Hi (Len), got feedback from sun today and they confirmed our findings, i.e. it's a problem known for a long time. All efforts fixing this failed due to other incompatibilities, for example see sun-bug-ids 4273532 & 6243815 and their relatives.
The proposed software workaround is using File.toURI().toURL(). As of Java 1.4 java.io.File.toURL is (marked as) deprecated, see sun-bug-id 61794689. This leaves two options: - avoid path names with #s - or other special characters used in the http/html world but otherwise fully valid on the filesystem => i'm forced to do this until the next one has been worked on - fix/workaround this problem in tomcat => middle/long term, i'll open a bug report kind regards, Markus Quoting Len Popp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > There are a few problems caused by "#" in directory names, and it > looks to me like they're at least partly Tomcat's fault. > > 1. The classloader problem that you reported: Tomcat converts file > pathnames to URLs for URLClassLoader, using File.toURL which handles > "#" poorly. This could be Sun's fault, but following a note in their > docs here: > http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/io/File.html#toURL() > I was able to fix this problem in Tomcat by calling File.toURI and > then URI.toURL. (That's the workaround I referred to before.) > > 2. After fixing problem 1, I found that JSPs don't work because Jasper > screws up the pathname of its output directory. There's some code in > JspCompilationContext that concatenates directories using both URL and > file syntax, truncating it at the "#" and using both "\" and "/" > directory separators (in Windows). It looks screwy to me, I don't see > why it should be using URLs to concatenate file pathnames. > > 3, etc. There are several other places in Tomcat where File.toURL is > used and I think it could have problems with "#" in pathnames, but I > don't know what the effects are. > > So it's pretty clear to me that Tomcat could handle pathnames with "#" > chars better. Is it worth the trouble to find and fix all the related > problems, or is it simpler to tell people not to use unusual directory > names? I could help fix some of the problems, but there are some that > I haven't figured out. > > -- > Len > > On 8/12/07, Markus Schiegl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Hi, >> >> Len Popp wrote: >> > I'm not sure the topic is ready to be nailed shut just yet... >> > >> Oh, i have no objections keeping it alive. Unfortunately my java skills >> are limited so reporting and testing is the best i can do to help. >> >> > The problem is due to the way Tomcat converts pathnames to URLs when >> > it uses URLClassLoader. Tomcat calls the method File.toURL and that >> > fails when there's a "#" in the pathname. But the Javadoc for >> > File.toURL suggests a workaround: Convert the pathname to a URI first, >> > then to a URL. >> >> thanks for your confirmation. Looking through bugs.sun.com this seems to >> be an inherent behaviour with reports starting in 1999. So fixing it in >> Tomcat would be great, but i'm hesitating calling it a "bug" from >> Tomcats POV - more a feature request. >> >> @Len: Do you have a (javadoc)link for this workaround/suggestion? thx! >> >> > >> > I tried that (in ClassLoaderFactory) and it seem to fix the >> > classloader problem. Tomcat starts up fine - but it can't compile any >> > JSPs. So there are other components of Tomcat that have similar >> > problems. >> >> I tried something with a similar result. Just moved CATALINA_HOME to >> some non-#-directory but left CATALINA_BASE as it was. This way Tomcat >> started but webapplications could not be deployed/did not work. >> >> > >> > So, my advice is to see how hard it would be for you to get the #s out >> > of your pathnames. That may be easier than fixing Tomcat. >> >> I'm just waiting for some feedback from sun but avoiding #s in directory >> and file names in the java world is probably the way to go. Otherwise >> every java application must be forced to workaround this problem. And >> the latter is more work - if possible at all - than getting rid of #s. >> >> kind regards, >> Markus >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To start a new topic, e-mail: users@tomcat.apache.org To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
