Feature Request: Support the use of jetbrains "external annotations" annotation.xml format for stubbing.

[sir-maniac]

ItelliJ Idea keeps track of external annotations using a simple xml format and directory tree.

The documentation can be found here .

Examples of the format can be found here in the intellij community source code

For example, to stub java.lang.String:
File: java/lang/annotations.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
  <item name="java.lang.String java.lang.String intern()">
    <annotation name="org.checkerframework.checker.interning.qual.Interned" />
  </item>
</root>

The xml format is simple so it should be easy to implement.

This would make it easier to work with the Check Framework for IntelliJ users, as they can easily add the information through the IDE and pass the information to the checker. It is also easy to share with others, and can be distributed like a source jar.

This is likely more performant than stubs as well.

EDIT: wrong link to intellij repository

[mernst]

That's a cool idea. We would gladly accept a pull request. I wish that the format was actually documented...

[sir-maniac]

Probably the best 'document' would be the unit tests. A cursory search shows just one main test class.

Most of the action seems to be handled in ExternalAnnotationsManager(and subclasses).

I won't promise, but I'll spend a little time and see what I can do myself.