pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

AddXML.Exception.FieldNotFound (localized message with…

Error message

AddXML.Exception.FieldNotFound (localized message with field name)

What it means

The AddXML step looks up each configured output field's index in the incoming row metadata; if a field name is not present in the input stream (indexOfValue < 0) it throws KettleException with the localized message AddXML.Exception.FieldNotFound parameterized with the field name. The step cannot build XML from fields that never arrive.

Solutions

1. Update the AddXML field list to match the actual incoming field names
2. Restore the field in the upstream step
3. Re-run 'Get Fields' in the step dialog to refresh the mapping
4. Remove stale entries for fields no longer produced

Example fix

// before: field renamed upstream but AddXML still references old name
new XMLField( "amount_old", ... );
// after: reference the renamed field
new XMLField( "amount", ... );

for ( XMLField f : meta.getOutputFields() ) {
  if ( inputRowMeta.indexOfValue( f.getFieldName() ) < 0 ) {
    throw new IllegalStateException( "Field not in input stream: " + f.getFieldName() );
  }
}

try {
  step.processRow( meta, data );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  logError( "AddXML configuration error: " + e.getMessage(), e );
  stopAll();
  setErrors( 1 );
}

When it happens

Trigger: processRow() first-row initialization: meta.getOutputFields()[i].getFieldName() is not found in getInputRowMeta().

Common situations: Upstream step renamed or removed the field; field arrives only on some rows' metadata; copy/paste of step config between transformations with different layouts; variable-driven field name that doesn't resolve.

Related errors

• Couldn't find field ' ' in row!
• Field [ ] is required and couldn't be found!
• A deadlock was detected between steps
• AbortMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorInReadingStepInfoFromRepo…
• AggregateRowsMeta.Exception.UnableToLoadStepInfo

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0623d67b2400f8ea. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/xml/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/addxml/AddXML.java:94

      setOutputDone();
      return false;
    }

    if ( first ) {
      first = false;

      data.outputRowMeta = getInputRowMeta().clone();
      meta.getFields( getTransMeta().getBowl(), data.outputRowMeta, getStepname(), null, null, this, repository,
                      metaStore );

      // Cache the field name indexes
      //
      data.fieldIndexes = new int[meta.getOutputFields().length];
      for ( int i = 0; i < data.fieldIndexes.length; i++ ) {
        String fieldsName = meta.getOutputFields()[i].getFieldName();
        data.fieldIndexes[i] = getInputRowMeta().indexOfValue( fieldsName );
        if ( data.fieldIndexes[i] < 0 ) {
          throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "AddXML.Exception.FieldNotFound", fieldsName ) );
        }
      }
    }

    Document xmldoc = getDomImplentation().createDocument( null, meta.getRootNode(), null );
    Element root = xmldoc.getDocumentElement();
    for ( int i = 0; i < meta.getOutputFields().length; i++ ) {
      XMLField outputField = meta.getOutputFields()[i];
      String fieldname = outputField.getFieldName();

      ValueMetaInterface v = getInputRowMeta().getValueMeta( data.fieldIndexes[i] );
      Object valueData = r[data.fieldIndexes[i]];

      if ( !meta.isOmitNullValues() || !v.isNull( valueData ) ) {
        String value = formatField( v, valueData, outputField );

        String element = outputField.getElementName();
        if ( element == null || element.length() == 0 ) {

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