IllegalStateException - Could not load 'DispatcherServlet.properties' issue

[Ramy Nady]

Dears ,

I spent more than 10 hours try to solve this problem but I lost !
Any help will be appreciated.

Am trying to deploy Spring MVC application on webshpere using RSA 7.5.

1- I created a new profile and adjusted all profile setting.
2- I created a new server to work with the new profile.
3- I configured the workspace class path with all the needed jars.

But while publishing/starting the application on the server I always found the below exception.

[20/05/15 15:15:48:710 AST] 00000016 WebExtensionP E   Error occured while preparing the servlet for initialization. 
java.lang.Exception: java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.loadServlet(ServletWrapper.java:1399)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.loadServlet(ServletWrapper.java:388)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.initialize(ServletWrapper.java:1243)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.initialize(ServletWrapper.java:152)
	at com.ibm.wsspi.webcontainer.extension.WebExtensionProcessor.createServletWrapper(WebExtensionProcessor.java:99)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.getServletWrapper(WebApp.java:882)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.getServletWrapper(WebApp.java:804)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.initializeTargetMappings(WebApp.java:522)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.commonInitializationFinish(WebApp.java:359)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.webapp.WebApp.initialize(WebApp.java:292)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.webapp.WebGroup.addWebApplication(WebGroup.java:92)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.VirtualHost.addWebApplication(VirtualHost.java:157)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.WebContainer.addWebApp(WebContainer.java:666)
	at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.WebContainer.addWebApplication(WebContainer.java:619)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.component.WebContainerImpl.install(WebContainerImpl.java:335)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.component.WebContainerImpl.start(WebContainerImpl.java:551)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ApplicationMgrImpl.start(ApplicationMgrImpl.java:1303)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.DeployedApplicationImpl.fireDeployedObjectStart(DeployedApplicationImpl.java:1138)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.DeployedModuleImpl.start(DeployedModuleImpl.java:569)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.DeployedApplicationImpl.start(DeployedApplicationImpl.java:817)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ApplicationMgrImpl.startApplication(ApplicationMgrImpl.java:949)
	at com.ibm.ws.runtime.component.ApplicationMgrImpl$AppInitializer.run(ApplicationMgrImpl.java:2122)
	at com.ibm.wsspi.runtime.component.WsComponentImpl$_AsynchInitializer.run(WsComponentImpl.java:342)
	at com.ibm.ws.util.ThreadPool$Worker.run(ThreadPool.java:1473)
Caused by: java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
	at java.lang.J9VMInternals.initialize(J9VMInternals.java:216)
	at java.lang.Class.newInstanceImpl(Native Method)
	at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:1328)
	at java.beans.Beans.instantiate(Beans.java:219)
	at java.beans.Beans.instantiate(Beans.java:63)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper$1.run(ServletWrapper.java:1334)
	at com.ibm.ws.security.util.AccessController.doPrivileged(AccessController.java:118)
	at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.loadServlet(ServletWrapper.java:1329)
	... 23 more
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Could not load 'DispatcherServlet.properties': class path resource [DispatcherServlet.properties] cannot be opened because it does not exist
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.<clinit>(DispatcherServlet.java:267)
	at java.lang.J9VMInternals.initializeImpl(Native Method)
	at java.lang.J9VMInternals.initialize(J9VMInternals.java:194)
	... 30 more

I can't understand why he couldn't load DispatcherServlet.properties while it is already exist at spring-webmvc.jar in my webinf/lib

Thanks in advance.

[John Cruz]

If it is fast to reinstall RSA, I would do so, but I think it is not.

Anyway, reinstalling sounds funny.

But just in case this is a proprietary bug in the IBM software, maybe you can temporarily extract that DispatcherServlet.properties into a location that you are sure is in the classpath.

Below is a code from https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/blob/master/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/DispatcherServlet.java.

	private static final String DEFAULT_STRATEGIES_PATH = "DispatcherServlet.properties";


	/** Additional logger to use when no mapped handler is found for a request. */
	protected static final Log pageNotFoundLogger = LogFactory.getLog(PAGE_NOT_FOUND_LOG_CATEGORY);

	private static final Properties defaultStrategies;

	static {
		// Load default strategy implementations from properties file.
		// This is currently strictly internal and not meant to be customized
		// by application developers.
		try {
			ClassPathResource resource = new ClassPathResource(DEFAULT_STRATEGIES_PATH, DispatcherServlet.class);
			defaultStrategies = PropertiesLoaderUtils.loadProperties(resource);
		}
		catch (IOException ex) {
			throw new IllegalStateException("Could not load 'DispatcherServlet.properties': " + ex.getMessage());
		}
	}

Based on above, the DispatcherServlet.properties must be in the same path as the DispatcherServlet.class file.

[Ramy Nady]

Thanks John ,

But as i told DispatcherServlet.properties is already exist at spring-webmvc.jar in my webinf/lib.

I can try your suggestion , please inform which class path you mean ?

1- Java build path under configure build path at RSA workspace
2- From WAS admin console Application servers > server1 > Process Definition > Java Virtual Machine > Classpath

[John Cruz]

Try inside web-inf/classes/org/springframework/web/servlet/DispatcherServlet.properties

It probably gets deleted when you build, so try put together in your main source like: /src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/DispatcherServlet.properties

This is a workaround just in case it is an RSA bug.

[Ramy Nady]

Hello John,

Thanks again for your help.

I tried what you mentioned to insert DispatcherServlet.properties at

web-inf/classes/org/springframework/web/servlet/DispatcherServlet.properties
/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/DispatcherServlet.properties

But then I faced another strange issue that my spring context file is invalid; nested exception is org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Content is not allowed in prolog.
While my WEB-INF/ECorp-Spring-Context.xml taken from my colleague which doesn't have any issue.

Any ideas about this?

Original Exception:

Error Message: SRVE0207E: Uncaught initialization exception thrown by servlet
Error Code: 500
Target Servlet: SpringServlet
Error Stack: 
org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionStoreException: Line 1 in XML document from ServletContext resource [/WEB-INF/ECorp-Spring-Context.xml] is invalid; nested exception is org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Content is not allowed in prolog. 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:404) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:342) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:310) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:143) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:178) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:149) 
     at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:124) 
     at org.springframework.web.context.support.XmlWebApplicationContext.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlWebApplicationContext.java:92) 
     at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.refreshBeanFactory(AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext.java:123) 
     at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.obtainFreshBeanFactory(AbstractApplicationContext.java:422) 
     at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:352) 
     at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.createWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:402) 
     at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.initWebApplicationContext(FrameworkServlet.java:316) 
     at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.initServletBean(FrameworkServlet.java:282) 
     at org.springframework.web.servlet.HttpServletBean.init(HttpServletBean.java:126) 
     at javax.servlet.GenericServlet.init(GenericServlet.java:256) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.init(ServletWrapper.java:218) 
     at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.init(ServletWrapper.java:319) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:412) 
     at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.servlet.ServletWrapper.handleRequest(ServletWrapper.java:478) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp.handleRequest(WebApp.java:3440) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebGroup.handleRequest(WebGroup.java:267) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:815) 
     at com.ibm.ws.wswebcontainer.WebContainer.handleRequest(WebContainer.java:1461) 
     at com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.channel.WCChannelLink.ready(WCChannelLink.java:118) 
     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleDiscrimination(HttpInboundLink.java:458) 
     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.handleNewInformation(HttpInboundLink.java:387) 
     at com.ibm.ws.http.channel.inbound.impl.HttpInboundLink.ready(HttpInboundLink.java:267) 
     at com.ibm.ws.tcp.channel.impl.NewConnectionInitialReadCallback.sendToDiscriminators(NewConnectionInitialReadCallback.java:214) 
     at com.ibm.ws.tcp.channel.impl.NewConnectionInitialReadCallback.complete(NewConnectionInitialReadCallback.java:113) 
     at com.ibm.ws.tcp.channel.impl.AioReadCompletionListener.futureCompleted(AioReadCompletionListener.java:165) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.AbstractAsyncFuture.invokeCallback(AbstractAsyncFuture.java:217) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncChannelFuture.fireCompletionActions(AsyncChannelFuture.java:161) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.AsyncFuture.completed(AsyncFuture.java:136) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler.complete(ResultHandler.java:195) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler.runEventProcessingLoop(ResultHandler.java:743) 
     at com.ibm.io.async.ResultHandler$2.run(ResultHandler.java:873) 
     at com.ibm.ws.util.ThreadPool$Worker.run(ThreadPool.java:1473) 
     Caused by: org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: Content is not allowed in prolog. 
     at org.apache.xerces.util.ErrorHandlerWrapper.createSAXParseException(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.util.ErrorHandlerWrapper.fatalError(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLErrorReporter.reportError(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLErrorReporter.reportError(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLScanner.reportFatalError(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl$PrologDispatcher.dispatch(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.parsers.DOMParser.parse(Unknown Source) 
     at org.apache.xerces.jaxp.DocumentBuilderImpl.parse(Unknown Source) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.DefaultDocumentLoader.loadDocument(DefaultDocumentLoader.java:75) 
     at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.doLoadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:396) 
     ... 37 more 

[John Cruz]

Im sure you are frustrated already as these problems has nothing to do with your programs.

Better take a step back, isolate the problem.

I wonder if you can just re-setup things somewhere else.

Like, build and/or deploy in another machine (like your teammate's), and see if your code works. If yes, then your workspace or RSA-proprietary stuff are the problem. I would just reinstall even if it takes a day. You see, now you already spent more than a day on this thing.