FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.6.0_03"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_03-b05)
Java HotSpot(TM) Server VM (build 1.6.0_03-b05, mixed mode)

and

java version "1.7.0"
IcedTea Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-b23)
IcedTea Server VM (build 1.7.0-b23, mixed mode)


ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Linux nirvana.limasoftware.net 2.6.23.1-49.fc8 #1 SMP Thu Nov 8 21:41:26 EST 2007 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux


EXTRA RELEVANT SYSTEM CONFIGURATION :
Network printer

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
We got a report to IcedTea bugzilla:
http://icedtea.classpath.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=81

Here is a copy from the original report for reference:
-------------
The example code from http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/jps/spec/appendix_2DPrinterJob.fm.html#997825 throws a null pointer exception.

This is with Fedora 8 java-1.7.0-icedtea-devel:

$ javac Print2DPrinterJob.java
$ java Print2DPrinterJob
selected printer hp_LaserJet_1320_series
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: null attribute
        at
sun.print.IPPPrintService.isAttributeValueSupported(IPPPrintService.java:1176)
        at
sun.print.ServiceDialog$OrientationPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:2165)
        at
sun.print.ServiceDialog$PageSetupPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:1281)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.initPageDialog(ServiceDialog.java:284)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.<init>(ServiceDialog.java:261)
        at sun.print.RasterPrinterJob.pageDialog(RasterPrinterJob.java:684)
        at Print2DPrinterJob.<init>(Print2DPrinterJob.java:35)
        at Print2DPrinterJob.main(Print2DPrinterJob.java:62)

If I comment out the calls to PrinterJob.PageDialog() and
PrinterJob.PrintDialog(), the print job goes through without throwing an
exception.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
1. download the test code from http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/jps/spec/appendix_2DPrinterJob.fm.html#997825
2. javac Print2DPrinterJob.java
3. java Print2DPrinterJob

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
Print dialog to appear.
ACTUAL -
The vm exits with a java.lang.NullPointerException.

ERROR MESSAGES/STACK TRACES THAT OCCUR :
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException: null attribute
        at
sun.print.IPPPrintService.isAttributeValueSupported(IPPPrintService.java:1176)
        at
sun.print.ServiceDialog$OrientationPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:2165)
        at
sun.print.ServiceDialog$PageSetupPanel.updateInfo(ServiceDialog.java:1281)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.initPageDialog(ServiceDialog.java:284)
        at sun.print.ServiceDialog.<init>(ServiceDialog.java:261)
        at sun.print.RasterPrinterJob.pageDialog(RasterPrinterJob.java:684)
        at Print2DPrinterJob.<init>(Print2DPrinterJob.java:35)
        at Print2DPrinterJob.main(Print2DPrinterJob.java:62)


REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
    import java.io.*;
    import java.awt.*;
    import java.net.*;
    import java.awt.image.*;
    import java.awt.print.*;
    import javax.print.*;
    import javax.print.attribute.*;
    import javax.print.attribute.standard.*;

    public class Print2DPrinterJob implements Printable {

    	public Print2DPrinterJob() {

    		/* Construct the print request specification.
    		* The print data is a Printable object.
    		* the request additonally specifies a job name, 2 copies, and
    		* landscape orientation of the media.
    		*/
    		PrintRequestAttributeSet aset = new HashPrintRequestAttributeSet();
    		aset.add(OrientationRequested.LANDSCAPE);
    		aset.add(new Copies(2));
    		aset.add(new JobName("My job", null));

    		/* Create a print job */
    		PrinterJob pj = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
    		pj.setPrintable(this);
    		/* locate a print service that can handle the request */
    		PrintService[] services =
    			PrinterJob.lookupPrintServices();

    		if (services.length > 0) {
    			System.out.println("selected printer " + services[0].getName());
    			try {
    				pj.setPrintService(services[0]);
    				pj.pageDialog(aset);
    				if(pj.printDialog(aset)) {
    					pj.print(aset);
    				}
    			} catch (PrinterException pe) {
    				System.err.println(pe);
    			}
    		}
    	}

    	public int print(Graphics g,PageFormat pf,int pageIndex) {

    		if (pageIndex == 0) {
    			Graphics2D g2d= (Graphics2D)g;
    			g2d.translate(pf.getImageableX(), pf.getImageableY());
    			g2d.setColor(Color.black);
    			g2d.drawString("example string", 250, 250);
    			g2d.fillRect(0, 0, 200, 200);
    			return Printable.PAGE_EXISTS;
    		} else {
    			return Printable.NO_SUCH_PAGE;
    		}
    	}

    	public static void main(String arg[]) {

    		Print2DPrinterJob sp = new Print2DPrinterJob();
    	}
    }


---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
I think that the problem is in line 2162 (5 in this snippet) of
sun.print.ServiceDialog class:

1. OrientationRequested or = (OrientationRequested)asCurrent.get(orCategory);
2. if (or == null ||
3.     !psCurrent.isAttributeValueSupported(or, docFlavor, asCurrent)) {
4.
5.     or = (OrientationRequested) psCurrent.
6.                                 getDefaultAttributeValue(orCategory);

What happens is that in line 1 "or" is correctly initialized to the supplied
value (OrientationRequested.LANDSCAPE), but then
psCurrent.isAttributeValueSupported return false, forcing to query a default
value for the OrientationRequested attribute.

getDefaultAttributeValue contains this call:

if (!isAttributeCategorySupported(category)) {
    return null;
}

So it looks to me like a circular reference, the key is not supported, so we
ask for a default value, but we don't have a default value because the key is
not supported.

The following patch should bypass the problem, but it's not tested (b23).

I think a better solution would be to fix this circular reference problem
adding support for OrientationRequested under linux.

------- cut --------

--- openjdk/jdk/src/solaris/classes/sun/print/IPPPrintService.java-orig	2007-11-25 20:26:20.000000000 +0100
+++ openjdk/jdk/src/solaris/classes/sun/print/IPPPrintService.java	2007-11-25 20:26:44.000000000 +0100
@@ -1173,7 +1173,7 @@
                                              DocFlavor flavor,
                                              AttributeSet attributes) {
         if (attr == null) {
-            throw new NullPointerException("null attribute");
+            return false;
         }
         if (flavor != null) {
             if (!isDocFlavorSupported(flavor)) {
This is reproducible on Ubuntu 7.10 and Ubuntu 8.04 using openjdk6. I tried installing the latest CUPS (1.3.5) on Ubuntu 8.04 and the problem did not go away. I also noticed that some of the common attributes such as Orientation and Copies are reported as unsupported. I tested this with Xerox Phaser 5500 and used the ppd files available on xerox.com.