NAME:

Java API Compliance Checker (japi-compliance-checker) Check backward compatibility of a Java library API

DESCRIPTION:

Java API Compliance Checker (JAPICC) is a tool for checking backward binary/source compatibility of a Java library API. The tool checks class declarations of old and new versions and analyzes changes that may break compatibility: removed class members, added abstract methods, etc.

Break of the binary compatibility may result in crash or incorrect behavior of existing clients built with an old library version if they run with a new one. Break of the source compatibility may result in recompilation errors with a new library version.

The tool is intended for developers of software libraries and maintainers of operating systems who are interested in ensuring backward compatibility, i.e. allow old clients to run or to be recompiled with newer library versions.

This tool is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU LGPL.

USAGE:

japi-compliance-checker [options]

EXAMPLE (1):

japi-compliance-checker OLD.jar NEW.jar

EXAMPLE (2):

japi-compliance-checker OLD.jmod NEW.jmod

EXAMPLE (3):

japi-compliance-checker -lib NAME -old OLD.xml -new NEW.xml OLD.xml and NEW.xml are XML-descriptors:

<version>

1.0

</version>

<archives>

/path1/to/JAR(s) OR JMOD(s)/ /path2/to/JAR(s) OR JMOD(s)/ ...

</archives>

INFORMATION OPTIONS:

-h|-help

Print this help.

-v|-version

Print version information.

-dumpversion

Print the tool version (2.4) and don't do anything else.

GENERAL OPTIONS:

-l|-library NAME

Library name (without version).

-old|-d1 PATH

Descriptor of the 1st (old) library version. It may be one of the following:

1. Java archive (*.jar or *.jmod) 2. XML-descriptor (VERSION.xml file):

<version>

1.0

</version>

<archives>

/path1/to/JAR(s) OR JMOD(s)/ /path2/to/JAR(s) OR JMOD(s)/

...

</archives>

...

3. API dump generated by -dump option

If you are using *.jar or *.jmod as a descriptor then you should specify version numbers with -v1 and -v2 options too. If version numbers are not specified then the tool will try to detect them automatically.

-new|-d2 PATH

Descriptor of the 2nd (new) library version.

EXTRA OPTIONS:

-client|-app PATH

This option allows to specify the client Java archive that should be checked for portability to the new library version.

-binary|-bin

Show "Binary" compatibility problems only. Generate report to "bin_compat_report.html".

-source|-src

Show "Source" compatibility problems only. Generate report to "src_compat_report.html".

-v1|-version1 NUM

Specify 1st API version outside the descriptor. This option is needed if you have prefered an alternative descriptor type (see -d1 option).

In general case you should specify it in the XML descriptor:

<version>

VERSION

</version>

-v2|-version2 NUM

Specify 2nd library version outside the descriptor.

-vnum NUM

Specify the library version in the generated API dump.

-s|-strict

Treat all API compatibility warnings as problems.

-keep-internal

Do not skip checking of these packages:

*impl* *internal* *examples*

-skip-internal-packages PATTERN

Do not check packages matched by the regular expression.

-skip-internal-types PATTERN

Do not check types (classes and interfaces) matched by the regular expression. It's matched against full qualified type names (e.g. 'org.xyz.Name<T>'). It has to match any part of type name.

-dump|-dump-api PATH

Dump library API to gzipped TXT format file. You can transfer it anywhere and pass instead of the descriptor. Also it may be used for debugging the tool. PATH is the path to the Java archive or XML descriptor of the library.

-check-annotations

Check for changes in annotations like in any other interfaces.

-check-packages PATTERN

Check packages matched by the regular expression. Other packages will not be checked.

-classes-list PATH

This option allows to specify a file with a list of classes that should be checked, other classes will not be checked.

-annotations-list PATH

Specifies a file with a list of annotations. The tool will check only classes annotated by the annotations from the list. Other classes will not be checked.

-skip-annotations-list PATH

Skip checking of classes annotated by the annotations in the list.

-skip-deprecated

Skip analysis of deprecated methods and classes.

-skip-classes PATH

List of classes that should not be checked.

-skip-packages PATH

List of packages that should not be checked.

-non-impl PATH

List of interfaces that should not be implemented by users.

-non-impl-all

All interfaces should not be implemented by users.

-short

Do not list added/removed methods.

-dump-path PATH

Specify a *.dump file path where to generate an API dump. Default:

api_dumps/LIB_NAME/VERSION/API.dump

-report-path PATH

Path to compatibility report. Default:

compat_reports/LIB_NAME/V1_to_V2/compat_report.html

-bin-report-path PATH

Path to "Binary" compatibility report. Default:

compat_reports/LIB_NAME/V1_to_V2/bin_compat_report.html

-src-report-path PATH

Path to "Source" compatibility report. Default:

compat_reports/LIB_NAME/V1_to_V2/src_compat_report.html

-quick

Quick analysis. Disabled:

- analysis of method parameter names - analysis of class field values - analysis of usage of added abstract methods - distinction of deprecated methods and classes

-sort

Enable sorting of data in API dumps.

-show-access

Show access level of non-public methods listed in the report.

-hide-templates

Hide template parameters in the report.

-hide-packages

-minimal

Do nothing.

-show-packages

Show package names in the report.

-limit-affected LIMIT

The maximum number of affected methods listed under the description of the changed type in the report.

-compact

Try to simplify formatting and reduce size of the report (for a big set of changes).

-added-annotations

Apply filters by annotations only to new version of the library.

-removed-annotations

Apply filters by annotations only to old version of the library.

-count-methods PATH

Count total public methods in the API dump.

-dep1 PATH

-dep2 PATH

Path to the API dump of the required dependency archive. It will be used to resolve overwritten methods and more.

-old-style

Generate old-style report.

OTHER OPTIONS:

-test

Run internal tests. Create two incompatible versions of a sample library and run the tool to check them for compatibility. This option allows to check if the tool works correctly in the current environment.

-debug

Debugging mode. Print debug info on the screen. Save intermediate analysis stages in the debug directory:

debug/LIB_NAME/VER/

Also consider using -dump option for debugging the tool.

-title NAME

Change library name in the report title to NAME. By default will be displayed a name specified by -l option.

-jdk-path PATH

Path to the JDK install tree (e.g. /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64).

-external-css PATH

Generate CSS styles file to PATH. This helps to save space when generating thousands of reports.

-external-js PATH

Generate JS script file to PATH.

REPORT:

Compatibility report will be generated to:

compat_reports/LIB_NAME/V1_to_V2/compat_report.html

EXIT CODES:

0 - Compatible. The tool has run without any errors. non-zero - Incompatible or the tool has run with errors.

MORE INFO:

https://lvc.github.io/japi-compliance-checker/ https://github.com/lvc/japi-compliance-checker