pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · EvaluationException

ERROR_ARITHMETIC_VALUE

ERROR_ARITHMETIC_VALUE

Error message

ERROR_ARITHMETIC_VALUE (arithmetic error converting row value)

What it means

In resolveReference, the formula engine reads a row value and converts it to a Java primitive via getPrimitive(). If the ValueMeta conversion fails (KettleValueException), the step wraps it in an EvaluationException carrying ERROR_ARITHMETIC_VALUE, meaning the referenced field's value could not be arithmetically/type converted for formula evaluation. This is the generic 'value conversion failed' signal in the formula (libformula) engine.

Solutions

1. Inspect the referenced field's actual data at runtime; clean or coerce invalid values upstream (e.g. with a Calculator/Value Mapper or IF in the formula itself).
2. Verify the ValueMeta type of the field matches how the formula uses it; add an explicit conversion step before the Formula step.
3. Wrap formula operand usage defensively, e.g. IF(ISBLANK([field]);0;[field]) or use string-safe functions before numeric operations.
4. Check upstream steps for type changes after a version migration or step reconfiguration.

Example fix

// before (formula assumes numeric)
[field] * 2
// after (guard against non-numeric)
IF(ISBLANK([field]) OR ISNUMBER([field]) = FALSE; 0; [field] * 2)

// Before the Formula step, verify field type and data:
ValueMetaInterface vm = inputRowMeta.searchValueMeta(fieldName);
if (vm == null || !(vm.getType() == ValueMetaInterface.TYPE_NUMBER || vm.getType() == ValueMetaInterface.TYPE_INTEGER)) {
  throw new KettleException("Field " + fieldName + " is not numeric: " + vm);
}

boolean isNumeric(ValueMetaInterface vm) {
  return vm != null && (vm.isNumeric());
}

When it happens

Trigger: A formula references a field whose stored value cannot be converted to the primitive type the formula expects, and ValueMeta.getNativeObject/getPrimitive throws KettleValueException — e.g. reading a non-numeric string as Number, malformed Date, or binary value used in arithmetic.

Common situations: Formula step references a column containing 'N/A' or empty-but-not-null strings used in numeric expressions; upstream step changed a field's type (e.g. Integer to String); locale/date format mismatches when converting string values to dates; binary/large-object fields pulled into formulas.

Understand the failure class

Background: Type mismatch errors: IllegalArgumentException, TypeError and type guards across 150 open-source libraries — this error's family across 150 libraries.

Related errors

• : can't be converted to an Internet Address
• Error converting data while looking up value
• : I don't know how to convert a binary value to Internet…
• : I don't know how to convert a binary value to timestamp.
• : I don't know how to convert a boolean to a Internet…

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/35013662ddfe4ae3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/formula/RowForumulaContext.java:97

      ValueMetaInterface valueMeta;
      Integer idx = valueIndexMap.get( name );
      if ( idx != null ) {
        valueMeta = rowMeta.getValueMeta( idx.intValue() );
      } else {
        int index = rowMeta.indexOfValue( (String) name );
        if ( index < 0 ) {
          ErrorValue errorValue = new LibFormulaErrorValue( LibFormulaErrorValue.ERROR_INVALID_ARGUMENT );
          throw new EvaluationException( errorValue );
        }
        valueMeta = rowMeta.getValueMeta( index );
        idx = new Integer( index );
        valueIndexMap.put( (String) name, idx );
      }
      Object valueData = rowData[idx];
      try {
        return getPrimitive( valueMeta, valueData );
      } catch ( KettleValueException e ) {
        throw new EvaluationException( LibFormulaErrorValue.ERROR_ARITHMETIC_VALUE );
      }
    }
    return null;
  }

  public Configuration getConfiguration() {
    return formulaContext.getConfiguration();
  }

  public FunctionRegistry getFunctionRegistry() {
    return formulaContext.getFunctionRegistry();
  }

  public LocalizationContext getLocalizationContext() {
    return formulaContext.getLocalizationContext();
  }

  public OperatorFactory getOperatorFactory() {

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