hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · SemanticException

${unit} is not a legal field

Error message

${unit} is not a legal field

What it means

Error "${unit} is not a legal field" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/OracleDialect.java:706

				break;
			case DAY:
				if ( temporalType == TemporalType.DATE ) {
					pattern.append( "(?3+(?2))" );
					break;
				}
			case HOUR:
			case MINUTE:
			case SECOND:
				pattern.append( "(?3+numtodsinterval(?2,'?1'))" );
				break;
			case NANOSECOND:
				pattern.append( "(?3+numtodsinterval((?2)/1e9,'second'))" );
				break;
			case NATIVE:
				pattern.append( "(?3+numtodsinterval(?2,'second'))" );
				break;
			default:
				throw new SemanticException( unit + " is not a legal field" );
		}
		return pattern.toString();
	}

	@Override @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
	public String timestampdiffPattern(TemporalUnit unit, TemporalType fromTemporalType, TemporalType toTemporalType) {
		final var pattern = new StringBuilder();
		final boolean hasTimePart = toTemporalType != TemporalType.DATE || fromTemporalType != TemporalType.DATE;
		switch ( unit ) {
			case YEAR:
				extractField( pattern, YEAR, unit );
				break;
			case QUARTER:
			case MONTH:
				pattern.append( "(" );
				extractField( pattern, YEAR, unit );
				pattern.append( "+" );
				extractField( pattern, MONTH, unit );

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use a field supported by Oracle (YEAR, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND).
2. Check the field name for typos.

When it happens

Trigger: Triggered when the application calls a Hibernate dialect feature that the configured database dialect cannot provide: $the given unit is not a legal field.

Common situations: Common when running against a database whose dialect lacks this capability, when a mapping or HQL/Criteria query requests unsupported functionality, or when the wrong dialect is configured for the database in use. Error: $the given unit is not a legal field.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3de47a3ba0dd2ad9. Report an issue: GitHub.