pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleStepException

XSLT01

XSLT01

Error message

Xslt.ErrorProcesing

What it means

Generic wrapping error thrown when the XSLT step fails to process a row's transformation. If the step meta has error handling configured, the row is routed to the error stream via putError with code XSLT01; otherwise the step logs and rethrows a KettleStepException wrapping the original exception. It covers XML parsing, TransformerFactory, and output-conversion failures.

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped cause ('Caused by') to identify the real failure; enable error handling on the step to route bad rows instead of aborting
2. Validate the XML field content (well-formed, correct encoding) before the XSLT step
3. Verify the stylesheet compiles with the JVM's default XSLT processor version; simplify output properties if misconfigured

Example fix

// before
throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Xslt.ErrorProcesing" ), e );
// after
// configure step error handling so bad rows go to the error stream:
// putError( getInputRowMeta(), row, 1, errorMessage, meta.getResultfieldname(), "XSLT01" );

// Validate XML and stylesheet before transforming
DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance().newDocumentBuilder().parse(new InputSource(new StringReader(xmlField)));
TransformerFactory.newInstance().newTransformer(new StreamSource(new File(xslFilename)));

try {
    transformation.execute(...);
} catch (KettleStepException e) {
    Throwable cause = e.getCause();
    log.error("XSLT processing failed: " + (cause != null ? cause : e.getMessage()));
    // route row to error handling / quarantine
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any Exception while transforming a row: malformed XML in the XML field, XSLT stylesheet compile errors, invalid result type conversion, or Transformer configuration (output properties) problems.

Common situations: Field contains XML with encoding issues or invalid characters; stylesheet references non-existent functions (e.g. XSLT 2.0 features on an XSLT 1.0 processor); result field name/type mismatch; JVM lacking a suitable TransformerFactory.

Related errors

• ColumnExists.Log.ErrorInStep
• Errors encountered (first 10): ...
• FixedTimeStreamWindow.SubtransFailed
• MAIL001
• TableExists.Log.ErrorInStep

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d057f72061ffbba8. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/xml/core/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/xslt/Xslt.java:262

      }
      Object[] outputRowData = RowDataUtil.addValueData( row, getInputRowMeta().size(), xmlString );

      if ( log.isRowLevel() ) {
        logRowlevel( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Xslt.Log.ReadRow" ) + " " + getInputRowMeta().getString( row ) );
      }

      // add new values to the row.
      putRow( data.outputRowMeta, outputRowData ); // copy row to output rowset(s);

    } catch ( Exception e ) {
      String errorMessage = e.getClass().toString() + ": " + e.getMessage();

      if ( getStepMeta().isDoingErrorHandling() ) {
        // Simply add this row to the error row
        putError( getInputRowMeta(), row, 1, errorMessage, meta.getResultfieldname(), "XSLT01" );
      } else {
        logError( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Xslt.ErrorProcesing" + " : " + errorMessage ), e );
        throw new KettleStepException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "Xslt.ErrorProcesing" ), e );
      }
    }

    return true;
  }

  public boolean init( StepMetaInterface smi, StepDataInterface sdi ) {
    meta = (XsltMeta) smi;
    data = (XsltData) sdi;
    if ( super.init( smi, sdi ) ) {
      // Specify weither or not we have to deal with XSL filename
      data.xslIsAfile = ( meta.useXSLField() && meta.isXSLFieldIsAFile() ) || ( !meta.useXSLField() );
      // Add init code here.
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }

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