apache/seatunnel · error · IllegalArgumentException

Unsupported right expression in IN: expected a…

Error message

Unsupported right expression in IN: expected a parenthesized expression list

What it means

handleInExpression requires the right-hand side of an IN clause to be a JSqlParser ParenthesedExpressionList (e.g. IN ('a','b')). Any other right-side form, most commonly a subquery, is rejected because the converter can only evaluate literal value lists.

Solutions

1. Replace the subquery with an explicit literal list: col IN ('a','b','c').
2. Resolve subquery values beforehand and inline the literals.
3. Expand parameter placeholders into a parenthesized literal list before conversion.

Example fix

// before: WHERE id IN (SELECT id FROM blacklist) | // after: WHERE id IN (1, 2, 3)

if (!(rightExpr instanceof ParenthesedExpressionList)) throw new IllegalArgumentException("IN must use a parenthesized literal list");

boolean isInList(Expression e) { return e instanceof ParenthesedExpressionList; }

try { pred = converter.convertSqlWhereToPaimonPredicate(where, rowType); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { if (e.getMessage().contains("IN")) { /* fallback: no pushdown */ } }

When it happens

Trigger: WHERE clause uses `col IN (SELECT x FROM t)` or a function/parameter expression on the right of IN instead of a parenthesized literal list.

Common situations: Subquery IN clauses generated by query builders or ORMs; templated SQL emitting IN without parentheses (e.g. IN ?, unquoted lists).

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

• Empty value list in IN clause is not allowed
• Error parsing SQL.
• Expected Column expression, but got
• Failed to convert value in IN clause
• Invalid LIKE pattern

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d56ab8d8490db12a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-paimon/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/paimon/source/converter/SqlToPaimonPredicateConverter.java:321

        } else if (expression instanceof Parenthesis) {
            Parenthesis parenthesis = (Parenthesis) expression;
            return parseExpressionToPredicate(builder, rowType, parenthesis.getExpression());
        } else if (expression instanceof InExpression) {
            return handleInExpression(builder, rowType, (InExpression) expression);
        }
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                "Unsupported expression type: " + expression.getClass().getSimpleName());
    }

    private static Predicate handleInExpression(
            PredicateBuilder builder, RowType rowType, InExpression expr) {
        Expression left = expr.getLeftExpression();
        Column column = safeGetColumn(left);
        int index = getColumnIndex(builder, column);

        Expression right = expr.getRightExpression();
        if (!(right instanceof ParenthesedExpressionList)) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                    "Unsupported right expression in IN: expected a parenthesized expression list");
        }

        ParenthesedExpressionList list = (ParenthesedExpressionList) right;
        List<Expression> expressions = list.getExpressions();
        if (expressions.isEmpty()) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Empty value list in IN clause is not allowed");
        }

        List<Object> values = new ArrayList<>(expressions.size());
        for (Expression expression : expressions) {
            Object rawVal = getJSQLParserDataTypeValue(expression);
            if (rawVal == null) {
                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Null value found in IN clause values");
            }
            Object convertedVal =
                    convertValueByPaimonDataType(rowType, column.getColumnName(), rawVal);
            if (convertedVal == null) {

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