pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · TypeError

TypeError

Error message

TypeError

What it means

The ES5 Array.prototype.indexOf polyfill implements the spec: if `this` is null or undefined (the method is called on null/undefined or as a bare function), it throws a bare TypeError, per ECMA-262 15.4.4.14.

Solutions

1. Guard the receiver: if(arr) idx = arr.indexOf(x).
2. When using indexOf.call, pass a real array-like object as the first argument.
3. Default null receivers to an empty array before searching.

Example fix

// before
var i = Array.prototype.indexOf.call(maybeNull, item);
// after
var i = maybeNull ? maybeNull.indexOf(item) : -1;

if (arr == null) return -1;
var idx = arr.indexOf(item);

function isSearchable(x) { return x != null && typeof x.length === 'number'; }

try { i = arr.indexOf(item); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof TypeError) { i = -1; } else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling [].indexOf.call(null, x) or [].indexOf.apply(undefined, args); invoking the polyfilled function detached on a null this in strict mode (the polyfill's 'use strict' means this is not coerced to global).

Common situations: Generic array-method reuse (Array.prototype.slice/indexOf tricks) with a null first argument; legacy code running on old browsers (IE8) where the polyfill is actually active and receives null from a helper.

Related errors

• Failed to construct 'Promise': Please use the 'new'…
• You must pass a resolver function as the first argument to…
• AvroInput.Error.UnexpectedArrayElementTypeAtNonExpansionPoin…
• Cannot convert value to Base.Array.
• polyfill failed because global object is unavailable in…

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/44c31dc5fc7b5206. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/core-ui/src/main/resources/app/pentaho/shim/es5.js:33

/* ES5 polyfills */

/* eslint no-extend-native: 0 */

// Add trim function to support IE8
if(typeof String.prototype.trim !== "function") {
  String.prototype.trim = function() {
    return this.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g, "");
  };
}

// Add indexOf function to support IE8
if(!Array.prototype.indexOf) {
  Array.prototype.indexOf = function(searchElement /*, fromIndex */) {

    "use strict";

    if(this == null) {
      throw new TypeError();
    }

    var n, k, t = Object(this),
        len = t.length >>> 0;

    if(len === 0) {
      return -1;
    }

    n = 0;
    if(arguments.length > 1) {
      n = Number(arguments[1]);
      if(n != n) { // shortcut for verifying if it's NaN
        n = 0;
      } else if(n != 0 && n != Infinity && n != -Infinity) {
        n = (n > 0 || -1) * Math.floor(Math.abs(n));
      }
    }

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