What causes "invalid element: + e.getNodeName()" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Open the WSDL at the referenced element and ensure it declares either name="..." (with type) or element="..." on the part/element.

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · RuntimeException

invalid element: + e.getNodeName()

Error message

invalid element:  + e.getNodeName()

What it means

The WsdlOpParameter constructor maps a WSDL <part> (or element) DOM node to a parameter object. It recognizes nodes that either have an element-reference attribute or a name attribute; a node with neither throws RuntimeException "invalid element: <nodeName>". This indicates the WSDL contains an element shape the parameter mapper does not understand.

Solutions

Open the WSDL at the referenced element and ensure it declares either name="..." (with type) or element="..." on the part/element.
Regenerate the WSDL from the service tooling rather than hand-editing, so required attributes are emitted.
Validate the WSDL with a validator (e.g., wsimport / xmlspy) to catch malformed elements before loading them in Pentaho.
If the element is genuinely unsupported, refactor the WSDL contract to use standard document/literal wrapped style.

Example fix

<!-- before (invalid: part has no name or element ref) -->
<part xmlns="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/" type="xsd:string"/>
<!-- after -->
<part name="payload" type="xsd:string"/>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Ensure the element node declares name or element-ref before constructing
if (!e.hasAttribute("element") && !e.hasAttribute("name")) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Element '" + e.getNodeName()
    + "' has neither 'element' nor 'name' attribute — fix the WSDL first");
}

Try / catch

try {
  WsdlOpParameter p = new WsdlOpParameter(e, wsdlTypes);
} catch (RuntimeException re) {
  if (re.getMessage() != null && re.getMessage().startsWith("invalid element:")) {
    logError("Unsupported WSDL element structure at <" + e.getNodeName() + ">; check name/element attributes", re);
  }
  throw re;
}

Prevention

Regenerate WSDLs from tooling instead of hand-editing
Validate WSDL/XSD with a schema validator before loading
Inspect the offending element's attributes in the raw WSDL

When it happens

Trigger: Constructing WsdlOpParameter from an org.w3c.dom.Element that lacks both WsdlUtils.ELEMENT_REF_ATTR (element=) and WsdlUtils.NAME_ATTR (name=) — e.g., a malformed or nonstandard <part>/<element> in the WSDL.

Common situations: Vendor-generated WSDLs with exotic constructs (e.g., parts declared only via type= with unusual attributes the parser doesn't expect); hand-edited WSDL where the name attribute was deleted; schema-level elements that are only referenced anonymously.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid ... format", "must be in format X", "does not look like a ..." — invalid argument format errors across CLI tools and libraries — this error's family across 17 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/979c3d1512792331. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/webservices/wsdl/WsdlOpParameter.java:115

   *          Wsdl types abstraction.
   */
  WsdlOpParameter( Element e, WsdlTypes wsdlTypes ) {

    _mode = ParameterMode.UNDEFINED;
    _isArray = isArray( e );
    _isHeader = false;

    if ( e.hasAttribute( WsdlUtils.NAME_ATTR ) && e.hasAttribute( WsdlUtils.ELEMENT_TYPE_ATTR ) ) {
      setName( e.getAttribute( WsdlUtils.NAME_ATTR ), wsdlTypes );
      _xmlType = wsdlTypes.getTypeQName( e.getAttribute( WsdlUtils.ELEMENT_TYPE_ATTR ) );
    } else if ( e.hasAttribute( WsdlUtils.ELEMENT_REF_ATTR ) ) {
      _xmlType = wsdlTypes.getTypeQName( e.getAttribute( WsdlUtils.ELEMENT_REF_ATTR ) );
      _name = new QName( "", _xmlType.getLocalPart() );
    } else if ( e.hasAttribute( WsdlUtils.NAME_ATTR ) ) {
      setName( e.getAttribute( WsdlUtils.NAME_ATTR ), wsdlTypes );
      _xmlType = getElementType( e, wsdlTypes );
    } else {
      throw new RuntimeException( "invalid element: " + e.getNodeName() );
    }

    // check to see if the xml type of this element is an array type
    Element t = wsdlTypes.findNamedType( _xmlType );
    if ( t != null && WsdlUtils.COMPLEX_TYPE_NAME.equals( t.getLocalName() ) ) {
      _itemXmlType = getArrayItemType( t, wsdlTypes );
      _isArray = _itemXmlType != null;
      if ( _itemXmlType != null ) {
        _itemComplexType = wsdlTypes.getNamedComplexTypes().getComplexType( _itemXmlType.getLocalPart() );
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Get the name of this parameter.
   *
   * @return QName.
   */

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