[XMLBEANS-347] XmlComplexContentImpl.equal_to() fails to throw exception when unable to return correct value

• Type: Bug
• Status: Open
• Priority: Critical
• Resolution: Unresolved
• Affects Version/s: Version 2.3
• Environment: n/a
• Assignee: Jacob Danner
• Reporter: Charles Butterfield
• Created: 07/Nov/07 02:02
• Updated: 08/Nov/07 05:48

Description

I was recently horrified to discover that valueEquals() fails silently for complex types. For complex types the comparison is delegated to XmlComplexContentImpl.equal_to() which simply returns "true" with the comment "BUGBUG: by-value structure comparison undone".

Clearly the method should throw an exception to alert users to the issue, as do various neighboring methods.

I first ran into this problem (today) while using an old xbean.jar (built in early 2004). I then checked the 2.3.0 source and the bug still exists. So its been there unchanged since version 1.0.4 at least.

Hopefully adding the exception is a no-brainer. Perhaps a working implementation could follow.