karatelabs/karate · error · RuntimeException

setXml() needs at least two arguments: name and xml

Error message

setXml() needs at least two arguments: name and xml

What it means

karate.setXml(name, xml) parses an XML string into a document node and assigns it to the named variable; an optional third argument adds a path/value operation. The library throws this error when fewer than two arguments are given, since both the variable name and the XML content are required.

Solutions

1. Pass both arguments: karate.setXml('myXml', '<root><a>1</a></root>').
2. If the XML is derived from another variable, coerce and verify it first: karate.setXml('myXml', String(xmlString)).
3. If assigning a non-XML value, use karate.set(name, value) instead.
4. Optionally pass a third argument for path-based updates: karate.setXml('myXml', '<x/>', '/x/a', '1').

Example fix

// before
karate.setXml('myXml')

// after
karate.setXml('myXml', '<root><item>value</item></root>')

// JS, before calling
if (typeof xmlString !== 'string' || xmlString.trim().length === 0) {
  throw new Error('setXml() requires a non-empty XML string');
}
karate.setXml('myXml', xmlString);

function isNonEmptyXml(s) { return typeof s === 'string' && s.trim().startsWith('<'); }

try {
  karate.setXml('myXml', xmlString);
} catch (e) {
  if (String(e.message).indexOf('setXml() needs at least two arguments') !== -1) {
    throw new Error('setXml() missing name or xml — xml resolved to: ' + xmlString);
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling karate.setXml(name) with no XML argument, or with none at all — commonly when the XML string comes from an undefined variable, or when confusing setXml with set and omitting the value.

Common situations: Building XML dynamically from a response where the extracted value is undefined; migrating karate.set calls to setXml without updating arity; templated XML that interpolated to empty/undefined.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• remove() needs two arguments: variable name and path
• prettyXml() needs one argument
• eval() needs one argument
• expect() needs at least one argument
• exec() needs at least one argument

AI-assisted analysis of karatelabs/karate@a22eb90246 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/20e5f49244872dec. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at karate-core/src/main/java/io/karatelabs/core/KarateJs.java:781

            Object var = engine.get(varName);
            if (var instanceof Node && path != null && path.startsWith("/")) {
                // XPath remove on XML
                Document doc = var instanceof Document ? (Document) var : ((Node) var).getOwnerDocument();
                Xml.removeByPath(doc, path);
            } else if ((var instanceof Map || var instanceof List) && path != null) {
                // Route through Json so nested paths (props.field3), JsonPath ($.props.field3)
                // and bracketed keys all resolve - mirroring the `remove` keyword. A bare
                // top-level key is normalized to a JsonPath by Json.prefix().
                Json.of(var).remove(path);
            }
            return null;
        };
    }

    private JavaInvokable setXml() {
        return args -> {
            if (args.length < 2) {
                throw new RuntimeException("setXml() needs at least two arguments: name and xml");
            }
            String name = args[0].toString();
            if (args.length == 2) {
                // Simple form: setXml('name', '<xml/>')
                String xml = args[1].toString();
                engine.put(name, Xml.toXmlDoc(xml));
            } else {
                // Path form: setXml('name', '/path', '<xml/>')
                String path = args[1].toString();
                String xml = args[2].toString();
                Object target = engine.get(name);
                if (target instanceof Node) {
                    Node doc = (Node) target;
                    if (doc.getNodeType() != Node.DOCUMENT_NODE) {
                        doc = doc.getOwnerDocument();
                    }
                    Xml.setByPath((org.w3c.dom.Document) doc, path, Xml.toXmlDoc(xml));
                }

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