On 19/07/2019 15:58, Brian Burkhalter wrote:
Given the compatibility issues it might be best to modify the
specifications of the Filter*Stream subclass constructors to allow a
null underlying stream parameter, thereby overriding the package level
javadoc. IOTW align the spec with longstanding behavior.
I think it will need a detailed examination to see how each one behaves
when the input stream is null. As the field is protected it means that
sub-classes can change its value at any time, maybe because they want to
set it lazily or maybe they want to set it to null when the stream is
closed. For classes such as DIS/DOS then it probably means NPE in many
operations when the stream is null. Other classes (suchas BIS and BOS)
will interpret it as the closed stream. So it will need a detailed
analysis but more than likely you will not be able to change long
standing behavior because it will break existing code.
-Alan
