Well i have set all -Dtapestry.production-mode=true (beit true or false) in my eclipse debug configurations, pom.xml's, AppModule.JAVA and web.xml.
The only place that I set this that actually had an effect on how the webapp runs PROD MODE Application 'app' (version 1.0-SNAPSHOT-1351774079811) startup time: 330 ms to build IoC Registry, 3,082 ms overall. ______ __ ____ /_ __/__ ____ ___ ___ / /_______ __ / __/ / / / _ `/ _ \/ -_|_-</ __/ __/ // / /__ \ /_/ \_,_/ .__/\__/___/\__/_/ \_, / /____/ /_/ /___/ 5.3.2 2012-11-02 00:35:39.725:INFO::Started SelectChannelConnector@0.0.0.0:8080 or DEV MODE Application 'app' (version 1.0-SNAPSHOT-1351774079811) startup time: 370 ms to build IoC Registry, 3,283 ms overall. ______ __ ____ /_ __/__ ____ ___ ___ / /_______ __ / __/ / / / _ `/ _ \/ -_|_-</ __/ __/ // / /__ \ /_/ \_,_/ .__/\__/___/\__/_/ \_, / /____/ /_/ /___/ 5.3.2 (development mode) 2012-11-02 00:42:04.796:INFO::Started SelectChannelConnector@0.0.0.0:8080 [INFO] Started Jetty Server and actually telling me what mode it is running in is is by setting the default VM Arguments within my eclipse preferences, java, installed jre's definition with -Dtapestry.production-mode=false But I am seeing the same behavior... parameters (tapestry component parameters and actualy java method parameters) are intermittently null... but mysteriously appear valid when I step into the next method... but the app progressively gets worse as it runs... clicking event handlers and everything starts becoming null I dont believe this is a prod/dev runtime mode issue. But would welcome any more suggestions as how to flush this out beyond beginning to take the app apart. Thanks Ken