prestodb/presto · error · IllegalArgumentException

Table %s does not have column %s

Error message

Table %s does not have column %s

What it means

TpcdsMetadata.getColumnMetadata looks up a column by name in a TPC-DS table's metadata and throws IllegalArgumentException when no column matches. It is a safeguard indicating the caller requested metadata for a column that does not exist in the named TPC-DS table.

Source

Thrown at presto-tpcds/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/tpcds/TpcdsMetadata.java:187

        ImmutableMap.Builder<String, ColumnHandle> builder = ImmutableMap.builder();
        for (ColumnMetadata columnMetadata : getTableMetadata(session, tableHandle).getColumns()) {
            builder.put(columnMetadata.getName(), new TpcdsColumnHandle(columnMetadata.getName(), columnMetadata.getType()));
        }
        return builder.build();
    }

    @Override
    public ColumnMetadata getColumnMetadata(ConnectorSession session, ConnectorTableHandle tableHandle, ColumnHandle columnHandle)
    {
        ConnectorTableMetadata tableMetadata = getTableMetadata(session, tableHandle);
        String columnName = ((TpcdsColumnHandle) columnHandle).getColumnName();

        for (ColumnMetadata column : tableMetadata.getColumns()) {
            if (column.getName().equals(columnName)) {
                return column;
            }
        }
        throw new IllegalArgumentException(format("Table %s does not have column %s", tableMetadata.getTable(), columnName));
    }

    @Override
    public Map<SchemaTableName, List<ColumnMetadata>> listTableColumns(ConnectorSession session, SchemaTablePrefix prefix)
    {
        ImmutableMap.Builder<SchemaTableName, List<ColumnMetadata>> tableColumns = ImmutableMap.builder();
        for (String schemaName : getSchemaNames(session, Optional.ofNullable(prefix.getSchemaName()))) {
            for (Table tpcdsTable : Table.getBaseTables()) {
                if (prefix.getTableName() == null || tpcdsTable.getName().equals(prefix.getTableName())) {
                    ConnectorTableMetadata tableMetadata = getTableMetadata(session, schemaName, tpcdsTable, useVarcharType);
                    tableColumns.put(new SchemaTableName(schemaName, tpcdsTable.getName()), tableMetadata.getColumns());
                }
            }
        }
        return tableColumns.build();
    }

    @Override

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

  1. Verify the column name spelling and case against the TPC-DS table definition
  2. Re-list columns with listTableColumns/getColumnFields instead of assuming names
  3. Obtain ColumnHandle values from the connector rather than constructing them manually
  4. Restart/rebuild the catalog if handles are stale after a version upgrade

Example fix

// before
ColumnHandle h = metadata.getColumnMetadata(session, table, "natin");
// after
ColumnHandle h = metadata.getColumnMetadata(session, table, "nation");
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

Set<String> cols = metadata.listTableColumns(session, prefix).get(tableName).stream()
    .map(ColumnMetadata::getName).collect(Collectors.toSet());
if (!cols.contains(columnName)) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unknown column " + columnName + " in " + tableName);

Try / catch

try {
    ColumnMetadata cm = metadata.getColumnMetadata(session, tableHandle, columnName);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Table ") && e.getMessage().contains("does not have column")) {
        // re-list columns and retry with corrected name
    } else { throw e; }
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling connector getColumnMetadata (via getColumnMetadata session API) with a columnName that does not exactly match any column of the given table handle, e.g. after a stale or hand-built ColumnHandle.

Common situations: Case-sensitive name mismatch ('col' vs 'Col'); using a column name from a different TPC-DS table; stale serialized table/column handles after connector upgrade.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d32319487cadf131. Report an issue: GitHub.