prestodb/presto · error · SQLFeatureNotSupportedException

getRef

Error message

getRef

What it means

PrestoResultSet does not implement the JDBC Ref type: getRef is one of a family of sentinel methods that unconditionally throw SQLFeatureNotSupportedException, with the method name as the message. It fires whenever client code calls the unsupported accessor, not because of bad data.

Solutions

1. Remove REF handling from the Presto code path; model references as ordinary columns (IDs) and fetch them with SQL joins
2. Skip REF columns in metadata-driven readers (check ResultSetMetaData.getColumnType != Types.REF)
3. If object references are needed, resolve them with a second query instead of JDBC Ref objects

Example fix

// before
Ref ref = rs.getRef("owner");
Person owner = ref.getObject(Person.class);
// after
long ownerId = rs.getLong("owner_id");
Person owner = personDao.findById(ownerId);

int type = rs.getMetaData().getColumnType(col);
if (type == java.sql.Types.REF
        || type == java.sql.Types.REF_CURSOR) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("REF not supported by Presto");
}

static boolean isRefColumn(ResultSetMetaData md, int col) throws SQLException {
    return md.getColumnType(col) == Types.REF;
}

try {
    return rs.getRef(col);
} catch (SQLFeatureNotSupportedException e) {
    return null; // model reference via a plain ID column instead
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling rs.getRef(columnIndex) or getRef(columnLabel) on a PrestoResultSet.

Common situations: Code ported from Oracle (where REF columns exist); generic JDBC metadata-driven readers that probe for REF support; ORM mappings that include SqlRef fields.

Related errors

• cancelRowUpdates
• deleteRow
• getBlob
• getObject
• insertRow

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/13ec1c4a27a321db. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at presto-jdbc/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/jdbc/PrestoResultSet.java:1102

    @Override
    public Statement getStatement()
    {
        return statement;
    }

    @Override
    public Object getObject(int columnIndex, Map<String, Class<?>> map)
            throws SQLException
    {
        throw new SQLFeatureNotSupportedException("getObject");
    }

    @Override
    public Ref getRef(int columnIndex)
            throws SQLException
    {
        throw new SQLFeatureNotSupportedException("getRef");
    }

    @Override
    public Blob getBlob(int columnIndex)
            throws SQLException
    {
        throw new SQLFeatureNotSupportedException("getBlob");
    }

    @Override
    public Clob getClob(int columnIndex)
            throws SQLException
    {
        throw new SQLFeatureNotSupportedException("getClob");
    }

    @Override
    public Array getArray(int columnIndex)

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)