IT28289: After applying the MQ 8.0.0.7 or later Fix Pack, the MQ ExplorerMFT plug-in displays an "assertion failed" error message

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• After applying the MQ V8.0.0.7 Fix Pack to the MQ Explorer, when
  using the Managed File Transfer (MFT) plug-in to monitor file
  transfers using the Transfer Progress view, the MQ Explorer
  continually displays a pop-up error message with the text:
  
    assertion failed: Column 7 has no label provider.
  
  
  The error message reported in the MQ Explorer log file is as
  follows:
  
  org.eclipse.core.runtime.AssertionFailedException:
    assertion failed: Column 7 has no label provider.
  at org.eclipse.core.runtime.Assert.isTrue
  at org.eclipse.jface.viewers.ViewerColumn.refresh
  at org.eclipse.jface.viewers.AbstractTreeViewer.doUpdateItem
  at org.eclipse.jface.viewers.AbstractTreeViewer$
      UpdateItemSafeRunnable.run
  at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run
  at org.eclipse.ui.internal.JFaceUtil$1.run
  at org.eclipse.jface.util.SafeRunnable.run
  at org.eclipse.jface.viewers.AbstractTreeViewer.doUpdateItem
  at org.eclipse.jface.viewers.StructuredViewer$
      UpdateItemSafeRunnable.run
  at org.eclipse.core.runtime.SafeRunner.run(
  at org.eclipse.ui.internal.JFaceUtil$1.run
  at org.eclipse.jface.util.SafeRunnable.run
  

Local fix

• This issue can be resolved via a local fix.  Two local fixes are
  described below.  Only one needs to be followed to resolve the
  issue.
  
  Local Fix Method One:
  -----------------------
  Temporarily open the MQ Explorer in a different language and
  locale.  For example, Taiwanese customers that encounter this
  issue can open the MQ Explorer in a western locale, such as US
  English.
  
  Once the MQ Explorer has been opened in a different locale:
    - connect to the Managed File Transfer (MFT) configuration,
    - open the Transfer Log page listed under the MFT
  configuration,
    - ensure the "Current Transfer Progress" view is also
  displayed.  It is, by default, located directly beneath the
  Transfer Log content view.
  
  The MQ Explorer can then be closed and reopened using the normal
  locale for the system.
  
  One method to open the MQ Explorer in a specific language and
  locale is to configure the Java system properties:
  
  user.language
  
  and
  
  user.region
  
  These can be configured for the MQ Explorer by opening the
  MQExplorer.ini file located in the "bin" directory of the MQ
  installation and adding these entries to the bottom of the file
  under the line:
  
  -vmargs
  
  For example, to open the MQ Explorer in US English, add the
  following lines to the MQExplorer.ini file:
  
  -Duser.language=en
  -Duser.region=US
  
  such that the end of the file looks similar to the following:
  
  -vmargs
  -Xmx512M
  -Duser.language=en
  -Duser.region=US
  
  When the lines have bee added, save and close the file then open
  the MQ Explorer and follow the steps noted above.  Once the
  steps have been completed the specific user.language and
  user.region system properties can be removed from the
  MQExplorer.ini file.
  
  
  Local Fix Method Two:
  -----------------------
  An alternative to the above, is as follows.
  
  - Close the MQ Explorer
  
  - Open the dialog_settings.xml file from the MQ Explorer
  workspace.  This will be located in a directory similar to:
  
  
  /home/user1/IBM/WebSphereMQ/workspace-Installation1/.metadata/.p
  lugins/com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer
  
     on Linux or:
  
  
  C:\Users\Administrator\IBM\WebSphereMQ\workspace-Installation1\.
  metadata\.plugins\com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer\
  
    on Windows.
  
  - Delete any one of the "items" listed under the following XML
  entry in its entirety:
  
     <section name="TRANSFER_PROGRESS_VIEW_SETTINGS">
       <item value="zh" key="LOCALE"/>
         <list key="COLUMNS">
           <!-- Delete any one of the items here -->
         </list>
  
    For example, the first item in the list can be deleted:
  
      <item value=""/>
  
    such that the list of entries for "COLUMNS" only contains
  seven items, rather than the original eight.
  
  - Save and close the file
  
  - Restart the MQ Explorer
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  USERS AFFECTED:
  This issue affects users of the MQ Explorer Managed File
  Transfer plug-in who:
  
  - use the MQ Explorer in the Taiwanese locale and traditional
  Chinese language, zh_TW,
  - have applied the MQ V8.0.0.7 or later Fix Pack, and
  - monitor running (in-progress) transfers performed by MFT
  agents.
  
  
  Platforms affected:
  Linux on x86-64, Windows
  
  ****************************************************************
  PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
  The MQ Explorer Managed File Transfer (MFT) plug-in saves the
  order of the columns displayed in the "Current Transfer
  Progress" view in a file named dialog_settings.xml located in
  the MQ Explorer workspace.  This file is read and the order of
  columns restored when the MQ Explorer starts and the user
  connects to an MFT configuration.  The information is saved in
  the language in which the MQ Explorer was last used.
  
  One of the columns has the title / label "Started" followed by
  the timezone.  For example:
  
    Started (Europe/London)
  
  For customers using a Taiwanese locale, the MQ V8.0.0.7 updated
  the title characters for the "Started" column as part of some
  message translation updates.
  
  The result of this was that when the MQ Explorer MFT plug-in was
  started after applying the MQ V8.0.0.7 (or later) Fix Pack and
  read the dialog_settings.xml file. which was saved by a
  pre-V8.0.0.7 Explorer, it did not correctly configure an Eclipse
  "org.<a
  href="eclipse-javadoc:%E2%98%82=com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer/%5C/Appl
  ications%5C/Eclipse.app%5C/Contents%5C/Eclipse%5C/plugins%5C/org
  .eclipse.jface_3.14.0.v20180423-0714.jar%3Corg.eclipse">eclipse<
  /a>.<a
  href="eclipse-javadoc:%E2%98%82=com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer/%5C/Appl
  ications%5C/Eclipse.app%5C/Contents%5C/Eclipse%5C/plugins%5C/org
  .eclipse.jface_3.14.0.v20180423-0714.jar%3Corg.eclipse.jface">jf
  ace</a>.<a
  href="eclipse-javadoc:%E2%98%82=com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer/%5C/Appl
  ications%5C/Eclipse.app%5C/Contents%5C/Eclipse%5C/plugins%5C/org
  .eclipse.jface_3.14.0.v20180423-0714.jar%3Corg.eclipse.jface.vie
  wers">viewers</a>.ColumnLabelProvider" object for the "Started"
  column in the table that was used to display transfer progress
  information.  This was because the persisted title in the
  dialog_settings.xml file did not match the expected title that
  was updated due to the message translation changes.
  
  As such, when the table was refreshed for an in-progress MFT
  file transfer, an error message was displayed reporting a
  missing label provider for the "Started" column.  This is
  referenced by a number depending on the position of the
  "Started" column in the table, which is "7" in the example error
  message given in the Problem Description of this APAR.
  

Problem conclusion

• Prior to this APAR, the Managed File Transfer plug-in code will
  reset the order of the columns in the "Current Transfer
  Progress" view in the case where:
  
    - the MQ Explorer is started in a different language and
  locale than used previously when the dialog_settings.xml file
  was last saved
  
  or
  
    - when the number of column items listed in the
  dialog_settings.xml file for the
  "TRANSFER_PROGRESS_VIEW_SETTINGS" section does not equal the
  expected number, eight.
  
  As such, following the local fix instructions will resolve this
  issue on an MQ Explorer that experiences the problem but is not
  at a version which includes this APAR.
  
  
  After this APAR, the MQ Explorer persists column information for
  the content views displayed by the MFT plug-in using fixed
  constants.  These are are then mapped to display titles at
  runtime based on the language in which the MQ Explorer is being
  run.  It does not persist translated strings within the
  dialog_settings.xml file thus avoiding the issues described by
  this APAR occurring when column titles are changed via
  translation updates, for example.
  
  
  **NB: Once a level of code that contains this APAR has been
  applied and the MQ Explorer used to view MFT activity, the
  dialog_settings.xml settings file will be updated with the new
  persistence mechanism described above.  This means that the
  updated dialog_settings.xml file cannot be read by versions of
  the MQ Explorer that do not contain this APAR.  If there is a
  need to revert to a previous version of MQ Explorer that does
  not contain this APAR, the dialog_settings.xml file must first
  be deleted, allowing a new default one to be created by the
  older version of MQ Explorer with the previous persisted
  mechanism that used specific language strings.  The
  dialog_settings.xml file can be found in the directory:
  
  
  <MQExplorer_Workspace>/.metadata/.plugins/com.ibm.wmqfte.explore
  r/
  
  For example:
  
  
  /home/tom/IBM/WebSphereMQ/workspace-Installation1/.metadata/.plu
  gins/com.ibm.wmqfte.explorer/dialog_settings.xml
  
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  The fix is targeted for delivery in the following PTFs:
  
  Version    Maintenance Level
  v8.0       8.0.0.13
  v9.0 LTS   9.0.0.8
  v9.1 CD    9.1.3
  v9.1 LTS   9.1.0.3
  
  The latest available MQ maintenance can be obtained from
  'WebSphere MQ Recommended Fixes'
  http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006037
  
  If the maintenance level is not yet available information on
  its planned availability can be found in 'WebSphere MQ
  Planned Maintenance Release Dates'
  http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=171&uid=swg27006309
  ---------------------------------------------------------------
  

Temporary fix

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  IBM MQ MFT V8.0

• Fixed component ID

  5724H7252

Applicable component levels