Department import permanently disabled after unchecked exception in UserDatabaseHandler #3778
Description
Description
The IMPORT_DEPARTMENT_STATUS flag in UserDatabaseHandler.importFileToDB() can get stuck at true.
When this happens, the department import feature stops working and only starts working again after a server restart.
Right now, the flag is reset only when the import finishes successfully or when an IOException occurs. If any other exception happens (for example, a NullPointerException caused by a malformed Excel row like row.getCell(1).getStringCellValue() returning null), the flag is never reset.
As a result:
-The flag stays true
-Every future import request immediately returns RequestStatus.PROCESSING
-The feature remains blocked until the server is restarted
In addition, the flag is a simple static boolean and is accessed by two different threads:
-The scheduler thread (importDepartmentSchedule())
-The REST-triggered import thread (importDepartmentManually())
Since there is no synchronization, two threads could enter the import at the same time, causing a race condition.
How to reproduce
-Configure a department import folder path via POST /departments/writePathFolder
-Place a malformed Excel file in the folder (e.g., a row with a blank second column)
-Trigger import via POST /departments/manuallyactive
-The import throws NullPointerException at row.getCell(1).getStringCellValue()
-Try triggering another import via POST /departments/manuallyactive
Result: Returns RequestStatus.PROCESSING indefinitely — feature is permanently locked
Expected: Import should recover and allow retries.
SW360 logs
When the bug triggers, the following pattern appears:
-First import: NullPointerException stack trace in server logs
-All subsequent imports: No log output (method returns early before any logging)