pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · RuntimeException

RuntimeException( e )

Error message

RuntimeException( e )

What it means

While streaming the sheet XML in getRow(), any Exception (typically XMLStreamException, IOException after a reader reset, or NumberFormatException on malformed 'r' attributes) is wrapped in a plain RuntimeException. It signals the underlying XLSX part could not be parsed while locating the requested row.

Solutions

1. Validate/repair the xlsx file (open it in Excel or re-export it)
2. Unwrap the cause (getCause()) to see the underlying XMLStreamException/IOException
3. Read rows sequentially instead of random access to avoid resetSheetReader()
4. Catch RuntimeException around getRow and treat the file as unreadable

Example fix

// before
KCell[] cells = sheet.getRow(i); // RuntimeException escapes
// after
try {
  KCell[] cells = sheet.getRow(i);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
  throw new KettleException("Failed reading sheet row " + i, e.getCause());
}

// Pre-validate the file is a readable zip (xlsx) before streaming
try (ZipFile zf = new ZipFile(file)) { if (zf.getEntry("xl/workbook.xml") == null) throw new KettleException("Not an xlsx"); }

try {
  KCell[] cells = sheet.getRow(rownr);
} catch (RuntimeException e) {
  throw new KettleException("Sheet read failed", e.getCause());
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getRow()/cell() on a StaxPoiSheet whose sheetReader fails mid-stream: corrupted xlsx sheet XML, stream closed/reset failure (resetSheetReader), or invalid row numbers in the document.

Common situations: Reading truncated or corrupted .xlsx files; files produced by non-Excel tools with missing/invalid row 'r' attributes; random-access getRow() calls that force a reader reset on a broken stream.

Understand the failure class

Background: "failed to read file", EACCES, ENOENT and "could not read <path>" errors: when a program can't read a file from disk — this error's family across 49 libraries.

Related errors

• DBProcMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfo
• MergeJoinMeta.Exception.UnableToLoadStepInfo
• MergeRowsMeta.Exception.UnableToLoadStepInfo
• PGPEncryptStreamMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfo
• Template Format Mismatch: Template has extension: " +…

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea0759489ac869e8. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/excel/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/excelinput/staxpoi/StaxPoiSheet.java:236

      }
      while ( sheetReader.hasNext() ) {
        int event = sheetReader.next();
        if ( event == XMLStreamConstants.START_ELEMENT && sheetReader.getLocalName().equals( TAG_ROW ) ) {
          String rowIndicator = sheetReader.getAttributeValue( null, "r" );
          currentRow = Integer.parseInt( rowIndicator );
          if ( currentRow < rownr + 1 ) {
            continue;
          }
          currentRowCells = parseRow();
          return currentRowCells;
        }
        if ( event == XMLStreamConstants.END_ELEMENT && sheetReader.getLocalName().equals( TAG_SHEET_DATA ) ) {
          // There're no more columns, no need to continue to read
          break;
        }
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new RuntimeException( e );
    }

    // We've read all document rows, let's update the final count.
    numRows = currentRow;

    // And, as this was an invalid row to ask for, throw the proper exception!
    throw new ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException( rownr );
  }

  private KCell[] parseRow() throws XMLStreamException {
    List<StaxPoiCell> cells;
    if ( isMaxColsNumberDefined() ) {
      cells = new ArrayList<>( numCols );
    } else {
      cells = new ArrayList<>();
    }

    int undefinedColIndex = 0;

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