pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · RuntimeException

Please provide a valid string to the function call str2date.

Error message

Please provide a valid string to the function call str2date.

What it means

str2date() converts a string to a Date using an optional format. The switch on ArgList.length throws this RuntimeException in the case 0 branch — the function refuses to run with no arguments. At minimum the date string must be supplied.

Solutions

1. Pass at least one argument: str2date('2026-09-13') or str2date(dateStringField).
2. If the field may be empty, return null early in script instead of calling str2date.
3. Check the script step's field mappings after transformation changes.

Example fix

// before
var d = str2date();
// after
var d = str2date(dateString, 'yyyy-MM-dd');

if (dateString == null || dateString.length === 0) { var d = null; } else { var d = str2date(dateString, 'yyyy-MM-dd'); }

try { var d = str2date(s, fmt); } catch (e) { logError('str2date failed: ' + e.message); d = null; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling str2date() with zero arguments in a Modified Java Script Value step, usually because the source field was deleted or renamed.

Common situations: Renaming a transformation field without updating the script; copy-pasting a script where the argument was lost; building the argument dynamically and producing undefined.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• The function call truncDate requires 2 arguments: a date…
• The function call truncDate requires 2 arguments: a date…
• Argument of TRUNC of date has to be between 0 and 5
• Argument of TRUNC of date has to be between 0 and 5
• Could not apply local format for

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/81710027efc9f1a3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/script/ScriptAddedFunctions.java:994

        return Boolean.valueOf( file.isFile() );
      } else {
        throw new RuntimeException( "The function call fileExists requires 1 valid argument." );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new RuntimeException( e.toString() );
    }
  }

  public static Object str2date( ScriptEngine actualContext, Bindings actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Object FunctionContext ) {
    Object oRC = new Object();
    String sArg1 = "";
    String sArg2 = "";
    String sArg3 = "";
    String sArg4 = "";
    switch ( ArgList.length ) {
      case 0:
        throw new RuntimeException( "Please provide a valid string to the function call str2date." );
      case 1:
        try {
          if ( isNull( ArgList[0] ) ) {
            return null;
          } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
            return undefinedValue;
          }
          sArg1 = (String) ArgList[0];
          Format dfFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat();
          oRC = dfFormatter.parseObject( sArg1 );
          // if(Double.isNaN(sArg1)) throw new RuntimeException("The first Argument must be a Number.");
          // DecimalFormat formatter = new DecimalFormat();
          // sRC= formatter.format(sArg1);
        } catch ( Exception e ) {
          throw new RuntimeException( "Could not apply local format for " + sArg1 + " : " + e.getMessage() );
        }
        break;
      case 2:

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