I am trying to load a complex JSON file (multiple different data types, nested objects/arrays etc) from my local, read them in as a source using the Table API File System Connector, convert them into DataStream, and then do some action afterwards (not shown here for brevity).
The conversion gives me a DataStream of type DataStream[Row], which I need to convert to DataStream[RowData] (for sink purposes, won't go into details here). Thankfully, there's a RowRowConverter utility that helps to do this mapping. It works when I tried a completely flat JSON, but when I introduced Arrays and Maps within the JSON, it no longer works.
Here is the exception that was thrown - a null pointer exception:
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.ArrayObjectArrayConverter.allocateWriter(ArrayObjectArrayConverter.java:140)
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.ArrayObjectArrayConverter.toBinaryArrayData(ArrayObjectArrayConverter.java:114)
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.ArrayObjectArrayConverter.toInternal(ArrayObjectArrayConverter.java:93)
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.ArrayObjectArrayConverter.toInternal(ArrayObjectArrayConverter.java:40)
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.DataStructureConverter.toInternalOrNull(DataStructureConverter.java:61)
at org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.RowRowConverter.toInternal(RowRowConverter.java:75)
at flink.ReadJsonNestedData$.$anonfun$main$2(ReadJsonNestedData.scala:48)
Interestingly, when I setup my breakpoints and debugger this is what I discovered: RowRowConverter::toInternal, the first time it was called works, will go all the way down to ArrayObjectArrayConverter::allocateWriter()
However, for some strange reason, RowRowConverter::toInternal runs twice, and if I continue stepping through eventually it will come back here, which is where the null pointer exception happens.
Example of the JSON (simplified with only a single nested for brevity). I placed it in my /src/main/resources folder
{"discount":[670237.997082,634079.372133,303534.821218]}
import org.apache.flink.streaming.api.environment.StreamExecutionEnvironment
import org.apache.flink.table.api.DataTypes
import org.apache.flink.table.api.bridge.java.StreamTableEnvironment
import org.apache.flink.table.data.conversion.RowRowConverter
import org.apache.flink.table.types.FieldsDataType
import org.apache.flink.table.types.logical.RowType
import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
object ReadJsonNestedData {
def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
// setup
val jsonResource = getClass.getResource("/NESTED.json")
val jsonFilePath = jsonResource.getPath
val tableName = "orders"
val readJSONTable =
s"""
| CREATE TABLE $tableName (
| `discount` ARRAY<DECIMAL(12, 6)>
| )WITH (
| 'connector' = 'filesystem',
| 'path' = '$jsonFilePath',
| 'format' = 'json'
|)""".stripMargin
val colFields = Array(
"discount"
)
val defaultDataTypes = Array(
DataTypes.ARRAY(DataTypes.DECIMAL(12, 6))
)
val rowType = RowType.of(defaultDataTypes.map(_.getLogicalType), colFields)
val defaultDataTypesAsList = defaultDataTypes.toList.asJava
val dataType = new FieldsDataType(rowType, defaultDataTypesAsList)
val rowConverter = RowRowConverter.create(dataType)
// Job
val env = StreamExecutionEnvironment.getExecutionEnvironment()
val tableEnv = StreamTableEnvironment.create(env)
tableEnv.executeSql(readJSONTable)
val ordersTable = tableEnv.from(tableName)
val dataStream = tableEnv
.toDataStream(ordersTable)
.map(row => rowConverter.toInternal(row))
dataStream.print()
env.execute()
}
}
I would hence like to know:
- Why
RowRowConverteris not working and how I can remedy it - Why
RowRowConverter::toInternalis running twice for the sameRow.. which may be the cause of thatNullPointerException - If my method of instantiating and using the
RowRowConverteris correct based on my code above.
Thank you!
Environment:
- IntelliJ 2021.3.2 (Ultimate)
- AdoptOpenJDK
1.8 - Scala:
2.12.15 - Flink:
1.13.5 - Flink Libraries Used (for this example):
flink-table-api-java-bridgeflink-table-planner-blinkflink-clientsflink-json

