JR47857: NULLPOINTEREXCEPTION OCCURS WHEN INVOKING PROCESS INSTANCE VIEW IN PROCESS PERFORMANCE DASHBOARD FOR AN INSTANCE IN PROGRESS

Version 8.5 Refresh Pack 5 for the IBM Business Process Manager products
Version 8.5.0 Fix Pack 2 for the IBM Business Process Manager products

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• In Process Portal, on the Work top-level tab, the Following
  tab in the right pane displays a list of process instances in
  progress.  Clicking on one of those instance is supposed
  to automatically navigate to the Process Performance
  dashboard, displaying details of the process instance.  In
  some cases, however, a NullPointerException may occur.  In
  Process Portal, an error message with the following text is
  displayed (in the Process Performance tab):
  
  Runtime error in script ("Process: 'Instance Gantt Chart Data
  Service' ProcessItem: 'Retrieve Instance Information' Type:
  'ITEM'" 283:0).Internal Script error:
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  ...
  
  This is the full stack trace that is written to SystemOut.log
  on the cluster where the IBM_BPM_Portal application is deployed:
  
  Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
  at
  com.lombardisoftware.core.script.js.ProjectedPathStepScriptable.
  jsGet_pr
  iority(ProjectedPathStepScriptable.java:303)
  at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
  at
  sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessor
  Impl.jav
  a:60)
  at
  sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethod
  Accessor
  Impl.java:37)
  at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:611)
  at org.mozilla.javascript.MemberBox.invoke(MemberBox.java:161)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptableObject.getImpl(ScriptableObject
  .java:20
  20)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptableObject.get(ScriptableObject.jav
  a:287)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptableObject.getProperty(ScriptableOb
  ject.jav
  a:1617)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptRuntime.getObjectProp(ScriptRuntime
  .java:14
  37)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptRuntime.getObjectProp(ScriptRuntime
  .java:14
  23)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.Interpreter.interpretLoop(Interpreter.jav
  a:3027)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.Interpreter.interpret(Interpreter.java:24
  87)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.InterpretedFunction.call(InterpretedFunct
  ion.java
  :164)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ContextFactory.doTopCall(ContextFactory.j
  ava:398)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.ScriptRuntime.doTopCall(ScriptRuntime.jav
  a:3070)
  at
  org.mozilla.javascript.InterpretedFunction.exec(InterpretedFunct
  ion.java:175)
  at
  com.lombardisoftware.core.script.js.JSScript.exec(JSScript.java:
  69)
  at
  com.lombardisoftware.core.script.js.JavaScriptRunner$2.execute(J
  avaScriptRunner.java:248)
  at
  com.lombardisoftware.core.script.js.PreparedScope.executeWithSco
  pe(PreparedScope.java:216)
  at
  com.lombardisoftware.core.script.js.JavaScriptRunner.execute(Jav
  aScriptRunner.java:246)
  

Local fix

• Use static priority setting in the activities
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED:  Users of BPM Express, BPM Standard, and     *
  *                  BPM Advanced.                               *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: In Process Portal, on the Work          *
  *                      top-level tab, the Following tab in     *
  *                      the right pane displays a list of       *
  *                      process instances in progress.          *
  *                      Clicking on one of those instance is    *
  *                      supposed to automatically navigate to   *
  *                      the Process Performance dashboard,      *
  *                      displaying details of the process       *
  *                      instance.  In some cases, however, a    *
  *                      NullPointerException may occur.         *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  ****************************************************************
  The issue occurs in a BPD for which JavaScript is used to set
  the priority for activities in a variable; the priority
  variable is not initialized.
  

Problem conclusion

• Placing null checking around the priority value that is
  returned, and defaulting to 30 (normal) when null is detected,
  resolved the issue.
  
  An interim fix for Business Process Manager Version 8.5.0.0 has
  been published to Fix Central.  Please refer to the separate
  file that is automatically downloaded with the interim fix
  for prerequisite information and installation/uninstallation
  instructions.
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  BPM ADVANCED

• Fixed component ID

  5725C9400

Applicable component levels

• R800 PSY

     UP