Classloading conflict with two eclipse plugins

Question

Following situation:

At work we have an own plugin that extends some JDT features and builds some helper functions for our own framework. So far so good.

The plugin includes following class:

public class MoxLogFactory extends org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory {   
    ...
}

(I left out the concrete implementation because it's really comprehensive)

Now I added the WindowBuilder-Plugin to my eclipse installation. I can create new projects and classes with the wizards included. But the main feature - the editor himself - isn't working. It comes out, that the WindowBuilder tries to load the class "MoxLogFactory" from our plugin! I attached the stacktrace which comes up if I open the editor:

java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.dreamox.moxanos.log.MoxLogFactory
at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClassInternal(BundleLoader.java:501)
at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:421)
at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.loader.BundleLoader.findClass(BundleLoader.java:412)
at org.eclipse.osgi.internal.baseadaptor.DefaultClassLoader.loadClass(DefaultClassLoader.java:107)
at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.createFactory(LogFactory.java:1261)
at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory$2.run(LogFactory.java:1065)
at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.newFactory(LogFactory.java:1062)
at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.getFactory(LogFactory.java:497)
at org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.getLog(LogFactory.java:704)
at org.apache.commons.digester.Digester.<init>(Digester.java:340)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.model.description.helpers.ComponentDescriptionHelper.getDescription0(ComponentDescriptionHelper.java:375)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.model.description.helpers.ComponentDescriptionHelper.getDescription0(ComponentDescriptionHelper.java:289)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.model.description.helpers.ComponentDescriptionHelper.getDescription(ComponentDescriptionHelper.java:258)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.model.JavaInfoUtils.createJavaInfo(JavaInfoUtils.java:386)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.rcp.parser.ParseFactory.getRootContext(ParseFactory.java:184)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser.prepareParseContext(JavaInfoParser.java:1185)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser.parse(JavaInfoParser.java:244)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser.access$9(JavaInfoParser.java:240)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser$1.runObject(JavaInfoParser.java:153)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser$1.runObject(JavaInfoParser.java:1)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.utils.execution.ExecutionUtils.runDesignTime(ExecutionUtils.java:153)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.parser.JavaInfoParser.parse(JavaInfoParser.java:151)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.internal_refreshGEF(DesignPage.java:522)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.access$9(DesignPage.java:510)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage$8$1.run(DesignPage.java:437)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Synchronizer.syncExec(Synchronizer.java:180)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.UISynchronizer.syncExec(UISynchronizer.java:150)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.syncExec(Display.java:4683)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage$8.run(DesignPage.java:434)
at org.eclipse.jface.operation.ModalContext.runInCurrentThread(ModalContext.java:464)
at org.eclipse.jface.operation.ModalContext.run(ModalContext.java:372)
at org.eclipse.jface.dialogs.ProgressMonitorDialog.run(ProgressMonitorDialog.java:507)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.internal_refreshGEF_withProgress(DesignPage.java:453)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.internal_refreshGEF(DesignPage.java:403)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.UndoManager.refreshDesignerEditor(UndoManager.java:381)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.UndoManager.activate(UndoManager.java:90)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.handleActiveState_True(DesignPage.java:251)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.DesignPage.handleActiveState(DesignPage.java:229)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.multi.DefaultMultiMode.showPage(DefaultMultiMode.java:125)
at org.eclipse.wb.internal.core.editor.multi.DefaultMultiMode$1.widgetSelected(DefaultMultiMode.java:63)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.TypedListener.handleEvent(TypedListener.java:240)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.EventTable.sendEvent(EventTable.java:84)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1053)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1077)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1062)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.notifyListeners(Widget.java:774)
at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder.setSelection(CTabFolder.java:2746)
at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder.onMouse(CTabFolder.java:1433)
at org.eclipse.swt.custom.CTabFolder$1.handleEvent(CTabFolder.java:257)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.EventTable.sendEvent(EventTable.java:84)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Widget.sendEvent(Widget.java:1053)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.runDeferredEvents(Display.java:4165)
at org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Display.readAndDispatch(Display.java:3754)
at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.swt.PartRenderingEngine$9.run(PartRenderingEngine.java:999)
at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:332)
at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.swt.PartRenderingEngine.run(PartRenderingEngine.java:893)
at org.eclipse.e4.ui.internal.workbench.E4Workbench.createAndRunUI(E4Workbench.java:85)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench$4.run(Workbench.java:579)
at org.eclipse.core.databinding.observable.Realm.runWithDefault(Realm.java:332)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.Workbench.createAndRunWorkbench(Workbench.java:534)
at org.eclipse.ui.PlatformUI.createAndRunWorkbench(PlatformUI.java:149)
at org.eclipse.ui.internal.ide.application.IDEApplication.start(IDEApplication.java:124)
at org.eclipse.equinox.internal.app.EclipseAppHandle.run(EclipseAppHandle.java:196)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.runApplication(EclipseAppLauncher.java:110)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.internal.adaptor.EclipseAppLauncher.start(EclipseAppLauncher.java:79)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:352)
at org.eclipse.core.runtime.adaptor.EclipseStarter.run(EclipseStarter.java:179)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.invokeFramework(Main.java:624)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.basicRun(Main.java:579)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.run(Main.java:1433)
at org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main.main(Main.java:1409)

Our plugin doesn't export anything, so why is the WindowBuilder trying to load a class from it? Where do it gets the information to load this class? If I uninstall our plugin the WindowBuilder works fine, but I need both plugins to work efficiently.

I found, that in MoxLogFactory in one static method there is a line

System.setProperty("org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory","org.dreamox.moxanos.log.MoxLogFactory");

I thought every plugin runs in a sandbox and so this isn't really a problem, but when I see the stacktrace, it seems, that this system property is "global in eclipse". The MoxLogFactory class is also used in our application server framework so this code is needed - the plugin uses the framework itself to work.

I don't know how to solve this problem and would appreciate any hint or idea.

Answer 1

System properties belong to the JVM, not to a class loader. By setting your logger as a System property, presumably so that it will be loaded automatically, you have told the entire system to use it. When the other plugin loads and attempts to initialize its logging (which appears to also use Apache Commons Logging), it reads the System property, attempts to load the class found therein, and promptly fails because it cannot see into your plugin.

Answer 2

Here are some options:

• Remove that static initialization of the JVM level system property and replace it by a command line option only when needed

• In your static initializer, test Eclipse execution context by asking the ClassLoader for org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.Main class for instance, and if so, do not set the logfactory property