pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unable to load Notepad from repository (id_note=id_note)

Error message

Unable to load Notepad from repository (id_note=id_note)

What it means

This KettleException wraps a KettleDatabaseException thrown while loading a NotePadMeta by id_note. Unlike the 'couldn't find Notepad' error (no row), this indicates the load query itself failed — connection problems, SQL errors, or schema issues — so the note could not be read from R_NOTE.

Solutions

1. Inspect the chained KettleDatabaseException cause for the SQL error
2. Check repository DB connectivity and retry after the connection recovers
3. Verify R_NOTE table exists and matches the expected schema for your Pentaho version
4. Avoid long-held transactions that lock R_NOTE during concurrent saves

Example fix

// before
NotePadMeta note = delegate.loadNotePadMeta(idNote);
// after
NotePadMeta note;
try { note = delegate.loadNotePadMeta(idNote); }
catch (KettleException e) {
  log.error("DB failure loading note " + idNote + ": " + e.getCause(), e);
  throw e; // retry after connectivity is restored
}

try (Connection c = dataSource.getConnection()) { if (c.isClosed()) throw new IllegalStateException("Repository DB unreachable"); }

try { note = delegate.loadNotePadMeta(idNote); } catch (KettleException e) { if (e.getCause() instanceof KettleDatabaseException) { /* transient DB issue: retry with backoff */ } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: Calling loadNotePadMeta(id_note) when the underlying SELECT on R_NOTE throws KettleDatabaseException: DB connection dropped, table missing/locked, or driver-level SQL error.

Common situations: Repository database temporarily unreachable; R_NOTE schema mismatch after partial upgrade; database lock contention during concurrent repository access.

Understand the failure class

Background: Database query failed: Internal Server Error 500s wrapping SQL, Prisma, and connection failures — what to check first — this error's family across 16 libraries.

Related errors

• Unable to get list of repository objects
• Unable to load job entry copy from repository with…
• Unable to perform delete with SQL
• Unable to save notepad in repository…
• AbortMeta.Exception.UnableToSaveStepInfoToRepository

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4bfde079211d4175. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at engine/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/repository/kdr/delegates/KettleDatabaseRepositoryNotePadDelegate.java:98

        // Border color
        note.setBorderColorRed( (int) r.getInteger(
          "FONT_BORDER_COLOR_RED", NotePadMeta.COLOR_RGB_DEFAULT_BORDER_RED ) );
        note.setBorderColorGreen( (int) r.getInteger(
          "FONT_BORDER_COLOR_GREEN", NotePadMeta.COLOR_RGB_DEFAULT_BORDER_GREEN ) );
        note.setBorderColorBlue( (int) r.getInteger(
          "FONT_BORDER_COLOR_BLUE", NotePadMeta.COLOR_RGB_DEFAULT_BORDER_BLUE ) );
        note.setDrawShadow( r.getBoolean( "DRAW_SHADOW", true ) );

        // Done!
        return note;
      } else {
        note.setObjectId( null );
        throw new KettleException( "I couldn't find Notepad with id_note=" + id_note + " in the repository." );
      }
    } catch ( KettleDatabaseException dbe ) {
      note.setObjectId( null );
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to load Notepad from repository (id_note=" + id_note + ")", dbe );
    }
  }

  /**
   *
   * @param rep
   * @param id_transformation
   * @throws KettleException
   */
  public void saveNotePadMeta( NotePadMeta note, ObjectId id_transformation ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      Point location = note.getLocation();
      int x = location == null ? -1 : location.x;
      int y = location == null ? -1 : location.y;

      // Insert new Note in repository
      note.setObjectId( insertNote(
        note.getNote(), x, y, note.getWidth(), note.getHeight(), note.getFontName(), note.getFontSize(), note

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