pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · RuntimeException

The function call getInputRowMeta doesn't require arguments.

Error message

The function call getInputRowMeta doesn't require arguments.

What it means

Argument-count guard in ScriptAddedFunctions for the getInputRowMeta added function. getInputRowMeta() takes no parameters; if the script passes any arguments the wrapper throws this RuntimeException instead of silently ignoring them.

Solutions

Call getInputRowMeta() with an empty argument list: getInputRowMeta().
If you intended to fetch a specific field, get the RowMeta via getInputRowMeta() and then look up the field from it.
Search the script for getInputRowMeta( and remove any arguments passed.

Example fix

// before
var meta = getInputRowMeta(0);
// after
var meta = getInputRowMeta();

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (arguments.length !== 0) throw new Error('getInputRowMeta takes no arguments');

Try / catch

try { var meta = getInputRowMeta(); } catch (e) { if (String(e).indexOf('doesn\'t require arguments') !== -1) { /* fix call site: remove args */ } throw e; }

Prevention

Grep scripts for getInputRowMeta( and verify empty parens
Don't confuse with createRowCopy(size), which takes one argument

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getInputRowMeta(...) with one or more arguments inside a Script transform script, e.g. getInputRowMeta(someField) or getInputRowMeta(null).

Common situations: Confusing getInputRowMeta() with functions that do take arguments (like createRowCopy(size)), or copy-pasted script code where the author assumed a parameter selects a field.

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

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e9bff61355507be5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/script/ScriptAddedFunctions.java:1897

  // Return the input row metadata
  public static RowMetaInterface getInputRowMeta( ScriptEngine actualContext, Bindings actualObject,
    Object[] ArgList, Object FunctionContext ) {
    if ( ArgList.length == 0 ) {
      try {
        Object scmO = actualObject.get( "_step_" );
        try {
          Script scm = (Script) scmO;
          return scm.getInputRowMeta();
        } catch ( Exception e ) {
          ScriptDummy scm = (ScriptDummy) scmO;
          return scm.getInputRowMeta();
        }
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        throw new RuntimeException( "Unable to get the input row metadata because of an error: "
          + Const.CR + e.toString() );
      }
    } else {
      throw new RuntimeException( "The function call getInputRowMeta doesn't require arguments." );
    }
  }

  // Return the input row metadata
  public static Object[] createRowCopy( ScriptEngine actualContext, Bindings actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Object FunctionContext ) {
    if ( ArgList.length == 1 ) {
      try {
        int newSize = (int) Math.round( (Double) ArgList[0] );

        Object scmO = actualObject.get( "row" );
        Object[] row = (Object[]) scmO; // TODO AKRETION ensure

        return RowDataUtil.createResizedCopy( row, newSize );
      } catch ( Exception e ) {
        throw new RuntimeException( "Unable to create a row copy: " + Const.CR + e.toString() );
      }
    } else {

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