pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · RuntimeException

The function call abs requires 1 argument.

Error message

The function call abs requires 1 argument.

What it means

The added abs function takes exactly 1 numeric argument and returns its absolute value as a Double. Wrong argument count throws RuntimeException; a non-numeric value inside the correct arity is swallowed and returns null.

Solutions

1. Call abs with exactly one numeric argument
2. Ensure the argument is a Number (cast/parse in JS) to avoid null return
3. Wrap in try/catch for dynamic arity

Example fix

// before
var v = abs(x, 0);
// after
var v = abs(x);

// JS in Script step
if (arguments.length !== 1 || typeof arguments[0] !== 'number') {
  throw new Error('abs expects exactly one numeric argument');
}
var v = abs(x);

// JS
function isSingleNumber(args) {
  return args.length === 1 && typeof args[0] === 'number' && !isNaN(args[0]);
}

try {
  var v = abs(x);
  if (v === null) { /* non-numeric input case */ }
} catch (e) {
  Logger.logError('abs failed: ' + e.message);
  v = null;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling abs() with no arguments or abs(x, y) with two arguments in a Script step.

Common situations: Confusing with Math.abs usage patterns; expecting multiple-value support; generated scripts emitting extra arguments.

Understand the failure class

Background: "missing required argument" and "the following required arguments were not provided": what required-argument errors mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• The function call ceil requires 1 argument.
• The function call appendToFile requires arguments.
• The function call getDigitsOnly requires 1 argument.
• The function call getFiscalDate requires 2 arguments.
• The function call getProcessCount requires 1 argument.

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/6f25086e8f899e6d. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/script/ScriptAddedFunctions.java:375

  }

  public static Object abs( ScriptEngine actualContext, Bindings actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Object FunctionContext ) {

    if ( ArgList.length == 1 ) {
      try {
        if ( isNull( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return new Double( Double.NaN );
        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return undefinedValue;
        } else {
          return new Double( Math.abs( (Double) ArgList[0] ) );
        }
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        return null;
      }
    } else {
      throw new RuntimeException( "The function call abs requires 1 argument." );
    }
  }

  public static Object ceil( ScriptEngine actualContext, Bindings actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Object FunctionContext ) {
    if ( ArgList.length == 1 ) {
      try {
        if ( isNull( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return new Double( Double.NaN );
        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return undefinedValue;
        } else {
          return new Double( Math.ceil( (Double) ArgList[0] ) );
        }
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        return null;
      }
    } else {

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