What causes "GoogleAnalytics.Error.UnableToReadFromXML" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Inspect the nested cause (e.getCause()) — usually a NumberFormatException or NullPointerException on a specific XML attribute.

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleXMLException

GoogleAnalytics.Error.UnableToReadFromXML

Error message

GoogleAnalytics.Error.UnableToReadFromXML

What it means

GaInputStepMeta's XML-loading constructor (loadXML path) wraps any exception occurring while parsing the step's Google Analytics settings from the transformation XML into a KettleXMLException with the localized 'GoogleAnalytics.Error.UnableToReadFromXML' message. Thrown because malformed or incompatible XML would leave the step metadata unparsable.

Solutions

Inspect the nested cause (e.getCause()) — usually a NumberFormatException or NullPointerException on a specific XML attribute.
Open the .ktr in a text editor and fix or remove the malformed <step> node for the GoogleAnalytics step.
Re-create the Google Analytics step in the same Pentaho version that will run the transformation.
Ensure the google-analytics plugin version matches the transformation's authoring version.

Example fix

// before: corrupted numeric attribute in XML causing parse failure
// <ga_gaField>...<conversionMask>abc</conversionMask>

// after: correct the attribute value
// <ga_gaField>...<conversionMask>yyyy-MM-dd</conversionMask>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try {
  transMeta = new TransMeta( fileName, metaStore );
} catch ( KettleXMLException e ) {
  log.error( "XML load failed: " + e.getMessage(), e.getCause() );
  // inspect the failing <step> node in the .ktr
}

Prevention

Never hand-edit .ktr XML for GA steps
Use the same Pentaho/plugin version to author and run transformations
Check e.getCause() for the exact attribute that failed to parse

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a .ktr whose <step> node for the Google Analytics input contains malformed or unexpected XML — e.g. invalid date fields, numeric conversion failures while parsing ga fields, or attributes written by a different plugin version.

Common situations: Opening a transformation authored in a newer/older Pentaho version with changed XML fields; hand-edited .ktr files with a corrupted step node; copy-pasting step XML between transformations with mismatched attributes.

Understand the failure class

Background: JSON parse error: "Unexpected token" / "not valid JSON" / "failed to parse" — what JSON parsers are really complaining about — this error's family across 45 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/1f088f4667fde502. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/google-analytics/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/googleanalytics/GaInputStepMeta.java:516

      allocate( nrFields );

      for ( int i = 0; i < nrFields; i++ ) {
        Node knode = XMLHandler.getSubNodeByNr( stepnode, "feedField", i );

        feedFieldType[ i ] = XMLHandler.getTagValue( knode, "feedFieldType" );
        feedField[ i ] = XMLHandler.getTagValue( knode, "feedField" );
        outputField[ i ] = XMLHandler.getTagValue( knode, "outField" );
        outputType[ i ] = ValueMetaFactory.getIdForValueMeta( XMLHandler.getTagValue( knode, "type" ) );
        conversionMask[ i ] = XMLHandler.getTagValue( knode, "conversionMask" );

        if ( outputType[ i ] < 0 ) {
          outputType[ i ] = ValueMetaInterface.TYPE_STRING;
        }

      }

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleXMLException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "GoogleAnalytics.Error.UnableToReadFromXML" ), e );
    }

  }

  @Override
  public void readRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_step, List<DatabaseMeta> databases )
    throws KettleException {
    try {
      String user = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "user" );
      String pass = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "pass" );
      String apiKey = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "apiKey" );

      oauthServiceAccount = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "oauthServiceAccount" );
      oauthKeyFile = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "oauthKeyFile" );

      // Are we loading a legacy transformation?
      if ( ( user != null || pass != null || apiKey != null )
        && ( oauthServiceAccount == null && oauthKeyFile == null ) ) {

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)