pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleXMLException

StringCutMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML

Error message

StringCutMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML

What it means

StringCutMeta throws this KettleXMLException in readData() (invoked by loadXML) when parsing the step's XML definition fails unexpectedly. The message wraps the underlying exception from XMLHandler.getTagValue() or array handling. The transformation cannot load this step until the XML is fixed.

Solutions

  1. Inspect the wrapped cause to find the exact XML parse problem
  2. Validate/repair the <fields><field> section of the step XML in the .ktr file
  3. Re-export the step from Spoon to regenerate valid XML
  4. Open the file in a text editor and compare the field node structure against a working example

Example fix

// before
<field><in_stream_name>x</in_stream_name></field> <!-- missing cut tags, malformed -->
// after
<field><in_stream_name>x</in_stream_name><out_stream_name>y</out_stream_name><cut_from>0</cut_from><cut_to>5</cut_to></field>
Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// before loadXML, sanity-check the step XML
Node fieldsNode = XMLHandler.getSubNode(stepnode, "fields");
int count = fieldsNode == null ? 0 : XMLHandler.countNodes(fieldsNode, "field");
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
  Node f = XMLHandler.getSubNodeByNr(fieldsNode, "field", i);
  if (f == null || XMLHandler.getTagValue(f, "in_stream_name") == null) {
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Malformed field node at index " + i);
  }
}

Type guard

boolean hasWellFormedFields(Node stepnode) {
  Node fields = XMLHandler.getSubNode(stepnode, "fields");
  if (fields == null) return true; // zero-field step is valid
  for (int i = 0; i < XMLHandler.countNodes(fields, "field"); i++) {
    Node f = XMLHandler.getSubNodeByNr(fields, "field", i);
    if (f == null) return false;
  }
  return true;
}

Try / catch

try {
  meta.loadXML(stepnode, databases, context);
} catch (KettleXMLException e) {
  logError("Corrupt StringCut XML: " + e.getCause(), e);
  meta.setDefault(); // load with defaults instead of failing the whole transform
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: Calling loadXML() on malformed step XML — e.g. a <fields> node with unexpected structure, a null/invalid field node, or DOM access errors while reading in_stream_name/out_stream_name/cut_from/cut_to tags.

Common situations: Hand-edited .ktr XML with a broken <field> entry; XML written by a different PDI version with a changed schema; truncated/corrupted file transfer.

Understand the failure class

Background: JSON parse error: "Unexpected token" / "not valid JSON" / "failed to parse" — what JSON parsers are really complaining about — this error's family across 45 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/63dca5b14d00f40d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/stringcut/StringCutMeta.java:160

  private void readData( Node stepnode ) throws KettleXMLException {
    try {
      int nrkeys;

      Node lookup = XMLHandler.getSubNode( stepnode, "fields" );
      nrkeys = XMLHandler.countNodes( lookup, "field" );

      allocate( nrkeys );

      for ( int i = 0; i < nrkeys; i++ ) {
        Node fnode = XMLHandler.getSubNodeByNr( lookup, "field", i );
        fieldInStream[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "in_stream_name" ), "" );
        fieldOutStream[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "out_stream_name" ), "" );
        cutFrom[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "cut_from" ), "" );
        cutTo[i] = Const.NVL( XMLHandler.getTagValue( fnode, "cut_to" ), "" );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleXMLException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "StringCutMeta.Exception.UnableToReadStepInfoFromXML" ), e );
    }
  }

  public void setDefault() {
    fieldInStream = null;
    fieldOutStream = null;

    int nrkeys = 0;

    allocate( nrkeys );
  }

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

    retval.append( "    <fields>" ).append( Const.CR );

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