[kaffe] Bug in FileInputStream

[Dalibor Topic]

--- Jukka Santala <jsantala at tml.hut.fi> wrote:
> On Sun, 9 Jun 2002, Patrick Tullmann wrote:
> > I fixed this, and some related problems on
> FileOutputStream (its
> > constructors were throwing IOException when they
> may only throw
> > FileNotFoundException, and a 1.4 constructor
> taking (File, boolean)
> > was missing).  I expanded your test case a bit,
> too, and gave it the
> 
> JDK 1.1 API has the constructors only throwing
> IOException, though; since
> Kaffe doesn't support full Java2, it is more likely
> to be ran with JDK 1.1
> applications. Eventually I don't expect this to make
> a huge difference,
> since FNF is a sub-class of IO, but just to note
> that those are not
> "problems", they're API-upgrades which might lead to
> compatibility
> problems. It might be a good time to consider that
> JDK1.1/Java2 builds
> system, but (un)fortunately Java doesn't come with
> direct #define
> equivalents...

Changes to the throws clause should not break existing
applications, according to the JLS 2nd Ed. § 13.4.19,
as they are only checked at compile time. Especially
since in this case the exception type is refined.

Unless of course you are using reflection to lookup
the constructor that throws IOException. But
reflection is not part of JDK 1.1, so no self
respecting JDK 1.1 app should be using it ;)
 
> In conclusion, I don't think it makes whole lot of
> difference for the
> present release, but in future I'd like to see 1)
> Bug tracking system for
> flagging bugs as required for next release, for
> future release, etc. 2)
> Intermediate beta/development releases, 3) Only
> critical showstopper fixes
> to Release Candidates.

I'll take this opportunity to rant a little bit about
bug tracking systems:

I don't think bug tracking systems work that well for
small projects like this (<10 active developers) which
are getting a low number of bug reports (< 10 per
week). They are great when you are getting a lot of
bug reports every day, and have people that take care
of misfiled bugs, contacting people reporting bugs,
and so on.

Kaffe.org doesn't seem to ;) The latest bug database
that kaffe.org had, died what seems to be a long and
silent death with over 200 entries in the incoming
queue.

That's why I prefer to see people email their bug
reports to the mailing list, where they get feedback
and the things are usually resolved quickly. Most bug
reports are not really useable in their original form,
and it takes a few mails to clarify the issue. That's
easier to do when you are dealing with emails, instead
of web forms. Finally, if you are having trouble with
kaffe crashing on on an "esoteric" platform, your
chances are higher to find somebody who can help you
if you report the bug to the mailing list with a
catchy subject, then if you file it into an anonymous
bug tracking system.

Flagging bugs is all nice and well, but it won't get
them fixed. If a bug matters to someone, he/she should
raise the problem a couple of times until its fixed,
or submit a patch.

Rant over ;)

cheers,

dalibor topic

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