Previously, one could define settings in one *.properties files and be able to use those settingsin any other *.properties file. The most common example is to define passwords or other "sensitive" data in security.properties:

columbia_sakaidb_password=NOTAPASSWORD
columbia_otherdb_password=NOTADIFFERENTPASSWORD

and then use those definitions in other settings in sakai.properties:

password@javax.sql.BaseDataSource=${columbia_sakaidb_password}
db_pw=${columbia_otherdb_password}

The definitions-- no matter which *.properties file they are in – were fully expanded to use the originally-defined values. This isn't the case anymore

The problem appears to specifically affect string expansion in "simple" configuration settings, but not in "bean-style" ones. To use the above example, this setting:

password@javax.sql.BaseDataSource=${columbia_sakaidb_password}

fully expands to use the value of "${columbia_sakaidb_password}" while this setting:

db_pw=${columbia_prometheus_otherdb_password}

does NOT expand, leaving it with the string name as its value (i.e., "${columbia_otherdb_password}") instead of the actual value.