hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · ParsingException

Unsupported pad specification [{ctx.getText()}]

Error message

Unsupported pad specification [{ctx.getText()}]

What it means

Error "Unsupported pad specification [{ctx.getText()}]" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/query/hql/internal/SemanticQueryBuilder.java:5502

				ctx.padCharacter() != null
						? visitPadCharacter( ctx.padCharacter() )
						: null;
		return getFunctionDescriptor("pad").generateSqmExpression(
				padChar != null
						? asList( source, length, padSpec, padChar )
						: asList( source, length, padSpec ),
				null,
				queryEngine()
		);
	}

	@Override
	public SqmTrimSpecification visitPadSpecification(HqlParser.PadSpecificationContext ctx) {
		final var symbol = ((TerminalNode) ctx.getChild( 0 )).getSymbol();
		return switch ( symbol.getType() ) {
			case HqlParser.LEADING -> new SqmTrimSpecification( TrimSpec.LEADING, nodeBuilder() );
			case HqlParser.TRAILING -> new SqmTrimSpecification( TrimSpec.TRAILING, nodeBuilder() );
			default -> throw new ParsingException( "Unsupported pad specification [" + ctx.getText() + "]" );
		};
	}

	@Override
	public SqmLiteral<Character> visitPadCharacter(HqlParser.PadCharacterContext ctx) {
		final String padCharText = ctx.STRING_LITERAL().getText();
		if ( padCharText.length() != 3 ) {
			throw new SemanticException( "Pad character for pad() function must be single character, found '"
					+ padCharText + "'",
					query );
		}
		return new SqmLiteral<>(
				padCharText.charAt( 1 ),
				nodeBuilder().getCharacterType(),
				nodeBuilder()
		);
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. The pad specification is not supported. Use LEADING or TRAILING in the pad() function call.

When it happens

Trigger: An invalid keyword/field is used in a datetime, pad, or trim expression: Unsupported pad specification [<value>]

Common situations: HQL queries using extract(), pad(), or trim() with a field/specification keyword that is not one of the documented values.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/623b5abad6e5a136. Report an issue: GitHub.