Using an older version of Xerces or Xalan

If you are using an older version of Xerces (before 2.0) or Xalan (before 2.3) in the endorsed override, you might get a NullPointerException when you start your application. This exception occurs because these older versions do not handle the jaxp.properties file correctly.

To avoid this situation, use one of the following workarounds:
  • Upgrade to a newer version of the application that implements the latest Java™ API for XML Programming (JAXP) specification (https://jaxp.dev.java.net/).
  • Remove the jaxp.properties file.
  • On AIX®, copy the jaxp.properties.sample file to jaxp.properties in /etc/java8[_64]/jre/lib. Uncomment the entries in the jaxp.properties file. Create a symbolic link to the jaxp.properties file from the /etc/java8[_64]/jre/lib directory.
  • Set the system property for javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory, javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory, or javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory using the -D command-line option.
  • Set the system property for javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory, javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory, or javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory in your application. For an example, see the JAXP 1.6 specification.
  • Explicitly set the SAX parser, Document builder, or Transformer factory using the IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS or OPENJ9_JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable. For example, on a UNIX-based system:
    export IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=-Djavax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory=
  org.apache.xerces.jaxp.SAXParserFactoryImpl
    or 
    export IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=-Djavax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory=
  org.apache.xerces.jaxp.DocumentBuilderFactoryImpl
    or 
    export IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=-Djavax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory=
  org.apache.xalan.processor.TransformerFactoryImpl
    On Windows, use the set command instead of export.
    Note: Start of changes for service refresh 5 fix pack 26The IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable is deprecated and replaced by the OPENJ9_JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable.End of changes for service refresh 5 fix pack 26
Note: The IBM XML implementation is deprecated in IBM® SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 and will be replaced by the Oracle XML implementation in a future release.