pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

ChangeFileEncodingMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo

ChangeFileEncodingMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo

Error message

ChangeFileEncodingMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo

What it means

ChangeFileEncodingMeta.readRep() wraps repository reads of the step's attributes in a try/catch and rethrows as KettleException with this message when loading the step's metadata from a Pentaho Repository database. Any repository/storage exception while reading step attributes produces this error.

Solutions

Check repository database connectivity and credentials.
Verify the repository schema version matches the Pentaho version (run the upgrade scripts).
Re-open the transformation; if the step is corrupt, delete and recreate the step.
Inspect the chained cause exception for the concrete SQL error.

Example fix

// before: loading with stale connection
TransMeta tm = new TransMeta(rep, "my transform");
// after: verify connectivity first
if ( !rep.isConnected() ) { rep.connect(); }
TransMeta tm = new TransMeta(rep, "my transform");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Verify repository connectivity before loading
if ( !rep.test() ) { throw new IllegalStateException( "Repository unreachable" ); }

Try / catch

try {
  TransMeta tm = new TransMeta( rep, "my transform", null );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  if ( e.getMessage().contains( "UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo" ) ) {
    log.error( "Repository read failed for step: {}", e.getCause(), e );
  } else { throw e; }
}

Prevention

Run repository schema upgrade scripts after Pentaho version upgrades.
Monitor repository database health before scheduled runs.
Keep local .ktr backups of repository transformations.

When it happens

Trigger: In readRep: rep.getStepAttributeString/getStepAttributeBoolean calls throw — database connectivity loss, repository schema mismatch, or corrupt r_step_attribute rows for this step.

Common situations: Repository database down or migrated mid-load; upgrading Pentaho against an older repository schema; corrupted attribute rows after a failed save.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9abf7f7f6319fbf2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/core/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/changefileencoding/ChangeFileEncodingMeta.java:210

      throw new KettleXMLException(
          BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "ChangeFileEncodingMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfo" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void readRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_step, List<DatabaseMeta> databases )
    throws KettleException {
    try {
      filenamefield = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "filenamefield" );
      targetfilenamefield = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "targetfilenamefield" );
      sourceencoding = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "sourceencoding" );
      targetencoding = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "targetencoding" );

      addsourceresultfilenames = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "addsourceresultfilenames" );
      addtargetresultfilenames = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "addtargetresultfilenames" );
      createparentfolder = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "createparentfolder" );

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException(
          BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "ChangeFileEncodingMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_transformation, ObjectId id_step )
    throws KettleException {
    try {
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "filenamefield", filenamefield );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "targetfilenamefield", targetfilenamefield );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "sourceencoding", sourceencoding );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "targetencoding", targetencoding );

      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "addsourceresultfilenames", addsourceresultfilenames );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "addtargetresultfilenames", addtargetresultfilenames );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "createparentfolder", createparentfolder );

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException(

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