javax.validation.ValidationException: HV000183: Unable to load 'javax.el.ExpressionFactory'

Question

I try to write very simple application with hibernate validator:

my steps:

add following dependency in pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
    <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
    <version>5.1.1.Final</version>
</dependency>

write code:

class Configuration {
    Range(min=1,max=100)
    int threadNumber;
    //...

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();

        Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

        Configuration configuration = new Configuration();
        configuration.threadNumber = 12;
            //...

        Set<ConstraintViolation<Configuration>> constraintViolations = validator.validate(configuration);
        System.out.println(constraintViolations);

    }
}

And I gets following stacktrace:

Exception in thread "main" javax.validation.ValidationException: Unable to instantiate Configuration.
    at javax.validation.Validation$GenericBootstrapImpl.configure(Validation.java:279)
    at javax.validation.Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory(Validation.java:110)
    ...
    at org.hibernate.validator.internal.engine.ConfigurationImpl.<init>(ConfigurationImpl.java:110)
    at org.hibernate.validator.internal.engine.ConfigurationImpl.<init>(ConfigurationImpl.java:86)
    at org.hibernate.validator.HibernateValidator.createGenericConfiguration(HibernateValidator.java:41)
    at javax.validation.Validation$GenericBootstrapImpl.configure(Validation.java:276)
    ... 2 more

What do I wrong?

Answer 1

It is working after adding to pom.xml following dependencies:

<dependency>
   <groupId>javax.el</groupId>
   <artifactId>javax.el-api</artifactId>
   <version>2.2.4</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.glassfish.web</groupId>
   <artifactId>javax.el</artifactId>
   <version>2.2.4</version>
</dependency>

Getting started with Hibernate Validator

Answer 2

do just

<dependency>
   <groupId>javax.el</groupId>
   <artifactId>javax.el-api</artifactId>
   <version>2.2.4</version>
</dependency>

Answer 3

If you are using tomcat as your server runtime and you get this error in tests (because tomcat runtime is not available during tests) than it makes make sense to include tomcat el runtime instead of the one from glassfish). This would be:

    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
        <artifactId>tomcat-el-api</artifactId>
        <version>8.5.14</version>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.tomcat</groupId>
        <artifactId>tomcat-jasper-el</artifactId>
        <version>8.5.14</version>
        <scope>test</scope>
    </dependency>

Answer 4

Regarding the Hibernate validator documentation page, you have to define a dependency to a JSR-341 implementation:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
   <artifactId>javax.el</artifactId>
   <version>3.0.1-b11</version>
</dependency>

Answer 5

If you're using spring boot with starters - this dependency adds both tomcat-embed-el and hibernate-validator dependencies:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
</dependency>

Answer 6

In case you don't need javax.el (for example in a JavaSE application), use ParameterMessageInterpolator from Hibernate validator. Hibernate validator is a standalone component, which can be used without Hibernate itself.

Depend on hibernate-validator

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
   <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
   <version>6.0.16.Final</version>
</dependency>

Use ParameterMessageInterpolator

import javax.validation.Validation;
import javax.validation.Validator;
import org.hibernate.validator.messageinterpolation.ParameterMessageInterpolator;

private static final Validator VALIDATOR =
  Validation.byDefaultProvider()
    .configure()
    .messageInterpolator(new ParameterMessageInterpolator())
    .buildValidatorFactory()
    .getValidator();

Answer 7

If using Spring Boot this works well. Even with Spring Reactive Mongo.

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
</dependency>

and validation config:

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.data.mongodb.core.mapping.event.ValidatingMongoEventListener;
import org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.LocalValidatorFactoryBean;

@Configuration
public class MongoValidationConfig {

    @Bean
    public ValidatingMongoEventListener validatingMongoEventListener() {
        return new ValidatingMongoEventListener(validator());
    }

    @Bean
    public LocalValidatorFactoryBean validator() {
        return new LocalValidatorFactoryBean();
    }
}

Answer 8

for gradle :

compile 'javax.el:javax.el-api:2.2.4'