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Invalid translation for constant negative TimeSpan for SQL Server #39222
Description
Bug description
When the query contains a constant negative TimeSpan, the translated SQL does not contain the negative sign.
This is probably because SQL Server time column cannot contain negative values.
This will result in the query executing without error and returning a wrong result.
This happens only for constants as parameters will cause an OverflowException.
Your code
context.Set<BasicTypesEntity>()
.Where(b => b.TimeSpan > TimeSpan.FromHours(-1))
.ToList()SELECT [b].[TimeSpan]
FROM [BasicTypesEntities] AS [b]
WHERE [b].[TimeSpan] > '01:00:00'Stack traces
Verbose output
EF Core version
main 2b99285
Database provider
Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
Target framework
No response
Operating system
No response
IDE
No response
Activity
Saad-elnagar commentedon Oct 13, 2026
I looked into this. The constant is generated by
SqlServerTimeSpanTypeMapping.GenerateNonNullSqlLiteral, which uses'{0:hh\:mm\:ss}'(and theFvariants). That custom format only prints the hours component, so the negative sign is lost (TimeSpan.FromHours(-1)becomes'01:00:00'). It likely drops the days component for values >= 24h as well, though I haven't verified that.Since the
timetype can't represent negative values or values >= 24h, and parameters already throw anOverflowException, I'd suggest making the literal path consistent: throw a clear exception fromGenerateNonNullSqlLiteralwhen the value is outside [0, 24h), instead of silently generating a wrong literal. I'd add cases for this inSqlServerTypeMappingTest.Would the team be OK with that behavior, or would you prefer a different approach (e.g. translating such comparisons differently)? I'm happy to work on a PR if this is available.
AndriySvyryd commentedon Oct 21, 2026
@Saad-elnagar Sounds good
Throw for out-of-range SQL Server TimeSpan literals (#39364)