It seems that since Mustang b75 the method javax.lang.model.element.TypeElement.getKind() throws unexpected exception for nonexistent type. Please see example below:

===
import javax.annotation.processing.AbstractProcessor;
import javax.annotation.processing.RoundEnvironment;
import javax.annotation.processing.SupportedAnnotationTypes;
import javax.lang.model.element.TypeElement;
import java.util.Set;

@SupportedAnnotationTypes("*")
public class Test extends AbstractProcessor {
     public boolean process(Set<? extends TypeElement> tes,
        RoundEnvironment renv) {
         System.out.println("kind: " + processingEnv.getElementUtils().
        getTypeElement("nOneXisTenT").getKind());
         return true;
     }
}
===
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F:\projects\jck>Z:\lnk\re\jdk\6.0\latest\binaries\windows-i586\bin\javac.exe -cp classes -processor
Test src/Test.java


An annotation processor threw an uncaught exception.
Consult the following stack trace for details.
com.sun.tools.javac.code.Symbol$CompletionFailure: class file for nOneXisTenT not found

Reproduced on jdk6 b75, windows xp, intel i586
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It seems this behavior contradicts to spec that says
====
TypeElement getTypeElement(String name)
...
     Returns:
         the named type element, or null if it cannot be found
===