pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleValueException

Function DAT2NUM works only on dates

Error message

Function DAT2NUM works only on dates

What it means

Guard in the legacy Value dat2num() function: the value's type is not VALUE_TYPE_DATE, so the date-to-number (epoch) conversion is refused. The input at fault is the current Value with a non-date type.

Solutions

1. Ensure the field passed to DAT2NUM is a Date
2. Convert the value to a Date first (e.g. str2dat or num2dat) before calling DAT2NUM

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/compatibility/Value.java:3262 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/54d1c78727f578b6. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/compatibility/Value.java:3262

    }
    return this;
  }

  public Value dat2num() throws KettleValueException {
    if ( isNull() ) {
      setType( VALUE_TYPE_INTEGER );
      return this;
    }

    if ( getType() == VALUE_TYPE_DATE ) {
      if ( getString() == null ) {
        setNull();
        setValue( 0L );
      } else {
        setValue( getInteger() );
      }
    } else {
      throw new KettleValueException( "Function DAT2NUM works only on dates" );
    }
    return this;
  }

  /**
   * Performs a right and left trim of spaces in the string. If the value is not a string a conversion to String is
   * performed first.
   *
   * @return The trimmed string value.
   */
  public Value trim() {
    if ( isNull() ) {
      setType( VALUE_TYPE_STRING );
      return this;
    }

    String str = Const.trim( getString() );
    setValue( str );

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