What causes "XsdValidator.Exception.ErrorResultFieldMissing" in pentaho/pentaho-kettle?

Open the XSD Validator step and set the 'Result fieldname' (e.g. result)

pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleStepException

XsdValidator.Exception.ErrorResultFieldMissing

Error message

XsdValidator.Exception.ErrorResultFieldMissing

What it means

XsdValidator.processRow requires a result field name in which to store the validation outcome (true/false). If meta.getResultfieldname() is null, it logs and throws this localized KettleStepException. This is a step configuration error detected at runtime before any row processing.

Solutions

Open the XSD Validator step and set the 'Result fieldname' (e.g. result)
Re-save and re-run the transformation
Verify with the step's check/test that the configuration is complete

Example fix

// before
<Resultfieldname/>
// after
<Resultfieldname>validation_result</Resultfieldname>

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

if (meta.getResultfieldname() == null || meta.getResultfieldname().isEmpty()) throw new IllegalStateException("XSD Validator result fieldname not set");

Type guard

boolean resultFieldSet = meta.getResultfieldname() != null && !meta.getResultfieldname().trim().isEmpty();

Try / catch

try { step.init(); step.processRow(); } catch (KettleStepException e) { log.error("Configure the XSD Validator result fieldname", e); }

Prevention

Fill in all required dialog fields before saving the step
Use the step's check results to catch blank required settings
Standardize result field names across transformations
Review step config when copying steps between transformations

When it happens

Trigger: processRow on the first row when the 'Result fieldname' was never set in the XSD Validator step dialog (empty/blank field name).

Common situations: Freshly added XSD Validator step configured with only the XML and XSD fields but the result field left blank; result field cleared during a dialog edit.

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

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/19f6dbe5572504e5. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/xml/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/xsdvalidator/XsdValidator.java:103

      // Check if XML stream is given
      if ( meta.getXMLStream() != null ) {
        // Try to get XML Field index
        data.xmlindex = getInputRowMeta().indexOfValue( meta.getXMLStream() );
        // Let's check the Field
        if ( data.xmlindex < 0 ) {
          // The field is unreachable !
          logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Log.ErrorFindingField" ) + "[" + meta.getXMLStream()
              + "]" );
          throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Exception.CouldnotFindField", meta
              .getXMLStream() ) );
        }

        // Let's check that Result Field is given
        if ( meta.getResultfieldname() == null ) {
          // Result field is missing !
          logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Log.ErrorResultFieldMissing" ) );
          throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Exception.ErrorResultFieldMissing" ) );
        }

        // Is XSD file is provided?
        if ( meta.getXSDSource().equals( meta.SPECIFY_FILENAME ) ) {
          if ( meta.getXSDFilename() == null ) {
            logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Log.ErrorXSDFileMissing" ) );
            throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Exception.ErrorXSDFileMissing" ) );
          } else {
            // Is XSD file exists ?
            FileObject xsdfile = null;
            try {
              xsdfile = KettleVFS.getInstance( getTransMeta().getBowl() ).getFileObject( environmentSubstitute( meta.getXSDFilename() ), getTransMeta() );
              if ( !xsdfile.exists() ) {
                logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Log.Error.XSDFileNotExists" ) );
                throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "XsdValidator.Exception.XSDFileNotExists" ) );
              }

            } catch ( Exception e ) {

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