Summary

Emit a waring for silent link failures when {@link} or {@linkplain} tags refer to members or types that are not visible under the current Javadoc visibility flag (e.g., a private field when -private is not enabled).

Problem

Authors may write

/**
 * See {@link #privateField} for details.
 */
public void foo() {}

and expect a hyperlink, but if privateField is private (and -private isn't specified), javadoc silently renders plain text with no feedback. Author may also accidentaly link to a private field when they intended to link to a public method.

Solution

If the referenced element cannot be linked, emit a warning to alert users about this issue.

Specification

No specification changes are required.

Specification

The proposed text for the warning is:

 warning: the specified link will not be shown because the referenced element has access-level "-private" (see -private)
         *     {@link <ref>} text.
               ^