javadoc not generated with jdk 1.9 but getting generated with jdk 1.8

Question

I am using same command to generate javadoc with jdk 1.8 and 1.9 while doc gets generated with errors and warning in jdk 1.8 but is not getting generated with 1.9.

Below is the command I am using:-

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_05\bin>javadoc -d D:\APIdoc -sourcepath D:\MyFile\src\main\java -subpackages com.abc.dap.pqr
Output:
100 errors 
100 warnings
Doc generated successfully

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-9\bin>javadoc -d D:\APIdoc1 -sourcepath D:\MyFile\src\main\java -subpackages com.abc.dap.pqr
Output:
100 errors
Doc not generated

Below are the errors:-
error: package [package_name] does not exist
error: cannot find symbol

Same errors are observed in jdk1.8 and 1.9 but I am unable to understand why doc is not generated with 1.9. Please suggest workaround for generating javadoc with jdk1.9

Answer 1

You may have better luck by turning off some of the checks using -Xdoclint:-<group>, particularly -Xdoclint:-reference which will cause it to ignore issues relating to the references to Java API elements from Javadoc tags, or even -Xdoclint:none to turn off all checks. If that doesn't help, you can invoke the legacy javadoc tool with -Xold.

See javadoc -X or the javadoc documentation for more information.

Answer 2

It is a deliberate change in JDK 9 to treat the errors as unrecoverable and exit without generating the javadoc. This is documented in the JDK 9 release notes (http://jdk.java.net/9/release-notes#JDK-8175219).

As noted in the comments then the using the old doclet (with -Xold) might work for this case but it doesn't support module information. Also the old doclet will be removed in the next release.