Bug 189717

Description Dave Boden 2007-05-29 12:47:40 EDT

Build ID: 3.2.0

Steps To Reproduce:
1. RCP application works correctly when using WebStart Java 1.5.0_07.
2. Install WebStart Java 1.6.0_01 on your PC.
3. RCP application no longer works. Loading the JNLP file results in the following error being logged:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at java.util.Hashtable.put(Unknown Source)
at org.eclipse.core.launcher.WebStartMain.basicRun(WebStartMain.java:58)
at org.eclipse.core.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:977)
at org.eclipse.core.launcher.WebStartMain.main(WebStartMain.java:40) 
....

Please note that this is a problem with the WebStart load. It doesn't matter whether you specify in your JNLP file for the code to run in Java 5 or Java 6. It's a problem with the way that the application gets launched.

I have had a good look at the other similar bugs here, none of them mention this error message specifically. I don't feel that this is a duplicate.

More information:
The error has been experienced by other developers. Described here:

http://dev.eclipse.org/newslists/news.eclipse.platform.rcp/msg17789.html

Something to note is that RCP + Java 6 does not seem to respond to the @user.home directive properly. I wonder if the @ is being URL encoded on the way into RCP so that the replacement doesn't get done? What you end up with is a directory called @user.home sat on your Windows desktop.