Null pointer exception in NodeFigure.setHint

[reinier1]

When I open my job in TOS 7.3.1, the editor does not open, instead there is an error:

java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.talend.designer.core.ui.editor.nodes.NodeFigure.setHint(NodeFigure.java:110)

This is setHint:

   public void setHint(String hintText) {
        if (hintText.equals("")) { //$NON-NLS-1$
            setToolTip(null);
        } else {
            hint.setText(hintText);
            setToolTip(hint);
        }
    }

Apparently it is possible for the hintText to be null, instead of empty.

So, first, could you check for that, in the next release?

Secondly, how can I edit my .item file to make sure hintText will be something else than null. (I checked comment and MEMO attributes for anomalies, but I can not find anything abnormal in those)

[reinier1]

The culprit was a node I had added right before saving:

  <node componentName="tDBInput" offsetLabelX="0" offsetLabelY="0" posX="224" posY="-32">
    <elementParameter field="TEXT" name="UNIQUE_NAME" value="tDBInput_1" show="false"/>
  </node>

It seems. That node might be invalid, but there are nicer ways of telling the user 🙂

[reinier1]

This is how to reproduce:

• Create a new job
• drag a tDBInput component on the canvas
• save job
• close job
• open job
• <crash>
• while keeping the UI open, a dialog with a NullPointerException pops up all the time

I hope a fix can make it into 7.3.4, this happened to me before, and it is greatly annoying.