fskorgen opened a new issue, #8260:
URL: https://github.com/apache/hop/issues/8260
### Apache Hop version?
2.20.0-SNAPSHOT and 2.19.0
### Java version?
21
### Operating system
Windows
### What happened?
When a return value has a **Type** set, `DatabaseLookupMeta.getFields()`
builds the output field from
scratch:
```java
int typeId =
ValueMetaFactory.getIdForValueMeta(returnValue.getDefaultType());
if (typeId != IValueMeta.TYPE_NONE) {
v = ValueMetaFactory.createValueMeta(fieldName, typeId); // length -1,
precision -1, no mask
} else {
...
v = source.clone();
}
```
Only the type survives. Length, precision, conversion mask and the
`original*` JDBC metadata are
lost, so a `varchar(30)` column arrives as a String with length `-1`. The
user cannot put them back:
the *Fields* tab has Field, New name, Default, Type and Trim type, but no
Length or Precision column.
This reaches DDL generation. Table Output and the bulk loaders size
`VARCHAR` columns from the field
length.
Leaving the Type empty does keep the length, but that is not a realistic
escape: **Get Fields** fills
the Type column automatically (`DatabaseLookupDialog` passes column 4 as the
type column to
`BaseTransformDialog.getFieldsFromPrevious`), so in practice every return
value has a type.
The behaviour changed in [#7574](https://github.com/apache/hop/pull/7574)
(`3e21c0cd34`, 2026-07-20),
which made a configured Type win over the table metadata. That change was
right for
[#5084](https://github.com/apache/hop/issues/5084) (empty Type must be
inferred) and
[#3100](https://github.com/apache/hop/issues/3100) (an explicit Type must
apply). The problem is that
it discards the whole source value meta when only the type needed to change.
### Steps to reproduce
1. `create table item_type (code varchar(3), description varchar(30))`
2. Add a **Database lookup** on that table and press **Get Fields** in the
*Fields* tab, so
`description` is returned with Type `String`.
3. Check the input fields of the next transform (**Transform fields and
their origin**), or run the
pipeline and inspect the output row metadata.
**Expected:** `description` is `String(30)`, as on 2.18.
**Actual:** `String` with no length; precision and mask are empty. Clearing
the Type cell by hand
restores the length, which is the current workaround.
### Suggested fix
Keep the new precedence, but clone the table field instead of creating a new
one:
```java
IValueMeta source =
tableFields == null ? null :
tableFields.searchValueMeta(returnValue.getTableField());
if (source == null) {
v = ValueMetaFactory.createValueMeta(fieldName, typeId);
} else {
v = ValueMetaFactory.cloneValueMeta(source, typeId);
v.setName(fieldName);
}
```
`cloneValueMeta(source, targetType)` returns `source.clone()` when the types
match, and otherwise
creates the target type carrying `getLength()`/`getPrecision()`, with
`cloneInfo` copying the mask
and the `original*` metadata. No extra lookup is needed: `tableFields` is
the info row the caller
already supplies.
### Issue Priority
Priority: 2
### Issue Component
Component: Transforms
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