JasperException: Unable to load JSP

[Griff George]

Hello friends,

First, a quick word about my environment. I've got Liferay6 running on Tomcat6. I've installed them from the Liferay+Tomcat bundle from Liferay's website. All of this is running on Ubuntu 10.10.

I am trying to develop a sample portlet for Liferay. I'm new to jsp, Liferay, and web programming altogether, so really all I am trying to accomplish is to get thing to compute 2+3 and print 5.

I have created a portlet (I run Liferay's create.sh which creates a directory structure with all the files necessary), and that portlet works. I can navigate to the browser and see it work. Here is the working view.jsp file:

<%
/**
 * Copyright (c) 2000-2010 Liferay, Inc. All rights reserved.
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
 * the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
 * Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option)
 * any later version.
 *
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
 * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
 * details.
 */
%>

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/portlet_2_0" prefix="portlet" %>

<portlet:defineObjects />

This is the <b>iCOE Test v2</b> portlet.

After verifying that this loads in the browser, I simply added one line to the end of the file:

<%= 2+3 %>

This causes a very big error. After some investigation, I found that including any jsp at all on the page caused this error. In fact, including empty <% %> tags on the page produces same error, even if there is no java code in them. When I remove the empty tags, the portlet works again.

Here is what the tomcat/logs/catalina.out looks like. First, I deploy the portlet, and everything appears hunky dory:

14:31:16,882 INFO  [AutoDeployDir:167] Processing iCOE-test-v2-portlet-6.0.5.1.war
14:31:16,884 INFO  [PortletAutoDeployListener:71] Copying portlets for /java/liferay/deploy/iCOE-test-v2-portlet-6.0.5.1.war
  Expanding: /java/liferay/deploy/iCOE-test-v2-portlet-6.0.5.1.war into /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888/WEB-INF
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888/WEB-INF/classes
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888/WEB-INF/classes
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888/WEB-INF
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888/META-INF
  Copying 14 files to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/webapps/iCOE-test-v2-portlet
  Copying 1 file to /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/webapps/iCOE-test-v2-portlet
  Deleting directory /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/temp/20110720143116888
14:31:17,101 INFO  [PortletAutoDeployListener:81] Portlets for /java/liferay/deploy/iCOE-test-v2-portlet-6.0.5.1.war copied successfully. Deployment will start in a few seconds.
20-Jul-2011 2:31:18 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig checkResources
INFO: Reloading context [/iCOE-test-v2-portlet]
14:31:18,138 WARN  [PluginPackageUtil:1186] Unable to reindex unistalled package iCOE-test-v2-portlet: Unable to communicate with repository http://plugins.liferay.com/official
14:31:18,140 INFO  [ExtHotDeployListener:205] Extension environment for iCOE-test-v2-portlet will not be undeployed
14:31:18,141 INFO  [PortletHotDeployListener:404] Unregistering portlets for iCOE-test-v2-portlet
14:31:18,142 INFO  [PortletHotDeployListener:435] 1 portlet for iCOE-test-v2-portlet was unregistered
14:31:18,218 INFO  [PortletHotDeployListener:220] Registering portlets for iCOE-test-v2-portlet
14:31:18,284 INFO  [PortletHotDeployListener:369] 1 portlet for iCOE-test-v2-portlet is available for use

Then, when I reload the page, disaster strikes. The error is far too long to post here, but I will include the important parts. If you would like to see the full error, I can post that if you want.

14:31:33,306 ERROR [PortletRequestDispatcherImpl:107] org.apache.jasper.JasperException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
org.apache.jasper.JasperException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:156)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:329)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:313)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:260)
	at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)
	
//several hundred lines of error

	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:109)
	at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:298)
	at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:852)
	at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:588)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$Worker.run(JIoEndpoint.java:489)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636)
Caused by: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
	at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.load(JspCompilationContext.java:623)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:144)
	... 206 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.jsp.view_jsp
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:217)
	at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:205)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:134)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:66)
	at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.load(JspCompilationContext.java:621)
	... 207 more
14:31:33,308 ERROR [PortletServlet:96] javax.portlet.PortletException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
javax.portlet.PortletException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
	at com.liferay.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.include(PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.java:109)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.include(MVCPortlet.java:328)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.include(MVCPortlet.java:343)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.doView(MVCPortlet.java:127)
	at com.liferay.portal.kernel.portlet.LiferayPortlet.doDispatch(LiferayPortlet.java:206)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.doDispatch(MVCPortlet.java:294)
	at javax.portlet.GenericPortlet.render(GenericPortlet.java:233)

//several hundred more lines of error

	at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:588)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$Worker.run(JIoEndpoint.java:489)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:636)
Caused by: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:156)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:329)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:313)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:260)
	at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:290)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:646)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doInclude(ApplicationDispatcher.java:551)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.include(ApplicationDispatcher.java:488)
	at com.liferay.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.dispatch(PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.java:315)
	at com.liferay.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.include(PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.java:104)
	... 195 more
Caused by: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP
	at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.load(JspCompilationContext.java:623)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:144)
	... 206 more
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.jsp.view_jsp
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:217)
	at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:205)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:134)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:66)
	at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.load(JspCompilationContext.java:621)
	... 207 more
14:31:33,311 ERROR [jsp:154] java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.jsp.view_jsp
	at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:217)
	at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:205)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:134)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JasperLoader.loadClass(JasperLoader.java:66)
	at org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.load(JspCompilationContext.java:621)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.getServlet(JspServletWrapper.java:144)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:329)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:313)
	at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:260)
	at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:290)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:646)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doInclude(ApplicationDispatcher.java:551)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.include(ApplicationDispatcher.java:488)
	at com.liferay.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.dispatch(PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.java:315)
	at com.liferay.portlet.PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.include(PortletRequestDispatcherImpl.java:104)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.include(MVCPortlet.java:328)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.include(MVCPortlet.java:343)
	at com.liferay.util.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet.doView(MVCPortlet.java:127)

No fun at all.

Some internet searching tells me that the JasperException: Unable to load class for JSP is caused by syntax errors in the jsp file but, as I mentioned before, even one pair of empty jsp tags causes this error. The file at /java/liferay/tomcat-6.0.26/work/Catalina/localhost/iCOE-test-v2-portlet/org/apache/jsp/view_jsp.java appears in all respects to be syntactically correct.

I am really at a loss here, and any help with this is appreciated. As I said, while I am a decent java programmer, my experience with programming for the web is practically zero, so it is very possible that I have forgotten a small detail.

Thanks in advance,
Griff

[E. Tse]

when you try to type <%= 2+3 %> at the end of the jsp will cause error, can you do these experiment ?

1. type some comments in line 13 after details and see if there's error
2. type <%="Testing" %> in line 20 and see if there's error

Eric