pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

MailInput.Error.ReceivedDatesSearchTermEmpty

MailInput.Error.ReceivedDatesSearchTermEmpty

Error message

MailInput.Error.ReceivedDatesSearchTermEmpty

What it means

For the BETWEEN condition, init() requires both start and end received dates. This key is thrown when the FIRST date of the between range (ReceivedDate1) is empty. The library cannot build a between-range search term without a lower bound.

Solutions

  1. Fill in the begin date for the between condition in the step dialog
  2. Ensure the variable used for the start date is defined in the runtime environment (kettle.properties, parameter)
  3. Switch the condition to equal/greater/smaller if only one bound is intended
  4. Validate step settings in the dialog before saving the transformation

Example fix

// before
realBeginDate = environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate1() ); // empty -> throws
// after
String realBeginDate = environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate1() );
if ( Utils.isEmpty( realBeginDate ) ) {
  throw new KettleException( "Received date 'from' must be set for BETWEEN condition" ); // fail at design time
}
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if ( meta.getConditionOnReceivedDate() == MailConnectionMeta.CONDITION_DATE_BETWEEN
  && Utils.isEmpty( environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate1() ) ) ) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException( "BETWEEN requires a begin received date" );
}

Try / catch

try {
  init();
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  logError( "MailInput init failed (between begin date): " + e.getMessage() );
  setErrors( 1 );
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: MailInput step with 'Condition on received date' = between, and the begin-date field (ReceivedDate1) blank or a variable resolving to empty at init time.

Common situations: Undefined environment variable feeding the start date; user filled only the end date; step exported/imported without the begin date value.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f62a0a2068b487d7. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/email-messages/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/mailinput/MailInput.java:429

    // Received Date
    try {
      String realBeginDate;

      switch ( meta.getConditionOnReceivedDate() ) {
        case MailConnectionMeta.CONDITION_DATE_EQUAL:
        case MailConnectionMeta.CONDITION_DATE_GREATER:
        case MailConnectionMeta.CONDITION_DATE_SMALLER:
          realBeginDate = environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate1() );
          if ( Utils.isEmpty( realBeginDate ) ) {
            throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
              PKG, "MailInput.Error.ReceivedDateSearchTermEmpty" ) );
          }
          beginDate = df.parse( realBeginDate );
          break;
        case MailConnectionMeta.CONDITION_DATE_BETWEEN:
          realBeginDate = environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate1() );
          if ( Utils.isEmpty( realBeginDate ) ) {
            throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
              PKG, "MailInput.Error.ReceivedDatesSearchTermEmpty" ) );
          }
          beginDate = df.parse( realBeginDate );
          String realEndDate = environmentSubstitute( meta.getReceivedDate2() );
          if ( Utils.isEmpty( realEndDate ) ) {
            throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
              PKG, "MailInput.Error.ReceivedDatesSearchTermEmpty" ) );
          }
          endDate = df.parse( realEndDate );
          break;
        default:
          break;
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "MailInput.Error.SettingSearchTerms", e.getMessage() ) );
      setErrors( 1 );
      stopAll();
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)