[aspectj-dev] if (false) pointcut and the empty set

[Macneil Shonle <mshonle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

This is a minor feature request, but something I'd like to see. Sometimes
I want to disable a pointcut in my development (essentially commenting it
out). I used to do this by making the pointcut be "if (false)" but this
creates errors for after advice when expection handlers are present:

~> /cygdrive/c/aspectj1.1.1rc1/bin/ajc -version
AspectJ Compiler 1.1.1rc1

~> cat IfFalse.java
public aspect IfFalse {
        static public void main(String[] args) {
                try {
                        throw new Exception();
                }
                catch (Exception e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                }
        }

        after(): if (false) {
        }
}
~> /cygdrive/c/aspectj1.1.1rc1/bin/ajc IfFalse.java
C:\Documents and Settings\Macneil Shonle\IfFalse.java:11 Only before
advice is supported on handler join points (compiler limitation)
C:\Documents and Settings\Macneil Shonle\IfFalse.java:6 Only before advice
is supported on handler join points (compiler limitation)

2 warnings
---

As a work around I create a dummy method that no one calls, and make the
point cut be calls to that method. But it seems that a special case like
if (false) should be treated like an empty pointcut. (I could also use
other versions of the empty set, such as a pointcut like call(* *.*(..))
&& !call(* *.*(..)).) Am I missing another way to say the empty set? Is
there a reason if (false) shouldn't be thought of as the empty set?

Thanks,
Macneil