antlr / antlr/antlr4-tools

The version of the java executable should actually be checked

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#3 11 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement
Dominant language
Python
Stars
118
Forks
30
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

* [This code](https://github.com/antlr/antlr4-tools/blob/8d076f435728a56ffce18e972061d961a8ff14cf/antlr4_tool_runner.py#L91) "tests" the version of java, but it's false, so it never gets checked.
* Over [here in Antlr4BuildTasks](https://github.com/kaby76/Antlr4BuildTasks/issues/41), I don't check the version of java, but I need to because some versions of java don't work, e.g., version 7. Even a quick "java --version" would have found that v7 of java doesn't work because there's no "--version" option.
* The Antlr tool jar has a minimum requirement of version 11 or newer.
* The "Quick Start" instructions over on [antlr.org](https://www.antlr.org/) should stop defining the alias "alias antlr4='java -jar /usr/local/lib/antlr-4.10.1-complete.jar'" and just point to set up the tools from this repo. The tool here is much better because it could check the version of java, and download a version that can work if one tries to use the wrong version.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

Start with antlr4_tool_runner.py at the version-checking code linked in the issue, then review the related Antlr4BuildTasks issue and the Quick Start instructions on antlr.org. Done should include an effective Java-version check, handling the stated minimum requirement, and updated Quick Start guidance pointing users to this repository's tools.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java, python
Domain
cli, documentation, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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