[Solved] java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: taglib definition not consistent with specification version

If you are working on a web application and you define the taglibs in your web.xml file then you may encounter this exception. The exception trace in server console looks like this when you start up the server.

SEVERE: Begin event threw exception
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: taglib definition not consistent with specification version
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.TaglibLocationRule.begin(WebRuleSet.java:1259)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.startElement(Digester.java:1276)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.startElement(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanStartElement(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.parse(Digester.java:1537)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.parseWebXml(ContextConfig.java:1875)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.webConfig(ContextConfig.java:1256)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:878)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:369)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5173)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

May 14, 2014 11:35:55 PM org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig parseWebXml
SEVERE: Parse error in application web.xml file at jndi:/localhost/Spring4Struts2HibernateIntegration/WEB-INF/web.xml
org.xml.sax.SAXParseException; systemId: jndi:/localhost/Spring4Struts2HibernateIntegration/WEB-INF/web.xml; lineNumber: 43; columnNumber: 10; Error at (43, 10) : taglib definition not consistent with specification version
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.createSAXException(Digester.java:2687)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.createSAXException(Digester.java:2719)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.startElement(Digester.java:1279)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.startElement(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanStartElement(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(Unknown Source)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.parse(Digester.java:1537)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.parseWebXml(ContextConfig.java:1875)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.webConfig(ContextConfig.java:1256)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.configureStart(ContextConfig.java:878)
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.ContextConfig.lifecycleEvent(ContextConfig.java:369)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:119)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleBase.java:90)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.startInternal(StandardContext.java:5173)
	at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase.start(LifecycleBase.java:150)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1559)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase$StartChild.call(ContainerBase.java:1549)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: taglib definition not consistent with specification version
	at org.apache.catalina.startup.TaglibLocationRule.begin(WebRuleSet.java:1259)
	at org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.startElement(Digester.java:1276)
	... 26 more

Solution

You just need to confirm the allowed tags by web.xml confirming DTD file. e.g. version=”2.5″ compatible web.xml wants you to define the taglibs in following way.

<jsp-config>
	<taglib>
		<taglib-uri>/tags/struts-bean</taglib-uri>
		<taglib-location>/WEB-INF/struts-bean.tld</taglib-location>
	</taglib>
	<taglib>
		<taglib-uri>/tags/struts-html</taglib-uri>
		<taglib-location>/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld</taglib-location>
	</taglib>
	<taglib>
		<taglib-uri>/tags/struts-logic</taglib-uri>
		<taglib-location>/WEB-INF/struts-logic.tld</taglib-location>
	</taglib>
	<taglib>
		<taglib-uri>/tags/struts-nested</taglib-uri>
		<taglib-location>/WEB-INF/struts-nested.tld</taglib-location>
	</taglib>
</jsp-config>

Happy Learning !!