Troubleshoot InfluxQL errors
Learn how to troubleshoot and fix common InfluxQL errors.
Disclaimer: This document does not contain an exhaustive list of all possible InfluxQL errors.
- error: database name required
- error parsing query: found …, expected identifier at …
- error parsing query: mixing aggregate and non-aggregate queries is not supported
- invalid operation: time and *influxql.VarRef are not compatible
error: database name required
error: database name required
Cause
The database name required
error occurs when certain
SHOW
queries
do not specify a database
in the query or with the query request.
For example, the following SHOW
query doesn’t specify the database and assumes
the db
is not specified in the /query
API request:
SHOW MEASUREMENTS
Solution
To resolve this error, specify a database with your query request by doing one of the following:
-
Include an
ON
clause with theSHOW
statement that specifies the database to query:SHOW MEASUREMENTS ON
DATABASE_NAME -
If using the InfluxDB v1 query API, Include the
db
query parameter in your request:curl --get https://cloud2.influxdata.com/query \ --header "Authorization: Bearer
DATABASE_TOKEN" \ --data-urlencode "db=DATABASE_NAME" \ --data-urlencode "q=SHOW MEASUREMENTS"
Related:
InfluxQL SHOW
statements,
Explore your schema with InfluxQL
error parsing query: found …, expected identifier at …
error parsing query: found EXAMPLE, expected identifier at line 1, char 14
Causes
This error occurs when InfluxDB anticipates an identifier in a query but doesn’t find it. Identifiers are tokens that refer to database names, retention policy names, measurement names, field keys, and tag keys.
This error is generally caused by one of the following:
- A required identifier is missing
- A string literal is used instead of an identifier
- An InfluxQL keyword is used as an unquoted identifier
A required identifier is missing
Some InfluxQL statements and clauses require identifiers to identify databases,
measurements, tags, or fields. If the statement is missing a required identifier,
the query returns the expected identifier
error.
For example, the following query omits the measurement name from the
FROM
clause:
SELECT * FROM WHERE color = 'blue'
Solution
Update the query to include the expected identifier in the FROM
clause that
identifies the measurement to query:
SELECT * FROM measurement_name WHERE color = 'blue'
A string literal is used instead of an identifier
In InfluxQL, string literals are wrapped in single quotes (''
) while character
sequences wrapped in double quotes (""
) are parsed as identifiers. If you use
single quotes to wrap an identifier, the identifier is parsed as a string
literal and returns the expected identifier
error.
For example, the following query wraps the measurement name in single quotes:
SELECT * FROM 'measurement-name' WHERE color = 'blue'
Results in the following error:
error parsing query: found measurement-name, expected identifier at line 1, char 14
Solution
Update single-quoted identifiers to use double quotes so they are parsed as identifiers and not as string literals.
SELECT * FROM "measurement-name" WHERE color = 'blue'
An InfluxQL keyword is used as an unquoted identifier
InfluxQL keyword
are character sequences reserved for specific functionality in the InfluxQL syntax.
It is possible to use a keyword as an identifier, but the identifier must be
wrapped in double quotes (""
).
While wrapping identifiers that are InfluxQL keywords in double quotes is an acceptable workaround, for simplicity, you should avoid using InfluxQL keywords as identifiers.
SELECT duration FROM runs
Returns the following error:
error parsing query: found DURATION, expected identifier, string, number, bool at line 1, char 8
Solution
Double quote InfluxQL keywords when used as identifiers:
SELECT "duration" FROM runs
Related: InfluxQL keywords, Query Language Documentation
error parsing query: mixing aggregate and non-aggregate queries is not supported
error parsing query: mixing aggregate and non-aggregate queries is not supported
Cause
The mixing aggregate and non-aggregate
error occurs when a SELECT
statement
includes both an aggregate function
and a standalone field key or
tag key.
Aggregate functions return a single calculated value per group and column and there is no obvious single value to return for any un-aggregated fields or tags.
For example, the following example queries two fields from the home
measurement–temp
and hum
. However, it only applies the aggregate function,
MEAN
to the temp
field.
SELECT MEAN(temp), hum FROM home
Solution
To fix this error, apply an aggregate or selector function to each of the queried fields:
SELECT MEAN(temp), MAX(hum) FROM home
Related: InfluxQL functions, Aggregate data with InfluxQL
invalid operation: time and *influxql.VarRef are not compatible
invalid operation: time and *influxql.VarRef are not compatible
Cause
The time and \*influxql.VarRef are not compatible
error occurs when
date-time strings are double-quoted in a query.
Date-time strings should be formatted as string literals and wrapped in single quotes (''
).
For example:
Returns the following error:
invalid operation: time and *influxql.VarRef are not compatible
Solution
To fix the error, wrap RFC3339 timestamps in single quotes rather than double quotes.
Related:
Query data within time boundaries,
WHERE
clause–Time ranges,
InfluxQL time syntax
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