Null Pointer when running Junit4 with Struts 2.3.12 and Spring 3.1.1

Question

I am trying to develop JUnit4 test scripts for our application that uses Spring 3.2.2 and Struts 2.3.12. I think I am close to getting this working but for some reason when executeAction is called or getActionProxy is called I am getting a null pointer error because method does not exist. Am I not passing the correct uri? or is it something more I am missing. This is a maven project so all of the I am using the following:

struts2-junit-plugin-2.3.13.jar struts 2.3.12 (core, spring plugin, dojo plugin, json plugin, sitemesh plugin) Spring 3.2.2 (core, web, context, expression, context-support, aop, aspects, test)

This is my simple test:

package com.execupharm.lms.web.action.administration.test;

import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;

import org.apache.struts2.StrutsSpringJUnit4TestCase;
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;

import com.execupharm.lms.web.action.administration.DashboardAction;

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
@ContextConfiguration( { "classpath:applicationContextWeb.xml",
"classpath:applicationContextSecurity.xml",
                         "classpath:applicationContextService.xml",
                         "classpath:applicationContextDao.xml",
                         "classpath:applicationContextMail.xml" })
public class DashboardActionTest extends StrutsSpringJUnit4TestCase<DashboardAction> {
    @Test
    public void executeTest() throws Exception {
        String result = executeAction("/administration/dashboard.action");
        System.out.println("result = " + result);
        //DashboardAction action = getAction();
        assertFalse(containsErrors());
    }

    /**
     * Override this method to return a comma separated list of paths to a 
       configuration
     * file.
     * <p>The default implementation simply returns <code>null</code>.
     *
     * @return a comma separated list of config locations
     */
    @Override
    protected String getConfigPath() {
        return "classpath:struts.xml"; 
    }
}

All of our context*.xml files are in the src/main/resources folder:

applicationContextDao.xml
applicationContextMail.xml
applicationContextSecurity.xml
applicationContextService.xml
applicationContextWeb.xml
struts.xml

This is our struts file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
    "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
    <!-- Constants -->  
        <constant name="struts.locale" value="en"/>
        <constant name="struts.devMode" value="false" />
        <constant name="struts.i18n.encoding" value="UTF-8" />
        <constant name="struts.action.extension" value="action" />
        <constant name="struts.objectFactory" value="spring" />
        <constant name="struts.objectFactory.spring.autoWire" value="name" />
        <constant name="struts.objectFactory.spring.useClassCache" value="true" />
        <constant name="struts.custom.i18n.resources" value="app_resources" />
        <constant name="struts.multipart.maxSize" value="12000000" />
        <constant name="struts.multipart.saveDir" value="/LMS_Media" />
        <constant name="struts.multipart.parser" value="jakarta" />
        <constant name="struts.codebehind.pathPrefix" value="/WEB-INF/jsp/" />
        <constant name="struts.enable.SlashesInActionNames" value="true" />
        <constant name="struts.url.http.port" value="80" />
        <constant name="struts.date.format" value="MM/dd/yyyy" />

    <!-- Configuration for the default package. -->
    <package name="default" extends="struts-default,json-default" namespace="/">

        <interceptors>
            <interceptor name="permissionsInterceptor"
                class="com.execupharm.lms.web.interceptor.PermissionsInterceptor" />
            <interceptor name="employeeIdResolverInterceptor"
                class="com.execupharm.lms.web.interceptor.EmployeeIdResolverInterceptor" />
            <!--
                Copied from struts-default.xml and changed validation exclude
                methods
            -->
            <interceptor-stack name="defaultStack">
                <interceptor-ref name="exception">
                    <param name="logEnabled">true</param>
                    <param name="logLevel">ERROR</param>
                    <param name="logCategory">com.execupharm.lms</param>
                </interceptor-ref>
                <interceptor-ref name="alias" />
                <interceptor-ref name="servletConfig" />
                <interceptor-ref name="params">
                    <!--
                        Excludes the jQuery no-cache _ parameter and our own search.
                        params
                    -->
                    <param name="excludeParams">
                        _,search\..*
                     </param>
                </interceptor-ref>
                <interceptor-ref name="prepare" />
                <interceptor-ref name="i18n" />
                <interceptor-ref name="chain" />
                <interceptor-ref name="debugging" />
                <interceptor-ref name="profiling" />
                <interceptor-ref name="scopedModelDriven" />
                <interceptor-ref name="modelDriven" />
                <interceptor-ref name="fileUpload" />
                <interceptor-ref name="checkbox" />
                <interceptor-ref name="staticParams" />
                <interceptor-ref name="params">
                    <param name="excludeParams">dojo\..*</param>
                </interceptor-ref>
                <interceptor-ref name="conversionError" />
                <interceptor-ref name="validation">
                    <param name="excludeMethods">cancel,execute,delete,edit,list</param>
                </interceptor-ref>
                <interceptor-ref name="workflow">
                    <param name="excludeMethods">input,back,cancel,browse,execute</param>
                </interceptor-ref>
                <interceptor-ref name="permissionsInterceptor" />
                <interceptor-ref name="employeeIdResolverInterceptor" />
            </interceptor-stack>
        </interceptors>

        <global-results>
            <result name="error">/error.jsp</result>
            <result name="forbidden">/forbidden.jsp</result>
        </global-results>

        <action name="login" class="loginAction">
            <result name="success">/login.jsp</result>
        </action>

        <action name="logout" class="logoutAction">
            <result name="success" type="redirect">/login.action</result>
        </action>   
    </package>  
    <!-- End Default Package -->

    <!-- Administration -->

    <package name="administration" extends="default" namespace="/administration">
        <action name="dashboard" class="dashboardAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/administration/dashboard.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

             <action name="addTraining" class="addTrainingAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/addTraining.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

             <action name="searchSOPs" class="searchSOPsAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/searchSOPs.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

             <action name="searchTests" class="searchTestsAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/searchTests.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

              <action name="viewTraining" class="viewTrainingAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/viewTraining.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

            <action name="viewSOP" class="viewSOPAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/viewSOP.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

            <action name="viewSOPSave" class="viewSOPAction" method="save">
                <result name="input">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/viewSOP.jsp
                </result>
                <result name="success" type="redirect">dashboard.action
                </result>
            </action>       

            <action name="viewTest" class="viewTestAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/viewTest.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

              <action name="viewMedia" class="viewMediaAction">
                <result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/training/viewMedia.jsp
                </result>
            </action>

    </package>  

    <package name="training" extends="default" namespace="/training">               

    </package>  

</struts>

applicationContextWeb.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:tx="http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx" xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
    xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop" xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans     
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.1.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-3.1.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/util 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.1.xsd
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.1.xsd 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context 
    http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.1.xsd">

    <bean id="loginAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.LoginAction" scope="prototype"/>
    <bean id="logoutAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.LogoutAction" scope="prototype"/>

    <bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.RequiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor"/>
    <context:annotation-config />

    <bean id="dashboardAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.administration.DashboardAction" scope="prototype" />

    <bean id="addTrainingAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.AddTrainingAction" scope="prototype" />

    <bean id="searchSOPsAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.SearchSOPsAction" scope="prototype" />
    <bean id="searchTestsAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.SearchTestsAction" scope="prototype" />
    <bean id="viewTrainingAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.ViewTrainingAction" scope="prototype" />
    <bean id="viewSOPAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.ViewSOPAction" scope="prototype" />
    <bean id="viewTestAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.ViewTestAction" scope="prototype" />
    <bean id="viewMediaAction" class="com.execupharm.lms.web.action.training.ViewMediaAction" scope="prototype" />

</beans>

This is the error we are getting that we are getting:

java.lang.NullPointerException
    at org.apache.struts2.impl.StrutsActionProxy.getErrorMessage(StrutsActionProxy.java:69)
    at com.opensymphony.xwork2.DefaultActionProxy.prepare(DefaultActionProxy.java:185)
    at org.apache.struts2.impl.StrutsActionProxy.prepare(StrutsActionProxy.java:63)
    at org.apache.struts2.impl.StrutsActionProxyFactory.createActionProxy(StrutsActionProxyFactory.java:39)
    at com.opensymphony.xwork2.DefaultActionProxyFactory.createActionProxy(DefaultActionProxyFactory.java:58)
    at org.apache.struts2.StrutsJUnit4TestCase.getActionProxy(StrutsJUnit4TestCase.java:149)
    at com.execupharm.lms.web.action.administration.test.DashboardActionTest.executeTest(DashboardActionTest.java:24)
    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.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod$1.runReflectiveCall(FrameworkMethod.java:47)
    at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:12)
    at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod.invokeExplosively(FrameworkMethod.java:44)
    at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.InvokeMethod.evaluate(InvokeMethod.java:17)
    at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.RunBefores.evaluate(RunBefores.java:26)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.java:74)
    at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.RunAfters.evaluate(RunAfters.java:27)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.java:83)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.SpringRepeat.evaluate(SpringRepeat.java:72)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:231)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:88)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:238)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:63)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:236)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:53)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:229)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:71)
    at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:309)
    at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:174)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.run(JUnit4TestReference.java:50)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:467)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:390)
    at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:197)

I have tried calling the executeAction with the following as well:

String result = executeAction("/administration/dashboard.action");
String result = executeAction("/dashboardAction");
String result = executeAction("/administration/dashboard");

Maybe I need to take a new approach to this. Just thought the plugin was going to make this easy, but it is not looking like that.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I wouldn't call it a unit test if you have Struts and Spring involved. That's an integration test.

Looks to me like that containsErrors() method in the assert isn't checking to see if errors is null.

Answer 2

Figured out the issue. Turns out that the override of the struts.xml file in the test was for some reason causing the error and only the struts-default was being used. Once I removed that line (since it was already in the classpath there was no need to override it) the Junit test worked.