Testing Update: Get Outta My (Name)Space!

So here's a weird one for you. I was testing another ESB today and just finished setting up the classpath to include the OpenJMS jars. After testing connectivity (yeah! it worked) I tried to hit the administrative console for the underlying application server and ... nothing. The server responded, but no page displayed. Well this is weird...a bit of digging showed that the servlets and portlets responsible for displaying the page were hooked into Log4J. Many Java-based applications are, so that shouldn't be a problem. Looking at the logs, it appeared that some sort of conflict had arisen in the Log4J system. Some sort of class conflict. Some sort of OpenJMS-is-using-old-libs conflict.

After removing the OpenJMS jars from the classpath - voila! The administrative console returned to normal.

I have seen some strange things while testing, but never something like this. I'd expect the administrative console to not load at all, but given the fact that the proper class exists and is apparently just missing a method (log, believe it or not), I guess it isn't that surprising. Just weird. Someday I'll get through a product test without anything weird happening. Everything will go smoothly. Everything will work as advertised...Why yes, I'd love to buy a piece of your bridge. How much?