Q: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Qualified name cannot be null.
Applies to: 2.0
This error is thrown by the org.xmlmiddleware.xmlutils.XMLName class, which has been called by one of the compiler classes (MapCompiler, FilterCompiler, or ActionCompiler). The error occurs because the map, filter, or action document is not valid -- that is, it does not conform to the map, filter, or action DTD.
To solve this problem, validate the map, filter, or action document that is causing the problem and fix any parts that are invalid. This may take several tries, as validating XML parsers may stop when they find the first validation error.
You can validate map, filter, and action documents using a standalone utility, such as an XML editor. XML-DBMS also provides a number of ways to perform validation:
If you are using the Transfer utility, set the Validate property to a space-separated list containing the keywords Map, XML, and/or Action (when storing data), Map and/or Filter (when retrieving data), and Map, Action, and/or Filter (when deleting data). For example:
Validate=Map Action
If you are using the MapManager utility, set the Validate property to Yes or No to validate map documents.
If your application directly calls lower-level classes such as MapCompiler, FilterCompiler, and ActionCompiler, set the validating argument in ParserUtils.getXMLReader to true when instantiating the XML parser.
Background
XML-DBMS assumes that map, filter, and action documents are valid and behaves unpredictably if they are not. (The error shown above is one of the more common reactions.) There are two reasons that XML-DBMS assumes these documents are valid:
It simplifies the code.
It allows developers using XML-DBMS to decide whether they want their applications to validate map, filter, and action documents. Because validation takes time, some developers may decide to not perform validation. This should be done only when developers can guarantee that their map, filter, and action documents are valid. Regardless of whether developers perform validation in deployed applications, they should always validate map, filter, and action documents during development to avoid these errors.