Item reference is invalid - when relying on target namespace, or when using explicit namespace · Issue #4269 · flowable/flowable-engine · GitHub
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Item reference is invalid - when relying on target namespace, or when using explicit namespace #4269

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Item reference is invalid - when relying on target namespace, or when using explicit namespace#4269

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@pdinc-oss
pdinc-oss
opened on Sep 1, 2026
<itemDefinition id="java_lang_Object" isCollection="false" structureRef="java.lang.Object" />
<message id="Message_1" itemRef="java_lang_Object" name="in">
	<extensionElements>
		<ext:style />
	</extensionElements>
</message>

and

<itemDefinition id="tns:java_lang_Object" isCollection="false" structureRef="java.lang.Object" />
<message id="Message_1" itemRef="tns:java_lang_Object" name="in">
	<extensionElements>
		<ext:style />
	</extensionElements>
</message>

both fail with a "Item reference is invalid: not found" from MessageValidator

patch written locally against 8.0.0, will create pull request after it is validated in flowable build

Activity

  1. pdinc-oss commented on Sep 1, 2026

    @pdinc-oss
    pdinc-oss
    on Sep 1, 2026
    Author

    our local hotfix patch...

    --- a/fairhaven-svg-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/bpmn/converter/parser/ItemDefinitionParser.java
+++ b/fairhaven-svg-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/bpmn/converter/parser/ItemDefinitionParser.java
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public class ItemDefinitionParser implements BpmnXMLConstants {

     public void parse(XMLStreamReader xtr, BpmnModel model) throws Exception {
         if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(xtr.getAttributeValue(null, ATTRIBUTE_ID))) {
-            String itemDefinitionId = model.getTargetNamespace() + ":" + xtr.getAttributeValue(null, ATTRIBUTE_ID);
+            String itemDefinitionId = normalizeIdValue(xtr.getAttributeValue(null, ATTRIBUTE_ID), model);
             String structureRef = xtr.getAttributeValue(null, ATTRIBUTE_STRUCTURE_REF);
             if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(structureRef)) {
                 ItemDefinition item = new ItemDefinition();
@@ -50,4 +50,9 @@ public class ItemDefinitionParser implements BpmnXMLConstants {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    public static String normalizeIdValue(String id, BpmnModel model) {
+        if (id == null || model == null || id.contains(":")) return id;
+        return model.getTargetNamespace() + ":" + id;
+    }
 }
--- a/fairhaven-svg-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/validation/validator/impl/MessageValidator.java
+++ b/fairhaven-svg-rest/src/main/java/org/flowable/validation/validator/impl/MessageValidator.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ package org.flowable.validation.validator.impl;
 import java.util.List;

 import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
+import org.flowable.bpmn.converter.parser.ItemDefinitionParser;
 import org.flowable.bpmn.model.BpmnModel;
 import org.flowable.bpmn.model.Message;
 import org.flowable.validation.ValidationError;
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ public class MessageValidator extends ValidatorImpl {

                 // Item ref
                 if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(message.getItemRef())) {
-                    if (!bpmnModel.getItemDefinitions().containsKey(message.getItemRef())) {
+                    if (!bpmnModel.getItemDefinitions().containsKey(ItemDefinitionParser.normalizeIdValue(message.getItemRef(), bpmnModel))) {
                         addError(errors, Problems.MESSAGE_INVALID_ITEM_REF, message, "Item reference is invalid: not found");
                     }
                 }
  2. pdinc-oss
    added a commit that references this issue on Oct 2, 2026

    Fixes flowable#4269 tested in local deployment

    55438c7
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