pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleXMLException

ReplaceStringMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML

Error message

ReplaceStringMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML

What it means

ReplaceStringMeta.loadXML calls readData to parse the step's <fields> per-field XML nodes (in_stream_name, out_stream_name, replace_string, flags, etc.); any exception is wrapped in KettleXMLException 'ReplaceStringMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML'. The step configuration in the .ktr could not be deserialized.

Solutions

  1. Inspect the ReplaceString step's <fields> XML in the .ktr for missing/malformed child tags.
  2. Fix invalid flag values (use Y/N/true/false/yes/no).
  3. Recreate the step in Spoon and reconfigure the mappings.
  4. Open the file with the same or newer Pentaho version that saved it.

Example fix

<!-- before: malformed field node -->
<field><in_stream_name>foo</field>
<!-- after -->
<field><in_stream_name>foo</in_stream_name><out_stream_name>foo_out</out_stream_name></field>
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a .ktr whose ReplaceString <fields> entries are malformed/missing tags, or where a flag string cannot be processed by getFlagFromString paths in readData.

Common situations: Hand-edited transformations; files saved by newer Pentaho versions opened in older ones; corrupted or truncated .ktr files.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/133f2dc4bf6348ab. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/replacestring/ReplaceStringMeta.java:260

        fieldInStream[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "in_stream_name" ), "" );
        fieldOutStream[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "out_stream_name" ), "" );
        useRegEx[i] = getFlagFromString( Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "use_regex" ), "" ) );
        replaceString[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "replace_string" ), "" );
        replaceByString[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "replace_by_string" ), "" );
        String emptyString = XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "set_empty_string" );

        setEmptyString[i] = !Utils.isEmpty( emptyString ) && "Y".equalsIgnoreCase( emptyString );
        replaceFieldByString[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "replace_field_by_string" ), "" );
        wholeWord[i] = getFlagFromString( Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "whole_word" ), "" ) );
        caseSensitive[i] =
          getFlagFromString( Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "case_sensitive" ), "" ) );
        isUnicode[i] =
          getFlagFromString( Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "is_unicode" ), "" ) );

      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleXMLException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "ReplaceStringMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML" ), e );
    }
  }

  private static boolean getFlagFromString( String tt ) {
    return ( "Y".equalsIgnoreCase( tt ) || "yes".equalsIgnoreCase( tt )  || "true".equalsIgnoreCase( tt ) );
  }

  public void setDefault() {
    fieldInStream = null;
    fieldOutStream = null;
    int nrkeys = 0;

    allocate( nrkeys );
  }

  public String getXML() {
    StringBuilder retval = new StringBuilder( 500 );

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