The generated XML-file can be used as a formal
description of an API.
jDiff is especially useful to generate such a
description if you define that your API consists of all
public elements in certain packages that do not carry
an @exclude tag.
This description can not only be used by jDiff but also
for other tasks.
You can for example use XSLT check for the following:
return type of an API-method belongs to the API (*)
method parameter type of an API-method belongs to the
API (*)
constructor parameter type of an API-method belongs to
the API (*)
exception thrown by an API-method belongs to the API
(*)
class of a public field in an API-class belongs to the
API (*)
(*) or something the API may depend on.
This works better if every element of the API is easily
accessible in the generated XML-file. I found the
following issue:
Constructor parameter types are not written out as
separate elements but as one attribute (i.e.
type="type1, type2, type3"). It should rather be
written out as the parameter types of methods (i.e. as
separate elements).
