pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error

The function call fillString requires 2 arguments.

Error message

The function call fillString requires 2 arguments.

What it means

Arity guard for fillString: the function builds a repeated-character string from exactly two arguments (fill char, count). With any other count the else-branch throws; note the fill char must also be exactly one character long or a separate error is raised.

Solutions

1. Call with exactly two arguments: fillString(char, count)
2. Verify the count argument is not accidentally embedded in the char argument
3. Use a constant or field value for the count and confirm it is defined

Example fix

// before
var pad = fillString('0');
// after
var pad = fillString('0', 8);

if (arguments.length !== 2) throw new Error('fillString(char, count) requires 2 arguments');

try { var s = fillString(ch, n); } catch (e) { if (String(e).indexOf('requires 2 arguments') >= 0) { /* correct call */ } }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling fillString('-') (missing count), fillString() or fillString('-', 10, 'x') (extra arg).

Common situations: Forgetting the length parameter when building padding; confusing fillString with padLeft/padRight signatures used in other libraries.

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 ltrim requires 1 argument.
• The function call rtrim requires 1 argument.
• Please provide a valid Char to the fillString
• The function call dateAdd requires 3 arguments.
• The function call dateDiff requires 3 arguments.

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5b60d106100f084f. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesAddedFunctions.java:739

        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList, new int[] { 0, 1 } ) ) {
          return (String) Context.getUndefinedValue();
        }
        String fillChar = Context.toString( ArgList[0] );
        int count = (int) Context.toNumber( ArgList[1] );
        if ( fillChar.length() != 1 ) {
          throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "Please provide a valid Char to the fillString" );
        } else {
          char[] chars = new char[count];
          while ( count > 0 ) {
            chars[--count] = fillChar.charAt( 0 );
          }
          return new String( chars );
        }
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        throw Context.reportRuntimeError( e.toString() );
      }
    } else {
      throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "The function call fillString requires 2 arguments." );
    }
  }

  public static Object isCodepage( Context actualContext, Scriptable actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Function FunctionContext ) {
    boolean bRC = false;
    if ( ArgList.length == 2 ) {
      try {
        if ( isNull( ArgList, new int[] { 0, 1 } ) ) {
          return null;
        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList, new int[] { 0, 1 } ) ) {
          return Context.getUndefinedValue();
        }
        String strValueToCheck = Context.toString( ArgList[0] );
        String strCodePage = Context.toString( ArgList[1] );
        byte[] bytearray = strValueToCheck.getBytes();
        CharsetDecoder d = Charset.forName( strCodePage ).newDecoder();
        CharBuffer r = d.decode( ByteBuffer.wrap( bytearray ) );

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