Java Developers Kit Feature Request List

The feature requests are divided into the following categories:

Applet Viewer
Compiler
Java Language
Class Libraries

You might also want to look at the list of known bugs for Java and the Java Developers Kit and the changes since the last release. You may also want to review the list of frequently requested features in the Java and HotJava Alpha 3 release.

To report a feature request that is not on this list, please see Submit a Bug Report instructions.

NOTE:The Java Development team has not necessarily committed to implementing any feature request in this list. Feature requests have been included in this list because:

The specific feature request seems like a bug, but really isn't.
The specific feature has been requested by multiple customers.
We thought you'd want to know about it.

Applet Viewer

No log file

Unlike HotJava, the Applet Viewer does not automatically create a log file. This information is written to the command line where the Applet Viewer was started. (1231215)

Cannot find applet when it is not in the current directory (Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 95)

The AppletViewer takes a correctly formed URL for the applet location. It will accept either a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http:) or local file (file:) URL. The file URL routines will accept either a full or partial URL, however these routines will not accept a "\" character for path separator. So if you want to load an applet from another local directory use the "/" character for a separator. For example if you start the AppletViewer in the java/demo directory, you could load the ArcTest demo with the following command:

appletviewer ArcTest/example1.html

(1225400)

Compiler

Compiler to list class files generated from each java source code file: Request for the javac compiler to list all the class files generated from each java source code file compiled. (1229690)

Java Language

Support for accessing static data in native methods

Request to support accessing class static date in native methods. (1227239)

Support for overloaded native methods

Request to support overloaded native methods. (1228374)

Support for constructors only calling methods in that class or in super classes.

Currently all methods not declared final can be overridden, virtual in C++ terminology. So a method call in a constructor would call the derived class version of that method, not the base class method of the same name. In the code example below, the method DerivedClass.init() is called in two places: SuperClass constructor and DerivedClass constructor.
The requested behavior is to follow the C++ convention where method calls in a constructor are resolved by using the method in the constructor's class or base class. So the desired behavior is for the call to init() in SuperClass() would resolve to SuperClass.init(), not DerivedClass.init().

class SuperClass 
{
   SuperClass()   
   {
      System.out.println("In SuperClass constructor");
=>    init();
   }
   
   void init()    
   { 
      System.out.println("In SuperClass::init()"); 
   }
}

class DerivedClass extends SuperClass 
{
   DerivedClass() 
   {
      System.out.println("In DerivedClass constructor");
=>    init();
   }
   
   void init()    
   { 
      System.out.println("In DerivedClass::init()");
   }
   
   public static void main(String argv[]) 
   {
      SuperClass sc = new DerivedClass();
   }
}

(1239318)

Class Libraries

Support for ordering objects: Request support for lessThan() and/or greaterThan() methods to allow ordering of objects. (1230847)

Abstract Window Toolkit (java.awt)

Cannot delete items from Choice
Request to be able to delete items from a Choice control. (1233822)
Support for platform specific controls or widgets
Request to support platform specific controls or widgets such as Microsoft Windows tab controls, or Property sheets. (1226662)
I/O Package (java.io)

Request for temporary file facility
Map operating system temporary file functions into a generic temporary file capability in Java. (1233026)
Language Package (java.lang)
Request method to convert String to boolean
Class Boolean should have a static method to convert a from a String to the primitive data type boolean. (1234529)
Request for methods to convert String to float or double
Classes Float and Double should have static methods to convert from String to the primitive data types float and double. (1231955)
Numeric string parsing methods should ignore trailing spaces
Request that string parsing methods should ignore trailing spaces. For example, the following should return the value 100:
```
Integer.valueOf("100 ");
```
(1227097)
Request a version of String.trim() that accepts other characters to trim
Request another version of String.trim() that will accept an array of characters to trim from the beginning and end of a string. (1224663)
Net Package (java.net)

FILE URL: support "\" path separator character (Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT)
The file URL handler does not accept "\" character for path separator. If you want to specify a file URL in another directory, use the "/" character for the path separator. (1225400)
Util Package (java.util)

Increase range of valid Date class values
Request to increase the range of valid Date class values from the current range of 1-Jan-1970 to 31-Dec-2037 to a range of at least 1-Jan-0001 to 31-Dec-9999. (1234739)

Last Updated: 21 Feb 1996

Java Developers Kit