cube-js/cube · error

Cannot transform interval expression "${interval}" to Databr

Error message

Cannot transform interval expression "${interval}" to Databricks dialect

What it means

formatInterval in DatabricksQuery converts a parsed SQL interval expression into Databricks dialect (e.g. 'X' DAY TO HOUR). Databricks only supports a subset of interval combos, and the method deliberately does not handle microseconds; anything not matching a known key combination throws this error.

Source

Thrown at packages/cubejs-databricks-jdbc-driver/src/DatabricksQuery.ts:140

    } else if (intervalParsed.day && intKeys === 1) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.day}' DAY`, 'DAY'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.day && intervalParsed.hour && intKeys === 2) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.day} ${intervalParsed.hour}' DAY TO HOUR`, 'HOUR'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.day && intervalParsed.hour && intervalParsed.minute && intKeys === 3) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.day} ${intervalParsed.hour}:${intervalParsed.minute}' DAY TO MINUTE`, 'MINUTE'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.day && intervalParsed.hour && intervalParsed.minute && intervalParsed.second && intKeys === 4) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.day} ${intervalParsed.hour}:${intervalParsed.minute}:${intervalParsed.second}' DAY TO SECOND`, 'SECOND'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.hour && intervalParsed.minute && intKeys === 2) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.hour}:${intervalParsed.minute}' HOUR TO MINUTE`, 'MINUTE'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.hour && intervalParsed.minute && intervalParsed.second && intKeys === 3) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.hour}:${intervalParsed.minute}:${intervalParsed.second}' HOUR TO SECOND`, 'SECOND'];
    } else if (intervalParsed.minute && intervalParsed.second && intKeys === 2) {
      return [`'${intervalParsed.minute}:${intervalParsed.second}' MINUTE TO SECOND`, 'SECOND'];
    }

    // No need to support microseconds.

    throw new Error(`Cannot transform interval expression "${interval}" to Databricks dialect`);
  }

  public escapeColumnName(name: string) {
    return `\`${name}\``;
  }

  public override getFieldIndex(id: string): string | number | null {
    const idx = super.getFieldIndex(id);
    if (idx !== null) {
      return idx;
    }

    return this.escapeColumnName(this.aliasName(id, false));
  }

  public unixTimestampSql() {
    return 'unix_timestamp()';
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 7d981676b3)

Solutions

1. Rewrite the query/calculated member to use an interval combination Databricks supports (day-to-second or year-to-month forms present in the code)
2. Avoid microsecond precision in intervals — use seconds instead
3. Express the interval arithmetic differently, e.g. via date_add/timestamp arithmetic functions in the cube schema

Example fix

// before
INTERVAL '0 00:00:00.000001' DAY TO SECOND // microseconds unsupported
// after
INTERVAL '1' SECOND // or a supported DAY TO SECOND combination

// avoid microsecond or unsupported interval combos in calculated members
const SUPPORTED_INTERVALS = /^\d+ (second|minute|hour|day|month|year)s?$/i;
if (!SUPPORTED_INTERVALS.test(myIntervalLiteral)) throw new Error('Use a simple single-unit interval for Databricks');

try {
  const result = await cube.query(queryObject);
} catch (e) {
  if (e.message.includes('Cannot transform interval expression')) {
    // rewrite the interval in the schema/calculated member and resubmit
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: A time-dimension or calculated query compiles an interval literal whose parsed fields (e.g. only year, or exotic combos, or microsecond precision) don't match any supported branch in formatInterval.

Common situations: Using interval expressions with unsupported precision (microseconds) or unusual unit combinations in a calculated member or date filter against Databricks; driver dialect translating a generic interval from the schema compiler.

Related errors

• Unsupported interval unit "${unit}" for the Pinot dialect
• Cannot transform interval expression "${interval}" to MySQL
• You cannot change security context via __user from ${session
• Incorrect user name "${user}" or password
• ${queryExecution.QueryExecution?.Status?.StateChangeReason}

AI-assisted analysis of cube-js/cube@7d981676b3 (2026-09-02). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0e752d611e7f9322. Report an issue: GitHub.