This broke with 1.4.2

Question

Hi,
I spent quite some time why two of the applications I use do not work with 1.4.2. What I did is to enable all traces using the .javawsrc file.
The trace output shows that a NullPointerException occurs when sun.javaws.security.AppPolicy#addPermission is called. The stack trace is as follows:
java.lang.NullPointerException
     at com.sun.javaws.cache.DiskCache.getCacheEntryFromFile(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.javaws.security.AppPolicy.addPermissions(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.getPermissions(Unknown Source)
     at java.security.SecureClassLoader.getProtectionDomain(Unknown Source)
     at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.defineClass(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.access$100(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader$1.run(Unknown Source)
     at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
     at com.sun.jnlp.JNLPClassLoader.findClass(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.continueLaunch(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleApplicationDesc(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.handleLaunchFile(Unknown Source)
     at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.run(Unknown Source)
     at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
So it seams like com.sun.javaws.cache.DiskCache#getCacheEntryFromFile is broken. This is what the method looks like:
public DiskCacheEntry getCacheEntryFromFile(File file)
throws IOException
DiskCacheEntry diskcacheentry = fileToEntry(file);
if(diskcacheentry.getType() == 'P')
return getMuffinEntry(diskcacheentry.getType(), diskcacheentry.getLocation());
else
return getCacheEntry(diskcacheentry.getType(), diskcacheentry.getLocation(), diskcacheentry.getVersionId());
In case fileToEntry does return null (which it does quite often) this must fail!
So why does fileToEntry return null?
Here's part of the trace:
javawsApplicationMain: Permission requested for: file:C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/DE105201/Application%20Data/Sun/Java/Deployment/javaws/cache/http/Dinfoservice.inf.tu-dresden.de/P8080/V00.01.077/DMjap/RMsignedJAP.jar
javawsApplicationMain: FileToEntry: C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\DE105201\Application%20Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\javaws\cache\http\Dinfoservice.inf.tu-dresden.de\P8080\V00.01.077\DMjap\RMsignedJAP.jar
As you can see the path string is white space encoded.
At different parts of the trace there are entries like:
javawsApplicationMain: Creating loader for: file:C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/DE105201/Application%20Data/Sun/Java/Deployment/javaws/cache/http/Dinfoservice.inf.tu-dresden.de/P8080/V00.01.077/DMjap/RMsignedJAP.jar
javawsApplicationMain: String: C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\DE105201\Application%20Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\javaws\cache\http\Dinfoservice.inf.tu-dresden.de\P8080\V00.01.077\DMjap\RMsignedJAP.jar
javawsApplicationMain: decoded to: C:\Documents and Settings\DE105201\Application Data\Sun\Java\Deployment\javaws\cache\http\Dinfoservice.inf.tu-dresden.de\P8080\V00.01.077\DMjap\RMsignedJAP.jar
So the code is appearently aware of the encoded path string.
My theory is that the fileToEntry method only works with the decoed path. The problem is that sun.javaws.security.AppPolicy#addPermission does not request the decoding.
I'm not sure what exactly causes the call to addPermission. I happens for signed and unsigned apps.
BTW I'm running the 1.4.2 FCS on Windows XP with a German Locale.
I consider this a severe bug since there is no workaround I can think of besides fixing by patching which is not feasable.
Any comments please.
Thanks,
Thomas

Answer 1

Are you all using a non english (de) locale ?
Did you try to clear the cache ?
There is currently a bug in Java WebStart where the default locale is
always english (en), even if your system is in another language.
Maybe that could be the source of the problem, if the encoding is...
http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/bugParade/bugs/4891531.html