prestodb/presto · error · IllegalStateException

Unexpected varchar value in numeric enum signature

Error message

Unexpected varchar value in numeric enum signature

What it means

parseEnumMap rejects a double-quoted (varchar) enum value encountered while the signature was declared as a numeric (BIGINT) enum. Enum signatures are either all-bigint-keyed or all-varchar-valued; mixing is invalid, so a '"' in the value position of a numeric enum is a parse failure.

Source

Thrown at presto-common/src/main/java/com/facebook/presto/common/type/TypeSignature.java:449

        Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<>();

        for (int i = openBracketIndex + 1; i < signature.length(); i++) {
            char c = signature.charAt(i);
            if (state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY_ESCAPE) {
                state = EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY;
                keyOrValue.append(c);
            }
            if (state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE_ESCAPE) {
                state = EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE;
                keyOrValue.append(c);
            }
            else if (c == '"') {
                if (state == EnumMapParsingState.EXPECT_KEY) {
                    state = EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY;
                }
                else if (state == EnumMapParsingState.EXPECT_VALUE) {
                    if (isBigintEnum) {
                        throw new IllegalStateException("Unexpected varchar value in numeric enum signature");
                    }
                    state = EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE;
                }
                else if ((state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY || state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE)
                        && i + 1 < signature.length() && signature.charAt(i + 1) == '"') {
                    state = state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY ? EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY_ESCAPE : EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE_ESCAPE;
                }
                else if (state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY) {
                    state = EnumMapParsingState.EXPECT_COLON;
                }
                else if (state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE) {
                    state = EnumMapParsingState.EXPECT_COMMA_OR_CLOSING_BRACKET;
                }
                else {
                    throw new IllegalStateException("Cannot parse enum signature");
                }
            }
            else if (state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_KEY || state == EnumMapParsingState.IN_STR_VALUE) {

View on GitHub (pinned to 55bb57d202)

Solutions

1. Remove the quotes so numeric values are bare: 'ENUM<bigint>{1: one, 2: two}'.
2. Ensure the enum base type matches the value style — use ENUM<varchar> if values are quoted strings.
3. Regenerate the signature from TypeSignatureSerialization so the format matches the declared base type.

Example fix

// before
"ENUM<bigint>{1: \"one\"}"
// after
"ENUM<bigint>{1: one}"

// bigint enums must not have quoted values
boolean isBigintEnum = signature.contains("ENUM<bigint>");
int colon = signature.indexOf(':');
if (isBigintEnum && colon != -1 && signature.charAt(signature.indexOf(':', colon + 1) + 1) == '"') {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("quoted value in numeric enum: " + signature);
}

static boolean valuesMatchEnumBase(String sig) {
    boolean bigint = sig.contains("ENUM<bigint>");
    boolean hasQuotedValue = sig.contains(": \\"") || sig.contains(":\"\"");
    return bigint != hasQuotedValue || !bigint;
}

try {
    TypeSignature.parseTypeSignature(signature);
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("varchar value in numeric enum")) {
        // strip quotes from values or re-map to ENUM<varchar>
    } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Parsing a signature like 'ENUM<bigint>{1: "one"}' — i.e. a numeric enum whose value is quoted — via TypeSignature.parseTypeSignature / enumMapParsingData.

Common situations: Hand-written enum type signatures mixing value styles, code generators that emit quoted values regardless of base type, corrupted or edited persisted signatures.

Related errors

• Cannot parse enum signature
• Unexpected numeric value in varchar enum signature
• Bad type signature: '%s'
• Cannot parse distinct type definition(%s), expected '{' afte
• Cannot parse distinct type definition(%s), expected ',' afte

AI-assisted analysis of prestodb/presto@55bb57d202 (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/58fc9210944ccfc2. Report an issue: GitHub.