Re: Unexpected exception calling VelocityEngine.mergeTemplate when using 2.4 or 2.4.1

Since it happens during the parsing, it means that it only depends on 
the template itself, not to the values provided to it.

So if you are able to log the template location, you will know the 
problematic template at least.

I'm going to try to pinpoint the problem with the stack trace you 
provided and let you know if I am able to identify the cause.

On 10/06/2025 23:50, Kish, Robert [AG] wrote:
> Hello!
>
> We have 2 similar environments and under Velocity Engine 2.3, the code works as expected and we get back the template from the API call.
> But when upgrading to 2.4.1 (or trying 2.4) one of our environments fails with an exception. Unfortunately, it's in an environment where I can't use a debugger.
>
> I'm looking for ideas on how to resolve this issue or identify a specific bug that can be reported to the Velocity Team for resolution.
>
> Log + Exception
> o.a.v.macro - autoload off: VM system will not automatically reload global library macros
> o.a.v.parser - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX: offset -1, count 79, length 4096
> java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: offset -1, count 79, length 4096
>          at java.base/java.lang.String.checkBoundsOffCount(String.java:3304) ~[?:?]
>          at java.base/java.lang.String.rangeCheck(String.java:280) ~[?:?]
>          at java.base/java.lang.String.<init>(String.java:276) ~[?:?]
>                 at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.VelocityCharStream.GetImage(VelocityCharStream.java:434) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParserTokenManager.jjFillToken(StandardParserTokenManager.java:7796) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParserTokenManager.getNextToken(StandardParserTokenManager.java:7866) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.jj_scan_token(StandardParser.java:5611) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.jj_3R_EndingZeroWidthWhitespace_1591_5_49(StandardParser.java:5448) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.jj_3_3(StandardParser.java:5454) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.jj_2_3(StandardParser.java:3886) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.Statement(StandardParser.java:654) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.process(StandardParser.java:495) ~[velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.StandardParser.parse(StandardParser.java:184) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.RuntimeInstance.parse(RuntimeInstance.java:1344) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.Template.process(Template.java:145) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.resource.ResourceManagerImpl.loadResource(ResourceManagerImpl.java:429) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.resource.ResourceManagerImpl.getResource(ResourceManagerImpl.java:346) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.runtime.RuntimeInstance.getTemplate(RuntimeInstance.java:1694) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>          at org.apache.velocity.app.VelocityEngine.mergeTemplate(VelocityEngine.java:284) [velocity-engine-core-2.4.jar:2.4]
>
> Environment that throws the exception:
> Linux / Tomcat
>
> Server version name:   Apache Tomcat/9.0.104
> Server built:          Apr 4 2025 12:32:55 UTC
> Server version number: 9.0.104.0
> OS Name:               Linux
> OS Version:            4.14.355-277.647.amzn2.x86_64
> Architecture:          amd64
> Java Home:             /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-amazon-corretto.x86_64
> JVM Version:           11.0.27+6-LTS
> JVM Vendor:            Amazon.com Inc.
>
>
> Environment that does not throw the exception:
> Windows / TomEE
>
> INFO: Server version name:   Apache Tomcat (TomEE)/9.0.82 (8.0.16)
> INFO: Server built:          Oct 11 2023 13:15:08 UTC
> INFO: Server version number: 9.0.82.0
> INFO: OS Name:               Windows 11
> INFO: OS Version:            10.0
> INFO: Architecture:          amd64
> INFO: Java Home:             C:\Program Files\Amazon Corretto\jdk11.0.26_4
> INFO: JVM Version:           11.0.26+4-LTS
> INFO: JVM Vendor:            Amazon.com Inc.
>
> Robert Kish (Consultant) | Application Developer, IT Application Services | NJ Dept. of Agriculture
>
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>