No operator matches the given name and argument type(s). You might need to add explicit type casts. -- Netbeans, Postgresql 8.4 and Glassfish

Question

I am trying to edit a table in Postgresql using JPA in Glassfish using EclipseLink. When I insert an entity, it runs fine. But, when I try to edit or remove the same entity, it fails with the following error. Any idea?

Caused by: Exception [EclipseLink-4002] (Eclipse Persistence Services - 2.0.1.v20100213-r6600): org.eclipse.persistence.exceptions.DatabaseException
Internal Exception: org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: ERROR: operator does not exist: integer = character varying
  Hint: No operator matches the given name and argument type(s). You might need to add explicit type casts.
  Position: 38
Error Code: 0
        at org.eclipse.persistence.exceptions.DatabaseException.sqlException(DatabaseException.java:333)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.processExceptionForCommError(DatabaseAccessor.java:1422)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.executeDirectNoSelect(DatabaseAccessor.java:799)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.executeNoSelect(DatabaseAccessor.java:867)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.basicExecuteCall(DatabaseAccessor.java:587)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.executeCall(DatabaseAccessor.java:530)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.AbstractSession.executeCall(AbstractSession.java:914)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.queries.DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.executeCall(DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.java:205)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.queries.DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.executeCall(DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.java:191)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.queries.DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.deleteObject(DatasourceCallQueryMechanism.java:182)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.queries.StatementQueryMechanism.deleteObject(StatementQueryMechanism.java:101)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.DeleteObjectQuery.executeDatabaseQuery(DeleteObjectQuery.java:167)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.DatabaseQuery.execute(DatabaseQuery.java:675)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.DatabaseQuery.executeInUnitOfWork(DatabaseQuery.java:589)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.ObjectLevelModifyQuery.executeInUnitOfWorkObjectLevelModifyQuery(ObjectLevelModifyQuery.java:109)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.DeleteObjectQuery.executeInUnitOfWorkObjectLevelModifyQuery(DeleteObjectQuery.java:112)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.queries.ObjectLevelModifyQuery.executeInUnitOfWork(ObjectLevelModifyQuery.java:86)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.UnitOfWorkImpl.internalExecuteQuery(UnitOfWorkImpl.java:2857)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.AbstractSession.executeQuery(AbstractSession.java:1225)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.AbstractSession.executeQuery(AbstractSession.java:1207)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.AbstractSession.executeQuery(AbstractSession.java:1167)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.CommitManager.deleteAllObjects(CommitManager.java:297)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.CommitManager.deleteAllObjects(CommitManager.java:256)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.UnitOfWorkImpl.commitToDatabase(UnitOfWorkImpl.java:1406)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.RepeatableWriteUnitOfWork.commitToDatabase(RepeatableWriteUnitOfWork.java:547)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.UnitOfWorkImpl.commitToDatabaseWithChangeSet(UnitOfWorkImpl.java:1508)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.UnitOfWorkImpl.issueSQLbeforeCompletion(UnitOfWorkImpl.java:3128)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.sessions.RepeatableWriteUnitOfWork.issueSQLbeforeCompletion(RepeatableWriteUnitOfWork.java:268)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.transaction.AbstractSynchronizationListener.beforeCompletion(AbstractSynchronizationListener.java:157)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.transaction.JTASynchronizationListener.beforeCompletion(JTASynchronizationListener.java:68)
        at com.sun.enterprise.transaction.JavaEETransactionImpl.commit(JavaEETransactionImpl.java:412)
        ... 25 more
Caused by: org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: ERROR: operator does not exist: integer = character varying
  Hint: No operator matches the given name and argument type(s). You might need to add explicit type casts.
  Position: 38
        at org.postgresql.core.v3.QueryExecutorImpl.receiveErrorResponse(QueryExecutorImpl.java:2062)
        at org.postgresql.core.v3.QueryExecutorImpl.processResults(QueryExecutorImpl.java:1795)
        at org.postgresql.core.v3.QueryExecutorImpl.execute(QueryExecutorImpl.java:257)
        at org.postgresql.jdbc2.AbstractJdbc2Statement.execute(AbstractJdbc2Statement.java:479)
        at org.postgresql.jdbc2.AbstractJdbc2Statement.executeWithFlags(AbstractJdbc2Statement.java:367)
        at org.postgresql.jdbc2.AbstractJdbc2Statement.executeUpdate(AbstractJdbc2Statement.java:321)
        at com.sun.gjc.spi.base.PreparedStatementWrapper.executeUpdate(PreparedStatementWrapper.java:108)
        at org.eclipse.persistence.internal.databaseaccess.DatabaseAccessor.executeDirectNoSelect(DatabaseAccessor.java:792)
        ... 53 more
Java Result: 1

Answer 1

I had this issue, and solved. This was due to the WHERE clause contains String value instead of integer value.

Answer 2

This the main error:

ERROR: operator does not exist: integer = character varying

You code is trying to match an integer and a string, that's not going to work. Fix your code, get the query that is involved to see if you fixed it. See also the PostgreSQL log files.

A workaround (NOT A SOLUTION!) is to do some casting. Check this article.

Answer 3

Doesn't look like you got an answer but this problem can also creep up if you're passing null ID's into your JPA Predicate.

For instance.

If I did a query on Cats to get back a list. Which returns 3 results.

List catList;

I then iterate over that List of cats and store a foriegn key of cat perhaps leashTypeId in another list.

List<Integer> leashTypeIds= new ArrayList<>();

for(Cats c : catList){
    leashTypeIds.add(c.getLeashTypeId);
}

jpaController().findLeashes(leashTypeIds);

If any of the Cats in catList have a null leashTypeId it will throw this error when you try to query your DB.

(Just realized I am posting on a 5 year old thread, perhaps someone will find this useful)