websphere 7 (and Spring Roo) incompatible with javax.el.ELException

Question

I have a application where the frontend is based on the Spring Roo 1.1.2 jspx files.

Every think works fine in Tomcat 6, but if I deploy the same application in a Websph

Answer 1

The 4 steps to make a Roo generated JSPX running on Websphere 7

or how I spend my last two days

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The problem is that the Roo (1.1.2) generated JSPX files are not compatible with IBM Webshpere. So it is not a problem of the libaries.

To get the Roo templates running you need to do this:

• The first problem (that causes the java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.NullPointerException incompatible with javax.el.ELException Exception is this line in WEB-INF/layout/default.jspx I have absolute no idea why, because all other tagx work (I spend my whole evening). The easiest work arround is to "include" the relevant content of /WEB-INF/tags/util/load-scripts.tagx direct by hand in default.jspx. (Then you can delete the load-scripts.tagx)

• A new Validation error will occure: this is because IBM seams to have problems to parse jstl functions in '. For example: ${fn:toLowerCase(userLocale)}. And this is exacly one of the lines copied from load-scripts.tagx to default.jspx in step 1. My workarround is: to replace:

by:

• Now you will see something, but I you look at the output, you will see, hat IBM Websphere 7 does not remove the namespace definitions form divs. But in the template you will have a lot of this

  So what you need to do is extract all of them in to elements (In all jspx files). So that the files looks like that:

  
  
      ...
  
  
  

  I am not 100% sure if this step is need, but you need the next one.

• Now everything works, except the Java Scripts. That is because IBM Websphere 7, Normalize the JSPX output. So that lines like that:

  become

At least your default.jspx look like this: