"java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: M" return in the logs while loading Jira Issue Macro in Confluence
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*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Summary
Jira Issue Macro inside the Confluence page returns the following ERROR and when any default Jira Date Fields (Created, Updated, Due Date) are included in the Columns to display:
Refresh didn't work. Try again or click an issue to see it in jira.
Diagnosis
The following ERROR appears in the atlassian-confluence.log while accessing the page that contain the Jira Issue Macro:
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2022-06-14 08:55:19,829 ERROR [JIM Marshaller:thread-1] [confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils] getRenderedTemplate Error occurred rendering template: templates/extra/jira/staticJiraIssues.vm
-- url: /display/SPACEKEY/Test | page: 123456789 | traceId: 9adcf2dd88c043db | userName: xxxxx | referer: <CONFLUENCE_BASE_URL>/pages/createpage.action?spaceKey=SPACEKEY&fromPageId=123456789 | action: viewpage
org.apache.velocity.exception.MethodInvocationException: Invocation of method 'valueForFieldDateFormatted' in class com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.columns.JiraIssuesXmlTransformer threw exception java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: M at templates/extra/jira/staticJiraIssues.vm[line 291, column 78]
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTMethod.handleInvocationException(ASTMethod.java:342)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTMethod.execute(ASTMethod.java:284)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.execute(ASTReference.java:262)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.value(ASTReference.java:507)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTMethod.execute(ASTMethod.java:155)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.execute(ASTReference.java:262)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTReference.render(ASTReference.java:342)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTBlock.render(ASTBlock.java:72)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTElseIfStatement.render(ASTElseIfStatement.java:92)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTIfStatement.render(ASTIfStatement.java:106)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTBlock.render(ASTBlock.java:72)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.directive.Foreach.performIteration(Foreach.java:393)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.directive.Foreach.render(Foreach.java:316)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTDirective.render(ASTDirective.java:175)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTBlock.render(ASTBlock.java:72)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTIfStatement.render(ASTIfStatement.java:87)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTBlock.render(ASTBlock.java:72)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.directive.Foreach.performIteration(Foreach.java:393)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.directive.Foreach.render(Foreach.java:316)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTDirective.render(ASTDirective.java:175)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTBlock.render(ASTBlock.java:72)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.ASTIfStatement.render(ASTIfStatement.java:87)
at org.apache.velocity.runtime.parser.node.SimpleNode.render(SimpleNode.java:336)
at org.apache.velocity.Template.merge(Template.java:328)
at org.apache.velocity.Template.merge(Template.java:235)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils.renderTemplateWithoutSwallowingErrors(VelocityUtils.java:70)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils.renderTemplateWithoutSwallowingErrors(VelocityUtils.java:76)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils.getRenderedTemplateWithoutSwallowingErrors(VelocityUtils.java:63)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils.getRenderedTemplate(VelocityUtils.java:42)
at com.atlassian.confluence.util.velocity.VelocityUtils.getRenderedTemplate(VelocityUtils.java:33)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.JiraIssuesMacro.renderStaticTemplate(JiraIssuesMacro.java:550)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.JiraIssuesMacro.getRenderedTemplate(JiraIssuesMacro.java:537)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.JiraIssuesMacro.execute(JiraIssuesMacro.java:1175)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.executor.StreamableMacroFutureTask.renderValue(StreamableMacroFutureTask.java:74)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.services.DefaultAsyncJiraIssueBatchService.lambda$processRequestWithJql$2(DefaultAsyncJiraIssueBatchService.java:184)
at com.atlassian.sal.core.executor.ThreadLocalDelegateCallable.call(ThreadLocalDelegateCallable.java:38)
at com.atlassian.confluence.impl.vcache.VCacheRequestContextManager.doInRequestContextInternal(VCacheRequestContextManager.java:84)
at com.atlassian.confluence.impl.vcache.VCacheRequestContextManager.doInRequestContext(VCacheRequestContextManager.java:68)
at com.atlassian.confluence.vcache.VCacheRequestContextOperations.lambda$withRequestContext$1(VCacheRequestContextOperations.java:59)
at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1128)
at java.base/java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:628)
at java.base/java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:829)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: M
at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatterBuilder.parseField(DateTimeFormatterBuilder.java:1909)
at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatterBuilder.parsePattern(DateTimeFormatterBuilder.java:1740)
at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatterBuilder.appendPattern(DateTimeFormatterBuilder.java:1708)
at java.base/java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern(DateTimeFormatter.java:588)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.columns.JiraIssuesXmlTransformer.parseDateWithUserLocale(JiraIssuesXmlTransformer.java:143)
at com.atlassian.confluence.extra.jira.columns.JiraIssuesXmlTransformer.valueForFieldDateFormatted(JiraIssuesXmlTransformer.java:131)
at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)Enabling DEBUG for the org.apache.http in Confluence shows a HTTP 200 OK response from Jira:
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2022-09-06 10:18:16,836 DEBUG [JIM Marshaller:thread-20] [org.apache.http.headers] onRequestSubmitted http-outgoing-41471 >> GET /sr/jira.issueviews:searchrequest-xml/temp/SearchRequest.xml?tempMax=20&returnMax=true&jqlQuery=resolutiondate+%3E%3D+-365d+order+by+updated+DESC+++++++&field=summary&field=issuetype&field=issuekey&field=created&field=reporter&field=assignee&field=priority&field=resolution&field=status&field=link&field=type HTTP/1.1
...
2022-09-06 10:18:17,087 DEBUG [JIM Marshaller:thread-20] [org.apache.http.wire] wire http-outgoing-41471 << "HTTP/1.1 200 OK[\r][\n]"
2022-09-06 10:18:17,090 DEBUG [JIM Marshaller:thread-20] [org.apache.http.wire] wire http-outgoing-41471 << "X-Arequestid: 618x8504x2[\r][\n]"
2022-09-06 10:18:17,090 DEBUG [JIM Marshaller:thread-20] [org.apache.http.wire] wire http-outgoing-41471 << "X-Ausername: xxxxx[\r][\n]"The DEBUG traces from atlassian-jira-http-dump.log shows that Jira responded with the data that contains the correct Date Format:
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172.17.1.7 o618x8504x2 xxxxx [06/Sep/2022:10:18:17 +0200] "GET <JIRA_BASE_URL>/sr/jira.issueviews:searchrequest-xml/temp/SearchRequest.xml HTTP/1.1" 200 27702 0.1670 - "Apache-HttpClient/4.5.13 (Java/11.0.16)" "4777tn"
___ Request _____________________________________________________
Request URL Parameters :
tempMax=20
returnMax=true
jqlQuery=resolutiondate >= -365d order by updated DESC
field=summary
field=issuetype
field=issuekey
field=created
field=reporter
field=assignee
field=priority
field=resolution
field=status
field=link
field=type
...
<item>
...
<created>Fri, 22 Apr 2022 12:26:39 +0200</created>
</item>Cause
The "java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Too many pattern letters: M" refers to the letter M in the date formatting (default: MMM dd, yyyy) inside the Confluence General Configuration. In this case, there are additional M in the Date Time Format and Date Format in Confluence General Configuration > Formatting and International Settings :
Solution
Navigate to the Confluence General Configuration > Formatting and International Settings and set the Date Time Format and Date Format to the default MMM dd, yyyy:
Updated on March 13, 2025
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