hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · SemanticException
Slice operator applied to expression of unknown type
Error message
Slice operator applied to expression of unknown type
What it means
Error "Slice operator applied to expression of unknown type" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.
Source
Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/query/hql/internal/SemanticQueryBuilder.java:5780
public SemanticPathPart visitSyntacticDomainPath(HqlParser.SyntacticDomainPathContext ctx) {
if ( ctx.treatedNavigablePath() != null ) {
return visitTreatedNavigablePath( ctx.treatedNavigablePath() );
}
else if ( ctx.collectionValueNavigablePath() != null ) {
return visitCollectionValueNavigablePath( ctx.collectionValueNavigablePath() );
}
else if ( ctx.mapKeyNavigablePath() != null ) {
return visitMapKeyNavigablePath( ctx.mapKeyNavigablePath() );
}
else if ( ctx.simplePath() != null && ctx.indexedPathAccessFragment() != null ) {
return visitIndexedPathAccessFragment( visitSimplePath( ctx.simplePath() ), ctx.indexedPathAccessFragment() );
}
else if ( ctx.simplePath() != null && ctx.slicedPathAccessFragment() != null ) {
final var slicedFragments = ctx.slicedPathAccessFragment().expression();
final var lhs = (SqmTypedNode<?>) visitSimplePath( ctx.simplePath() );
final var lhsExpressible = lhs.getExpressible();
if ( lhsExpressible == null ) {
throw new SemanticException( "Slice operator applied to expression of unknown type", query );
}
else if ( lhsExpressible.getSqmType() instanceof BasicPluralType<?, ?> ) {
return getFunctionDescriptor( "array_slice" ).generateSqmExpression(
List.of(
lhs,
(SqmTypedNode<?>) slicedFragments.get( 0 ).accept( this ),
(SqmTypedNode<?>) slicedFragments.get( 1 ).accept( this )
),
null,
queryEngine()
);
}
else if ( lhsExpressible.getRelationalJavaType() instanceof StringJavaType
&& !(lhs instanceof SqmPluralValuedSimplePath) ) {
final var start = (SqmExpression<?>) slicedFragments.get( 0 ).accept( this );
final var end = (SqmExpression<?>) slicedFragments.get( 1 ).accept( this );
return getFunctionDescriptor( "substring" ).generateSqmExpression(
List.of(View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)
Solutions
- The slice operator was applied to an expression whose type cannot be determined. Give the expression a resolvable type (e.g. cast it or reference a typed path) before slicing.
When it happens
Trigger: The slice operator is applied to an unsupported expression: Slice operator applied to expression of unknown type
Common situations: Using array/string slicing on expressions whose type is unknown or neither string nor SQL array.
AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22).
Data as JSON: /api/errors/3d5a2ee0730fe4f5.
Report an issue: GitHub.