[STR-2249] NullPointerException in ActionServlet

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Minor
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 1.2.4
• Fix Version/s: 1.2 Family
• Component/s: Core
• Environment: Operating System: All; Platform: All
• Bugzilla Id: 31761
• Assignee: Unassigned
• Reporter: Joshua Davies
• Created: 18/Oct/04 22:57
• Updated: 16/Feb/11 19:45
• Resolved: 04/Jul/07 05:30

Description

If somebody mistypes the name of a struts-config file (or gives the name of a
non-existent one) in the web.xml file, a nasty NullPointerException occurs.
For example:

<servlet>
<servlet-name>action</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet</servlet-class>

...

<init-param>
<param-name>config/path2</param-name>
<param-value>/WEB-INF/strust-config-path2.xml</param-value>
</init-param>
</servlet>

(notice that I purposely added a mispelling in the <param-value>),
ActionServlet.parseModuleConfigFile will throw a NullPointerException without
much additional information. When you have a billion different config modules
(as we do), it can be almost impossible to troubleshoot without stepping into
the source code.

Propose adding a check to parseModuleConfigFile that will throw a more
meaningful exception, including the name of the module whose config file it was
unable to find to aid troubleshooting when this situation occurs.