pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleStepException

e

Error message

e

What it means

At the end of getFields(), any KettleException not already handled (e.g. from row.addValueMeta / clone operations) is wrapped in a new KettleStepException whose message is just the cause's toString ('e'). It signals the step failed while computing its output row metadata.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause message to find the failing field/conversion.
2. Fix the value type / length / precision settings for the script's output fields.
3. Remove or repair the offending field entry in the step config.
4. Validate the transformation in Spoon to catch metadata issues earlier.

try { step.getFields(...); } catch (KettleStepException e) {
  Throwable cause = e.getCause(); // inspect cause for the real KettleException
  logError('getFields failed: ' + cause, e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: getFields() throws a generic KettleException during value-type conversion or adding value metadata for one of the script's output/replace fields.

Common situations: Invalid type conversions configured in the step (e.g. converting a field to an incompatible type), null value metadata, or corrupted step metadata loaded from XML.

Understand the failure class

Background: Schema validation failed / invalid input schema: payload rejected because its shape doesn't match the expected schema — this error's family across 28 libraries.

Related errors

• e (no own message; error building CSV input fields)
• ScriptValuesMetaMod.Exception.FieldToReplaceNotFound
• AbsSecurityManager.ERROR_0004_UNABLE_TO_APPLY_LOGICAL_ROLES_TO_RUNTIME_ROLE
• AnalyticQueryMeta.Exception.SubjectFieldNotFound
• BaseStep.SafeMode.Exception.DoubleFieldnames

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0f3555adab2f32ba. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesMetaMod.java:442

            v = ValueMetaFactory.cloneValueMeta( source, type[i] );
            row.setValueMeta( valueIndex, v );
          } else {
            if ( !Utils.isEmpty( rename[i] ) ) {
              v = ValueMetaFactory.createValueMeta( rename[i], type[i] );
            } else {
              v = ValueMetaFactory.createValueMeta( fieldname[i], type[i] );
            }
          }
          v.setLength( length[i] );
          v.setPrecision( precision[i] );
          v.setOrigin( originStepname );
          if ( !replace[i] ) {
            row.addValueMeta( v );
          }
        }
      }
    } catch ( KettleException e ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( e );
    }
  }

  public String getXML() {
    StringBuilder retval = new StringBuilder( 300 );

    retval.append( "    " ).append( XMLHandler.addTagValue( "compatible", compatible ) );
    retval.append( "    " ).append( XMLHandler.addTagValue( "optimizationLevel", optimizationLevel ) );

    retval.append( "    <jsScripts>" );
    for ( int i = 0; i < jsScripts.length; i++ ) {
      retval.append( "      <jsScript>" );
      retval
        .append( "        " ).append( XMLHandler.addTagValue( JSSCRIPT_TAG_TYPE, jsScripts[i].getScriptType() ) );
      retval
        .append( "        " ).append( XMLHandler.addTagValue( JSSCRIPT_TAG_NAME, jsScripts[i].getScriptName() ) );
      retval.append( "        " ).append( XMLHandler.addTagValue( JSSCRIPT_TAG_SCRIPT, jsScripts[i].getScript() ) );
      retval.append( "      </jsScript>" );

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