pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleValueException

Script.Log.CouldNotCompileJavascript

Script.Log.CouldNotCompileJavascript

Error message

Script.Log.CouldNotCompileJavascript

What it means

Thrown in Script.addValues when compilation of the main transform script fails. The step casts its JS engine context to javax.script.Compilable and calls compile(strTransformScript); any Exception (most commonly a script syntax error) is wrapped in a KettleValueException with this message. The transformation cannot proceed because the script never compiles.

Solutions

1. Use the step's 'Test script' button to locate and fix the JavaScript syntax error.
2. Check the wrapped cause for the exact line/column of the parse error.
3. Remove pasted artifacts (smart quotes, HTML) and retype the offending line.
4. Confirm the script targets the JSR-223 compliant engine shipped with your Pentaho version.

Example fix

// before
var total = price * ;
// after
var total = price * quantity;

// pre-compile the script to catch syntax errors before the run
try {
  new javax.script.ScriptEngineManager().getEngineByName("ECMAScript").eval(strTransformScript);
} catch (ScriptException se) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Transform script syntax error: " + se.getMessage());
}

try {
  step.processRow();
} catch (KettleValueException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("CouldNotCompileJavascript")) {
    logError("Fix transform script syntax: " + e.getCause().getMessage());
  } else { throw e; }
}

When it happens

Trigger: addValues (called from processRow): ((Compilable) data.cx).compile(strTransformScript) throws, typically a ScriptSyntaxError from malformed JavaScript in the transform script tab; it fires on the first processed row (script compiled lazily on first use).

Common situations: Typos/syntax errors in the transform script; using Rhino-only syntax not accepted by the JSR-223 engine; non-ASCII characters or smart quotes pasted from editors; scripts referencing Pentaho-specific globals are fine, but stray HTML/XML pasted into the editor is not.

Related errors

• ScriptValuesMod.Log.CouldNotCompileJavascript
• Could not convert the given String :
• e.toString()
• Please provide a valid Char to the fillString
• Script.Log.CouldNotAddDefaultConstants

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a5bf4e4284deb8e5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/script/Script.java:279

              logDetailed( ( "No starting Script found!" ) );
            }
          }
        } catch ( Exception es ) {
          // System.out.println("Exception processing StartScript " +
          // es.toString());
          throw new KettleValueException(
            BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Script.Log.ErrorProcessingStartScript" ), es );

        }
        // Now Compile our Script
        // alternatively you could also support non compilable JSR223
        // languages, see how we were doing before:
        // http://github.com/rvalyi/jripple/blob/e6190fd89014a49b0faffae68c75762be124d899/
        // src/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesMod.java

        data.script = ( (Compilable) data.cx ).compile( strTransformScript );
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        throw new KettleValueException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Script.Log.CouldNotCompileJavascript" ), e );
      }
    }

    // Filling the defined TranVars with the Values from the Row
    //
    Object[] outputRow = RowDataUtil.resizeArray( row, data.outputRowMeta.size() );

    // Keep an index...
    int outputIndex = rowMeta.size();

    try {
      try {
        data.scope.put( "row", row );

        for ( int i = 0; i < data.fields_used.length; i++ ) {
          ValueMetaInterface valueMeta = rowMeta.getValueMeta( data.fields_used[ i ] );
          Object valueData = row[ data.fields_used[ i ] ];

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