.getCatalogTable("default", rowType);
                } catch (FileConnectorException e) {
                    String errorMsg =

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Remove the `schema` option from the source config when using parquet, orc, or binary.
2. Let the connector read the schema embedded in the parquet/ORC file.
3. If you need explicit typing, switch the format to json/text/csv which support user-defined schema.
4. Resubmit the job after the config change.

Example fix

// before
file_format_type = parquet
schema = { fields { id bigint } }
// after
file_format_type = parquet

String fmt = config.getString("file_format_type");
boolean schemaDefined = config.getConfigMap("schema") != null && !config.getConfigMap("schema").isEmpty();
if (schemaDefined && ("parquet".equals(fmt) || "orc".equals(fmt) || "binary".equals(fmt))) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("schema is not supported for file_format_type=" + fmt);
}

try {
    // build source
} catch (FileConnectorException e) {
    if (CommonErrorCodeDeprecated.UNSUPPORTED_OPERATION.equals(e.getErrorCode())) {
        throw new IllegalStateException("Remove the schema block for parquet/orc/binary sources", e);
    }
    throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Configuring a file source with file_format_type = parquet, orc, or binary together with a `schema = { ... }` option; BaseFileSource.java:118 throws during source initialization.

Common situations: Copy-pasting a JSON/CSV config and changing only the format to parquet/orc; users migrating configs from text-based formats; misunderstanding that schema is only for schemaless formats.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

• Schema config can not be empty
• Schema config need option [schema], please correct your conf
• Schema config can't contains both [fields] and [columns], pl
• INVALID_PRIMARY_KEY
• TABLE_SCHEMA_GET_FAILED

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e25c42e8cd0319c0. Report an issue: GitHub.