FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.6.0_01"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_01-b06)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.6.0_01-b06, mixed mode, sharing)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Compiler error when compiling a class alone that depends on another class, which has already been compiled and has a dependency on a class from persistence-api.jar

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Execute the following batch file:

cls
del *.class
rem set javac="C:\bea\jdk150_06\bin\javac"
set javac="C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_01\bin\javac"
set jpa=C:\soft\javalib\maven2\local-repository\javax\persistence\persistence-api\1.0\persistence-api-1.0.jar
set classpath=%jpa%
%javac% AccountingContextEty.java
set classpath=.
%javac% CompletionFailureTest.java

The problem occurs as well with java5, but not one the same class:

C:\tmp\CompletionFailure>"C:\bea\jdk150_06\bin\javac" CompletionFailureTest.java
An exception has occurred in the compiler (1.5.0_06). Please file a bug at the Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/webapp
com.sun.tools.javac.code.Symbol$CompletionFailure: file javax\persistence\Temporal.class not found

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
correct compilation without any warning or errors
ACTUAL -
.\AccountingContextEty.class: warning: Cannot find annotation method 'value()' in type 'javax.persistence.Temporal': class file for javax.persistence.Temporal not found
An exception has occurred in the compiler (1.6.0_01). Please file a bug at the Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport) after checking the Bug Parade for duplicates. Include your program and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
com.sun.tools.javac.code.Symbol$CompletionFailure: class file for javax.persistence.TemporalType not found


ERROR MESSAGES/STACK TRACES THAT OCCUR :
see actual results

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import javax.persistence.Table;

import java.util.Date;

import javax.persistence.Temporal;
import javax.persistence.TemporalType;

public class AccountingContextEty {
    @Temporal(TemporalType.DATE)
    private Date currentAccountingDate;
}

---------------------------------------------------------

public class CompletionFailureTest {
AccountingContextEty ety;
}

---------- END SOURCE ----------
Here is the easily reproducible test case.
% cat genbug
#!/bin/bash

if [ "x$1" != "x" ]; then
  export JAVA_HOME=$1
fi

Ejava() {
(
  printf "public enum E {NORTH,SOUTH,EAST,WEST}\n"
) > E.java
}

Ijava() {
(
  printf "import java.lang.annotation.*;\n"
  printf "@Target(ElementType.FIELD)\n"
  printf "@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)\n"
  printf " public @interface I {E value();\n"
  printf "}\n"
) > I.java
}

Cjava() {
(
  printf "public class C {\n"
  printf " @I(E.NORTH) public String s;\n"
  printf "}\n"
) > C.java
}

Djava() {
(
  printf "public class D {C c;}\n"
) > D.java
}

rm -f *.java *.class
Ejava
Ijava
Cjava
Djava

$JAVA_HOME/bin/javac -version
$JAVA_HOME/bin/javac E.java I.java C.java
rm E.java E.class
$JAVA_HOME/bin/javac D.java

% ./genbug /usr/jdk/instances/jdk1.6.0
javac 1.6.0_07
An exception has occurred in the compiler (1.6.0_07). Please file a bug at the Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport) after checking the Bug Parade for duplicates. Include your program and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
com.sun.tools.javac.code.Symbol$CompletionFailure: class file for E not found
Reported while trying to use annotations in NetBeans development:

http://www.netbeans.org/nonav/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=152562


Simple test case, a bit different from those shown already:


package a;
public @interface A {
    E e();
    enum E {V1, V2}
}

package b;
@a.A(e=a.A.E.V1)
public @interface B {}

package c;
@b.B
public class C {}


Compile B.java against A.class, and C.java against B.class but not A.class. The compiler reports:

/tmp/test152562/b/dist/b.jar(b/B.class): warning: Cannot find annotation method 'e()' in type 'a.A': class file for a.A not found
An exception has occurred in the compiler (1.6.0_10). Please file a bug at the Java Developer Connection (http://java.sun.com/webapps/bugreport) after checking the Bug Parade for duplicates. Include your program and the following diagnostic in your report. Thank you.
com.sun.tools.javac.code.Symbol$CompletionFailure: class file for a.A$E not found

Clearly the compiler should not crash, but I also think it should not treat this as an error in user code. See bug #6365854 for justification:

"There doesn't seem to be any problems allowing the program to compile without the annotations. After the fix, the compiler will accept the program but issue a warning. The rationale is that the missing annotation can cause problems when running the program."

This case seems very similar. The @A annotation in B.class cannot be resolved, but that should not prevent C.java from being compiled. The only difference here is that an enum in that annotation also cannot be resolved.
I should add that it would be better for javac to not even issue a warning in case the intermediate annotation (B in my last example) has only CLASS retention: there is no danger of the compiled class (here, C) failing to link at runtime. A warning would be appropriate in case B had RUNTIME retention.