risingwavelabs/risingwave · error · iceberg::Error (ErrorKind::Unexpected)

Failed to list iceberg tables.

Error message

Failed to list iceberg  tables.

What it means

`JniCatalog::list_tables` asks the Java catalog (via JNI) for all table identifiers in a namespace. Any failure of the call or response deserialization is wrapped as an iceberg `Unexpected` error with the message 'Failed to list iceberg tables.' (note the double space in the message) and the original error attached as source.

Source

Thrown at src/connector/src/connector_common/iceberg/jni_catalog.rs:267

                let namespace_jstr = env.new_string(&namespace_str).unwrap();

                let result_json =
                    call_method!(env, inner.java_catalog.as_obj(), {String listTables(String)},
                    &namespace_jstr)
                    .with_context(|| {
                        format!("Failed to list iceberg tables in namespace: {}", namespace)
                    })?;

                let rust_json_str = jobj_to_str(env, result_json)?;

                let resp: ListTablesResponse = serde_json::from_str(&rust_json_str)?;

                Ok(resp.identifiers)
            })
        })
        .await
        .map_err(|e| {
            iceberg::Error::new(
                iceberg::ErrorKind::Unexpected,
                "Failed to list iceberg  tables.",
            )
            .with_source(e)
        })
    }

    async fn update_namespace(
        &self,
        _namespace: &NamespaceIdent,
        _properties: HashMap<String, String>,
    ) -> iceberg::Result<()> {
        todo!()
    }

    /// Create a new table inside the namespace.
    async fn create_table(
        &self,

View on GitHub (pinned to 6469eb736d)

Solutions

1. Check the wrapped source error for the underlying Java exception.
2. Verify the namespace exists and you have permission to list its tables.
3. Confirm catalog credentials/endpoint configuration.
4. Retry once the catalog backend is reachable.

// Confirm the namespace exists before listing its tables
if !catalog.namespace_exists(&ns).await? {
    return Err(format!("namespace {:?} does not exist", ns));
}

match catalog.list_tables(&ns).await {
    Err(e) => {
        tracing::error!(source = ?e.source(), "list_tables failed; check namespace and permissions");
        Err(e)
    }
    Ok(tables) => Ok(tables),
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling list_tables on a JNI-backed catalog when the JVM call fails, the Java catalog raises an exception (unknown namespace, permissions), or the returned JSON cannot be parsed.

Common situations: Listing tables in a namespace that does not exist; Glue/Hive permission errors; catalog service outage; classpath/JNI setup problems.

Related errors

• Failed to list iceberg namespaces.
• Failed to create namespace.
• Failed to check namespace exists.
• Failed to create iceberg table.
• Caught Java Exception: {}

AI-assisted analysis of risingwavelabs/risingwave@6469eb736d (2026-09-11). Data as JSON: /api/errors/681e4a1399549970. Report an issue: GitHub.