Summary

Change the specification of java.io.File to make explicit that a File with an empty abstract pathname is equivalent to a File with the pathname of the current user directory (".").

Problem

For the empty abstract pathname "", if a File is created as File f = new File(""), then many methods of File do not exhibit the behavior that would be expected or would be the equivalent of that of the corresponding methods of java.nio.file.Path, java.nio.file.Files, and java.nio.file.FileStore, where such equivalents exist.

Solution

Add a sentence to the documentation of java.io.File clarifying the behavior for the empty abstract pathname, and change the relevant methods' behaviors to match.

Specification

--- a/src/java.base/share/classes/java/io/File.java
+++ b/src/java.base/share/classes/java/io/File.java
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@
  * case of Microsoft Windows UNC pathnames, a hostname.  Each subsequent name
  * in an abstract pathname denotes a directory; the last name may denote
  * either a directory or a file.  The <em>empty</em> abstract pathname has no
- * prefix and an empty name sequence.
+ * prefix and an empty name sequence.  Accessing a file with the empty abstract
+ * pathname is equivalent to accessing the current user directory.
  *
  * <p> The conversion of a pathname string to or from an abstract pathname is
  * inherently system-dependent.  When an abstract pathname is converted into a