org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParseException: The value cannot be parsed as an int

I was trying to format timestamp inside int:header and encountered a strange behavior related to SpEL(as a matter of fact I've already found out that header-enricher should only be used for static values, so my approach is wrong in the first place, but I'm still curious about the exception I've got).

 <int:header-enricher> <int:header name="originalFilename" expression="#{T(org.apache.commons.lang3.time.DateFormatUtils).format(new java.util.Date(), 'yyyyMMddhhmm')}"/> </int:header-enricher>

Stack trace:

Caused by: org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [org.springframework.integration.transformer.support.ExpressionEvaluatingHeaderValueMessageProcessor]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParseException: EL1035E:(pos 26): The value '201504101118' cannot be parsed as an int at org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiateClass(BeanUtils.java:164) ~[spring-beans-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.SimpleInstantiationStrategy.instantiate(SimpleInstantiationStrategy.java:125) ~[spring-beans-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ConstructorResolver.autowireConstructor(ConstructorResolver.java:270) ~[spring-beans-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] ... 71 common frames omitted
Caused by: org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParseException: EL1035E:(pos 26): The value '201504101118' cannot be parsed as an int at org.springframework.expression.spel.ast.Literal.getIntLiteral(Literal.java:79) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.maybeEatLiteral(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:736) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatStartNode(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:459) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatPrimaryExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:301) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatUnaryExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:295) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatPowerIncDecExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:251) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatProductExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:230) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatSumExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:216) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatRelationalExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:168) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatLogicalAndExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:156) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatLogicalOrExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:144) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:104) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:85) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:56) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:32) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:76) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:62) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] at org.springframework.integration.transformer.support.ExpressionEvaluatingHeaderValueMessageProcessor.<init>(ExpressionEvaluatingHeaderValueMessageProcessor.java:62) ~[spring-integration-core-4.0.4.RELEASE.jar:na] at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance0(Native Method) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at sun.reflect.NativeConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at sun.reflect.DelegatingConstructorAccessorImpl.newInstance(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at org.springframework.beans.BeanUtils.instantiateClass(BeanUtils.java:148) ~[spring-beans-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE] ... 73 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "201504101118" at java.lang.NumberFormatException.forInputString(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at java.lang.Integer.parseInt(Unknown Source) ~[na:1.7.0_75] at org.springframework.expression.spel.ast.Literal.getIntLiteral(Literal.java:75) ~[spring-expression-4.0.7.RELEASE.jar:4.0.7.RELEASE]

Seriously, why java.lang.Integer.parseInt?

Same thing happens when I try:

#{T(org.apache.commons.lang3.time.DateFormatUtils).format(1428647461944L, 'yyyyMMddhhmm')}"/>

I also found this open jira issue:

Is it the cause of the exception?

1 Answer

@rompetroll 's comment is correct; the "#{...}" syntax is for static values evaluated once, when the context initializes.

Spring integration uses runtime expressions, evaluated each time a message arrives at the component. Simply remove the #{ and }.

You are trying to inject a static value into a property that expects an expression.