Annotation File Utilities Changelog

This is the changelog for the Annotation File Utilities.

• Version 3.46.0 (released August 1, 2024):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.45.0 (released July 1, 2024):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.44.0 (released June 3, 2024):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.43.0 (released May 1, 2024):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.42.0 (released December 15, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.41.0 (released December 4, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.40.0 (released November 1, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.39.0 (released October 2, 2023):
  • Runs under JDK 21 -- that is, it runs on a version 21 JVM.
• Version 3.38.0 (released September 1, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.37.0 (released August 1, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.36.0 (released July 3, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
  • Fixed issues #582.
• Version 3.35.0 (released June 1, 2023):
  • Runs under JDK 20 -- that is, it runs on a version 20 JVM.
• Version 3.34.0 (released May 2, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.33.0 (released April 3, 2023):
  • Requires JDK 11 to build. Still runs on JDK 8 or later.
  • Command-line option --comments is no longer supported.
• Version 3.32.0 (released March 2, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.31.0 (released February 17, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.30.0 (released February 2, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.29.0 (released January 5, 2023):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.28.0 (released December 1, 2022):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.27.0 (released November 1, 2022):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.26.0 (released October 3, 2022):
  • Runs under Java 18.
  • Renamed all annotator* packages to org.checkerframework.afu.annotator*, and renamed all scenelib* packages to org.checkerframework.afu.scenelib*.
  • Code is now formatted with Spotless; use ./gradlew spotlessCheck or ./gradlew spotlessCheck.
• Version 3.25.0 (released September 1, 2022):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.24.0 (released August 3, 2022):
  • Performance improvements.
• Version 3.23.0 (released July 11, 2022):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.22.2 (released June 14, 2022):
  • No user-visible changes.
• Version 3.22.1 (released June 1, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.22.0 (released May 2, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.21.4 (released April 1, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.21.3 (released March 1, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.21.2 (released February 1, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.21.1 (released January 7, 2022):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.21.0 (released December 17, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.20.0 (released December 6, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.19.0 (released November 1, 2021):
  • Added support for JDK 17, dropped support for JDK 16.
• Version 3.18.1 (released October 4, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.18.0 (released September 1, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.17.0 (released August 2, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.16.0 (released July 13, 2021):
  • Added support for JDK 16.
• Version 3.15.0 (released June 18, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.14.0 (released June 1, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.13.0 (released May 3, 2021):
  • Improved handling of implicit default constructors.
• Version 3.12.0 (released April 1, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.11.0 (released March 1, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.10.0 (released February 1, 2021):
  • Implementation detail: Uses real ASM rather than ASMX.
• Version 3.9.17 (released January 13, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.16 (released January 4, 2021):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.15 (released December 1, 2020):
  • Better checking of annotation validity. This may require you to pass a classpath.
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.14 (released November 2, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.13 (released October 1, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.12 (released September 1, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.11 (released August 3, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.10 (released July 1, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.9 (released June 1, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.8 (released May 3, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.7 (released April 1, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.6 (released March 2, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
  • Fixed issues #269.
• Version 3.9.5 (released February 3, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.4 (released January 3, 2020):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.3 (released December 2, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.2 (released November 1, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.1 (released October 1, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.9.0 (released August 30, 2019):
  • Now uses the Java 9 javac API. The manual describes how to satisfy this dependency, in a way that works on a Java 8 JVM. Running the AFU on a Java 9+ JVM is also supported.
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.11 (released August 22, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.10 (released August 1, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.9 (released July 3, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
  • Fixed issues #216 and #220.
• Version 3.8.8 (released June 3, 2019):
  • Added command-line arguments -cp and -classpath to extract-annotations.
  • Added command-line argument --verbose to extract-annotations and insert-annotations.
  • Removed command-line argument -v from extract-annotations; use --version instead.
  • insert-annotations-to-source does a better check for existing annotations, to avoid inserting a duplicate annotation.
  • Fixed issues #200 and #201.
• Version 3.8.7 (released May 1, 2019):
  • Fixed issue #194.
• Version 3.8.6 (released April 3, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.5 (released March 1, 2019):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.4 (released February 3, 2019):
  • Fix bug in which imports were not added for annotations on constructor invocations.
  • Documentation clarifies that insert-annotations[-to-source] modifies its target.
• Version 3.8.3 (released December 5, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.2 (released November 4, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.1 (released October 3, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.8.0 (released August 30, 2018):
  • Requires a Java 8 JVM to execute.
  • annotation-file-utilities.jar is now a skinny jar. annotation-file-utilities-all.jar is a fat jar.
  • Implementation detail: ASMX now uses package org.objectweb.asmx, rather than org.objectweb.asm.
  • Fixed issues #168 and #174.
• Version 3.6.55 (released July 2, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.54 (released June 1, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.53 (released May 2, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.52 (released April 2, 2018):
  • Fixed issues #155 and #156.
• Version 3.6.51 (released March 1, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.50 (released February 1, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.49 (released January 2, 2018):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.48 (released December 1, 2017):
  • Moved scene-lib classes into package scenelib (fixes issue #121).
  • Fixed issues #144 and #145.
• Version 3.6.47 (released November 2, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.46 (released September 29, 2017):
  • Fixes issue #124.
• Version 3.6.45 (released September 5, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.44 (released August 3, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.43 (released July 3, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.42 (released June 1, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.41 (released May 1, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.40 (released April 3, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.39 (released March 1, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.38 (released Jan 20, 2017):
  • The Annotation File Utilities webpage has moved to https://checkerframework.org/annotation-file-utilities/. Old URLs should redirect to the new one, but please update your links and let us know if any old links are broken rather than redirecting.
• Version 3.6.37 (released Jan 3, 2017):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.36 (released Dec 1, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.35 (released Nov 2, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.34 (released Oct 3, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.33 (released Sep 16, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.32 (released Sep 1, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.31 (released August 1, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.30 (released July 1, 2016):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.29 (released Jun 1, 2016):
  • extract-annotations no longer puts package annotations on non-existent class, fixing issue #117.
  • Closes issue #120.
  Version 3.6.28 (released May 1, 2016):
  • AScene now has a copy constructor and implements Cloneable.
• Version 3.6.27 (released Apr 1, 2016):
  • The annotation file format permits use of a class name, in addition to <init>, to specify a constructor.
  • Closes issues #70 and #88.
• Version 3.6.26 (released Mar 1, 2016):
  • Avoids reinserting an annotation that already exists in comments, fixing Issue #114.
• Version 3.6.25 (released Feb 1, 2016):
  • Uses system javac to compile the executable program, thus enabling Java 7 execution.
  • Clears set of required imports after processing each source file, fixing Issue #111.
  • Escapes String fields of annotations, fixing Issue #112.
• Version 3.6.24 (released Jan 4, 2016):
  • Fixes Issue #108 by adding a LICENSE.txt file.
  • Fixes offset calculation for wide JVM instructions.
  • Makes minor improvements to build process.
• Version 3.6.23 (released Dec 1, 2015):
  • Fixes Issue #106.
  • Makes minor improvements to documentation and build process.
• Version 3.6.22 (released Nov 9, 2015):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.21 (released Oct 24, 2015):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.20 (released Oct 8, 2015):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.19 (released Sep 1, 2015):
  • Avoids importing the same annotation name from multiple packages (Issue #101).
  • Fixes some bugs (including Issues #100 and #102) pertaining to extends clause generation.
• Version 3.6.18 (released Aug 4, 2015):
  • Moved the Annotation Tools version control repository from Google Code to GitHub, and from the Mercurial version control system to Git. If you have cloned the version control repository, then discard your old clone and create a new one using this command:

      git clone https://github.com/typetools/annotation-tools.git

  • Fixes some errors involving default class and method bound insertion.
• Version 3.6.17 (released July 1, 2015):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.16 (released June 1, 2015):
  • Fixes multiple crash-causing bugs in insert-annotations-to-source.
• Version 3.6.15 (released May 1, 2015):
  • Allows annotations on constituents of an intersection type cast without the use of the AST path format.
  • Fixes assorted bugs in insert-annotations.
• Version 3.6.14 (released April 17, 2015):
  • Fixes numerous minor bugs in insert-annotations and insert-annotations-to-source.
• Version 3.6.13 (released March 2, 2015):
  • Extends support for lambda expressions, member references, and type arguments of static method calls and member references to extract-annotations and insert-annotations.
  • Slightly changes JAIF format for the new features. (See file format documentation for details.)
• Version 3.6.12 (released January 30, 2015):
  • Adds support for lambda expressions, member references, and type arguments of static method calls and member references to insert-annotations-to-source.
• Version 3.6.11 (released December 19, 2014):
  • Fixes more insertion logic bugs, including errors in handling generic arrays.
• Version 3.6.10 (released November 26, 2014):
  • Fixes many bugs, mostly in AST path-based insertion logic.
• Version 3.6.9 (released October 30, 2014):
  • Minor bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.6.8 (released September 24, 2014):
  • Fixes numerous bugs in AST path-based insertion logic.
• Version 3.6.7 (released August 1, 2014):
  • Improves Java 9 support.
  • Fills in some previously missing cases for AST path-based insertion specifications.
• Version 3.6.6 (released July 1, 2014):
  • Fixes bug affecting inner array types of new[] expressions in the AST path-based insertion logic.
  • Fixes JAIF generation bugs involving insert-annotation and insert typecast within methods and fields.
• Version 3.6.5 (released June 2, 2014):
  • Generates extends bounds when necessary for annotation insertion.
  • Fixes assorted bugs in the AST path-based insertion logic.
• Version 3.6.4 (released May 1, 2014):
  • Expands AST path support to cover every AST node within a class declaration.
  • Abbreviates enum tags for annotations if --abbreviate is selected.
  • Generates explicit default constructors when necessary for annotation insertion.
• Version 3.6.3 (released Apr 2, 2014):
  • Eliminates insert-annotation problems with handling Java 8 class files.
  • Corrects annotation placement within a qualified type name.
  • Fills in gaps in AST Path API. All (Java 7) non-declaration nodes can now be identified by a path from an enclosing declaration.
  • Expands scene-lib API with visitor framework and new class APIIndex, which provides a cache that maps Java abstract syntax tree nodes to AST paths as defined in the annotation file format specification.
• Version 3.6.2 (released Mar 5, 2014):
  • Expands scene-lib API with visitor framework and new class APIIndex, which provides a cache that maps Java abstract syntax tree nodes to AST paths as defined in the annotation file format specification.
• Version 3.6.1 (released Feb 19, 2014):
  • Adds missing cases for AST path-based annotation/cast insertion.
• Version 3.5.9 (released Jan 2, 2014):
  • Fixes assorted minor bugs.
• Version 3.5.8 (released Dec 9, 2013):
  • Creates output directory in current working directory (by default), rather than relative to input pathname.
  • Recognizes "instanceinit" keyword in JAIF for adding annotations inside instance initializers.
  • Corrects syntax of results of inserting annotations on bare array literals.
  • More fully treats enum, interface, and annotation declarations in accordance with the rules for class declarations.
• Version 3.5.7 (released Nov 15, 2013):
  • Handles type paths with INNER_TYPE.
  • Disallows annotations on generic array type bounds and on wildcard bounds in "instanceof" expressions, since Java 8 prohibits type bounds in those locations.
  • Vastly improves performance when index file covers numerous source files, by filtering out irrelevant insertions at an earlier stage.
  • Avoids stack overflow during regex matching.
• Version 3.5.6 (released Oct 23, 2013):
  • Adds "insert-annotation" to JAIF format, allowing the use of AST paths to specify source locations for annotation insertion (which previously was possible only for typecast insertions).
  • For consistency with extract-annotations, insert-annotations-to-source now matches generic method types in the source with JAIF specifications for their least upper bounds.
  • Allows annotations on inner type declarations of parameterized types.
  • Avoids spurious code location matches on anonymous inner subclasses of an outer class.
  • Works around Java regex bug that on some input causes an infinite loop in the Matcher.
  • Fixes many other bugs, most involving receiver insertions.
  • No longer aborts on (non-fatal) warnings found during the javac type-checking phase of insert-annotations-to-source.
• Version 3.5.5 (released Aug 28, 2013):
  • Allows annotation insertion at constructor "return type" as per the specification.
  • Fixes assorted bugs dealing with type qualification, inner classes, and receiver insertion.
• Version 3.5.4 (released Aug 1, 2013):
  • Allow the use of command-line argument files. Argument file rules are identical to those of javac.
  • The Annotation File Utilities now appropriately handles vararg parameters.
  • Minor documentation improvements.
• Version 3.5.3 (released May 1, 2013):
  • Don't depend on bootstrap javac files.
  • Other minor improvements.
• Version 3.5.2 (released April 4, 2013):
  • Allow annotations on compound types of a cast insertion.
  • Added --print_error_stack command-line option to insert-annotations-to-source tool to print a stack trace on an error.
  • Various bug fixes.
  • Improvements to the Annotation File Format manual.
    • Clarified "Grammar" section by reordering and adding more details.
    • Added "Design and Implementation Details" section.
• Version 3.5.1 (released March 1, 2013):
  • Small improvements to error messages when parsing JAIF files and for illegal source code insertions.
  • Installation instruction and manual improvements.
  • Better handling of source code insertions in anonymous and local classes.
    • Allow source code insertions in a local class (a class defined within a method).
    • Bug fixes for anonymous and local class indexes.
    • Don't traverse into nested classes when calculating a source code index.
  • Improved support for source code method declaration receiver parameter insertions.
    • Use the full type name (Outer.Inner1.Inner2) for receiver insertions in inner classes.
    • Allow annotation insertions on compound types of method declaration receiver parameters.
  • Insert source code annotations in the semantically correct place for qualified types.
  • For bytecode annotation extraction and insertion read and put "local" type annotations in the Code attribute, not the Method attribute.
• Version 3.5 (released February 1, 2013):
  • Updated to JSR308 bytecode representation and receiver parameter syntax.
  • Support source code insertion of annotated casts.
  • Support adding annotations to bytecode for type casts with intersection types.
• Version 3.4 (released September 11, 2012):
  • Adapted to underlying changes in JSR 308.
  • Support .class literals as annotation attributes.
• Version 3.3 (released September 20, 2011):
  • Improved support for annotations on array creation expressions.
  • Small tweaks to the code and documentation.
• Version 3.2 (released June 18, 2011):
  • Support source code indexes, in contrast to the bytecode centric indexes supported so far, which makes it easier for source code centric tools to emit AFU files. See Section "Support for source code indexes" in the manual.
  • Support annotating the bounds of class and method type parameters and of wildcards, in particular also support implicit bounds and make them explicit. Also support adding declaration annotations on type parameters.
  • Better support for anonymous inner classes.
  • Improve handling of already existing annotations, in particular for generic types.
  • Consistently do matching on methods using the erased signature.
  • Specify annotations on extends and implements clauses.
  • Handle interfaces, enums, etc. like classes.
  • Numerous small bug fixes and improvements.
• Version 3.1 (released September 18, 2010):
  • Don't duplicate annotations that are in the source already.
  • Add --omit-annotation option to omit a given annotation (example: @ThisMutable, which is the default and need not be inserted in source files).
  • Bug fixes related to inner classes, array levels, multiple methods with same signature but different return type (impossible in Java code, but can occur in class files), parameter indices.
  • Switch from utilMDE library to plume-lib.
• Version 3.0 (released December 21, 2009):
  • Handle meta-annotations. Previously, the Annotation File Utilities didn't handle meta-annotations (annotations that are written on an annotation type declaration); in fact, AFU simply fabricated retention information. Now, meta-annotations are handled uniformly with other annotations.
  • Distinguish type annotations from declaration annotations. Previously, AFU assumed that all annotations were type annotations. Now, this information is looked up from the meta-annotations and is distinguished in the file format (see below).
  • Read annotations from classfiles. Previously, AFU created partial information for annotations in an ad hoc way, and classfile reading did not work. (The focus was on inserting annotations in class files, not reading annotations from class files.) Now, classfile reading is operational, and it is often not necessary to declare annotations in an annotation file. However, if the annotation is declared in the annotation file, it should be consistent with its declaration in the class file.
  • Changes to annotation file format.
    • Indicating meta-annotations

        annotation visible @Nullable:

      becomes

        annotation @Nullable: @Retention(value=RUNTIME)

      and if it's a type annotation, it should be

        annotation @Nullable: @Retention(value=RUNTIME) @java.lang.annotation.Target(value={TYPE_USE})

    • Locations for type and declaration annotations. If p2.B is a declaration annotation on a method, it is written as before:

        method foo(Ljava/util/Set;)V: @p2.B

      If p2.B is a type annotation on a method return type, it is written in a new location:

        method foo(Ljava/util/Set;)V:
          return: @p2.B

      Fields and method parameters are treated similarly, but with type marker instead of return. So if p2.A is a declaration annotation targeting the field, while p2.B is a type annotation on the field, the field would be declared as:

       field s: @p2.A
         type: @p2.B

      Furthermore, inner-type: is permitted only after a keyword that introduces a type, such as type, return, and receiver, to prevent confusion (though the file format becomes slightly more verbose).
    • Permit qualified names in several places that only identifiers were permitted before. This enables use of names that contain periods, such as inner classes, and also fully-qualified names.
    • Permit two shorthands in annotation uses, as in Java. If there is a single field named "value", then its name may be omitted: @A(1) instead of @A(value=1). If an array has only one element, the braces may be omitted: @B(value=1) instead of @B(value={1}). Both shorthands may be combined: @B(1) instead of @B(value={1}).
• Version 2.3.3 (released August 18, 2009):
  • Fix a few bugs.
• Version 2.3.2 (released August 14, 2009):
  • Relax file format: receiver may precede parameters (in spec & implementation), parameters may omit "#" (in implementation only)
• Version 2.3.1 (released August 12, 2009):
  • Fix many bugs.
• Version 2.3 (released July 29, 2009):
  • Support -i --in-place argument.
  • Fix incorrect array brackets in tests.
  • Fix inserting annotations on receivers.
  • Improve documentation.
  • Improve error handling.
• Version 2.2 (released December 7, 2008):
  • Permit Main to process multiple files at a time.
  • Don't re-insert annotations that are already present.
  • Add a space before annotation if there isn't one there.
  • Fix problems with array syntax; now adheres to the current JSR 308 syntax.
  • Improve error handling.
  • Code reorganization: remove subdirectories and classes that added complexity without commensurate functionality.
• Version 2.1.2 (released April 28, 2008): Minor updates to the “Annotation File Format Specification” (PDF, HTML).
• Version 2.1.1 (released May 31, 2007): Added support for two new annotation target_types; consult the classfile specification (PDF, HTML).
• Version 2.1 (released May 4, 2007): Modified overall setup of distribution to be easier to understand.
• Version 2.0 (released May 1, 2007): Initial public release.
• Version 1.0 (released March 19, 2007): Preliminary release. The insert-to-annotations-source tool only operates on class, field and method signatures.

The original developer (through version 2.1.2) was Jaime Quinonez.