JMETER function __machineName do not work

[asfimport]

Michael Kless (Bug 44142):
Hello folks,

using function __machineName on WindowsXP with java version "1.4.2_10" do not
work and writes errors to jmeter.log:

2007/12/27 10:58:49 ERROR - jmeter.threads.JMeterThread:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.apache.jmeter.functions.MachineName.execute(MachineName.java:66)
at org.apache.jmeter.engine.util.CompoundVariable.execute
(CompoundVariable.java:128)
at org.apache.jmeter.engine.util.CompoundVariable.execute
(CompoundVariable.java:97)
at
org.apache.jmeter.testelement.property.FunctionProperty.getStringValue
(FunctionProperty.java:85)
at org.apache.jmeter.testbeans.TestBeanHelper.prepare
(TestBeanHelper.java:70)
at org.apache.jmeter.threads.JMeterThread.run(JMeterThread.java:297)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Java-Vesion:

java version "1.4.2_10"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.4.2_10-b03)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.4.2_10-b03, mixed mode)

We are planing a distributed (Remote-)Database-Test-Plan, and we want to
prevent sharing conflicts by using the machineName as a part of the database
tablenames.

Please have a look to the problem.

Thanks in advance,

Michael.

Severity: normal
OS: Windows XP

[asfimport]

Sebb (migrated from Bugzilla):
How does the function call look in the test plan?
I've found that ${__machineName} causes the problem, but ${__machineName()}
and ${__machineName(var)} work fine.

Obviously the NPE needs to be fixed, but hopefully you will find that one of
the alternatives works for you.

[asfimport]

Sebb (migrated from Bugzilla):
The __machineName function parameter is currently required, so
${__machineName} is not valid syntax - but it should not generate an NPE.

${__machineName()} is currently parsed as if there was one parameter - the
empty string - which is why that syntax works OK.

I'll probably make the parameter optional.

[asfimport]

Michael Kless (migrated from Bugzilla):
(In reply to comment 2)

The __machineName function parameter is currently required, so
${__machineName} is not valid syntax - but it should not generate an NPE.
${__machineName()} is currently parsed as if there was one parameter - the
empty string - which is why that syntax works OK.
I'll probably make the parameter optional.

Thank you, these hint solves our problem: ${__machineName()} works fine. My
recommendation: Just correct the documentation of Functions and Variables
(chapter 19 in ..\jakarta-jmeter-2.3.1\docs\usermanual\functions.html) rather
than make the parameter optional.

Kind regards,

Michael.

[asfimport]

Sebb (migrated from Bugzilla):
Thanks for confirming that the problem is resolved.

Re-opening as the NPE is not yet fixed.

Note that the documentation IS currently correct - it states that the
parameter is required.

I think it still make sense to make the variable name optional.

[asfimport]

Sebb (migrated from Bugzilla):
Fixed in SVN: r608515 (parsing) and r608524 (optional varname)