pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

RandomCreditCardNumbberGenerator.UnknownCardtype

RandomCreditCardNumbberGenerator.UnknownCardtype

Error message

RandomCreditCardNumbberGenerator.UnknownCardtype

What it means

GenerateCreditCardNumbers switches on the cardType int; the default branch throws this localized error when the type is not one of the defined CARD_TYPE_* constants. The generator cannot recognize the requested card type.

Solutions

1. Select a valid card type in the Random CC Number Generator step dialog
2. Inspect the stored ccType attribute/XML value and set it to a supported constant
3. Recreate the step if its saved attributes come from an incompatible version
4. Validate the card type input upstream before invoking the generator

Example fix

// before
int cardType = 99; // unknown
generator.generate(cardType, 16, 10);
// after
int cardType = RandomCreditCardNumberGenerator.CARD_TYPE_VISA;
generator.generate(cardType, 16, 10);

// Java
if ( cardType < 0 || cardType > RandomCreditCardNumberGenerator.CARD_TYPE_LASER ) {
  throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Unknown card type: " + cardType );
}

try {
  String[] cards = RandomCreditCardNumberGenerator.GenerateCreditCardNumbers( cardType, size, n );
} catch ( KettleException e ) {
  if ( e.getMessage().contains( "UnknownCardtype" ) ) {
    cardType = RandomCreditCardNumberGenerator.CARD_TYPE_VISA; // or fail fast
  } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling GenerateCreditCardNumbers with a cardType value outside the plugin's constants (e.g. hand-set XML/repository value of 99 or -1), or a stored attribute from an incompatible plugin version.

Common situations: Repository/XML holds a stale or corrupted ccType value; a user manually edited the transformation file; upgrading/downgrading the plugin changed the type numbering.

Understand the failure class

Background: Invalid enum value errors: "Unknown type", "Invalid scope", "must be one of" — when a string is not on the library's allowed list — this error's family across 23 libraries.

Related errors

• RandomCreditCardNumbberGenerator.UnSupportedLength
• Unknown value ' ' for enum
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AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b2e94f68ecbb8396. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/random-cc-number-generator/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/randomccnumber/RandomCreditCardNumberGenerator.java:291

        break;
      case CARD_TYPE_MAESTRO:
        checkLength( cardType, size, MAESTRO_LENGTH_LIST );
        cards = credit_card_number( MAESTRO_PREFIX_LIST, size, howMany );
        break;
      case CARD_TYPE_SOLO:
        checkLength( cardType, size, SOLO_LENGTH_LIST );
        cards = credit_card_number( SOLO_PREFIX_LIST, size, howMany );
        break;
      case CARD_TYPE_SWITCH:
        checkLength( cardType, size, SWITCH_LENGTH_LIST );
        cards = credit_card_number( SWITCH_PREFIX_LIST, size, howMany );
        break;
      case CARD_TYPE_LASER:
        checkLength( cardType, size, LASER_LENGTH_LIST );
        cards = credit_card_number( LASER_PREFIX_LIST, size, howMany );
        break;
      default:
        throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
          PKG, "RandomCreditCardNumbberGenerator.UnknownCardtype", String.valueOf( cardType ) ) );
    }
    return cards;
  }

}

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