hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalArgumentException

Exporter does not support name array types. Can't generate d

Error message

Exporter does not support name array types. Can't generate drop strings for: 

What it means

StandardUserDefinedTypeExporter cannot generate DROP statements for named array types: getSqlDropStrings(UserDefinedArrayType) unconditionally throws this IllegalArgumentException. During schema drop with the standard exporter, any UserDefinedArrayType in the Metadata aborts the operation.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/schema/internal/StandardUserDefinedTypeExporter.java:153

	public String[] getSqlDropStrings(UserDefinedObjectType userDefinedType, Metadata metadata, SqlStringGenerationContext context) {
		final var dropType = new StringBuilder( "drop type " );
		if ( dialect.supportsIfExistsBeforeTypeName() ) {
			dropType.append( "if exists " );
		}
		final var typeName = new QualifiedNameParser.NameParts(
				Identifier.toIdentifier( userDefinedType.getCatalog(), userDefinedType.isCatalogQuoted() ),
				Identifier.toIdentifier( userDefinedType.getSchema(), userDefinedType.isSchemaQuoted() ),
				userDefinedType.getNameIdentifier()
		);
		dropType.append( context.format( typeName ) );
		if ( dialect.supportsIfExistsAfterTypeName() ) {
			dropType.append( " if exists" );
		}
		return new String[] { dropType.toString() };
	}

	public String[] getSqlDropStrings(UserDefinedArrayType userDefinedType, Metadata metadata, SqlStringGenerationContext context) {
		throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Exporter does not support name array types. Can't generate drop strings for: " + userDefinedType );
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use a dialect with array-UDT support whose exporter renders the array drop statement.
2. Remove the named-array mapping (plain ARRAY mapping) so no UserDefinedArrayType reaches the exporter.
3. Drop the array type via an external migration script and disable hbm2ddl drop for it.

Example fix

// before
@Array(length = 10)
@JdbcTypeCode(SqlTypes.ARRAY)
private List<String> tags; // registers a named array UDT; drop export throws

// after
@JdbcTypeCode(SqlTypes.ARRAY)
private List<String> tags; // no named UDT; drop path skips the array exporter

for (UserDefinedType udt : udtsInMetadata) {
    if (udt instanceof UserDefinedArrayType && exporterIsStandard(dialect)) {
        skipOrFailFast("array UDT " + udt + " cannot be dropped by the standard exporter");
    }
}

static boolean needsDialectArrayExporter(UserDefinedType udt, Dialect dialect) {
    return udt instanceof UserDefinedArrayType
            && dialect.getUserDefinedTypeExporter().getClass() == StandardUserDefinedTypeExporter.class;
}

try {
    exporter.getSqlDropStrings(userDefinedArrayType, metadata, context);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("array types")) {
        // use an array-capable dialect, drop the named-array mapping, or drop the type via migration script
    } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Running drop/create-drop with the default (standard) UDT exporter while the Metadata contains a named array type (UserDefinedArrayType, e.g., @Array-based mappings registered as UDTs) and no dialect-specific exporter handles array drops.

Common situations: Test teardown with create-drop on mappings containing array UDTs; switching dialects away from one with array support while keeping array type mappings; drop-script generation tooling iterating all UDTs in metadata.

Related errors

• Exporter does not support name array types. Can't generate c
• Error creating SQL create commands for UDT :
• No drop schema syntax supported by " + getClass().getName()
• No drop foreign key syntax supported by SQLiteDialect
• No add foreign key syntax supported by SQLiteDialect

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b95f84a02796b72b. Report an issue: GitHub.