Re: API Differences

[Brian Jones <cbj@gnu.org>]

Daryl Lee <dlee@altaregos.com> writes:

> This is VERY helpful.  So helpful, in fact, that the very first two lines
> of output (in the java.io section) raise a general question on testing.
> 
> In the transition from JDK 1.1 to JDK 1.2, Sun redefined the behavior of
> the FileOutputStream(String) constructor.  In 1.1, it threw an IOException;
> in 1.2 (and through 1.4), it throws a FileNotFoundException.
> 
> Since there is only one implementation of the API, and since it is trying
> to be as up to date as possible, a specification change such as this will
> inevitably cause a failure of a 1.1 test, where a 1.2 (or later) test will
> pass.  The general question is "How to handle such changes?"  Or am I
> missing something, like the existence of a classpath archived to the JDK
> 1.1 spec?

This is similar to deprecation, where a method eventually disappears
from the API altogether.  I don't think it's handled in the current
setup but I may be wrong.

My guess is that the 1.1 test for that method must be separated into a
single file and some flag must be invented or convention taken that
lets one specify versions of the JDK the test is okay for and the
choose script modified to deal with it.

Brian
-- 
Brian Jones <cbj@gnu.org>