MATLAB: Do I get a “java.lang​.IllegalAr​gumentExce​ption” error message when starting MATLAB on OS X

java.lang.illegalargumentexceptionmacMATLABorg.apache.xerces.jaxp.documentbuilderfactoryimpl.setattributepreferencesstartup

When I start MATLAB, I get the following error:
Warning: MATLAB Toolbox Path Cache is out of date and is not being used.
Type 'help toolbox_path_cache' for more info
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: <http://java.sun.com/xml/jaxp/properties/schemaSource>
at org.apache.xerces.jaxp.DocumentBuilderFactoryImpl.setAttribute(DocumentBuilderFactoryImpl.java:118)
at com.mathworks.xml.XMLValidator.validateFile(XMLValidator.java:54)
at com.mathworks.mlwidgets.util.productinfo.Product.getItems(Product.java:324)
at com.mathworks.mlwidgets.util.productinfo.ProductInfoUtils.pathChanged(ProductInfoUtils.java:221)
at com.mathworks.mlwidgets.util.productinfo.ProductInfoUtils.<init>(ProductInfoUtils.java:64)
at com.mathworks.mlwidgets.util.productinfo.ProductInfoUtils.getAllProductsInfo(ProductInfoUtils.java:835)
at com.mathworks.mlwidgets.util.productinfo.ProductInfoUtils.<clinit>(ProductInfoUtils.java:50)
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:164)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader.callClassForName(StartupClassLoader.java:304)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader.access$000(StartupClassLoader.java:27)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader$LoadInfo.<init>(StartupClassLoader.java:80)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader.addLoadInfo(StartupClassLoader.java:219)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader.createLoadInfos(StartupClassLoader.java:195)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader.access$500(StartupClassLoader.java:27)
at com.mathworks.mde.desk.StartupClassLoader$1$1.run(StartupClassLoader.java:147)
at java.util.TimerThread.mainLoop(Timer.java:512)
at java.util.TimerThread.run(Timer.java:462)
Exception in thread "Timer-2" java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:164)
[snip]

Best Answer

This is not a bug, but a system conflict.
The solution is to delete the xerces.jar file in /Library/Java/Extensions.
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