What causes "Unknown default state setting: " in stanfordnlp/CoreNLP?

Construct VisibilityHandler through its normal constructors/factories so defaultState is HIDE_ALL or SHOW_ALL.

stanfordnlp/CoreNLP · error · IllegalStateException

Unknown default state setting:

Error message

Unknown default state setting:

What it means

VisibilityHandler.alsoShow() adds or removes a channel filter from the deltaPool depending on defaultState. Only HIDE_ALL and SHOW_ALL are valid; any other defaultState value (should be impossible with the enum) throws this IllegalStateException.

Solutions

Construct VisibilityHandler through its normal constructors/factories so defaultState is HIDE_ALL or SHOW_ALL.
Use RedwoodConfiguration's hide/alsoShow configuration entries rather than manipulating the handler directly.
Print/inspect this.defaultState to find what set it; align all logging jars to the same version.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try {
  visibility.alsoShow(channel);
} catch (IllegalStateException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Unknown default state setting")) {
    log.error("VisibilityHandler defaultState corrupted: " + e.getMessage());
    // rebuild handler with a valid state
  } else throw e;
}

Prevention

Construct VisibilityHandler only via its standard constructors/RedwoodConfiguration.
Never set defaultState through reflection or from custom enum values.
Match Redwood jar versions across the classpath.

When it happens

Trigger: Calling alsoShow(VisibilityHandler) when the handler's defaultState is neither HIDE_ALL nor SHOW_ALL — only via broken construction, custom subclass, or corrupted/deserialized state.

Common situations: Rare; seen with hand-built VisibilityHandler instances, custom enum values via reflection, or version-mismatched jars where a third state exists in one class but not the switch.

Understand the failure class

Background: "This is a bug, please report it": internal invariant violations, unreachable panics, and SNH errors explained — this error's family across 47 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stanfordnlp/CoreNLP@1b7edd19c4 (2026-09-10). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c9c612370537b646. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at src/edu/stanford/nlp/util/logging/VisibilityHandler.java:63

  public void hideAll() {
    this.defaultState = State.HIDE_ALL;
    this.deltaPool.clear();
  }

  /**
   * Show all the channels currently being printed, in addition
   * to a new one
   * @param filter The channel to also show
   * @return true if this channel was already being shown.
   */
  public boolean alsoShow(Object filter) {
    switch(this.defaultState){
    case HIDE_ALL:
      return this.deltaPool.add(filter);
    case SHOW_ALL:
      return this.deltaPool.remove(filter);
    default:
      throw new IllegalStateException("Unknown default state setting: " + this.defaultState);
    }
  }

  /**
   * Show all the channels currently being printed, with the exception
   * of this new one
   * @param filter The channel to also hide
   * @return true if this channel was already being hidden.
   */
  public boolean alsoHide(Object filter) {
    switch(this.defaultState){
    case HIDE_ALL:
      return this.deltaPool.remove(filter);
    case SHOW_ALL:
      return this.deltaPool.add(filter);
    default:
      throw new IllegalStateException("Unknown default state setting: " + this.defaultState);
    }

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