Apache Spark SQL get_json_object java.lang.String cannot be cast to org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String - json

Question

I am trying to read a json stream from an MQTT broker in Apache Spark with structured streaming, read some properties of an incoming json and output them to the console. My code looks like that:
val spark = SparkSession
.builder()
.appName("BahirStructuredStreaming")
.master("local[*]")
.getOrCreate()
import spark.implicits._
val topic = "temp"
val brokerUrl = "tcp://localhost:1883"
val lines = spark.readStream
.format("org.apache.bahir.sql.streaming.mqtt.MQTTStreamSourceProvider")
.option("topic", topic).option("persistence", "memory")
.load(brokerUrl)
.toDF().withColumn("payload", $"payload".cast(StringType))
val jsonDF = lines.select(get_json_object($"payload", "$.eventDate").alias("eventDate"))
val query = jsonDF.writeStream
.format("console")
.start()
query.awaitTermination()
However, when the json arrives I get the following errors:
Exception in thread "main" org.apache.spark.sql.streaming.StreamingQueryException: Writing job aborted.
=== Streaming Query ===
Identifier: [id = 14d28475-d435-49be-a303-8e47e2f907e3, runId = b5bd28bb-b247-48a9-8a58-cb990edaf139]
Current Committed Offsets: {MQTTStreamSource[brokerUrl: tcp://localhost:1883, topic: temp clientId: paho7247541031496]: -1}
Current Available Offsets: {MQTTStreamSource[brokerUrl: tcp://localhost:1883, topic: temp clientId: paho7247541031496]: 0}
Current State: ACTIVE
Thread State: RUNNABLE
Logical Plan:
Project [get_json_object(payload#22, $.id) AS eventDate#27]
+- Project [id#10, topic#11, cast(payload#12 as string) AS payload#22, timestamp#13]
+- StreamingExecutionRelation MQTTStreamSource[brokerUrl: tcp://localhost:1883, topic: temp clientId: paho7247541031496], [id#10, topic#11, payload#12, timestamp#13]
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.StreamExecution.org$apache$spark$sql$execution$streaming$StreamExecution$$runStream(StreamExecution.scala:300)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.StreamExecution$$anon$1.run(StreamExecution.scala:189)
Caused by: org.apache.spark.SparkException: Writing job aborted.
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.doExecute(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:92)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.$anonfun$execute$1(SparkPlan.scala:131)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.$anonfun$executeQuery$1(SparkPlan.scala:155)
at org.apache.spark.rdd.RDDOperationScope$.withScope(RDDOperationScope.scala:151)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.executeQuery(SparkPlan.scala:152)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.execute(SparkPlan.scala:127)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.getByteArrayRdd(SparkPlan.scala:247)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan.executeCollect(SparkPlan.scala:296)
at org.apache.spark.sql.Dataset.collectFromPlan(Dataset.scala:3384)
at org.apache.spark.sql.Dataset.$anonfun$collect$1(Dataset.scala:2783)
at org.apache.spark.sql.Dataset.$anonfun$withAction$2(Dataset.scala:3365)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.$anonfun$withNewExecutionId$1(SQLExecution.scala:78)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.withSQLConfPropagated(SQLExecution.scala:125)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.withNewExecutionId(SQLExecution.scala:73)
at org.apache.spark.sql.Dataset.withAction(Dataset.scala:3365)
at org.apache.spark.sql.Dataset.collect(Dataset.scala:2783)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.$anonfun$runBatch$15(MicroBatchExecution.scala:537)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.$anonfun$withNewExecutionId$1(SQLExecution.scala:78)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.withSQLConfPropagated(SQLExecution.scala:125)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SQLExecution$.withNewExecutionId(SQLExecution.scala:73)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.$anonfun$runBatch$14(MicroBatchExecution.scala:533)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.ProgressReporter.reportTimeTaken(ProgressReporter.scala:351)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.ProgressReporter.reportTimeTaken$(ProgressReporter.scala:349)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.StreamExecution.reportTimeTaken(StreamExecution.scala:58)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.runBatch(MicroBatchExecution.scala:532)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.$anonfun$runActivatedStream$2(MicroBatchExecution.scala:198)
at scala.runtime.java8.JFunction0$mcV$sp.apply(JFunction0$mcV$sp.java:23)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.ProgressReporter.reportTimeTaken(ProgressReporter.scala:351)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.ProgressReporter.reportTimeTaken$(ProgressReporter.scala:349)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.StreamExecution.reportTimeTaken(StreamExecution.scala:58)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.$anonfun$runActivatedStream$1(MicroBatchExecution.scala:166)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.ProcessingTimeExecutor.execute(TriggerExecutor.scala:56)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.MicroBatchExecution.runActivatedStream(MicroBatchExecution.scala:160)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.streaming.StreamExecution.org$apache$spark$sql$execution$streaming$StreamExecution$$runStream(StreamExecution.scala:279)
... 1 more
Caused by: org.apache.spark.SparkException: Job aborted due to stage failure: Task 0 in stage 1.0 failed 1 times, most recent failure: Lost task 0.0 in stage 1.0 (TID 8, localhost, executor driver): java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.String cannot be cast to org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.BaseGenericInternalRow.getUTF8String(rows.scala:46)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.BaseGenericInternalRow.getUTF8String$(rows.scala:46)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.GenericInternalRow.getUTF8String(rows.scala:195)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.GeneratedClass$GeneratedIteratorForCodegenStage1.processNext(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.BufferedRowIterator.hasNext(BufferedRowIterator.java:43)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.WholeStageCodegenExec$$anon$1.hasNext(WholeStageCodegenExec.scala:619)
at scala.collection.Iterator$$anon$10.hasNext(Iterator.scala:460)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.DataWritingSparkTask$.$anonfun$run$2(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:117)
at org.apache.spark.util.Utils$.tryWithSafeFinallyAndFailureCallbacks(Utils.scala:1394)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.DataWritingSparkTask$.run(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:116)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.$anonfun$doExecute$2(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:67)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.ResultTask.runTask(ResultTask.scala:90)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.Task.run(Task.scala:121)
at org.apache.spark.executor.Executor$TaskRunner.$anonfun$run$3(Executor.scala:405)
at org.apache.spark.util.Utils$.tryWithSafeFinally(Utils.scala:1360)
at org.apache.spark.executor.Executor$TaskRunner.run(Executor.scala:408)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Driver stacktrace:
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.failJobAndIndependentStages(DAGScheduler.scala:1887)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.$anonfun$abortStage$2(DAGScheduler.scala:1875)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.$anonfun$abortStage$2$adapted(DAGScheduler.scala:1874)
at scala.collection.mutable.ResizableArray.foreach(ResizableArray.scala:62)
at scala.collection.mutable.ResizableArray.foreach$(ResizableArray.scala:55)
at scala.collection.mutable.ArrayBuffer.foreach(ArrayBuffer.scala:49)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.abortStage(DAGScheduler.scala:1874)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.$anonfun$handleTaskSetFailed$1(DAGScheduler.scala:926)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.$anonfun$handleTaskSetFailed$1$adapted(DAGScheduler.scala:926)
at scala.Option.foreach(Option.scala:407)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.handleTaskSetFailed(DAGScheduler.scala:926)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGSchedulerEventProcessLoop.doOnReceive(DAGScheduler.scala:2108)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGSchedulerEventProcessLoop.onReceive(DAGScheduler.scala:2057)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGSchedulerEventProcessLoop.onReceive(DAGScheduler.scala:2046)
at org.apache.spark.util.EventLoop$$anon$1.run(EventLoop.scala:49)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.DAGScheduler.runJob(DAGScheduler.scala:737)
at org.apache.spark.SparkContext.runJob(SparkContext.scala:2061)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.doExecute(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:64)
... 34 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.String cannot be cast to org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.BaseGenericInternalRow.getUTF8String(rows.scala:46)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.BaseGenericInternalRow.getUTF8String$(rows.scala:46)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.GenericInternalRow.getUTF8String(rows.scala:195)
at org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.GeneratedClass$GeneratedIteratorForCodegenStage1.processNext(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.BufferedRowIterator.hasNext(BufferedRowIterator.java:43)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.WholeStageCodegenExec$$anon$1.hasNext(WholeStageCodegenExec.scala:619)
at scala.collection.Iterator$$anon$10.hasNext(Iterator.scala:460)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.DataWritingSparkTask$.$anonfun$run$2(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:117)
at org.apache.spark.util.Utils$.tryWithSafeFinallyAndFailureCallbacks(Utils.scala:1394)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.DataWritingSparkTask$.run(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:116)
at org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.v2.WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.$anonfun$doExecute$2(WriteToDataSourceV2Exec.scala:67)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.ResultTask.runTask(ResultTask.scala:90)
at org.apache.spark.scheduler.Task.run(Task.scala:121)
at org.apache.spark.executor.Executor$TaskRunner.$anonfun$run$3(Executor.scala:405)
at org.apache.spark.util.Utils$.tryWithSafeFinally(Utils.scala:1360)
at org.apache.spark.executor.Executor$TaskRunner.run(Executor.scala:408)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
I am sending the JSON records using mosquitto broker and they look like this:
mosquitto_pub -m '{"eventDate": "2020-11-11T15:17:00.000+0200"}' -t "temp"

Answer 1

It seems that every strings coming from Bahir stream source provider raise this error. For instance the following code also raises this error :
spark.readStream
.format("org.apache.bahir.sql.streaming.mqtt.MQTTStreamSourceProvider")
.option("topic", topic).option("persistence", "memory")
.load(brokerUrl)
.select("topic")
.writeStream
.format("console")
.start()
It looks like Spark does not recognize strings coming from Bahir, maybe some kind of weird string class version issue. I've tried the following actions to make the code work:
setup java version to 8
upgrade spark version from 2.4.0 to 2.4.7
setup scala version to 2.11.12
use decode function with all possible encoding combinations instead of .cast(StringType) to transform column "payload" to String
use substring function on column "payload" to recreate a compatible String.
Finally, I got working code by recreating the string using constructor and dataset:
val lines = spark.readStream
.format("org.apache.bahir.sql.streaming.mqtt.MQTTStreamSourceProvider")
.option("topic", topic).option("persistence", "memory")
.load(brokerUrl)
.select("payload")
.as[Array[Byte]]
.map(payload => new String(payload))
.toDF("payload")
This solution is rather ugly but at least it works.
I believe that there is nothing wrong with the code provided in the question and I suspect a bug on Bahir or Spark side preventing Spark to handle String from Bahir source.