{"record":{"id":"618f83eeb44d602f","repo":"flowable/flowable-engine","slug":"categorynotequals-is-null-618f83","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"categoryNotEquals is null","messagePattern":"categoryNotEquals is null","errorType":"validation","errorClass":"FlowableIllegalArgumentException","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"modules/flowable-event-registry/src/main/java/org/flowable/eventregistry/impl/EventDefinitionQueryImpl.java","lineNumber":104,"sourceCode":"            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException(\"category is null\");\n        }\n        this.category = category;\n        return this;\n    }\n\n    @Override\n    public EventDefinitionQueryImpl eventCategoryLike(String categoryLike) {\n        if (categoryLike == null) {\n            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException(\"categoryLike is null\");\n        }\n        this.categoryLike = categoryLike;\n        return this;\n    }\n\n    @Override\n    public EventDefinitionQueryImpl eventCategoryNotEquals(String categoryNotEquals) {\n        if (categoryNotEquals == null) {\n            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException(\"categoryNotEquals is null\");\n        }\n        this.categoryNotEquals = categoryNotEquals;\n        return this;\n    }\n\n    @Override\n    public EventDefinitionQueryImpl eventDefinitionName(String name) {\n        if (name == null) {\n            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException(\"name is null\");\n        }\n        this.name = name;\n        return this;\n    }\n\n    @Override\n    public EventDefinitionQueryImpl eventDefinitionNameLike(String nameLike) {\n        if (nameLike == null) {\n            throw new FlowableIllegalArgumentException(\"nameLike is null\");","sourceCodeStart":86,"sourceCodeEnd":122,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/flowable/flowable-engine/blob/d6d39ce1c69ff244f2d9dc6af756a9b95e865586/modules/flowable-event-registry/src/main/java/org/flowable/eventregistry/impl/EventDefinitionQueryImpl.java#L86-L122","documentation":"EventDefinitionQueryImpl.eventCategoryNotEquals() throws FlowableIllegalArgumentException ('categoryNotEquals is null') when the argument is null. The negated-equality category filter requires a non-null value; null would be meaningless in SQL (NULL != x is unknown), so the library rejects it eagerly.","triggerScenarios":"Calling eventCategoryNotEquals(null), commonly when excluding a category that was never set in configuration or was returned null by a lookup.","commonSituations":"'Exclude category' filters bound to empty config values; null category constants; refactors that made an exclusion field optional without updating callers.","solutions":["Pass a non-null category string to exclude, e.g. eventCategoryNotEquals(\"internal.category\")","Guard the call with a null check and omit the exclusion when absent","If you need NULL-exclusion semantics, use the dedicated isNotNull-style query methods instead of passing null"],"exampleFix":"// before\nquery.eventCategoryNotEquals(excludedCategory);\n// after\nif (excludedCategory != null) { query.eventCategoryNotEquals(excludedCategory); }","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"null","typeGuard":"null","tryCatchPattern":"null","preventionTips":["Only add exclusion filters when a value is present"],"tags":["null","query","category","negated-filter"],"backgroundTag":"null-argument","analyzedSha":"d6d39ce1c69ff244f2d9dc6af756a9b95e865586","analyzedAt":"2026-09-11T06:41:19.413Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-11T06:41:19.413Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-18T16:30:33.424Z"}