_jspService is exceeding the 65535 bytes limit

So I'm dealing with a legacy servlet code that runs on Websphere 7 (JDK 6). Development environment setup uses Tomcat 6 (JDK 6).

1. Why does it work on Websphere 7 and not in Tomcat 6?
2. Is this something related to the application server?

If your answer is yes for no. 2, do you have a workaround for this on Tomcat 6 (JDK 6) aside from breaking down the code or using dynamic includes?

The schedule does not agree with changing static includes to dynamic includes primarily because most pages are coupled with the business model code including the main template of the app.

Solution 1:

It sounds like you're hitting a 64k method limit, probably due to how Tomcat builds a class out of your JSP. This page suggests changing your static includes like this:

<%@ include file="test.jsp" %>

To dynamic includes like this to avoid the issue:

<jsp:include page="test.jsp" /> 

Solution 2:

I ran out of static html/jss/css blocks I could externalize into jsp:include (mostly non-static html was left) ...

You can put in your web.xml, mappedfile set to false like so to get rid of many static lines that aren't necessarily good blocks to put into an include, but they add up to save space:

<servlet>
    <servlet-name>jsp</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet</servlet-class>
    ...
    <init-param>
        <param-name>mappedfile</param-name>
        <param-value>false</param-value>
    </init-param>
    ...
</servlet>

Peter Hart's <c:catch> solution sounds like nice option as well.

Solution 3:

Better to point direct where to change it as stated in following link: https://www.assetbank.co.uk/support/documentation/knowledge-base/byte-limit-exceeded-error/

Locate the file [Tomcat_Home]/conf/web.xml and search the file for 'JspServlet'. This should return an xml node of <servlet> containing some <init-param> values. You will need to add an additional <init-param> the same as the below.

<init-param>
    <param-name>mappedfile</param-name>
    <param-value>false</param-value>
</init-param> 

That's more clear and direct for tomcat user

Other reference solutions that of course, mostly said in previous comment but all in one place to read, here: http://answered.site/development-environment-setup-uses-tomcat-6-jdk-6-why-does-it-work/603017/

The issue also found in tomcat-8 with JDK1.8 (Java8)

Solution 4:

Sometimes breaking your JSP into includes doesn't make sense or doesn't work. Another way to force your JSP to be broken into separate methods when compiled is to separate your JSP into segments using <c:catch>.