View Java 21 migration changes

The document outlines the key code changes introduced with the migration from Java 8 to Java 21 in the bot execution and WebHarvest Control Tower (CT) Worker projects, starting with Work.AI v10.3.

info

Refer to the Work.AI v10.3 release notes for specific library versions. For detailed implementation guidance, consult the official documentation for each updated library.

Bot execution project

With the bot execution project using Java 21, the following modifications are introduced.

Modified components

Component	Change description	Before	After	Additional notes
Spring Framework	The HttpStatus.toString() method return has been modified.	Returns "code".	Returns "code name".	Update any code that parses the HttpStatus string representation.
Groovy	Group ID is renamed.	org.codehaus.groovy	org.apache.groovy
Groovy	EasySSLProtocolSocketFactory is no longer available.	EasySSLProtocolSocketFactory	Can be replaced with SSLProtocolSocketFactory from commons-httpclient-3.1-jenkins-3.jar
MVEL2	The dependency was updated in the date-format plugin and other MVEL2-based libraries.	mvel2.version=2.1.3.Final	mvel2.version=2.5.2.Final
Apache Tika	The dependency structure is reworked.	Single tika-parsers dependency	Three separate dependencies: org.apache.tika:tika-core org.apache.tika:tika-handler-boilerpipe org.apache.tika:tika-parsers-standard-package	All existing functionality remains without code changes.
Woodstox	The dependency is separated from Tika.	Previously within Tika.	com.fasterxml.woodstox:woodstox-core	XML processing capabilities remain the same, with no code changes required.
Apache POI	Cell types are removed from the org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell class.	org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.Cell	org.apache.poi.ss.usermodel.CellType
JSoup	The core class is renamed.	org.jsoup.safety.Whitelist	org.jsoup.safety.Safelist
JAXB	New explicit JAXB dependencies are added.		New dependencies: jakarta.xml.bind:jakarta.xml.bind-api org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-runtime jakarta.annotation:jakarta.annotation-api	The dependencies are automatically included and do not require code changes for the existing JAXB usage.
SLF4J Bridge	SLF4J Bridge is added to avoid Log4j usage.		org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-to-slf4j	All logging is through SLF4J.

Deprecations

Component	Change description	Before	After	Additional notes
WSS4J Base64	The common Base64 utility class is replaced with a Java standard library.	org.apache.ws.security.util.Base64	java.util.Base64
WSS4J UUID	The common UUIDGenerator utility class is replaced with a Java standard library.	org.apache.ws.security.util.UUIDGenerator	java.util.UUID
OpenNLP	The OpenNLP dependency and associated split plugin are removed.			Evaluate and integrate alternative libraries if the natural language processing functionality is required.

WebHarvest Control Tower Worker

Starting with Work.AI v10.3, the WebHarvest CT Worker project is also built using Java 21.

Modified components

Component	Change description	Before	After
Byte Buddy	A new dependency is added.		New dependencies: net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy-agent
JNA	The Java Native Access (JNA) dependencies are now explicitly managed instead of being transitively taken from APM tracing.	Previously within APM.	New dependencies: net.java.dev.jna:jna net.java.dev.jna:jna-platform

Broken backward compatibility

Be aware of broken backward compatibility between WebHarvest CT Worker Java 8 vs Java 21. The following constants, classes, and methods applicable for WebHarvest CT Worker Java 8 are deprecated and replaced with new alternatives for WebHarvest CT Worker Java 21:

WebHarvest CT Worker Java 8	WebHarvest CT Worker Java 21
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.AUTOMATION_URL WebHarvest context variable: automationAppUrl	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.AUTOML_SERVICES_ENDPOINT Webharvest context variable: automlServicesEndpoint
WebHarvest constant:WebHarvestConstants.APPLICATION_HOST WebHarvest context variable: applicationHost The pattern is to use applicationHost+applicationContextPath.	WebHarvest constant:WebHarvestConstants.CT_APP_API_URL WebHarvest context variable: ctAppApiUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.INTERNAL_APPLICATION_HOST WebHarvest context variable: internalApplicationHost The pattern is to use internalApplicationHost+internalApplicationContextPath.	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.CT_BOT_PLUGIN_API_URL WebHarvest context variable: ctIntegrationBotPluginApiUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.APPLICATION_CONTEXT_PATH WebHarvest context variable: ApplicationContextPath The pattern is to use ApplicationHost+ApplicationContextPath.	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.CT_APP_API_URL WebHarvest context variable: ctAppApiUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.INTERNAL_APPLICATION_CONTEXT_PATH WebHarvest context variable: internalApplicationHost The pattern is to use internalApplicationHost + internalApplicationContextPath.	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.CT_BOT_PLUGIN_API_URL WebHarvest context variable: ctIntegrationBotPluginApiUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKSPACE_INTERNAL_HOST WebHarvest context variable: workspaceApiInternalHost The pattern is to use workspaceApiInternalHost + workspacePath.	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKSPACE_API_INTERNAL_URL WebHarvest context variable: workspaceApiInternalUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKSPACE_PATH WebHarvest context variable: workspacePath The pattern is to use workspaceApiInternalHost + workspacePath.	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKSPACE_API_INTERNAL_URL WebHarvest context variable: workspaceApiInternalUrl Includes both the URL and the context.
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKFUSION_ACCESS_KEY WebHarvest context variable:workfusionAcessKey	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.S3_ACCESS_KEY WebHarvest context variable:s3AccessKey
WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.WORKFUSION_SECRET_KEY WebHarvest context variable: workfusionSecretKey	WebHarvest constant: WebHarvestConstants.S3_SECRET_KEY WebHarvest context variable: s3SecretKey
The filter(String document, double confidenceThreshold) method from the com.workfusion.utils.extraction.TextAggregationProcessor class	Deprecated
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.datastore.dto.AnswerInfoDTO	The Set<String> excludedFromComparisonAnswers field from the class is deprecated.
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.datastore.dto.AutomationInfoDto	The following fields from the class are deprecated: private boolean retrainCountChanged; private Long retrainRecordsCount; private String newExperimentGroup;
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.extractor.text.SiteTextExtractor	The class is deprecated. Use TikaUtils for text extraction instead.
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.s3.AbstractS3Plugin	The following methods from the class are deprecated: String constructLinkToFile(String bucket, String path, Scraper scraper) String getEndpointUrl(Scraper scraper)
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.s3.S3Plugin	The integration with S3 has been refactored to use the third-party s3-connector service. The following methods from the class are deprecated: AmazonS3 getConnection(Scraper scraper) TransferManager getTransferManager()
com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.web.Page	Deprecated
com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.export.ExportPluginResult	Deprecated. Use com.workfusion.spa.bot.bep.output.v1.BotTaskResultData instead.
Class: com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.export.MultiColumnPlugin	The boolean isResult fields from the class is deprecated.
Package com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.plugin.security.provider	This package was necessary to maintain backward compatibility with the old ODF. However, with Java 21, it is no longer required and is deprecated. The ODF must also be updated accordingly.
Class com.workfusion.spa.bot.bep.output.BotTaskExportResultData	Deprecated
Class com.workfusion.spa.bot.bep.output.BotTaskReleaseResultData	Deprecated
Class com.freedomoss.crowdcontrol.webharvest.web.dto.SecureEntryDTO	Deprecated. Use com.workfusion.bot.service.SecureEntryDTO instead.
The javax package with the javax.xml.bind name	The jakarta package with the jakarta.xml.bind name

Perform the following actions to make sure your code is up to date:

• Replace all deprecated WebHarvestConstants with their new equivalents.

• Update configuration files and property references accordingly.

• Replace SiteTextExtractor usage with TikaUtils for text extraction functionality.

• Update S3 plugin implementations to use the new S3 connector instead of deprecated methods.

• Replace ExportPluginResult with BotTaskResultData in export operations.

• Update DTO imports to use the new SecureEntryDTO package location.

• Remove deprecated fields from AnswerInfoDTO and AutomationInfoDto.

• Remove calls to the deprecated filter() method from TextAggregationProcessor.

• Remove references to deprecated export result data classes.

WebHarvest plugin changes

Plugin	Changes in WebHarvest CT Worker Java 21
single-column	The deprecated xpath attribute is removed together with related code.
secure-store-delete	Deprecated. Use the secrets-vault-delete plugin instead.
secure-store-get	Deprecated. Use the secrets-vault-get plugin instead.
secure-store-put	Deprecated. Use the secrets-vault-put plugin instead.
secure-store-reset	Deprecated. Use the secrets-vault-reset plugin instead.
secure-store-update	Deprecated. Use the secrets-vault-update plugin instead.
export	The following deprecated attributes and related code are removed: data-only external-url cost
secrets-vault-get	The deprecated provider attribute is removed.
split	Deprecated.
robot	The deprecated node-id attribute is removed.
selenium-flow	Deprecated. Use the robotics-flow plugin instead.
selenium	Deprecated. Use the robotic plugin instead.
automl-execute	Deprecated. Use the Model step functionality instead.
automation-extract	Deprecated. Use the Model step functionality instead.
s3-put-public	Deprecated. Use the s3-put plugin instead.
s3-put-private	Deprecated. Use the s3-put plugin instead.
s3-put-private	Deprecated. Use the s3-put plugin instead.

Migration recommendations

Based on the changes above, consider the following recommendations:

• Refer to Work.AI v10.3 release notes for specific library versions. For more details, consult the official documentation for each updated library.
• Update all deprecated constants, classes, and methods listed in the Deprecations section for the Bot execution project and Broken backward compatibility for WebHarvest CT Worker.
• Verify all document extraction and parsing functionality with the new Tika structure.
• Test the XML processing functionality with a separate Woodstox dependency.
• Test all MVEL2 expressions, especially in the date-format plugin and custom libraries. Also, check for any deprecated MVEL2 API usage.
• Test all JSON serialization and deserialization operations and make sure your custom JSON processing logic works correctly.
• Verify the APM monitoring and tracing functionality.
• Test the JNA-based native library access functionality and verify that platform-specific operations work correctly.
• Update the Spring Framework HttpStatus string parsing logic where needed.
• Change Groovy dependency group IDs from org.codehaus.groovy to org.apache.groovy in your pom.xml. Make sure to replace EasySSLProtocolSocketFactory usage with SSLProtocolSocketFactory.
• Update Apache POI cell type handling to use CellType enum.
• Test all the HTTP client functionality with updated OkHttp.
• Verify that the JAXB functionality works with new Jakarta dependencies.
• Update servlet imports from javax.servlet to jakarta.servlet due to the Java Servlet API being replaced with the Jakarta Servlet API.
• Replace WSS4J utility classes with Java standard library equivalents.
• Remove any OpenNLP and split plugin dependencies and functionality.
• Ensure all logging is through SLF4J.