Getting "The following has evaluated to null or missing" from freemaker in spring boot

Question

I have the following pom.xml file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>3.0.2</version>
        <relativePath /> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>
    <groupId>com.chat</groupId>
    <artifactId>app</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>app</name>
    <description>A chat application written in spring boot</description>
    <properties>
        <java.version>17</java.version>
        <spring-boot-admin.version>3.0.0-M4</spring-boot-admin.version>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-amqp</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-cache</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-freemarker</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <!--
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-validation</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>de.codecentric</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-admin-starter-client</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>de.codecentric</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-admin-starter-server</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.micrometer</groupId>
            <artifactId>micrometer-tracing-bridge-brave</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.zipkin.reporter2</groupId>
            <artifactId>zipkin-reporter-brave</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.mysql/mysql-connector-j -->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
            <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
            <version>8.0.32</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
            <optional>true</optional>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.micrometer</groupId>
            <artifactId>micrometer-registry-prometheus</artifactId>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
            <optional>true</optional>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.amqp</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-rabbit-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.restdocs</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-restdocs-mockmvc</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-security-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <dependencyManagement>
        <dependencies>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>de.codecentric</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-admin-dependencies</artifactId>
                <version>${spring-boot-admin.version}</version>
                <type>pom</type>
                <scope>import</scope>
            </dependency>
        </dependencies>
    </dependencyManagement>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.asciidoctor</groupId>
                <artifactId>asciidoctor-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.2.1</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>generate-docs</id>
                        <phase>prepare-package</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>process-asciidoc</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <backend>html</backend>
                            <doctype>book</doctype>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
                <dependencies>
                    <dependency>
                        <groupId>org.springframework.restdocs</groupId>
                        <artifactId>spring-restdocs-asciidoctor</artifactId>
                        <version>${spring-restdocs.version}</version>
                    </dependency>
                </dependencies>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <excludes>
                        <exclude>
                            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
                            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
                        </exclude>
                    </excludes>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

I have the following controller class.

package com.example.demo;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;

@Controller
public class Controllers {

    @GetMapping("/signup")
    public String getSignUpPage(@RequestParam String name, @ModelAttribute ModelMap modelMap) {
        System.out.println("Name is: " + name);
        modelMap.addAttribute("name", name);
        return "signup";
    }

}

I have the following freemaker template file.

<html>

<head></head>

<body>
    <h1>Hello, ${name}</h1>
</body>

</html>

When i am visiting http://localhost:8080/signup?name=rahul, then i am getting the following error.

Hello, FreeMarker template error (DEBUG mode; use RETHROW in production!): The following has evaluated to null or missing: ==> name [in template "signup.ftlh" at line 6, column 22] ---- Tip: If the failing expression is known to legally refer to something that's sometimes null or missing, either specify a default value like myOptionalVar!myDefault, or use <#if myOptionalVar??>when-present<#else>when-missing. (These only cover the last step of the expression; to cover the whole expression, use parenthesis: (myOptionalVar.foo)!myDefault, (myOptionalVar.foo)?? ---- ---- FTL stack trace ("~" means nesting-related): - Failed at: ${name} [in template "signup.ftlh" at line 6, column 20] ---- Java stack trace (for programmers): ---- freemarker.core.InvalidReferenceException: [... Exception message was already printed; see it above ...] at freemarker.core.InvalidReferenceException.getInstance(InvalidReferenceException.java:134) at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToTextualCommon(EvalUtil.java:481) at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToStringOrMarkup(EvalUtil.java:401) at freemarker.core.EvalUtil.coerceModelToStringOrMarkup(EvalUtil.java:370) at freemarker.core.DollarVariable.calculateInterpolatedStringOrMarkup(DollarVariable.java:104) at freemarker.core.DollarVariable.accept(DollarVariable.java:63) at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:335) at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:341) at freemarker.core.Environment.process(Environment.java:314) at freemarker.template.Template.process(Template.java:383) at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerView.processTemplate(FreeMarkerView.java:329) at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerView.doRender(FreeMarkerView.java:264) at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerView.renderMergedTemplateModel(FreeMarkerView.java:215) at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.AbstractTemplateView.renderMergedOutputModel(AbstractTemplateView.java:179) at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.AbstractView.render(AbstractView.java:314) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.render(DispatcherServlet.java:1414) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.processDispatchResult(DispatcherServlet.java:1158) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1097) at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:973) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:1011) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doGet(FrameworkServlet.java:903) at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:705) at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:885) at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:814) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:223) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:53) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:185) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:100) at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:185) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.springframework.web.filter.FormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(FormContentFilter.java:93) at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:185) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.springframework.web.filter.ServerHttpObservationFilter.doFilterInternal(ServerHttpObservationFilter.java:109) at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:185) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:201) at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:116) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:185) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:158) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:177) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:97) at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:542) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:119) at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:92) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:78) at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:357) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:400) at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:65) at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:859) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1734) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:52) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1191) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:659) at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:833)

Why this issue is coming?

My directory structure

Answer 1

I don't think you should be using @ModelAttribute there. Try this:

@GetMapping("/signup")
public String getSignUpPage(@RequestParam String name, Model model) {
    

I also changed ModelMap to org.springframework.ui.Model as a more generic approach.

---

According to https://freemarker.apache.org/docs/pgui_misc_servlet.html Freemarker also automatically puts request parameters into RequestParameters hash variable. So you should not even need to put params into Model yourself and this freemarker code should be sufficient:

<h1>Hello, ${RequestParameters.name}</h1>