pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

Unexpected error reading step information from the…

Error message

Unexpected error reading step information from the repository

What it means

AccessOutputMeta.readRep reads the step's settings from a repository. Any failure in the rep.getStepAttribute* calls is wrapped in a KettleException("Unexpected error reading step information from the repository"). This indicates the repository lookup or type conversion for the step attributes failed.

Solutions

Check repository connectivity and reconnect
Verify r_step_attribute rows exist for the step's id_step
Inspect the wrapped cause for the underlying JDBC/type error
Re-save or re-create the step so attributes are written again with correct types
Align repository plugin/schema versions between server and client

Example fix

null

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

if (repo == null || !repo.isConnected()) throw new IllegalStateException("Repository not connected before readRep");

Try / catch

try {
  transMeta = rep.loadTransformation(name, dir, progress, overwrite, versionLabel);
} catch (KettleException e) {
  log.error("Repository read failed for Access Output step", e.getCause());
  // reconnect or reload from file
}

Prevention

Avoid manually editing repository attribute tables
Keep repository schema and PDI client versions aligned
Reconnect after network interruptions before loading transformations
Regularly back up the repository database

When it happens

Trigger: Loading a transformation from a repository where the step's attribute rows are missing, have unexpected value types (e.g. boolean attribute stored non-parseable), or the repository connection drops mid-read.

Common situations: Repository rows manually deleted or edited; repository schema version mismatch with the PDI client; corrupted r_step_attribute values; network interruption while opening the transformation.

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

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5f15e11b23f45dfd. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/ms-access/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/accessoutput/AccessOutputMeta.java:196

  public void readRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_step, List<DatabaseMeta> databases ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      filename = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "filename" );
      tablename = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "table" );
      tableTruncated = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "truncate" );
      fileCreated = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "create_file" );
      tableCreated = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "create_table" );
      commitSize = (int) rep.getStepAttributeInteger( id_step, "commit_size" );
      String addToResultFiles = rep.getStepAttributeString( id_step, "add_to_result_filenames" );
      if ( Utils.isEmpty( addToResultFiles ) ) {
        addToResultFilenames = true;
      } else {
        addToResultFilenames = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "add_to_result_filenames" );
      }
      doNotOpeNnewFileInit = rep.getStepAttributeBoolean( id_step, "do_not_open_newfile_init" );

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unexpected error reading step information from the repository", e );
    }
  }

  public void saveRep( Repository rep, IMetaStore metaStore, ObjectId id_transformation, ObjectId id_step ) throws KettleException {
    try {
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "filename", filename );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "table", tablename );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "truncate", tableTruncated );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "create_file", fileCreated );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "create_table", tableCreated );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "commit_size", commitSize );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "add_to_result_filenames", addToResultFilenames );
      rep.saveStepAttribute( id_transformation, id_step, "do_not_open_newfile_init", doNotOpeNnewFileInit );

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      throw new KettleException( "Unable to save step information to the repository for id_step=" + id_step, e );
    }
  }

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