[GROOVY-7854] Annotation value cannot be concatenated constant

• Type: Bug
• Status: Closed
• Priority: Major
• Resolution: Fixed
• Affects Version/s: 2.4.6
• Fix Version/s: 3.0.0-alpha-4, 2.5.4
• Component/s: Compiler, Static compilation
• Environment: - OS X ; - Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_66-b17) ; - IntelliJ Idea 14 CE \w Groovy plugin ; - Gradle 2.2
• Assignee: Paul King
• Reporter: Simo Tuokko
• Created: 04/Jun/16 18:41
• Updated: 13/Dec/18 10:04
• Resolved: 05/Nov/18 23:45

Description

Following code as .java class works ok:

UserDAO.java

public abstract class UserDAO {
    public static final String Select_User_join_Addresses_Features_Images =
        "select "+
        "u.*, a.*, f.*, i.* "+
        "from users u "+
        "left outer join addresses a on (u.id = a.user_id) "+
        "left outer join userfeatures f on (u.id = f.user_id) "+
        "left outer join images i on (u.id = i.user_id) ";

    public static final String Select_User_by_id =
            Select_User_join_Addresses_Features_Images + "where u.id = :id";

    public static final String Select_User_by_email =
            Select_User_join_Addresses_Features_Images + "where u.email = lower(:email)";

    @SqlQuery(Select_User_by_id)
    abstract FoldingList<User> findById(@Bind("id") long id);
}

However if I write and compile it as Groovy, I get "Expected 'UserDAO.Select_User_by_id' to be an inline constant of type java.lang.String not a property expression" error from compiler.

Also if works if those constant String are in separate .java class that is accessed from annotation (within a .groovy class), but not if they are in separate .groovy file.

So the difference seems to be that constant strings are not concatenated at compile-time in Groovy, but in Java they are? Is this by design or is it a bug that can be fixed?