pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · Rhino runtime error

The function call loadFileContentrequires 1 ou 2 arguments.

Error message

The function call loadFileContentrequires 1 ou 2 arguments.

What it means

The JavaScript JS function loadFileContent(), registered by ScriptValuesAddedFunctions for the Modified Java Script Value step, was called with an argument count other than 1 or 2. Rhino's reportRuntimeError is used to abort the script execution with a human-readable message when the switch on ArgList length falls through to default.

Solutions

1. Pass exactly 1 argument (file path) or 2 arguments (file path, encoding) to loadFileContent.
2. Check the script in the Modified Java Script Value step dialog and fix the call site.
3. If the arguments are computed at runtime, log the argument array length before calling.

Example fix

// before
var content = loadFileContent();
// after
var content = loadFileContent('/tmp/data.txt', 'UTF-8');

// JS in the script step
if (arguments.length !== 1 && arguments.length !== 2) {
  throw new Error('loadFileContent requires 1 or 2 arguments');
}
var content = loadFileContent(path, encoding);

When it happens

Trigger: Calling loadFileContent() with zero arguments or three or more arguments from a JavaScript script in the Modified Java Script Value step.

Common situations: Typos in the script (e.g. forgetting the filename argument), copy-pasting an example that used a different signature, or dynamically building argument lists that end up empty.

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

• Script.Log.CouldNotAddDefaultConstants
• The function call dateAdd requires 3 arguments.
• The function call dateDiff requires 3 arguments.
• The function call fillString requires 2 arguments.
• The function call fireToDB requires 2 arguments.

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d8371f488afe19b2. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/scriptvalues_mod/ScriptValuesAddedFunctions.java:2829

              return null;
            } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
              return Context.getUndefinedValue();
            }
            String encoding = null;
            if ( !isUndefined( ArgList[1] ) && !ArgList[1].equals( null ) ) {
              encoding = Context.toString( ArgList[1] );
            }
            // Returns file content
            oRC = new String( LoadFileInput.getFileBinaryContent( getBowl( actualObject ),
                                                                  Context.toString( ArgList[0] ) ), encoding );
          } catch ( Exception e ) {
            throw Context
              .reportRuntimeError( "The function call loadFileContent throw an error : " + e.toString() );
          }
          break;

        default:
          throw Context.reportRuntimeError( "The function call loadFileContentrequires 1 ou 2 arguments." );
      }

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw Context.reportRuntimeError( e.toString() );
    }
    return oRC;
  }

  public static int getOcuranceString( Context actualContext, Scriptable actualObject, Object[] ArgList,
    Function FunctionContext ) {
    int nr = 0;
    if ( ArgList.length == 2 ) {
      try {
        if ( isNull( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return 0;
        } else if ( isUndefined( ArgList[0] ) ) {
          return (Integer) Context.getUndefinedValue();
        }

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