pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleObjectExistsException

Failed to save object to repository. Object [name] already…

Error message

Failed to save object to repository. Object [name] already exists.

What it means

savePartitionSchema throws KettleObjectExistsException when a partition schema with the same name already exists in the repository and overwrite=false. The delegate refuses to silently clobber the existing object; callers must explicitly opt into overwriting.

Solutions

1. Pass overwrite=true to replace the existing partition schema
2. Rename the partition schema to a unique name before saving
3. Check the existing schema first via getPartitionSchemaID and merge changes instead of duplicating
4. Catch KettleObjectExistsException and surface a clear UI message to the user

Example fix

// before
ObjectId id = delegate.savePartitionSchema(schema, false);
// after
ObjectId id;
try {
  id = delegate.savePartitionSchema(schema, false);
} catch (KettleObjectExistsException e) {
  id = delegate.savePartitionSchema(schema, true); // intentional overwrite
}

ObjectId existing = delegate.getPartitionSchemaID(schema.getName());
boolean willCollide = existing != null && !existing.equals(schema.getObjectId());

try { delegate.savePartitionSchema(schema, false); } catch (KettleObjectExistsException e) { /* prompt user or pass overwrite=true */ }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling savePartitionSchema(partitionSchema, overwrite=false) where getPartitionSchemaID(name) finds an existing R_PARTITION_SCHEMA row with the same name that isn't the same object.

Common situations: Importing transformations that define a partition schema name that already exists in the repository; two teams independently creating identically named schemas; re-running an import without the overwrite flag.

Understand the failure class

Background: "already exists" / EEXIST / FileAlreadyExistsException: what the 'file already exists' error means and how to fix it — this error's family across 37 libraries.

Related errors

• Failed to create object in repository. Object
• Failed to create object in repository. Object
• Failed to save object to repository. Object
• Can not create element type with id…
• Namespace with name ''+namespace+'' already exists

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/aa362d55b21e2fa4. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/kdr/delegates/KettleDatabaseRepositoryPartitionSchemaDelegate.java:93

      partitionSchema.setObjectId( getPartitionSchemaID( partitionSchema.getName() ) );
    }

    if ( partitionSchema.getObjectId() == null ) {
      // New Slave Server
      partitionSchema.setObjectId( insertPartitionSchema( partitionSchema ) );
    } else {
      ObjectId existingPartitionSchemaId = partitionSchema.getObjectId();

      // If we received a partitionSchemaId and it is different from the partition schema we are working with...
      if ( existingPartitionSchemaId != null && !partitionSchema.getObjectId().equals( existingPartitionSchemaId ) ) {
        // A partition with this name already exists
        if ( overwrite ) {
          // Proceed with save, removing the original version from the repository first
          repository.deletePartitionSchema( existingPartitionSchemaId );
          updatePartitionSchema( partitionSchema );
          repository.delPartitions( partitionSchema.getObjectId() );
        } else {
          throw new KettleObjectExistsException( "Failed to save object to repository. Object ["
            + partitionSchema.getName() + "] already exists." );
        }
      } else {
        // There are no naming collisions (either it is the same object or the name is unique)
        updatePartitionSchema( partitionSchema );
        repository.delPartitions( partitionSchema.getObjectId() );
      }
    }

    // Save the partitionschema-partition relationships
    //
    for ( int i = 0; i < partitionSchema.getPartitionIDs().size(); i++ ) {
      insertPartition( partitionSchema.getObjectId(), partitionSchema.getPartitionIDs().get( i ) );
    }

    // Save a link to the transformation to keep track of the use of this partition schema
    // Otherwise, we shouldn't bother with this
    //

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)