"NoClassDefFound exception: Could not initialize class" error help!

Question

When I run my project, I get numerous outputs of this error:

Sep 9, 2009 8:22:23 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve invoke
SEVERE: Servlet.service() for servlet Jersey threw exception
java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: Could not initialize class SpringFactory
        at com.point2.prospect.persistence.hibernate.HibernateTransactionInterceptor.doFilter(HibernateTrans
actionInterceptor.java:17)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:235)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
        at com.point2.prospect.restapi.ServerErrorInterceptor.doFilter(ServerErrorInterceptor.java:27)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:235)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:233)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:191)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:128)
        at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:102)
        at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:109)
        at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:286)
        at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:845)
        at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:583)
        at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.JIoEndpoint$Worker.run(JIoEndpoint.java:447)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:619)

I notice that this problem has a pattern of being asked all over the web, but with no real answers. What is a general cause for this kind of error?

Answer 1

You're missing the necessary class definition; typically caused by required JAR not being in classpath.

From J2SE API:

public class NoClassDefFoundError extends LinkageError

Thrown if the Java Virtual Machine or a ClassLoader instance tries to load in the definition of a class (as part of a normal method call or as part of creating a new instance using the new expression) and no definition of the class could be found.

The searched-for class definition existed when the currently executing class was compiled, but the definition can no longer be found.

Answer 2

NoClassDefFound error is a nebulous error and is often hiding a more serious issue. It is not the same as ClassNotFoundException (which is thrown when the class is just plain not there).

NoClassDefFound may indicate the class is not there, as the javadocs indicate, but it is typically thrown when, after the classloader has loaded the bytes for the class and calls "defineClass" on them.

The first place to look when you get a NoClassDefFoundError is in the static bits of your class i.e. any initilisation that takes place during the defining of the class. If this fails it will throw a NoClassDefFoundError - it's supposed to throw an ExceptionInInitializer error and indicate the details of the problem but in my experience, these are rare. It will only do the ExceptionInInitializer error the first time it tries to define the class, after that it will just throw NoClassDefFound.

I would thus suggest looking at the code in that HibernateTransactionInterceptor line and seeing what it is requiring. It seems that it is unable to define the class SpringFactory. So maybe check the initilisation code in that class, that might help. If you can debug it, stop it at the last line above (17) and debug into so you can try find the exact line that is causing the exception. Also check higher up in the log, if you very lucky there might be an ExceptionInInitialiser error.