prestodb/presto · error · BigQueryException

BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY

BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY

Error message

Unhandled type for VarBinaryType: 

What it means

writeSlice throws this when the Presto column type is VarbinaryType but the Avro value from BigQuery is not a java.nio.ByteBuffer, so it cannot be wrapped into a Slice. It is a value-shape mismatch inside the BigQuery connector's row decoding.

Source

Thrown at presto-bigquery/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/plugin/bigquery/BigQueryResultPageSource.java:230

            throw new BigQueryException(BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_LONG, format("Unhandled type for %s: %s", javaType.getSimpleName(), type));
        }
    }

    private void writeSlice(BlockBuilder output, Type type, Object value)
    {
        if (type instanceof VarcharType) {
            type.writeSlice(output, utf8Slice(((Utf8) value).toString()));
        }
        else if (type instanceof DecimalType) {
            BigDecimal bdValue = DECIMAL_CONVERTER.convert(value);
            type.writeSlice(output, Decimals.encodeScaledValue(bdValue, NUMERIC_DATA_TYPE_SCALE));
        }
        else if (type instanceof VarbinaryType) {
            if (value instanceof ByteBuffer) {
                type.writeSlice(output, Slices.wrappedBuffer((ByteBuffer) value));
            }
            else {
                throw new BigQueryException(BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY, "Unhandled type for VarBinaryType: " + value.getClass());
            }
        }
        else {
            throw new BigQueryException(BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_SLICE, "Unhandled type for Slice: " + type.getTypeSignature());
        }
    }

    private void writeBlock(BlockBuilder output, Type type, Object value)
    {
        if (type instanceof ArrayType && value instanceof List<?>) {
            BlockBuilder builder = output.beginBlockEntry();

            for (Object element : (List<?>) value) {
                appendTo(type.getTypeParameters().get(0), element, builder);
            }

            output.closeEntry();
            return;

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Check the value class printed in the message and add a conversion branch (e.g. handle Utf8/String via getBytes) before the throw
2. Align the BigQuery column type so it decodes to bytes (ByteBuffer) in Avro
3. Upgrade the connector/Avro libraries to versions that normalize the value type
4. Cast the column in SQL (e.g. to varchar) or exclude it

Example fix

// before
else {
    throw new BigQueryException(BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY, "Unhandled type for VarBinaryType: " + value.getClass());
}
// after
else if (value instanceof byte[]) {
    type.writeSlice(output, Slices.wrappedBuffer((byte[]) value));
}
else {
    throw new BigQueryException(BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY, "Unhandled type for VarBinaryType: " + value.getClass());
}

// ensure the column's Avro decode class matches expectation
Object v = record.get(fieldName);
if (v != null && !(v instanceof ByteBuffer)) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("VARBINARY column decoded as " + v.getClass());
}

boolean isByteBufferValue(Object value) {
    return value instanceof ByteBuffer || value instanceof byte[];
}

try {
    cursor.advanceNextPosition();
} catch (BigQueryException e) {
    if (BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_VARBINARY.getCode() == e.getErrorCode().getCode()) {
        // re-issue query casting the column: CAST(col AS STRING)
    } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: A column mapped to Presto VARBINARY whose Avro-decoded value class is anything other than ByteBuffer (message includes the actual class, e.g. java.lang.String).

Common situations: Avro schema evolution changing a bytes field to string/Utf8; upstream tooling writing logical types that decode to different Java classes; connector/A驱逐vro library version differences.

Related errors

• BIGQUERY_UNSUPPORTED_TYPE_FOR_LONG
• BIGQUERY_ERROR_END_OF_AVRO_BUFFER
• BIGQUERY_ERROR_READING_NEXT_AVRO_RECORD
• ELASTICSEARCH_TYPE_MISMATCH
• DECODER_CONVERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9e881b7d964ac9bd. Report an issue: GitHub.