JDK26 behaves diffently than JDK25 - "There were problems parsing"

[koppor]

What problem are you trying to solve?

Use OpenRewrite on JDK 26

Easy bug reporting to OpenRewrite and frictionless tool use.

Since years, dozens of files are not parseable by OpenRewrite on Windows.

Describe the solution you'd like

OpenRewrite can parse all Java files.

Have you considered any alternatives or workarounds?

Discuss java parsers with OpenRewrite team. java parser is maintained, but the current parsing logic is too heavy woven into a parser developed in parallel to javaparser.

Additional context

There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\autocompleter\AutoCompletionTextInputBinding.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\cleanup\CleanupJournalRelatedPanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\collab\DatabaseChangeMonitor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\commonfxcontrols\CitationKeyPatternsPanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\commonfxcontrols\CitationKeyPatternSuggestionCell.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\commonfxcontrols\FieldFormatterCleanupsPanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\commonfxcontrols\SaveOrderConfigPanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\consistency\ConsistencyCheckAction.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\consistency\ConsistencyCheckDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\consistency\ConsistencyCheckDialogViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\documentviewer\DocumentViewerView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\documentviewer\DocumentViewerViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\edit\automaticfiededitor\copyormovecontent\CopyOrMoveFieldContentTabView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\edit\automaticfiededitor\editfieldcontent\EditFieldContentTabView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\edit\automaticfiededitor\renamefield\RenameFieldTabView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\entryeditor\citationrelationtab\CitationRelationsTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\entryeditor\EntryEditor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\entryeditor\fileannotationtab\FulltextSearchResultsTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\entryeditor\SourceTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\exporter\ExportCommand.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\externalfiles\FileSelectionPage.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\externalfiles\UnlinkedFilesCellFactory.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\fieldeditors\DateEditor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\fieldeditors\KeywordsEditor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\fieldeditors\LinkedFilesEditor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\fieldeditors\LinkedFilesEditorViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\fieldeditors\TagsEditor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\frame\JabRefFrame.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\frame\JabRefFrameViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\FXDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\git\GitCommitDialogViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\git\GitShareToGitHubDialogViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\git\GitStatusViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\groups\GroupDialogViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\groups\GroupNodeViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\help\NewVersionDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\importer\ImportEntriesDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\JabRefDialogService.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\JabRefGUI.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\libraryproperties\constants\ConstantsPropertiesView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\libraryproperties\general\GeneralPropertiesView.jav
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\LibraryTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\maintable\BibEntryTableViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\maintable\columns\FileColumn.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\maintable\MainTable.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\maintable\MainTableTooltip.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\mergeentries\MergeEntriesHelper.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\mergeentries\multiwaymerge\MultiMergeEntriesView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\newentry\NewEntryView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\newentry\NewEntryViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\Notifications.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\openoffice\OpenOfficePanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\openoffice\StyleSelectDialogView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\ai\AiTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\ai\AiTabViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\autocompletion\AutoCompletionTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\customentrytypes\CustomEntryTypesTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\entry\EntryTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\general\GeneralTabViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\JabRefGuiPreferences.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\journals\JournalAbbreviationsTabViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\linkedfiles\LinkedFilesTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\PreferencesDialogView.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\preview\PreviewTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\preview\PreviewTabViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\websearch\ApiKeyDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\websearch\WebSearchTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preferences\websearch\WebSearchTabViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preview\PreviewPanel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\preview\PreviewViewer.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\search\GlobalSearchBar.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\specialfields\SpecialFieldAction.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\theme\ThemeManager.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\BaseDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\component\HelpButton.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\DelayedExecution.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\FieldsUtil.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\FileFilterConverter.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\MarkdownTextFlow.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\RecursiveChildrenListener.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\SelectableTextFlow.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\util\UiTaskExecutor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\declarative\sideeffect\SideEffectExecutor.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\declarative\Trigger.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\effects\BaseWindowEffect.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\effects\Ping.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\effects\Spotlight.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\utils\WalkthroughReverter.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\utils\WalkthroughScroller.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\utils\WalkthroughUtils.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\WalkthroughAction.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\WalkthroughHighlighter.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\WalkthroughRenderer.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\walkthrough\WindowOverlay.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\components\DonationProvider.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\components\PushToApplicationCell.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\components\Walkthroughs.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\quicksettings\OnlineServicesDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\quicksettings\PushApplicationDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\quicksettings\ThemeDialog.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\quicksettings\viewmodel\PushApplicationDialogViewModel.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\gui\welcome\WelcomeTab.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\main\java\org\jabref\migrations\PreferencesMigrations.java
There were problems parsing jabgui\src\test\java\org\jabref\gui\ai\components\aichat\AiChatComponentTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\ai\chatting\model\JabRefChatLanguageModel.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\ai\ingestion\LowLevelIngestor.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\ai\ingestion\model\JabRefEmbeddingModel.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\ai\summarization\GenerateSummaryForSeveralTask.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\ai\summarization\SummariesService.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\citation\SearchCitationsRelationsService.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\cleanup\DoiCleanup.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\cleanup\EprintCleanup.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\cleanup\FieldFormatterCleanupMapper.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\exporter\EndnoteXmlExporter.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\exporter\GroupSerializer.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\git\io\GitFileWriter.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\importer\fileformat\BibtexParser.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\importer\fileformat\ModsImporter.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\importer\fileformat\RisImporter.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\importer\WebFetchers.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\journals\ltwa\LtwaRepository.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\journals\ltwa\PrefixTree.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\openoffice\oocsltext\CSLReferenceMarkManager.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\preferences\JabRefCliPreferences.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\quality\consistency\BibliographyConsistencyCheck.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\search\indexing\DefaultLinkedFilesIndexer.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\logic\search\IndexManager.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\main\java\org\jabref\model\database\BibDatabase.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\citation\SearchCitationsRelationsServiceTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\crawler\StudyRepositoryTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\icore\ConferenceRepositoryTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\quality\consistency\BibliographyConsistencyCheckResultCsvWriterTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\quality\consistency\BibliographyConsistencyCheckResultTxtWriterTest.java
There were problems parsing jablib\src\test\java\org\jabref\logic\quality\consistency\BibliographyConsistencyCheckTest.java
There were problems parsing jabls\src\main\java\org\jabref\languageserver\LspLauncher.java
There were problems parsing jabls\src\main\java\org\jabref\languageserver\util\LspConsistencyCheck.java
There were problems parsing jabsrv\src\main\java\org\jabref\http\server\cayw\gui\CitationPropertiesPopup.java
There were problems parsing jabsrv\src\main\java\org\jabref\http\server\cayw\gui\SearchField.java

Are you interested in contributing this feature to OpenRewrite?

If I only had time...

[timtebeek]

Hi! We have a recipe to analyze these parse failures; could that help you here? I'd be interested to see what failures you see there: https://docs.openrewrite.org/recipes/core/findparsefailures

[timtebeek]

I ran org.openrewrite.FindParseFailures against JabRef/jabref@b8663fe (main) using OpenRewrite rewrite-core 8.82.0-SNAPSHOT (parsed with ReloadableJava25Parser).

Headline: 5 parse failures out of 4050 source files — a substantial improvement over the ~140-file list in the issue (which was generated against the JabRef Gradle plugin pinned to OpenRewrite 7.32.1 / rewrite-recipe-bom 3.30.0). Most of the originally-listed files now parse cleanly with a current rewrite version.

The remaining 5 failures fall into 4 categories:

1. Java — JEP 467 markdown doc comments (///) not print-idempotent — 1 file

• jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/search/query/SearchToSqlVisitor.java

Two consecutive /// markdown javadoc blocks are being merged/corrupted by the printer:

-/// Converts to a query processable by the scheme created by [org.jabref.logic.search.indexing.BibFieldsIndexer].
-
+/// Tests ar e  l ocate d in `org.j ab ref .logic .search .q uery.SearchQuerySQLConversionTest`BibFieldsIndexer].
 /// Tests are located in `org.jabref.logic.search.query.SearchQuerySQLConversionTest`

Looks like the markdown-comment handling in ReloadableJava25Parser is interleaving characters from adjacent /// blocks. Worth a targeted bug for the Java 25 parser.

2. Java — varargs / else-if chain corrupted (cause unclear) — 1 file

• jabgui/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/specialfields/SpecialFieldAction.java

-        } else if (!field.isSingleValueField() && (params.length == 2)) {
+        } else if (!field.isSingleValueField() && (params.length == 2){) {
             // setting a multi value special field - the set value is displayed, too
             return Localization.lang("Set '%0' to '%1' for %2 entries", ...);
-        } else if (!field.isSingleValueField() && (params.length == 1)) {
-            // clearing a multi value specialfield
-            ...
-        } else { ... }
-    }
 }

The method has a few unusual things stacked: // @formatter:off / // @formatter:on directives wrapping the signature, a type-annotated varargs (String @NonNull... params), and a chained else if after that signature. The printer drops trailing branches and mangles == parentheses. Probably an interaction between the type-annotated varargs declaration and the formatter-comment directive.

3. XML — & and entity references dropped on print — 2 files

• jablib/src/test/resources/org/jabref/logic/importer/fileformat/MarcXmlParserTestSummaryAndKeywords.xml

-        <subfield code="b">McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers</subfield>
+        <subfield code="b">McFarland  Company, Inc., Publishers</subfield>

The bare & (not &) is technically invalid XML, but the parser silently strips it instead of preserving it round-trip.

• jablib/src/test/resources/org/jabref/logic/importer/fileformat/MarcXmlParserTestArticle.xml

-</zs:searchRetrieveResponse
+</zs:searchRetrieveResponse>
\ No newline at end of file

File ends with an unterminated end-tag (no closing >). The parser auto-closes it, breaking idempotency. Both are intentionally malformed test fixtures, so the right fix is probably to make XmlParser round-trip preserve the malformed input rather than try to repair it.

4. XML — IndexOutOfBoundsException on malformed input — 1 file

• jablib/src/test/resources/org/jabref/logic/importer/fileformat/MedlineImporterTestMalformedEntry.xml

java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException
  at java.base/java.lang.Character.offsetByCodePoints(Character.java:10031)
  at org.openrewrite.xml.internal.XmlParserVisitor.advanceCursor(XmlParserVisitor.java:478)
  at org.openrewrite.xml.internal.XmlParserVisitor.lambda$visitElement$21(XmlParserVisitor.java:348)
  ...

This one is a genuine crash in XmlParserVisitor.advanceCursor rather than a graceful parse failure with PlainText fallback. The file is a deliberately malformed test fixture for the Medline importer — but the parser should handle it without throwing.

Suggested follow-ups

1. rewrite-java: file an issue for /// markdown doc comment idempotency in ReloadableJava25Parser (cat. 1).
2. rewrite-java: investigate the @formatter:off + type-annotated varargs interaction (cat. 2).
3. rewrite-xml: preserve malformed & and unterminated end-tags through the printer round-trip, or fall back to PlainText (cat. 3 + 4).
4. rewrite-xml: harden XmlParserVisitor.advanceCursor against malformed input rather than throwing IndexOutOfBoundsException (cat. 4).
5. JabRef itself: bumping org.openrewrite.recipe:rewrite-recipe-bom past 3.30.0 should already resolve the vast majority of the originally-reported parse failures.

Run details: 4050 files parsed in ~62s, recipe applied in ~8s, 0 search markers from the recipe other than the parse-failure data table itself.

[timtebeek]

Here's PR's exploring fixes:

• Fix Java parser for annotated varargs by adding marker on J.ArrayType, as opposed to field on J.VariableDeclarations #6098
• XML: harden parser against malformed input crashes #7555
• Java 25 parser: don't merge /// blocks across blank lines #7556

[timtebeek]

Quick follow-up on why the failure list shrank from ~140 to 5 — and which PRs got you there, in case it's useful for the JabRef bump:

The dominant cause: /// markdown Javadoc (JEP 467)

Spot-checking 25 representative files from the original list, 18 of 25 (~72%) contain /// markdown doc comments. That single feature explains roughly 100 of the ~140 files on the list.

The "big bang" fix

PR	Commit	Date	What it did
openrewrite/rewrite#7087	c5af3e81a	2026-03-22	Add support for Java 23+ triple-slash markdown Javadoc (///). Parses them into Javadoc.DocComment AST nodes instead of failing.

Markdown-Javadoc follow-ups that mopped up the rest

PR	What it fixed
#7464	Print idempotency for Javadoc <pre><code> blocks on Java 25
#7500	Preserve multi-line HTML comments inside Javadoc block tags
#7394	Preserve Unicode escapes in Javadoc HTML element/attribute names
#7257	Javadoc @see field reference resolution
#7556	Don't merge /// blocks across blank lines (the cat. 1 case from my previous comment)

Other Java-parser fixes since 3.30.0 that likely helped

PR	What it fixed
#7484	Parsing of methods with array varargs
#7289	Type-use annotations on qualified types in array declarations
#6861	Print idempotency for annotated array-type casts
#7138	Extra semicolons after imports
#7043	EnumValueSets with leading space
#5535	Invalid Javadoc references handled gracefully in parser/printer
#6098	Type-annotated varargs (String @NonNull...) — covers the cat. 2 case from my previous comment, currently in review

[koppor]

I just saw - OpenRewrite behaves different on Ubuntu-24.04 (used at the CI) and "git bash" on Windows.

On Linux, we only have two files:

There were problems parsing jabgui/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/specialfields/SpecialFieldAction.java
There were problems parsing jablib/src/main/java/org/jabref/logic/search/query/SearchToSqlVisitor.java