pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

RegexEvalMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorInReadingStepInfo

Error message

RegexEvalMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorInReadingStepInfo

What it means

RegexEvalMeta's repository constructor (loadStepFromRepository path) reads per-field step attributes from the repository; any exception there is wrapped in a KettleException 'RegexEvalMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorInReadingStepInfo'. It means the step's stored attributes could not be read from the repository.

Solutions

  1. Verify the repository (database) connection is working and retry loading the transformation.
  2. Check the KETTLE_STEP_ATTRIBUTES table rows for the RegexEval step id_step are intact.
  3. Re-save the transformation from Spoon to rewrite the step attributes.
  4. Inspect the chained cause for the actual repository/SQL error.
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a transformation whose RegexEval step metadata is read from a repository (readRep path): repository connection failures, missing id_step attributes, or invalid stored trim_type values cause the catch to fire.

Common situations: Repository database temporarily unavailable; transformation rows partially deleted; repository schema mismatch after an upgrade.

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/b710eaab0bad76d3. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/regexeval/RegexEvalMeta.java:562

      allocate( nrfields );

      for ( int i = 0; i < nrfields; i++ ) {
        fieldName[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_name" );
        fieldType[i] = ValueMetaFactory.getIdForValueMeta( rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_type" ) );

        fieldFormat[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_format" );
        fieldGroup[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_group" );
        fieldDecimal[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_decimal" );
        fieldLength[i] = (int) rep.getStepAttributeInteger( id_step, i, "field_length" );
        fieldPrecision[i] = (int) rep.getStepAttributeInteger( id_step, i, "field_precision" );
        fieldNullIf[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_nullif" );
        fieldIfNull[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_ifnull" );
        fieldCurrency[i] = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_currency" );
        fieldTrimType[i] =
          ValueMetaString.getTrimTypeByCode( rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, i, "field_trimtype" ) );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "RegexEvalMeta.Exception.UnexpectedErrorInReadingStepInfo" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_transformation, ObjectId id_step ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "script", script );
      for ( int i = 0; i < fieldName.length; i++ ) {
        if ( fieldName[i] != null && fieldName[i].length() != 0 ) {
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_name", fieldName[i] );
          rep
            .saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_type",
              ValueMetaFactory.getValueMetaName( fieldType[i] ) );
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_format", fieldFormat[i] );
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_group", fieldGroup[i] );
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_decimal", fieldDecimal[i] );
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_length", fieldLength[i] );
          rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, "field_precision", fieldPrecision[i] );

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