PK78729: BLANK PAGE CAUSED BY NULLPOINTEREXCEPTION IN KEYMANAGEROUTPUTFIL TER

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• Some of the URL codecs offered by WebSphere Portal require a
  so-called key managet to be in place. The key manager is an
  internal component which is used to source out information into
  the session instead of encoding it into the URL. The WML codec
  for example uses the key manager to store the entire
  navigational state in the session while the URL only contains a
  short  key which references the state stored in the session (to
  keep the URLs short). So far, any incoming request which is
  associated with a HTTP session needs to be expicitly
  initialized
  with a key manager which is picked up later on during URL
  generation.
  
  The problem addressed by this APAR refers to custom code which
  creates URLs right after creating a new (non-temporary) HTTP
  session. In that case the explicit initialization is missing
  causing the following NullPointerException in the
  KeyManagerOutputFilter when writing a URL:
  
  java.lang.NullPointerException
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.keymanager.KeyManagerOutputFilter.setKeyManage
  
  
  (KeyManagerOutputFilter.java:410)
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.OutputMediatorOnRequest.init(O
  
  
  tputMediatorOnRequest.java:102)
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.UrlOutputMediatorBase.write(Ur
  
  
  OutputMediatorBase.java:82)
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.OutputMediatorOnRequestNoDelta
  
  
  write (OutputMediatorOnRequestNoDelta.java:63)
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.accessors.url.EngineURLBase.write(EngineURLBas
  
  
  .java:376)
  at
  com.ibm.wps.state.accessors.url.EngineURLBase.writeDispose(Engin
  
  
  URLBase.java:447)
  

Local fix

Problem summary

• Some of the URL codecs offered by WebSphere Portal require a
  so-called key manager to be in place. The key manager is an
  internal component which is used to source out information into
  the session instead of encoding it into the URL. The WML codec
  for example uses the key manager to store the entire
  navigational state in the session while the URL only contains a
  short key which references the state stored in the session (to
  keep the URLs short). So far any incoming request which is
  associated with a HTTP session needs to be expicitly initialized
  with a key manager which is picked up later on during URL
  generation.
  
  The problem addressed by this APAR refers to custom code which
  creates URLs right after creating a new (non-temporary) HTTP
  session. In that case the explicit initialization is missing
  causing the following NullPointerException in the
  KeyManagerOutputFilter when writing a URL:
  
     java.lang.NullPointerException
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.keymanager.KeyManagerOutputFilter.setKeyManage
  r(KeyManagerOutputFilter.java:410)
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.OutputMediatorOnRequest.init(O
  utputMediatorOnRequest.java:102)
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.UrlOutputMediatorBase.write(Ur
  lOutputMediatorBase.java:82)
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.outputmediators.OutputMediatorOnRequestNoDelta
  .write (OutputMediatorOnRequestNoDelta.java:63)
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.accessors.url.EngineURLBase.write(EngineURLBas
  e.java:376)
      at
  com.ibm.wps.state.accessors.url.EngineURLBase.writeDispose(Engin
  eURLBase.java:447)
  

Problem conclusion

• This fix makes the key manager initialization implicit by
  providing a key manager factory implementation which creates a
  key manager dynamically if a session exists. The
  KeyManagerOutputFilter calls the new factory to get the key
  manager needed. As a consequence, the generation of a URL will
  succeed even if a session is created right before creating the
  URL.
  
  Failing Module(s):
     Engine: URL Generation
  
  Affected Users:
     All Users
  
  Version Information:
      Portal Version(s): 5.1.0.3
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK37178 PK23864
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 5.1.0.4
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK37178
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 5.1.0.5
       Pre-Requisite(s):
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 6.0.1.4
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK78213 PK72244
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 6.0.1.5
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK78213 PK79778
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 6.1.0.0
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK78213 PK77410
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
      Portal Version(s): 6.1.0.1
       Pre-Requisite(s): PK78213 PK77410
        Co-Requisite(s): ---
  
  Platform Specific:
     This fix applies to all platforms.
  
  A fix is available from Fix Central:
  
  http://www.ibm.com/eserver/support/fixes/fixcentral/swgquickorde
  r?apar=PK78729&productid=WebSphere%20Portal&brandid=5
  
  You may need to type or paste the complete address into your Web
  browser.
  

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

  WEBSPHERE PORTA

• Fixed component ID

  5724E7600

Applicable component levels

• R51C PSY

     UP

• R51D PSY

     UP

• R51E PSY

     UP

• R60H PSY

     UP

• R60J PSY

     UP

• R610 PSY

     UP

• R61A PSY

     UP