New roles result in NullPointerExceptions in RoleComparator

[jevon]

Following the instructions at Custom Permissions in Share, I was adding a number of additional roles, but when trying to login to Alfresco Share, the following server-side exception would occur:

2012-02-02 13:10:12,042  ERROR [extensions.webscripts.AbstractRuntime] [ajp-bio-8015-exec-35] Exception from executeScript - redirecting to status template error: 01020003 Wrapped Exception (with status template): 01020054 Error during processing of the template 'Method public java.lang.String org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site.getMembersRole(java.lang.String) threw an exception when invoked on org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site@4958b2cc'. Please contact your system administrator.
 org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.WebScriptException: 01020003 Wrapped Exception (with status template): 01020054 Error during processing of the template 'Method public java.lang.String org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site.getMembersRole(java.lang.String) threw an exception when invoked on org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site@4958b2cc'. Please contact your system administrator.
        at org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.AbstractWebScript.createStatusException(AbstractWebScript.java:971)
        at org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.DeclarativeWebScript.execute(DeclarativeWebScript.java:171)
        at org.alfresco.repo.web.scripts.RepositoryContainer$2.execute(RepositoryContainer.java:393)
        …
Caused by: org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.TemplateException: 01020054 Error during processing of the template 'Method public java.lang.String org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site.getMembersRole(java.lang.String) threw an exception when invoked on org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site@4958b2cc'. Please contact your system administrator.
        at org.alfresco.repo.template.FreeMarkerProcessor.process(FreeMarkerProcessor.java:206)
        at org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.AbstractWebScript.renderTemplate(AbstractWebScript.java:801)
        at org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.DeclarativeWebScript.renderFormatTemplate(DeclarativeWebScript.java:267)
        at org.springframework.extensions.webscripts.DeclarativeWebScript.execute(DeclarativeWebScript.java:147)
        … 28 more
Caused by: freemarker.template.TemplateModelException: Method public java.lang.String org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site.getMembersRole(java.lang.String) threw an exception when invoked on org.alfresco.repo.site.script.Site@4958b2cc
        at freemarker.ext.beans.SimpleMethodModel.exec(SimpleMethodModel.java:130)
        …
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
        at org.alfresco.repo.site.RoleComparatorImpl.compare(RoleComparatorImpl.java:39)
        at org.alfresco.repo.site.RoleComparatorImpl.compare(RoleComparatorImpl.java:24)
        at java.util.TreeMap.put(TreeMap.java:530)
        at java.util.TreeSet.add(TreeSet.java:238)
        at org.alfresco.repo.site.SiteServiceImpl.getMembersRole(SiteServiceImpl.java:1672)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
        at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.invokeJoinpointUsingReflection(AopUtils.java:309)‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

On the client side, this would display as "Internal Server Error".

After some remote debugging, I think I found the problem. The issue is that the RoleComparator was not provided information about the precedence of these roles. In alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/site-services-context.xml:

    <!–  Site role precedence - higher number - more important role –>    
    <bean id="siteRoleComparator" class="org.alfresco.repo.site.RoleComparatorImpl" init-method="init">
       <property name="rolePrecedence">
             <map>
                <entry key="SiteManager" value="4" />
                <entry key="SiteCollaborator" value="3" />
                <entry key="SiteContributor" value="2" />
                <entry key="SiteConsumer" value="1" />
             </map>
       </property>
    </bean>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Adding entries to this map solved this exception. I'm not sure if the documentation needs to be updated/clarified, or if the RoleComparatorImpl code should be made more robust?

[mikeh]

If the wiki is inaccurate or incomplete, please feel free to edit the article.

Thanks,
Mike