pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

MySQLBulkLoaderMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfoFromRepository

MySQLBulkLoaderMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfoFromRepository

Error message

MySQLBulkLoaderMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfoFromRepository

What it means

readRep loads the step's settings from a repository and wraps any failure in a KettleException with the UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfoFromRepository message. It means reading the MySQL Bulk Loader's attributes from the repository database failed — bad attribute data, a repository access error, or an unrecognized stored value. The cause carries the underlying error.

Solutions

  1. Check the KettleException cause (getCause()) to see whether it is a repository access error or a bad attribute value.
  2. Re-save the step from Spoon to rewrite its repository attributes in the current format.
  3. Verify the repository connection and that the PDI repository schema matches your Kettle version (run the repository upgrade if needed).
  4. If only one transformation is affected, recreate the MySQL Bulk Loader step and re-save to replace the corrupted attributes.

Example fix

// before: manual repository edits leave an unparseable attribute
UPDATE r_step_attribute SET value_str = 'bogus' WHERE code = 'field_format_ok';
// after: fix via the supported path — re-save the step in Spoon, or restore a valid value
UPDATE r_step_attribute SET value_str = 'none' WHERE code = 'field_format_ok';
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// Before loading from repository, verify the repository is reachable
repository.connect( user, pass );
if ( repository.findStep( transformationObjectId, "bulk loader" ) == null ) {
  throw new IllegalStateException( "Bulk loader step missing from repository" );
}

Try / catch

try {
  transMeta = new TransMeta( repository, transformationPath, null );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  if ( String.valueOf( e.getMessage() ).contains( "UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfo" ) ) {
    log.error( "Repository read of bulk loader step failed; cause:", e.getCause() );
    // fallback: load the same transformation from a .ktr export
    transMeta = new TransMeta( backupKtrPath );
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: readRep (called when a transformation is loaded from a repository) throws when rep.getStepAttributeString or attribute-count queries fail, getFieldFormatType cannot interpret a stored field_format_ok value, or any other exception occurs while iterating stored field rows.

Common situations: Corrupted or partially deleted repository rows for the step; repository schema version mismatch (older/newer PDI repository format); stored format-type string no longer recognized after an upgrade; repository connectivity problems during load.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b81c11231a712608. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/mysql-bulk-loader/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/mysqlbulkloader/MySQLBulkLoaderMeta.java:356

      replacingData = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "replace" );
      ignoringErrors = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "ignore" );
      localFile = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "local" );
      bulkSize = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "bulk_size" );

      int nrvalues = rep.countNrStepAttributes( id_step, "stream_name" );

      allocate( nrvalues );

      for ( int i = 0; i < nrvalues; i++ ) {
        fieldTable[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "stream_name" );
        fieldStream[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_name" );
        if ( fieldStream[i] == null ) {
          fieldStream[i] = fieldTable[i];
        }
        fieldFormatType[i] = getFieldFormatType( rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_format_ok" ) );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG,
          "MySQLBulkLoaderMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorReadingStepInfoFromRepository" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_transformation, ObjectId id_step )
    throws KettleException {
    try {
      rep.saveDatabaseMetaStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "id_connection", databaseMeta );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "schema", schemaName );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "table", tableName );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "encoding", encoding );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "enclosure", enclosure );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "delimiter", delimiter );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "escape_char", escapeChar );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "fifo_file_name", fifoFileName );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "replace", replacingData );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "ignore", ignoringErrors );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "local", localFile );

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)