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javajdbcjndi

What does "javax.naming.NoInitialContextException" mean?

As the title suggests, what does "javax.naming.NoInitialContextException" mean in non technical terms? And what are some general suggestions to fix it?

EDIT (From the console):

javax.naming.NoInitialContextException: Need to specify class name in environment or system property, or as an applet parameter, or in an application resource file:  java.naming.factory.initial
    at javax.naming.spi.NamingManager.getInitialContext(NamingManager.java:645)
    at javax.naming.InitialContext.getDefaultInitCtx(InitialContext.java:288)
    at javax.naming.InitialContext.getURLOrDefaultInitCtx(InitialContext.java:325)
    at javax.naming.InitialContext.lookup(InitialContext.java:392)
    at cepars.app.ConnectionHelper.getConnection(ConnectionHelper.java:25)
    at cepars.app.ConnectionHelper.getConnection(ConnectionHelper.java:10)
    at cepars.review.ReviewDAO.getJobList(ReviewDAO.java:30)
    at cepars.review.Test.main(Test.java:43)
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at cepars.review.ReviewDAO.getJobList(ReviewDAO.java:31)
    at cepars.review.Test.main(Test.java:43)
cepars.app.DAOException
    at cepars.review.ReviewDAO.getJobList(ReviewDAO.java:39)
    at cepars.review.Test.main(Test.java:43)
Solution

  • It basically means that the application wants to perform some "naming operations" (e.g. JNDI or LDAP lookups), and it didn't have sufficient information available to be able to create a connection to the directory server. As the docs for the exception state,

    This exception is thrown when no initial context implementation can be created. The policy of how an initial context implementation is selected is described in the documentation of the InitialContext class.

    And if you dutifully have a look at the javadocs for InitialContext, they describe quite well how the initial context is constructed, and what your options are for supplying the address/credentials/etc.

    If you have a go at creating the context and get stuck somewhere else, please post back explaining what you've done so far and where you're running aground.