Null pointer exception when clearing a JavaFX combobox

Question

I have a comboBox object defined as follows:

ObservableList<String> workflowsComboList = FXCollections.observableArrayList();
ComboBox<String> comboBoxWorkflows = new ComboBox<String>(workflowsComboList);

The workflowsComboList list is populated with certain options depending on user's input. Then, when user inputs changes, I need to reset the list and add new options to the combobox. In order to do that I run:

workflowsComboList.clear();

At this point, if there is no value selected in the combobox, .clear() works fine. However, if there is a value selected, it throws a null pointer exception.

I assume the error is caused because I'm deleting the selected element in the combobox, so I have attempted to un-select the selected item before clearing the list, but none of the methods I've tried seem to work, including:

comboBoxWorkflows.setValue(null);
comboBoxWorkflows.getSelectionModel().clearSelection();
comboBoxWorkflows.valueProperty().set(null);

Am I mistaken in assuming this is the cause of the exception? Or, if I'm right, what's the right way to unselect an element in a combobox?

EDIT:

The exception seems to occur when I invoke .clear(). If I do:

System.out.println("List contents: " + list.toString());
try{
    System.out.println(“About to clear”);
    workflowsComboList.clear();
    System.out.println("List successfully cleared.")
catch (Exception e){
    System.out.println("Exception: " + e);
}

I get:

List contents: [item1, item2, item3]
About to clear.
Exception in thread "JavaFX Application Thread" java.lang.NullPointerException...
...
List successfully cleared.

Here's the complete stack trace:

Exception in thread "JavaFX Application Thread" java.lang.NullPointerException
    at javafx_uitabpane.Javafx_uitabpane$11.handle(Javafx_uitabpane.java:738)
    at javafx_uitabpane.Javafx_uitabpane$11.handle(Javafx_uitabpane.java:1)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventHandler.java:86)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:238)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:191)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventDispatcher.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventDispatcher.java:59)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:58)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEventImpl(EventUtil.java:74)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEvent(EventUtil.java:49)
    at javafx.event.Event.fireEvent(Event.java:198)
    at javafx.scene.Node.fireEvent(Node.java:8413)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.ComboBoxListViewSkin.handleControlPropertyChanged(ComboBoxListViewSkin.java:179)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.BehaviorSkinBase.lambda$registerChangeListener$61(BehaviorSkinBase.java:197)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.MultiplePropertyChangeListenerHandler$1.changed(MultiplePropertyChangeListenerHandler.java:55)
    at javafx.beans.value.WeakChangeListener.changed(WeakChangeListener.java:89)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:361)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ObjectPropertyBase.java:105)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.markInvalid(ObjectPropertyBase.java:112)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.set(ObjectPropertyBase.java:146)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBoxBase.setValue(ComboBoxBase.java:150)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox.updateValue(ComboBox.java:463)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox.access$200(ComboBox.java:192)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox$3.changed(ComboBox.java:446)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:361)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyObjectPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyObjectPropertyBase.java:74)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyObjectWrapper.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyObjectWrapper.java:102)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.markInvalid(ObjectPropertyBase.java:112)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.set(ObjectPropertyBase.java:146)
    at javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel.setSelectedItem(SelectionModel.java:102)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox$ComboBoxSelectionModel.lambda$new$154(ComboBox.java:494)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$SingleInvalidation.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:137)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.java:72)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.java:102)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.markInvalid(IntegerPropertyBase.java:113)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.set(IntegerPropertyBase.java:147)
    at javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel.setSelectedIndex(SelectionModel.java:68)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox$ComboBoxSelectionModel$2.onChanged(ComboBox.java:524)
    at javafx.collections.WeakListChangeListener.onChanged(WeakListChangeListener.java:88)
    at com.sun.javafx.collections.ListListenerHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ListListenerHelper.java:329)
    at com.sun.javafx.collections.ListListenerHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ListListenerHelper.java:73)
    at javafx.collections.ObservableListBase.fireChange(ObservableListBase.java:233)
    at javafx.collections.ListChangeBuilder.commit(ListChangeBuilder.java:482)
    at javafx.collections.ListChangeBuilder.endChange(ListChangeBuilder.java:541)
    at javafx.collections.ObservableListBase.endChange(ObservableListBase.java:205)
    at com.sun.javafx.collections.ObservableListWrapper.clear(ObservableListWrapper.java:157)
    at javafx_uitabpane.Javafx_uitabpane$10.handle(Javafx_uitabpane.java:706)
    at javafx_uitabpane.Javafx_uitabpane$10.handle(Javafx_uitabpane.java:1)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventHandler.java:86)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:238)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:191)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventDispatcher.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventDispatcher.java:59)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:58)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEventImpl(EventUtil.java:74)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEvent(EventUtil.java:49)
    at javafx.event.Event.fireEvent(Event.java:198)
    at javafx.scene.Node.fireEvent(Node.java:8413)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.ComboBoxListViewSkin.handleControlPropertyChanged(ComboBoxListViewSkin.java:179)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.BehaviorSkinBase.lambda$registerChangeListener$61(BehaviorSkinBase.java:197)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.MultiplePropertyChangeListenerHandler$1.changed(MultiplePropertyChangeListenerHandler.java:55)
    at javafx.beans.value.WeakChangeListener.changed(WeakChangeListener.java:89)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:361)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ObjectPropertyBase.java:105)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.markInvalid(ObjectPropertyBase.java:112)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.set(ObjectPropertyBase.java:146)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBoxBase.setValue(ComboBoxBase.java:150)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox.updateValue(ComboBox.java:463)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox.access$200(ComboBox.java:192)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox$3.changed(ComboBox.java:446)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:361)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyObjectPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyObjectPropertyBase.java:74)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyObjectWrapper.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyObjectWrapper.java:102)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.markInvalid(ObjectPropertyBase.java:112)
    at javafx.beans.property.ObjectPropertyBase.set(ObjectPropertyBase.java:146)
    at javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel.setSelectedItem(SelectionModel.java:102)
    at javafx.scene.control.ComboBox$ComboBoxSelectionModel.lambda$new$154(ComboBox.java:494)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$SingleInvalidation.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:137)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.java:72)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.java:102)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.markInvalid(IntegerPropertyBase.java:113)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.set(IntegerPropertyBase.java:147)
    at javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel.setSelectedIndex(SelectionModel.java:68)
    at javafx.scene.control.SingleSelectionModel.updateSelectedIndex(SingleSelectionModel.java:215)
    at javafx.scene.control.SingleSelectionModel.select(SingleSelectionModel.java:149)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.ComboBoxListViewSkin.lambda$createListView$323(ComboBoxListViewSkin.java:484)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper$Generic.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:349)
    at com.sun.javafx.binding.ExpressionHelper.fireValueChangedEvent(ExpressionHelper.java:81)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerPropertyBase.java:72)
    at javafx.beans.property.ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.fireValueChangedEvent(ReadOnlyIntegerWrapper.java:102)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.markInvalid(IntegerPropertyBase.java:113)
    at javafx.beans.property.IntegerPropertyBase.set(IntegerPropertyBase.java:147)
    at javafx.scene.control.SelectionModel.setSelectedIndex(SelectionModel.java:68)
    at javafx.scene.control.MultipleSelectionModelBase.select(MultipleSelectionModelBase.java:404)
    at javafx.scene.control.MultipleSelectionModelBase.clearAndSelect(MultipleSelectionModelBase.java:356)
    at javafx.scene.control.ListView$ListViewBitSetSelectionModel.clearAndSelect(ListView.java:1403)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.behavior.CellBehaviorBase.simpleSelect(CellBehaviorBase.java:256)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.behavior.CellBehaviorBase.doSelect(CellBehaviorBase.java:220)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.behavior.CellBehaviorBase.mousePressed(CellBehaviorBase.java:150)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.BehaviorSkinBase$1.handle(BehaviorSkinBase.java:95)
    at com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.BehaviorSkinBase$1.handle(BehaviorSkinBase.java:89)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler$NormalEventHandlerRecord.handleBubblingEvent(CompositeEventHandler.java:218)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventHandler.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventHandler.java:80)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:238)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventHandlerManager.dispatchBubblingEvent(EventHandlerManager.java:191)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.CompositeEventDispatcher.dispatchBubblingEvent(CompositeEventDispatcher.java:59)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:58)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.BasicEventDispatcher.dispatchEvent(BasicEventDispatcher.java:56)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventDispatchChainImpl.dispatchEvent(EventDispatchChainImpl.java:114)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEventImpl(EventUtil.java:74)
    at com.sun.javafx.event.EventUtil.fireEvent(EventUtil.java:54)
    at javafx.event.Event.fireEvent(Event.java:198)
    at javafx.scene.Scene$MouseHandler.process(Scene.java:3757)
    at javafx.scene.Scene$MouseHandler.access$1500(Scene.java:3485)
    at javafx.scene.Scene.impl_processMouseEvent(Scene.java:1762)
    at javafx.scene.Scene$ScenePeerListener.mouseEvent(Scene.java:2494)
    at com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler$MouseEventNotification.run(GlassViewEventHandler.java:381)
    at com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler$MouseEventNotification.run(GlassViewEventHandler.java:295)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler.lambda$handleMouseEvent$354(GlassViewEventHandler.java:417)
    at com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.QuantumToolkit.runWithoutRenderLock(QuantumToolkit.java:389)
    at com.sun.javafx.tk.quantum.GlassViewEventHandler.handleMouseEvent(GlassViewEventHandler.java:416)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.View.handleMouseEvent(View.java:555)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.View.notifyMouse(View.java:937)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication._runLoop(Native Method)
    at com.sun.glass.ui.win.WinApplication.lambda$null$148(WinApplication.java:191)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Post the complete [stack trace](https://stackoverflow.com/q/3988788/2775450) in the question, and identify the line in the code that is throwing it. — James_D, Aug 22 '17 at 17:56
Please [edit] your question to include a [mcve] that produces the stack trace. — trashgod, Aug 22 '17 at 18:04
You realize that unless you actually tell us, you are the only person who knows which line is line 738, right? — James_D, Aug 22 '17 at 19:29
The only way `workflowsComboList.clear()` can be the actual line throwing the exception is if `workflowsComboList` is null. It's really not clear why you won't definitely tell us which actual line is the one that throws the exception. No one can do anything other than make guesses if you won't do that. — James_D, Aug 22 '17 at 21:14
Dupe-hammering this. It is attracting wild (and in some cases wildly incorrect) guesses as "answers", which have the potential to mislead other users in the future. The OP seems strangely reluctant to provide basic information despite being asked specifically for it. There is not enough information in the question as it stands to improve on the one answer that demonstrates that the assumptions as to what is going wrong are incorrect. — James_D, Aug 22 '17 at 22:01

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 22 '17 at 18:00

I assume the error is caused because I'm deleting the selected element in the ComboBox.

You may need to re-examine this assumption. Starting from this example, I added the following buttons to clear and restore the ObservableList model. As no error occurs, irrespective of the selection, you'll need to look elsewhere for the cause of the exception.

Button clear = new Button("Clear");
clear.setOnAction((action) -> {
    options.clear();
});
Button restore = new Button("Restore");
restore.setOnAction((action) -> {
    options.clear();
    options.addAll(Venue.values());
    comboBox.getSelectionModel().selectLast();
});
dialogPane.setContent(new VBox(8, textField, datePicker, comboBox, clear, restore));

Thanks a lot for your insight. The weird thing is that the exception seems to actually happen when I invoke .clear(). I've edited the main post with more info and the complete stack trace. — inconsistent_coder, Aug 22 '17 at 19:16

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 22 '17 at 20:36

1

If you bind the ComboBox Selection to another variable, make sure that you handle a Null value.

answered Aug 22 '17 at 20:36

benji2505

106
1
5

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 22 '17 at 18:53

-1

I think you may need to remove observable list from your comboBox

   comboBoxWorkflows .getItems().removeAll( workflowsComboList);

answered Aug 22 '17 at 18:53

Menai Ala Eddine - Aladdin

2,364
4
22
46

1

This is equivalent to `workflowsComboList.removeAll(workflowsComboList);`. At best this is equivalent to the code the OP already posted - at worst it will throw a `ConcurrentModificationException`. – James_D Aug 22 '17 at 18:58
Actually I tried that before and, as James_D says, I got the same exception. – inconsistent_coder Aug 22 '17 at 19:18

Null pointer exception when clearing a JavaFX combobox

3 Answers3

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