ClasscastException when passing an object between 2 EAR's

[Johan Vandevenne]

Hello,
I have the following problem. I have a serializable object which I pass between 2 EJB's. These EJB's are located in 2 seperate EAR files. When I pass a Vector of these objects between those 2 beans, I get a ClassCastException in the receiving EJB. I am completely sure that those 2 EAR's have the same version of this class in their classpath's.
Also, an instanceof resturns false, but when I walk through the code with a debugger, I look into the Vector and see that there are indeed objects inside which have the name of the class which I'm trying to cast. So It's really weird.
I use Websphere 5.
Maybe someone has already encountered this problem before, or all sugestions or ideas are welcome...
Thanks
Johan Vandevenne
[ May 12, 2003: Message edited by: Johan Vandevenne ]

[Tao Liu]

When did you get ClassCastException? Is it thrown when you cast Vector.get(int) or sth else? It seems a RMI issue.
I got a similar problem when I tried to pass ArrayList across .ear files, but that is because ArrayList uses transient member variables to hold its elements. Vector is a totally different story, it holds its element with this:
protected Object elementData[];
So it's weird unable to use Vector across .ears.
One possible way to avoid ClassCastException is to package the common objects in a separate .jar and put this .jar in a shared directory such as $WAS_ROOT/lib/app. This is also recommeneded in WebSphere InfoCenter.
tao
[ May 14, 2003: Message edited by: Tao Liu ]
[ May 21, 2003: Message edited by: Tao Liu ]
[ May 21, 2003: Message edited by: Tao Liu ]

[randal alan]

Not sure if this will help but here's some info regarding the ClassCastException. I hope this is useful.
Classloader Mode
Specifies whether the classloader searches in the parent classloader or in the application classloader first to load a class. The standard for JDK classloaders and WebSphere Application Server classloaders is PARENT_FIRST. By specifying PARENT_LAST, your application can override classes contained in the parent classloader, but this action can potentially result in ClassCastException or LinkageErrors if you have mixed use of overridden classes and non-overridden classes.
The options are PARENT_FIRST and PARENT_LAST. The default is to search in the parent classloader before searching in the application classloader to load a class.

[SJ Adnams]

try turning off jit compiler.

[denny hau]

Hi,
An object that is used by 2 EAR can be put into <websphere>/lib/ext. In this case the class that encapsulated by vector.
I think it's because of diffrent classloader mecanishm (as Randal said)
Hopefully it's help...

[Tao Liu]

With 2 EARs, I can recreate the ClassCastException in WAS 4.0.4 (as in WSAD5), but it's OK (no exception) in WAS 5.0. I make the two configurations equivalent according to WebSphere documentation. Could you please explain why it works on one version but not the other?
Thanks in advance,
-----------------------------------------------
The server configurations are set as default:
1) The module visibility of WAS 4.0.4 is J2EE (com.ibm.ws.classloader.J2EEApplicationMode=true);
disableJIT="false"
2) The server configuration of WAS 5.0:
Application classloader policy = MULTIPLE;
Application classloder mode = PARENT_FIRST
WAR classloader policy = MODULE
disableJIT="false"
[ May 28, 2003: Message edited by: Tao Liu ]