SAXParserFactory ClassCastException

Question

I have the following method that throws the exception shown below:
public static Object decodeString(String xmlString) {
     XMLDecoder xmlDecode = null;
     try {
          xmlDecode = new XMLDecoder(new BufferedInputStream(
                         new ByteArrayInputStream(xmlString.getBytes())));
          return xmlDecode.readObject();
     } finally {
          if (xmlDecode != null) {
               xmlDecode.close();
04/02/15 18:34:37 java.lang.ClassCastException
04/02/15 18:34:37      at javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory.newInstance(SAXParserFactory.java:87)
04/02/15 18:34:37      at java.beans.XMLDecoder.<init>(XMLDecoder.java:84)
04/02/15 18:34:37      at java.beans.XMLDecoder.<init>(XMLDecoder.java:68)
04/02/15 18:34:37      at java.beans.XMLDecoder.<init>(XMLDecoder.java:56)
04/02/15 18:34:37      at com.avega.javax.XMLEncoders.decodeString(XMLEncoders.java:23)
04/02/15 18:34:37      at com.avega.portlets.domain.UserDimensionSelections.getSelectionCriteria(UserDimensionSelections.java:98)The 'RecordSelectionCriteria' are being encoded properly and saved to the database, but when I try to decode them I get the exception. However, if I take the strings that are stored in the database and run the following test main method directly, it works:
public static void main(String[] args) {
     String test =
          "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"+
          "<java version=\"1.4.1_02\" class=\"java.beans.XMLDecoder\">"+
          "<object class=\"java.util.ArrayList\">"+
          "<void method=\"add\">"+
          "<object class=\"com.avega.sql.RecordSelectionCriterion\">"+
          "<void property=\"value1\">"+
          "<string>Carefree</string>"+
          "</void></object></void></object>";
     String test2 =
          "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"+
          "<java version=\"1.4.1_02\" class=\"java.beans.XMLDecoder\">"+
          "<object class=\"java.util.ArrayList\">"+
          "<void method=\"add\">"+
          "<object class=\"com.avega.sql.RelativeTimeperiodCriterion\">"+
          "<void property=\"dateValue2\">"+
          "<object class=\"java.util.Date\">"+
          "<long>1075622399906</long>"+
          "</object>"+
          "</void>"+
          "<void property=\"numberOfUnits\">"+
          "<int>1</int>"+
          "</void>"+
          "<void property=\"timeUnit\">"+
          "<string>Months</string>"+
          "</void>"+
          "</object>"+
          "</void>"+
          "</object>";
     System.out.println(     ((RecordSelectionCriterion)((java.util.List)decodeString( test )).get(0)).getValue1() );
     System.out.println(     ((RelativeTimeperiodCriterion)((java.util.List)decodeString( test2 )).get(0)).getTimeUnit() );
Ouput:
org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: End of entity not allowed; an end tag is missing.
Continuing ...
Carefree
org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: End of entity not allowed; an end tag is missing.
Continuing ...
MonthsWhy would the 'main' method work, but the same method throws the exception when called from my application (running in Embedded OC4J)?
I even added a println with SAXParserFactory.newInstance().toString() to confirm that in both cases the SAXParserFactory is oracle.xml.jaxp.JXSAXParserFactory. The main method also works if I run the class directly on the commandline, and there the factory is org.apache.crimson.jaxp.SAXParserFactoryImpl.

Answer 1

First you need to close the <java> tag on your test Strings.
Then the class named RecordSelectionCriterion must be in your classpath. As well as the class called RelativeTimeperiodCriterion.
For example, I create a Bean like:
package mypackage1;
public class RecordSelectionCriterion
String value1;
public RecordSelectionCriterion()
public String getValue1()
return value1;
public void setValue1(String value1)
this.value1 = value1;
and another one like:
package mypackage1;
import java.util.Date;
public class RelativeTimeperiodCriterion
Date dateValue2;
int numberOfUnits;
String timeUnit;
public RelativeTimeperiodCriterion()
public Date getDateValue2()
return dateValue2;
public void setDateValue2(Date dateValue2)
this.dateValue2 = dateValue2;
public int getNumberOfUnits()
return numberOfUnits;
public void setNumberOfUnits(int numberOfUnits)
this.numberOfUnits = numberOfUnits;
public String getTimeUnit()
return timeUnit;
public void setTimeUnit(String timeUnit)
this.timeUnit = timeUnit;
Then the code:
package mypackage1;
import java.beans.XMLDecoder;
import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
public class saxotn
public saxotn()
public static Object decodeString(String xmlString) {
XMLDecoder xmlDecode = null;
try {
xmlDecode = new XMLDecoder(new BufferedInputStream(
new ByteArrayInputStream(xmlString.getBytes())));
return xmlDecode.readObject();
} finally {
if (xmlDecode != null) {
xmlDecode.close();
public static void main(String[] args) {
String test =
"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"+
"<java version=\"1.4.1_02\" class=\"java.beans.XMLDecoder\">"+
"<object class=\"java.util.ArrayList\">"+
"<void method=\"add\">"+
"<object class=\"mypackage1.RecordSelectionCriterion\">"+
"<void property=\"value1\">"+
"<string>Carefree</string>"+
"</void></object></void></object>" +
"</java>";
String test2 =
"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>"+
"<java version=\"1.4.1_02\" class=\"java.beans.XMLDecoder\">"+
"<object class=\"java.util.ArrayList\">"+
"<void method=\"add\">"+
"<object class=\"mypackage1.RelativeTimeperiodCriterion\">"+
"<void property=\"dateValue2\">"+
"<object class=\"java.util.Date\">"+
"<long>1075622399906</long>"+
"</object>"+
"</void>"+
"<void property=\"numberOfUnits\">"+
"<int>1</int>"+
"</void>"+
"<void property=\"timeUnit\">"+
"<string>Months</string>"+
"</void>"+
"</object>"+
"</void>"+
"</object>" +
"</java>";
System.out.println(test);
Object o1 = ((java.util.List)decodeString( test ));
System.out.println(test2);
Object o2 = ((java.util.List)decodeString( test2 ));
works fine for me.
Hope the addresses your point,
- Olivier