websphere 7 (and Spring Roo) incompatible with javax.el.ELException

java spring-roo jspx websphere-7
Ralph picture Ralph · Apr 13, 2011 · Viewed 8.6k times · Source

I have a application where the frontend is based on the Spring Roo 1.1.2 jspx files.

Every think works fine in Tomcat 6, but if I deploy the same application in a Websphere 7 (class loader: parent last), then I get a exception:

java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.NullPointerException incompatible with javax.el.ELException

[13.04.11 09:53:55:493 UTC] 00000026 servlet       E com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper service SRVE0068E: Uncaught exception created in one of the service methods of the servlet /WEB-INF/layouts/default.jspx in application cyber. Exception created : com.ibm.websphere.servlet.error.ServletErrorReport: java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.NullPointerException incompatible with javax.el.ELException
    at org.apache.jasper.runtime.PageContextImpl.handlePageException(PageContextImpl.java:693)
    at com.ibm._jsp._default_5F_jspx._jspService(_default_5F_jspx.java:123)
    at com.ibm.ws.jsp.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:98)
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:831)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1655)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.service(ServletWrapper.java:1595)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain.doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:104)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterChain._doFilter(WebAppFilterChain.java:77)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.filter.WebAppFilterManager.doFilter(WebAppFilterManager.java:895)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:932)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:500)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapperImpl.handleRequest(ServletWrapperImpl.java:178)
    at com.ibm.wsspi.webcontainer.servlet.GenericServletWrapper.handleRequest(GenericServletWrapper.java:121)
    at com.ibm.ws.jsp.webcontainerext.AbstractJSPExtensionServletWrapper.handleRequest(AbstractJSPExtensionServletWrapper.java:239)
    at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.forward(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java:341)
    at org.apache.tiles.servlet.context.ServletTilesRequestContext.forward(ServletTilesRequestContext.java:241)
    ...
Caused by: java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.NullPointerException incompatible with javax.el.ELException
    at org.apache.el.lang.ExpressionBuilder.prepare(ExpressionBuilder.java:139)
    at org.apache.el.lang.ExpressionBuilder.build(ExpressionBuilder.java:151)
    at org.apache.el.lang.ExpressionBuilder.createValueExpression(ExpressionBuilder.java:194)
    at org.apache.el.ExpressionFactoryImpl.createValueExpression(ExpressionFactoryImpl.java:67)
    at org.apache.jasper.runtime.PageContextImpl.proprietaryEvaluate(PageContextImpl.java:773)
    at com.ibm.ws.jsp.tagfile.webinf.util._load_2D_scripts.doTag(_load_2D_scripts.java:74)
    at com.ibm._jsp._default_5F_jspx._jspx_meth_util_load$1scripts_0(_default_5F_jspx.java:140)
    at com.ibm._jsp._default_5F_jspx._jspService(_default_5F_jspx.java:94)
    ... 88 more

The application has a Flex/BlazeDS part, that works fine. But there is also this JSP(x) part. The Spring controllers work, but there is something wrong with the JSPXs, and I have no idea where to start, when I understand the specification right, than WAS7 provides JSP 2.1, that is exactly what I need.

The relevant part of the POM for the WAR is:

<dependency>
   <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
   <artifactId>com.springsource.javax.servlet.jsp.jstl</artifactId>         
   <version>1.2.0</version>         
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
    <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
    <groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>
    <artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>
    <version>2.1</version>
    <scope>provided</scope>     
  </dependency>

Can anybody give me a hint?

This this the maven dependency tree:

[INFO] +- cyber:cyber-core:jar:4.0.0.0-D1-SNAPSHOT:compile
[INFO] |  +- javax.validation:com.springsource.javax.validation:jar:1.0.0.GA:compile
[INFO] |  +- javax.transaction:com.springsource.javax.transaction:jar:1.1.0:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.poi:poi:jar:3.6:compile
[INFO] |  +- net.sf.jxls:jxls-core:jar:0.9.9:compile
[INFO] |  |  +- commons-beanutils:commons-beanutils:jar:1.8.2:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- commons-jexl:commons-jexl:jar:1.1:compile
[INFO] |  |     \- junit:junit:jar:3.8.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- net.sf.jxls:jxls-reader:jar:0.9.9:compile
[INFO] |  +-    org.apache.commons:com.springsource.org.apache.commons.dbcp:jar:1.2.2.osgi:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.apache.commons:com.springsource.org.apache.commons.pool:jar:1.3.0:compile
[INFO] |  +- commons-io:commons-io:jar:1.4:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.commons:com.springsource.org.apache.commons.collections:jar:3.2.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- commons-lang:commons-lang:jar:2.4:compile
[INFO] |  +- commons-math:commons-math:jar:1.2:compile
[INFO] |  +- jdom:jdom:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.core:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.beans:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.springframework:org.springframework.asm:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.context:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.springframework:org.springframework.expression:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.web:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.aopalliance:com.springsource.org.aopalliance:jar:1.0.0:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.web.servlet:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.aop:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.aspects:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.orm:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:org.springframework.jdbc:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.springframework:org.springframework.transaction:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:org.springframework.context.support:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:spring-webmvc:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-asm:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-beans:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-context:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  |  \- org.springframework:spring-aop:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-context-support:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-core:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.springframework:spring-expression:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.springframework:spring-web:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |     \- aopalliance:aopalliance:jar:1.0:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.webflow:spring-js-resources:jar:2.2.1.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.security:org.springframework.security.core:jar:3.0.3.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.apache.commons:com.springsource.org.apache.commons.logging:jar:1.1.1:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.security:org.springframework.security.web:jar:3.0.3.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework.security:org.springframework.security.config:jar:3.0.3.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- org.apache.tiles:tiles-core:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tiles:tiles-api:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- commons-digester:commons-digester:jar:2.0:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.slf4j:jcl-over-slf4j:jar:1.5.10:compile
[INFO] +- org.apache.tiles:tiles-jsp:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] |  +- org.apache.tiles:tiles-servlet:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.apache.tiles:tiles-template:jar:2.2.1:compile
[INFO] +- org.tuckey:urlrewritefilter:jar:3.1.0:compile
[INFO] +- org.springframework:spring-oxm:jar:3.0.5.RELEASE:compile
[INFO] +- javax.servlet:com.springsource.javax.servlet.jsp.jstl:jar:1.2.0:compile
[INFO] |  \- org.apache.taglibs:com.springsource.org.apache.taglibs.standard:jar:1.1.2:compile
[INFO] +- javax.servlet:servlet-api:jar:2.5:provided
[INFO] +- javax.servlet.jsp:jsp-api:jar:2.1:provided
[INFO] +- org.aspectj:aspectjweaver:jar:1.6.9:compile
[INFO] +- org.aspectj:aspectjrt:jar:1.6.9:compile

Answer

Ralph picture Ralph · Apr 14, 2011

The 4 steps to make a Roo generated JSPX running on Websphere 7

or how I spend my last two days

The problem is that the Roo (1.1.2) generated JSPX files are not compatible with IBM Webshpere. So it is not a problem of the libaries.

To get the Roo templates running you need to do this:

  • The first problem (that causes the java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.NullPointerException incompatible with javax.el.ELException Exception is this line <util:load-scripts /> in WEB-INF/layout/default.jspx I have absolute no idea why, because all other tagx work (I spend my whole evening). The easiest work arround is to "include" the relevant content of /WEB-INF/tags/util/load-scripts.tagx direct by hand in default.jspx. (Then you can delete the load-scripts.tagx)

  • A new Validation error will occure: this is because IBM seams to have problems to parse jstl functions in '. For example: ${fn:toLowerCase(userLocale)}. And this is exacly one of the lines copied from load-scripts.tagx to default.jspx in step 1. My workarround is: to replace: 

    <script type="text/javascript">var djConfig = {parseOnLoad: false, isDebug: false, locale: '${fn:toLowerCase(userLocale)}'};</script>

by: 

   <c:set var="userLocalLowerCase" value="${fn:toLowerCase(userLocale)}" /> 
   <script type="text/javascript">var djConfig = {parseOnLoad: false, isDebug: false, locale: '${userLocalLowerCase}'};</script>

  • Now you will see something, but I you look at the output, you will see, hat IBM Websphere 7 does not remove the namespace definitions form divs. But in the template you will have a lot of this <div xmlns:c="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" xmlns:fn="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/functions" xmlns:jsp="http://java.sun.com/JSP/Page" xmlns:spring="http://www.springframework.org/tags" version="2.0"> So what you need to do is extract all of them in to <jsp:root elements (In all jspx files). So that the files looks like that: 

    <jsp:root xmlns:c="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" ... version="2.0">
<div>
    ...
</div>
</jsp:root>

    I am not 100% sure if this step is need, but you need the next one.

  • Now everything works, except the Java Scripts. That is because IBM Websphere 7, Normalize the JSPX output. So that lines like that:

    <script src="${spring_dojo_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --></script>

    become <script src="${spring_dojo_url}" type="text/javascript" /> unfortunately IE and Firefox (3) ignore this script tags. The workaround is to put a <jsp:text> </jsp:text> in to the script part of all (3) relevant script tags, copied in step 1.

    <script src="${dojo_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>
<script src="${spring_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- /required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>
<script src="${spring_dojo_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>

At least your default.jspx look like this:

<jsp:root 
        xmlns:jsp="http://java.sun.com/JSP/Page"
        xmlns:fn="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/functions"
        xmlns:c="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"
        xmlns:tiles="http://tiles.apache.org/tags-tiles"
        xmlns:spring="http://www.springframework.org/tags"
        xmlns:util="urn:jsptagdir:/WEB-INF/tags/util"
        version="2.0">
<html>  

    <jsp:output doctype-root-element="HTML" doctype-system="-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" doctype-public="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"/>

    <jsp:directive.page contentType="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />  
    <jsp:directive.page pageEncoding="UTF-8" /> 

    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
        <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=8" />

        <spring:url value="/resources/styles/standard.css" var="roo_css_url" />
        <spring:url value="/resources/dojo/dojo.js" var="dojo_url" />
        <spring:url value="/resources/dijit/themes/tundra/tundra.css" var="tundra_url" />
        <spring:url value="/resources/spring/Spring.js" var="spring_url" />
        <spring:url value="/resources/spring/Spring-Dojo.js" var="spring_dojo_url" />
        <spring:url value="/resources/images/favicon.ico" var="favicon" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="${roo_css_url}"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --></link>
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="${tundra_url}"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --></link>
        <link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="${favicon}" />

        <!-- Get the user local from the page context (it was set by Spring MVC's locale resolver) -->
        <c:set var="userLocale">
          <c:out value="${pageContext.response.locale}" default="en" />
        </c:set>

        <c:set var="userLocalLowerCase" value="${fn:toLowerCase(userLocale)}" /> 
        <script type="text/javascript">var djConfig = {parseOnLoad: false, isDebug: false, locale: '${userLocalLowerCase}'};</script>
        <script src="${dojo_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>
        <script src="${spring_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- /required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>
        <script src="${spring_dojo_url}" type="text/javascript"><!-- required for FF3 and Opera --><jsp:text> </jsp:text></script>
        <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">dojo.require("dojo.parser");</script>        

        <spring:message code="application_name" var="app_name"/>
        <title><spring:message code="welcome_h3" arguments="${app_name}" /></title>
    </head>

    <body class="tundra spring">
        <div id="wrapper">
            <tiles:insertAttribute name="header" ignore="true" />
            <tiles:insertAttribute name="menu" ignore="true" />   
            <div id="main">
                <tiles:insertAttribute name="body"/> 
                <tiles:insertAttribute name="footer" ignore="true"/>
            </div>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>
</jsp:root>

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