Name: dk30142 Date: 10/12/98

NOTE: We have implemented a fix for the main problem;
however this fix requires a separate run of Javadoc
with -private flag. This synopsis of this bug
was changed on April 18, 2000 to indicate completing
the rest of this bug.
.....

The serialized form information given does not
provide enough information to create a fully
compatible set of core classes, as only the
serialized form of public classes is given.

I am writing an implementation of the Collections
classes for a clean room set of class libraries.
The problem lies in methods such as
java.util.Collections.reverseOrder() which return
private inner classes, and then state that their
return value is Serializable. There are a number
of such methods in the Collections class, and
the AbstractList.subList() method is another
(which may not state explicitly that the return
value is serializable, but it certainly ought to
be!)

I don't know whether Collections is the only API
to suffer from this problem, or whether it is
more general. The solution probably requires work
from both the Collections team AND the javadoc
team.

However, it is a major problem for inter-VM RMI
and for JavaBeans. Please spec it, and fast - you
can't afford for this not to make it into the FCS!
(Review ID: 38641)
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