IllegalArgumentException on using nested:text tag

[Zip Ped]

Hi,

I am using the nested:text tag in my JSP and when the page first loads the nested property I specify in my tag displays the right value. However on submit, I get the following exception stack trace:

  [8/15/06 16:34:33:016 EDT] 41a441a4 WebGroup      E SRVE0026E: [Servlet Error]-[BeanUtils.populate]: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Null property value for 'address'
at java.lang.Throwable.<init>(Throwable.java)
at java.lang.Throwable.<init>(Throwable.java)
at org.apache.commons.beanutils.PropertyUtils.getNestedProperty(PropertyUtils.java)
at org.apache.commons.beanutils.PropertyUtils.getProperty(PropertyUtils.java)
at org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtils.setProperty(BeanUtils.java)
at org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtils.populate(BeanUtils.java)
at org.apache.struts.util.RequestUtils.populate(RequestUtils.java:1252)
at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processPopulate(RequestProcessor.java:821)
at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.process(RequestProcessor.java:254)
at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.process(ActionServlet.java:1482)
at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.doPost(ActionServlet.java:525)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:760)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictServletInstance.doService(StrictServletInstance.java:110)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictLifecycleServlet._service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:174)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServicingServletState.service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:333)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictLifecycleServlet.service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:116)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletInstance.service(ServletInstance.java:283)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ValidServletReferenceState.dispatch(ValidServletReferenceState.java:42)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletInstanceReference.dispatch(ServletInstanceReference.java:40)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.handleWebAppDispatch(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.dispatch(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.forward(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java:176)
at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.doForward(RequestProcessor.java:1069)
at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.doForward(TilesRequestProcessor.java:274)
at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(RequestProcessor.java:455)
at org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesRequestProcessor.processForwardConfig(TilesRequestProcessor.java:320)
at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.process(RequestProcessor.java:279)
at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.process(ActionServlet.java:1482)
at org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet.doPost(ActionServlet.java:525)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:760)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:853)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictServletInstance.doService(StrictServletInstance.java:110)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictLifecycleServlet._service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:174)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServicingServletState.service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:333)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.StrictLifecycleServlet.service(StrictLifecycleServlet.java:116)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletInstance.service(ServletInstance.java:283)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ValidServletReferenceState.dispatch(ValidServletReferenceState.java:42)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletInstanceReference.dispatch(ServletInstanceReference.java:40)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.handleWebAppDispatch(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.dispatch(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebAppRequestDispatcher.forward(WebAppRequestDispatcher.java:176)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.srt.WebAppInvoker.doForward(WebAppInvoker.java:79)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.srt.WebAppInvoker.handleInvocationHook(WebAppInvoker.java:201)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.cache.invocation.CachedInvocation.handleInvocation(CachedInvocation.java:71)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.cache.invocation.CacheableInvocationContext.invoke(CacheableInvocationContext.java:114)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.srp.ServletRequestProcessor.dispatchByURI(ServletRequestProcessor.java:186)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.oselistener.OSEListenerDispatcher.service(OSEListener.java:334)
at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.http.HttpConnection.handleRequest(HttpConnection.java:56)
at com.ibm.ws.http.HttpConnection.readAndHandleRequest(HttpConnection.java:610)
at com.ibm.ws.http.HttpConnection.run(HttpConnection.java:431)
at com.ibm.ws.util.ThreadPool$Worker.run(ThreadPool.java)
 
  

Here's the code from my JSP:

 <tr>
<td>Address:</td>
<td><nested:text property="address.street.line1" maxlength="30" size="30" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td><td> <nested:text property="address.street.line2" maxlength="30" size="30" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td><td> <nested:text property="address.street.line3" maxlength="30" size="30" /> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td><td> <nested:text property="address.street.line4" maxlength="30" size="30" /> </td>
</tr>   

My ActionForm has the property -Address(user defined object) and the getter for the address property is:

  public Address getAddress() {
if(address == null)
return new Address();
return address;
}
  

The address object contains the Street object which in turn contains the line1, line2, line3 and line4 properties of the type String.

Any ideas on where I am going wrong?

Thanks,

Kailash

[Merrill Higginson]

Is there a reason why you're using <nested:text> instead of <html:text> ? The <nested:xxx> tags sometimes manipulate the property name in ways you don't want.

I'd suggest using <html:text>.

[Zip Ped]

Thanks for your suggestion Merill. I solved the problem. It seems that the BeanUtils class was copying the properties of the current ActionForm to the properties of the ActionForm for the action class to which I was forwarding to on submit of the page. The NullPointerException was occurring in the 2nd ActionForm. I just removed the fields which were matching in both the forms to avoid the whole problem.

Yes, I do need to use the nested:text tag.

A very interesting and peculiar behaviour.