pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Object type was specified. Only information from…

Error message

Object type {objectType} was specified.  Only information from transformations, jobs and databases can be retrieved at this time.

What it means

KettleDatabaseRepository's object-information retrieval only supports transformations, jobs and databases; the default branch of the type switch throws a KettleException when any other RepositoryObjectType (slave server, cluster schema, partition schema, etc.) is requested. It is an explicit capability limit of getObjectInformation for this repository type.

Solutions

1. Restrict getObjectInformation calls to TRANSFORMATION, JOB and DATABASE object types and handle others separately.
2. Use the dedicated accessors for other types (getSlaveServer, getClusterSchema, getPartitionSchema) instead.
3. Check objectType.getTypeDescription() and branch before calling; return a not-supported result gracefully.

Example fix

// before
RepositoryObject obj = repo.getObjectInformation(id, objectType);
// after
if (objectType != RepositoryObjectType.TRANSFORMATION
    && objectType != RepositoryObjectType.JOB
    && objectType != RepositoryObjectType.DATABASE) {
  return null; // use type-specific getters instead
}
RepositoryObject obj = repo.getObjectInformation(id, objectType);

boolean infoSupported = objectType == RepositoryObjectType.TRANSFORMATION
    || objectType == RepositoryObjectType.JOB || objectType == RepositoryObjectType.DATABASE;
if (!infoSupported) { return null; /* or use type-specific getter */ }

boolean supportsObjectInfo(RepositoryObjectType t) {
  return t == RepositoryObjectType.TRANSFORMATION || t == RepositoryObjectType.JOB
    || t == RepositoryObjectType.DATABASE;
}

try {
  return repo.getObjectInformation(id, objectType);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().contains("Only information from transformations, jobs and databases")) {
    return null; // fall back to type-specific getter
  } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling repo.getObjectInformation(objectId, objectType) with objectType such as RepositoryObjectType.CLUSTER_SCHEMA or SLAVE_SERVER, or with a guessed/default object type.

Common situations: Generic repository browsers that request object info for any tree node; scripts that resolve object types from file extensions and hit non-T/J/D types; plugin code assuming full getObjectInformation coverage.

Understand the failure class

Background: UnsupportedOperationException and "is not supported" errors: when a library deliberately refuses a call — this error's family across 30 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot assemble shared object of type
• It's not possible to save Class [" +…
• unknown type [" + typeToUpdate + "]
• We can't save the element with type
• We can't verify the existance of repository element type

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b7a2de4734ec6ba0. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/kdr/KettleDatabaseRepository.java:2024

        case JOB: {
          RowMetaAndData row = jobDelegate.getJob( objectId );
          name = row.getString( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_JOB_NAME, null );
          description = row.getString( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_JOB_DESCRIPTION, null );
          modifiedUser = row.getString( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_JOB_MODIFIED_USER, "-" );
          modifiedDate = row.getDate( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_JOB_MODIFIED_DATE, null );
          dirId = row.getInteger( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_JOB_ID_DIRECTORY, 0 );
          break;
        }
        //PDI-15871 Return available information for DATABASE
        case DATABASE: {
          RowMetaAndData row = databaseDelegate.getDatabase( objectId );
          name = row.getString( KettleDatabaseRepository.FIELD_DATABASE_NAME, null );
          return new RepositoryObject(
              objectId, name, null, null, null, objectType, null, false );
        }
        default:
          throw new KettleException( "Object type "
            + objectType.getTypeDescription()
            + " was specified.  Only information from transformations, jobs and databases can be retrieved at this time." );
          // Nothing matches, return null
      }

      boolean isDeleted = ( name == null );
      directory = loadRepositoryDirectoryTree().findDirectory( new LongObjectId( dirId ) );
      return new RepositoryObject(
        objectId, name, directory, modifiedUser, modifiedDate, objectType, description, isDeleted );
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to get object information for object with id=" + objectId, e );
    }
  }

  public JobMeta loadJob( ObjectId idJob, String versionLabel ) throws KettleException {
    RepositoryObject jobInfo = getObjectInformation( idJob, RepositoryObjectType.JOB );
    return loadJob( jobInfo.getName(), jobInfo.getRepositoryDirectory(), null, versionLabel );
  }

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