apache/seatunnel · error · IllegalArgumentException

Unsupported table format: ${format}. Supported formats: PARQ

Error message

Unsupported table format: ${format}. Supported formats: PARQUET, ORC, TEXTFILE

What it means

HiveFormatUtils.configureStorageDescriptor switches on the table's input/output format-derived format name and configures the storage descriptor accordingly. Only PARQUET, ORC, and TEXTFILE are supported; any other value hits the default branch and throws this IllegalArgumentException.

Source

Thrown at seatunnel-connectors-v2/connector-hive/src/main/java/org/apache/seatunnel/connectors/seatunnel/hive/utils/HiveFormatUtils.java:39

import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.StorageDescriptor;

public class HiveFormatUtils {

    public static void configureStorageDescriptor(StorageDescriptor sd, String format) {
        format = format.toUpperCase();

        switch (format) {
            case "PARQUET":
                configureParquetFormat(sd);
                break;
            case "ORC":
                configureOrcFormat(sd);
                break;
            case "TEXTFILE":
                configureTextFileFormat(sd);
                break;
            default:
                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                        "Unsupported table format: "
                                + format
                                + ". Supported formats: PARQUET, ORC, TEXTFILE");
        }
    }

    /** Configure Parquet format with default SNAPPY compression */
    private static void configureParquetFormat(StorageDescriptor sd) {
        sd.setInputFormat("org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.MapredParquetInputFormat");
        sd.setOutputFormat("org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.MapredParquetOutputFormat");

        SerDeInfo serDeInfo = new SerDeInfo();
        serDeInfo.setSerializationLib(
                "org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.io.parquet.serde.ParquetHiveSerDe");
        sd.setSerdeInfo(serDeInfo);
    }

    /** Configure ORC format with default ZLIB compression */

View on GitHub (pinned to cf67b549a7)

Solutions

1. Convert the table to PARQUET, ORC, or TEXTFILE (CTAS: CREATE TABLE new_t STORED AS PARQUET AS SELECT * FROM t).
2. Point the connector at a different table that uses a supported format.
3. If you need AVRO/RCFILE support, extend the switch in HiveFormatUtils and contribute a PR.
4. Verify the table's input format class actually maps to one of the supported formats (check 'Storage Info' in SHOW CREATE TABLE).

Example fix

// before
CREATE TABLE t STORED AS AVRO AS SELECT ...
// after
CREATE TABLE t STORED AS PARQUET AS SELECT ...

String fmt = tableFormat == null ? null : tableFormat.trim().toUpperCase();
if (!java.util.Arrays.asList("PARQUET","ORC","TEXTFILE").contains(fmt)) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("convert table to PARQUET/ORC/TEXTFILE first; got: " + tableFormat);
}

try {
    HiveFormatUtils.configureStorageDescriptor(sd);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Unsupported Hive table format; CTAS into PARQUET/ORC/TEXTFILE", e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling configureStorageDescriptor with a format string other than (case-insensitively normalized) PARQUET, ORC, or TEXTFILE — e.g. AVRO, SEQUENCEFILE, RCFILE, or a garbage value from the table's SerDe/inputformat mapping.

Common situations: Reading a Hive table stored in Avro or RCFile, tables with custom SerDes, or tables whose METASTORE input format does not map to one of the three supported formats.

Related errors

• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT
• Hive `table_name` must use `databasePattern.tablePattern` wh
• Table format cannot be null or empty
• COMMON_ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT

AI-assisted analysis of apache/seatunnel@cf67b549a7 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a1591b8ea39531f6. Report an issue: GitHub.