pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleStepException

TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrErrorsRightJoinFieldNotSpecifie…

Error message

TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrErrorsRightJoinFieldNotSpecified

What it means

Sixth check in TableCompareMeta.getFields(): the 'nr errors right join' output field (nrErrorsRightJoinField) is not specified. It is the last required-field validation before the step appends its output value metadata.

Solutions

Set the 'nr errors right join field' in the step dialog (e.g. 'nr_errors_right').
In code, call meta.setNrErrorsRightJoinField("nr_errors_right").
Fix the .ktr XML <nr_errors_right_join_field> tag.

Example fix

// before
meta.setNrErrorsInnerJoinField( "nr_errors_inner" );
// after
meta.setNrErrorsInnerJoinField( "nr_errors_inner" );
meta.setNrErrorsRightJoinField( "nr_errors_right" );

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if ( meta.getNrErrorsRightJoinField() == null || meta.getNrErrorsRightJoinField().isEmpty() ) {
  meta.setNrErrorsRightJoinField( "nr_errors_right" );
}

Try / catch

try {
  meta.getFields( ... );
} catch ( KettleStepException e ) {
  if ( e.getMessage().contains( "NrErrorsRightJoinFieldNotSpecified" ) ) {
    meta.setNrErrorsRightJoinField( "nr_errors_right" );
  }
}

Prevention

Remember the right-join field is the last required one; validate all six before execution.
Add an assertion-style preflight that calls getFields() on a scratch RowMeta during deployment.
Document required TableCompareMeta setters in team templates.

When it happens

Trigger: getFields(...) invoked with nrErrorsRightJoinField null/empty — thrown at TableCompareMeta.java:393 after all preceding checks pass.

Common situations: Programmatic construction missing the final setter; hand-edited .ktr XML; generated transformations from outdated templates.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c547eaac8e44d66a. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/tablecompare/TableCompareMeta.java:393

    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( nrRecordsReferenceField ) ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrRecordsReferenceFieldNotSpecified" ) );
    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( nrRecordsCompareField ) ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrRecordsCompareFieldNotSpecified" ) );
    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( nrErrorsLeftJoinField ) ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrErrorsLeftJoinFieldNotSpecified" ) );
    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( nrErrorsInnerJoinField ) ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrErrorsInnerJoinFieldNotSpecified" ) );
    }
    if ( Utils.isEmpty( nrErrorsRightJoinField ) ) {
      throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString(
        PKG, "TableCompareMeta.Exception.NrErrorsRightJoinFieldNotSpecified" ) );
    }

    ValueMetaInterface nrErrorsValueMeta = new ValueMetaInteger( nrErrorsField );
    nrErrorsValueMeta.setLength( 9 );
    nrErrorsValueMeta.setOrigin( origin );
    inputRowMeta.addValueMeta( nrErrorsValueMeta );

    ValueMetaInterface nrRecordsReference =
      new ValueMetaInteger( nrRecordsReferenceField );
    nrRecordsReference.setLength( 9 );
    nrRecordsReference.setOrigin( origin );
    inputRowMeta.addValueMeta( nrRecordsReference );

    ValueMetaInterface nrRecordsCompare = new ValueMetaInteger( nrRecordsCompareField );
    nrRecordsCompare.setLength( 9 );
    nrRecordsCompare.setOrigin( origin );
    inputRowMeta.addValueMeta( nrRecordsCompare );

View on GitHub (pinned to f3058517a1)