pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleDatabaseException

Error getting views from schema []

Error message

Error getting views from schema []

What it means

Thrown when the JDBC DatabaseMetaData.getTables(...) call used to list views fails with a SQLException while iterating or fetching. Kettle wraps it in a KettleDatabaseException naming the schema being read. It means the database rejected the metadata query for views in that schema.

Solutions

1. Verify the schema name case matches the database convention (Oracle: uppercase, PostgreSQL: lowercase) and pass null for no schema instead of "".
2. Check the DB user has privileges to query the schema's views (e.g. Oracle dictionary access).
3. Try null instead of empty-string for catalog/schema arguments to let the driver use defaults.
4. Capture and inspect the chained SQLException (getCause) to see the driver's actual error and fix accordingly.

Example fix

// before
db.getViews(false, "myschema"); // wrong case on Oracle

// after
db.getViews(false, "MYSCHEMA"); // correct case for Oracle metadata calls

if (schema != null && schema.isEmpty()) schema = null; // let driver use defaults
// ensure case matches DB convention: Oracle -> schema.toUpperCase(), PostgreSQL -> toLowerCase()

boolean schemaUsable(String schema, Database db) {
  return schema == null || !schema.trim().isEmpty();
}

try {
  views = db.getViews(false, schema);
} catch (KettleDatabaseException e) {
  throw new RuntimeException("Failed listing views in schema '" + schema + "': " + e.getCause(), e);
}

When it happens

Trigger: Database.getViews(...) / getTableMap-style call where getDatabaseMetaData().getTables(catalog, schema, "VIEW", null) throws during next() — bad schema name pattern, unsupported catalog/schema argument, or metadata query failure.

Common situations: Schema name with wrong case on case-sensitive databases (Oracle uppercase, PostgreSQL lowercase); passing a catalog value the driver doesn't accept; insufficient privileges to see views in the schema; driver quirks with null vs empty-string schema argument.

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

• Error closing resultset after getting catalogs!
• Error closing resultset after getting schemas!
• Error closing resultset after getting synonyms from schema…
• Error closing resultset after getting views from schema []
• Error getting catalogs!

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3253f099e700780a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/core/database/Database.java:4380

          if ( log.isDebug() ) {
            log.logDebug( "Error getting views for field TABLE_SCHEM (ignored): " + e.toString() );
          }
        }

        if ( Utils.isEmpty( schema ) ) {
          schema = cat;
        }

        String table = allviews.getString( TABLES_META_DATA_TABLE_NAME );

        if ( log.isRowLevel() ) {
          log.logRowlevel( toString(), "got view from meta-data: "
            + databaseMeta.getQuotedSchemaTableCombination( schema, table ) );
        }
        multimapPut( schema, table, viewMap );
      }
    } catch ( SQLException e ) {
      throw new KettleDatabaseException( "Error getting views from schema [" + schemaname + "]", e );
    }

    if ( log.isDetailed() ) {
      log.logDetailed( "read :" + multimapSize( viewMap ) + " views from db meta-data." );
    }

    return viewMap;
  }

  public String[] getSynonyms() throws KettleDatabaseException {
    return getSynonyms( false );
  }

  public String[] getSynonyms( boolean includeSchema ) throws KettleDatabaseException {
    return getSynonyms( null, includeSchema );
  }

  public String[] getSynonyms( String schemanamein, boolean includeSchema ) throws KettleDatabaseException {

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)