Grails 2.0.2 on Ubuntu (10.4): Error starting

[Chris]

Hi,

I installed Grails 2.0.2 from the .zip file provided from the Grails site, and installed into my GRAILS_HOME directory; JAVA_HOME is also set and valid. When I execute grails at the command line, I get the Error:  

Error An error occurred loading the grails-app/conf/BuildConfig.groovy file: null

I have tried removing ~/.grails, but no change. So I cannot do anything with Grails 2.0.2. (Of course Grails 1.3.8 works ok, just not the new 2.0.2).

If anyone has some insight on this, please share it with me.

Thanks.

Chris

[Doug Snitker]

Is your 1.3.8 grails executable ahead of your 2.0.2 version in the classpath?

[Chris]

My classpath may be a problem, but not the having Grails 1.3.8 before 2.0.2. (I also downloaded Grails 2.0.3, but there was no change)

Here is the CLASSPATH - I added a few things based on your suggestion. Let me know if i am missing something crucial, please.

Output from echo $CLASSPATH:

:.:/usr/share/java/mysql.jar:/tools/JavaSDK/jdk7/lib:/tools/grails/lib:/tools/grails/dist:/tools/groovy/lib:/tools/jars/mysql-connector-java-5.0.7/mysql-connector-java-5.0.7-bin.jar:/tools/easyb/easyb-0.9.8.jar:/tools/easyb/lib/commons-cli-1.2.jar:/tools/h2/bin/h2-1.3.162.jar:/tools/easyb/lib/groovy-all-1.7.5.jar

Thanks for your help.

Chris

[Paul Woods]

Chris, have you tried the Grails PPA? go here:  http://grails.org/Download  and scroll down to the "Grails on Ubuntu" section. I believe you can install 2.0.3 using those instructions.

Regards,

Paul Woods

[Doug Snitker]

So I think that error message is from the GrailsScriptRunner - the only thing I could think of that could cause a problem like that would be a problem with Grails Home, or a problem with a groovy version conflict.  It's been a while, but I recall seeing this in a situation where I had a version of groovy in my path ahead of my grails installation.  It's a shot in the dark, but I notice that you have groovy-all-1.7.5 in your CLASSPATH, is it possible you've got that version of groovy or another in your $PATH variable?  My ubuntu box is down for reimaging right now, but I hope to have it working in the next couple of days.  I'll try an installation from scratch when I get it back up and see if I get the same results.

-Doug

[Chris]

Doug,

Thanks for the help. I have tried all the suggestions but without any success on any system - including RedHat at work. I didn't experience this kind of problem with other Grails releases and I have used Grails for years. (Probably won't continue with Grails for new projects, though)

Thanks again.

Chris

[Doug Snitker]

Wish I could have been of more help - had to put windows back on my personal box and haven't been able to get ubuntu loaded back on it.  What are you moving to on new projects out of curiosity?  Scala?  I've been using Grails since before 1.0, but I'm not doing much with it these days either.  Some of the other frameworks seem to be getting better traction.

-Doug

[Chris]

Well - to update you: I did remove /org/easyb/lib/groovy-all-1.7.5.jar and now Grails 2.0.3 works. (I started by unsetting my CLASSPATH and that worked, so using your suggestion, I narrowed it down). Thanks for your help.

I was thinking of using Spring MVC and other Spring tools, and not bothering w/ Grails any more for my own personal development. But now that the issue is resolved, I will probably continue to use it in that way. At work, we use Struts 2 and Spring for projects, but due to concerns about Groovy (dynamic language) and Grails (maybe not industrial strength), we are not allowed to do anything more than create release planning tools w/ Groovy/Grails. People elsewhere in the company are investigating Scala, but at this time, I know little about it.

You referred to other framework(s) getting better traction. I'd be interested in which ones you think those are. 

Thanks.

Chris

[Doug Snitker]

I think Play is getting a lot more traction with Scala these days.  Mostly because of the dynamic typing issues companies have with groovy.  Spring MVC is also easy enough that there's not a lot of people willing to take on the headache of trying to prove out Grails' robustness.  I've been contacted by some big companies about doing some grails work though - so who knows.  Where do you work in the area?  I'm at Sabre in Southlake - I used some grails for some projects with our Travelocity company, and Fidelity has talked to me about some grails consulting.  

-Doug