pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

No field or setter defined for

Error message

No field or setter defined for <rootClass>

What it means

BeanInjector.setProperty() reached a leaf value to set, but the resolved BeanLevelInfo has no settable field or setter (setterStrategy NONE was unreachable because the field/setter was absent). The injector throws this KettleException naming the root class.

Solutions

1. Add a setter (or make the field accessible) for the annotated property
2. Set the correct setterStrategy in the @Injection annotation if the property is intentionally read-only
3. Align the injection metadata with the actual bean API

Example fix

// before
@Injection(name="TIMEOUT") private long timeout; // no setter, private
// after
@Injection(name="TIMEOUT") private long timeout;
public void setTimeout(long t){ this.timeout = t; }

// Ensure every @Injection-annotated property has a writable accessor
for (Field f : bean.getClass().getDeclaredFields()) {
  if (f.isAnnotationPresent(Injection.class)) {
    boolean writable = isPublic(f) || setterExists(bean.getClass(), f.getName());
    if (!writable) throw new IllegalStateException("No setter for @Injection field: " + f.getName());
  }
}

static boolean setterExists(Class<?> c, String field) {
  String n = "set" + Character.toUpperCase(field.charAt(0)) + field.substring(1);
  try { return c.getMethod(n, c.getDeclaredField(field).getType()) != null; }
  catch (NoSuchMethodException | NoSuchFieldException e) { return false; }
}

try {
  injector.injectValue(bean, path, value);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().startsWith("No field or setter")) {
    log.error("Property not writable: check setter on " + e.getMessage(), e);
  } else throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Injecting a value into a property whose @Injection annotation resolves to a level where the field is not settable (no public field, no setter, and not an NONE/getter-only read target being written).

Common situations: Adding @Injection to a final/private field without a setter; annotation copied from a read-only getter-only property; class refactor removed a setter.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Must be a positive integer", "Invalid value", "Unsupported": the invalid-argument-value error family, when a library rejects the value you pass — this error's family across 35 libraries.

Related errors

• Can't create object
• Constructor not found for
• No field or getter defined for
• Clone not supported for
• CustomVfsSettingsParser.Log.FailedToLoad

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/55cb0cedd1960f94. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/core/injection/bean/BeanInjector.java:322

                // out of array for constant
                return false;
              }
              Array.set( existArray, index, value );
              break;
            case LIST:
              List<Object> existList = data != null ? extendList( s, obj, index + 1 ) : checkList( s, obj, index );
              if ( existList == null ) {
                // out of array for constant
                return false;
              }
              existList.set( index, value );
              break;
            case NONE:
              s.field.set( obj, value );
              break;
          }
        } else {
          throw new KettleException( "No field or setter defined for " + root.getClass() );
        }
      }
    }
    return true;
  }

  private Object createObject( Class<?> clazz, Object root ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      // Object can be inner of metadata class. In this case constructor will require parameter
      for ( Constructor<?> c : clazz.getConstructors() ) {
        if ( c.getParameterTypes().length == 0 ) {
          return clazz.newInstance();
        } else if ( c.getParameterTypes().length == 1 && c.getParameterTypes()[0].isAssignableFrom( info.clazz ) ) {
          return c.newInstance( root );
        }
      }
    } catch ( Throwable ex ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Can't create object " + clazz, ex );

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