pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error

The function call getLastModifiedTime is not valid.

Error message

The function call getLastModifiedTime is not valid.

What it means

getLastModifiedTime is a Rhino JavaScript helper function added by ScriptValuesAddedFunctions. It requires exactly one argument (a file name string or File object); any other argument count or type falls through to the final else and this reportRuntimeError is thrown. The error means the JS script called getLastModifiedTime with an invalid signature.

Solutions

1. Pass exactly one argument that is a valid file path string, e.g. getLastModifiedTime('/tmp/data.csv').
2. Guard the argument in script: if (path != null && typeof path == 'string') { ... } before calling.
3. Check that the file-related variables coming from previous steps are actually populated (log them before the call).
4. Wrap the call in try/catch inside the script and return a default (e.g. null) when arguments are invalid.

Example fix

// before
var ts = getLastModifiedTime();
// after
var ts = (filename != null) ? getLastModifiedTime(filename.toString()) : null;

function safeGetLastModified(p) { if (p == null || typeof p !== 'string' || p.length === 0) return null; try { return getLastModifiedTime(p); } catch (e) { return null; } }

function isFilePath(v) { return v != null && typeof v === 'string' && v.length > 0; }

try { ts = getLastModifiedTime(path); } catch (e) { Logger.LogError('getLastModifiedTime failed: ' + e.message); ts = null; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling getLastModifiedTime() with zero arguments, with more than one argument, or with a first argument that cannot be converted to a java.io.File (e.g. a number, null, or a non-string object) from a JavaScript step (Modified Java Script Value).

Common situations: Passing a JS variable that is undefined/null because an upstream field was empty; forgetting the argument entirely; passing a Path-like or JavaScript string built from concatenation that ends up not coercible; copy-pasted script code assuming a different helper signature.

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

• Error in isEmpty function:
• ScriptValuesMod.Log.CouldNotAddDefaultConstants
• The function call copyFile is not valid.
• The function call execProcess is not valid.
• The function call isEmpty is not valid

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3c5585566fa21f91. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesAddedFunctions.java:2465

            Context.reportRuntimeError( "file [" + Context.toString( ArgList[0] ) + "] can not be found!" );
          }

          return lastmodifiedtime;
        } catch ( IOException e ) {
          throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "The function call getLastModifiedTime throw an error : "
            + e.toString() );
        } finally {
          if ( file != null ) {
            try {
              file.close();
            } catch ( Exception e ) {
              // Ignore errors
            }
          }
        }

      } else {
        throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "The function call getLastModifiedTime is not valid." );
      }
    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw Context.reportRuntimeError( e.toString() );
    }
  }

  public static Object trunc( Context actualContext, Scriptable actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Function FunctionContext ) {
    try {
      // 1 argument: normal truncation of numbers
      //
      if ( ArgList.length == 1 ) {
        if ( isNull( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return null;
        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return Context.getUndefinedValue();
        }

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