pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

SelectValuesMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveStepInfoToRepository

Error message

SelectValuesMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveStepInfoToRepository

What it means

saveRep() wraps any exception while persisting SelectValues step attributes into a repository in a KettleException with key 'SelectValuesMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveStepInfoToRepository' plus the id_step. It means step configuration could not be written to the repository.

Solutions

Verify the repository user has write privileges
Check repository DB connectivity and free space, then retry the save
Reconnect/re-login to the repository in Spoon and save again
Inspect the cause for constraint errors and shorten/fix offending attribute values

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// before save
if (!repository.getSecurityProvider() != null /* or equivalent write check */) { /* verify user can write */ }
if (id_step == null) throw new IllegalStateException("id_step is null; step not registered");

Try / catch

try { meta.saveRep(rep, metaStore, transId, stepId); } catch (KettleException e) { logError("Repository save failed for id_step=" + stepId + ": " + e.getCause(), e); throw e; }

Prevention

Confirm repository user has write privileges before saving
Avoid saving over unstable DB connections
Export to XML as a fallback before risky repository operations
Monitor repository disk space and constraint errors

When it happens

Trigger: Calling saveRep() when one of many rep.saveStepAttribute calls fails — read-only repository, lost DB connection, constraint violation, or attribute value too large for the column.

Common situations: Saving a transformation as a user without write permission; repository database disk full or connection dropped mid-save; migrating transformations between repositories with different schemas.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/da45ebff1c7d9635. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/selectvalues/SelectValuesMeta.java:624

            .getConversionMask() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_DATE_FORMAT_LENIENT" ), Boolean
            .toString( meta[i].isDateFormatLenient() ) );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_DATE_FORMAT_LOCALE" ), meta[i]
            .getDateFormatLocale() == null ? null : meta[i].getDateFormatLocale().toString() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_DATE_FORMAT_TIMEZONE" ), meta[i]
            .getDateFormatTimeZone() == null ? null : meta[i].getDateFormatTimeZone().toString() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_LENIENT_STRING_TO_NUMBER" ), Boolean
            .toString( meta[i].isLenientStringToNumber() ) );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_DECIMAL" ), meta[i]
            .getDecimalSymbol() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_GROUPING" ), meta[i]
            .getGroupingSymbol() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_CURRENCY" ), meta[i]
            .getCurrencySymbol() );
        rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, i, getRepCode( "META_ENCODING" ), meta[i].getEncoding() );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG,
          "SelectValuesMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveStepInfoToRepository" ) + id_step, e );
    }

  }

  @Override
  public void check( List<CheckResultInterface> remarks, TransMeta transMeta, StepMeta stepMeta, RowMetaInterface prev,
      String[] input, String[] output, RowMetaInterface info, VariableSpace space, Repository repository,
      IMetaStore metaStore ) {
    CheckResult cr;

    if ( prev != null && prev.size() > 0 ) {
      cr =
          new CheckResult( CheckResultInterface.TYPE_RESULT_OK, BaseMessages.getString( PKG,
              "SelectValuesMeta.CheckResult.StepReceivingFields", prev.size() + "" ), stepMeta );
      remarks.add( cr );

      /*

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