How to Prevent Values of Variables not Displaying on List and Reports on Madrid

[akshaykumar1]

After an upgrade to Madrid, if you have an issue with values of variables are not displayed on list or reports. A few variables are not shown in report results though there is valid data for these variables. Read On.

Why Variables are not displayed on list reports

This issue happens because of the presence of one or more variables that have been added to the report but contain no value. Setting an item variable to null causes a [java.lang.NullPointerException] on Madrid. The issue has been introduced due to the addition of a new feature in Madrid.

The variable value, if empty, is considered to be null during the generation of reports on the Requested Item Table (sc_req_item). Due to the addition of the new feature Regex Validation, we validate the variable based on a regular expression. For this purpose, the value must be converted to a string and hence when null is attempted to be converted to a string, a NULL Pointer Exception is thrown as a result of which the remaining variables, although containing a valid value, are not generated on the reports or lists.

Symptoms of missing Variables on list reports:

1. Issue when setting an item variable to null causes a [java.lang.NullPointerException]
2. Variables are not displayed on reports although there is valid data for these variables.

How to fix the issue:

There is no concrete workaround available for this issue. However, there is a way of preventing this missing variables on list reports in Madrid. You can  is by not including the variables which do not have any value on the reports.

Builds Affected:

• Madrid patch 0
• Madrid patch 1
• Madrid patch 2
• Madrid patch 3 

Fixed Versions: This issue has been fixed on Madrid Patch4 and later branches. Also a hotfix has been provided on Madrid patch3 hotfix 1.

See Madrid: Assigning variable to null causes [java.lang.NullPointerException] and can result in variabl... for more information.

More information on Regex Validation:

• Service Portal Catalog Items: Regex Field Validation [Madrid]
• Variable Validation Regex on Madrid - Usage