Sbt: NullPointerException when running sbt 1.3.8 on an older sbt 0.13.11 project

[padurean]

steps

➤ java -version
java version "1.8.0_181"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_181-b13)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.181-b13, mixed mode)

➤ sbt compile
[info] Loading global plugins from /Users/ogg/.sbt/0.13/plugins
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Matcher.getTextLength(Matcher.java:1770)
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Matcher.reset(Matcher.java:416)
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Matcher.<init>(Matcher.java:253)
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Pattern.matcher(Pattern.java:1134)
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Pattern.split(Pattern.java:1262)
    at java.base/java.util.regex.Pattern.split(Pattern.java:1335)
    at sbt.IO$.pathSplit(IO.scala:797)
    at sbt.IO$.parseClasspath(IO.scala:912)
    at sbt.compiler.CompilerArguments.extClasspath(CompilerArguments.scala:66)
    at sbt.compiler.MixedAnalyzingCompiler$.withBootclasspath(MixedAnalyzingCompiler.scala:188)
    at sbt.compiler.MixedAnalyzingCompiler$.searchClasspathAndLookup(MixedAnalyzingCompiler.scala:166)
    at sbt.compiler.MixedAnalyzingCompiler$.apply(MixedAnalyzingCompiler.scala:176)
    at sbt.compiler.IC$.incrementalCompile(IncrementalCompiler.scala:138)
    at sbt.Compiler$.compile(Compiler.scala:152)
    at sbt.Compiler$.compile(Compiler.scala:138)
    at sbt.Defaults$.sbt$Defaults$$compileIncrementalTaskImpl(Defaults.scala:860)
    at sbt.Defaults$$anonfun$compileIncrementalTask$1.apply(Defaults.scala:851)
    at sbt.Defaults$$anonfun$compileIncrementalTask$1.apply(Defaults.scala:849)
    at scala.Function1$$anonfun$compose$1.apply(Function1.scala:47)
    at sbt.$tilde$greater$$anonfun$$u2219$1.apply(TypeFunctions.scala:40)
    at sbt.std.Transform$$anon$4.work(System.scala:63)
    at sbt.Execute$$anonfun$submit$1$$anonfun$apply$1.apply(Execute.scala:228)
    at sbt.Execute$$anonfun$submit$1$$anonfun$apply$1.apply(Execute.scala:228)
    at sbt.ErrorHandling$.wideConvert(ErrorHandling.scala:17)
    at sbt.Execute.work(Execute.scala:237)
    at sbt.Execute$$anonfun$submit$1.apply(Execute.scala:228)
    at sbt.Execute$$anonfun$submit$1.apply(Execute.scala:228)
    at sbt.ConcurrentRestrictions$$anon$4$$anonfun$1.apply(ConcurrentRestrictions.scala:159)
    at sbt.CompletionService$$anon$2.call(CompletionService.scala:28)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:264)
    at java.base/java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:515)
    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:830)
[error] (compile:compileIncremental) java.lang.NullPointerException
Project loading failed: (r)etry, (q)uit, (l)ast, or (i)gnore? q

➤ cat project/build.properties
sbt.version=0.13.11

problem

NullPointerException

expectation

No NPE

notes

[eed3si9n]

Hi. Please follow the guideline on what to report - https://github.com/sbt/sbt/blob/develop/CONTRIBUTING.md#what-to-report
In particular, we need the information on how to reproduce the problem on our machines, not just what you're seeing.

Also, project/build.properties dictates the version of the core sbt artifacts for the most part (bash script being an exception), so likely what you're seeing is JDK and sbt 0.13.11 compatibility issue. Did you use Homebrew to install sbt recently? If so do you have JAVA_HOME set? java.base/java.lang.Thread in the stack trace indicates that sbt is not running on JDK 1.8. See https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/issues/50649

[padurean]

@eed3si9n Thanks for your answer. Yes, i've recently updated sbt with Homebrew. I didn't have JAVA_HOME env var set. Setting it fixed the problem.
Just in case someone stumbles upon this issue searching for the fix, here are the steps to fix it on MacOS Catalina (which has zsh as default shell)

1. Find out what location should JAVA_HOME point to:
   /usr/libexec/java_home
2. Set JAVA_HOME in the ~/.zshrc file with the output of the command at point 1 above:
   export JAVA_HOME="/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_181.jdk/Contents/Home"
3. Restart shell.

[mmraz]

1. Find out what location should JAVA_HOME point to:
   /usr/libexec/java_home
2. Set JAVA_HOME in the ~/.zshrc file with the output of the command at point 1 above:
   export JAVA_HOME="/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_181.jdk/Contents/Home"

Those steps can be combined into a single line in your .zshrc or .bash_profile. Assuming you want Java8:

export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8)