AAI IWS Scheduler Import fails with NullPointerException relativeHours is null

Products

• Automation Analytics & Intelligence

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to add or update an IBM Workflow Scheduler (IWS) in AAI, the import fails. The IWS-connector.log or AAI logs show a NullPointerException similar to the following:

ERROR [c.a.i.i.IWSFileCacheDefinitions] Error occurred populating cachejava.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "java.lang.Integer.intValue()" because "relativeHours" is null    at com.automaticit.ibmworkflowschedulerconnector.iwsz.IWSzBLCSParser.calculateMatchingCriteriaOffset(IWSzBLCSParser.java:2188)    at com.automaticit.ibmworkflowschedulerconnector.iwsz.IWSzBLCSParser.adDepstoCondition(IWSzBLCSParser.java:2336)

Cause

This is caused by a product issue in the IWSz parser. The code expects an integer value for the relativeHours field within the "(R) Within a relative interval" section of an IWS job dependency definition. If this field is left null/blank in IWS, the parser fails to handle the null value gracefully, leading to a NullPointerException.

Resolution

Permanent Fix

A code fix is targeted for the AAI 26.0 release.

Workaround

To resolve this issue immediately, modify the job definitions in IWS that are triggering the error:

1. Identify the job(s) mentioned in the logs immediately preceding the error (e.g., Adding AdStart [JOBNAME]).
2. Open the job definition in IWS.
3. Navigate to the (R) Within a relative interval section of the dependency definition.
4. Locate the From (ADXIVFHHH) field.
5. Ensure this field is explicitly populated. If no offset is intended, explicitly set the value to 0.
6. Save the changes.

Once updated, IWS will regenerate the DEFS export file. The AAI IWS Connector will automatically detect the new file and process it during the next cycle. No restart of AAI or the Connector service is required.