[codeconsole]

Under @CompileStatic, this compiles and then fails when the class is loaded:

// package p
class A { protected A(String s) {}; protected String im() { 'im' }; protected String getQp() { 'qp' } }

// package q
@CompileStatic class B extends p.A {
    B() { super('b') }
    static test(p.A a) {
        new p.A('x')  // VerifyError: Bad access to protected <init> method
        a.im()        // VerifyError: Bad access to protected data in invokevirtual
        a.qp          // the same, through the getter
        java.util.function.Supplier<String> s = a::im  // BootstrapMethodError
    }
}

5.0.8 and 6.0.0 fail the same way. Neither has to do with class loaders: these are Java's rules for a protected member outside its package.

• new A(...) of a protected constructor of another package is reported: "Cannot call protected constructor for p.A from class q.B". As in Java, only super(...) and new A(...) {} can call it. That includes a map-style construction, which calls the protected no-argument constructor. The error is raised while the class is generated, so @TypeChecked code is not checked for it and works through the meta-class.
• A protected method of another package called through a receiver of the superclass type (a.m(), a.name, a::m, A::m) is reported as "Cannot access method", as GROOVY-7325 intended: its check compared the types the wrong way round.

Calls through this, super or a receiver of the subclass type are still direct, and A::new still selects such a constructor at run time.

An attribute assignment a.@f = v through a superclass receiver still fails verification in putfield. It is not changed here.

This and #3097 (GROOVY-12568) touch the same lines of StaticInvocationWriter, StaticTypesMethodReferenceExpressionWriter and ConstructorCallTransformer; whichever lands second keeps both. Once this is in, a map-style construction reaches the check of #3097 through writeInvokeConstructor, so its own call in ConstructorCallTransformer is not needed.

Compatibility

No working code is affected: this code failed verification or at link time. It now fails at compile time, under @CompileStatic only.

Tests

Groovy7325Bug.testProtectedMethodOfAnotherPackageThroughReceiverOfSuperclass, StaticCompileConstructorsTest.testProtectedConstructorOfAnotherPackage and testMapStyleConstructionWithProtectedConstructorOfAnotherPackage fail without the change. Groovy7325Bug.testProtectedMembersOfAnotherPackageThroughReceiverOfSubclass and the ConstructorsSTCTest additions pin what keeps working. 5,684 tests in org.codehaus.groovy.classgen.asm.sc, groovy.transform.stc and gls pass. The Checkstyle and CodeNarc gates pass.

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 70.96774% with 9 lines in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 74.4627%. Comparing base (97e0f72) to head (0b62c0e).

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
...groovy/classgen/asm/sc/StaticInvocationWriter.java	50.0000%	0 Missing and 3 partials ⚠️
...sc/StaticTypesMethodReferenceExpressionWriter.java	62.5000%	0 Missing and 3 partials ⚠️
...rm/sc/transformers/ConstructorCallTransformer.java	82.3529%	0 Missing and 3 partials ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@                Coverage Diff                 @@
##               master      #3251        +/-   ##
==================================================
+ Coverage     74.4524%   74.4627%   +0.0103%     
- Complexity      44845      44862        +17     
==================================================
  Files            1702       1702                
  Lines          151995     152013        +18     
  Branches        29122      29131         +9     
==================================================
+ Hits           113164     113193        +29     
+ Misses          28422      28412        -10     
+ Partials        10409      10408         -1     

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
...groovy/classgen/asm/sc/StaticInvocationWriter.java	77.5510% <50.0000%> (+0.0229%)	⬆️
...sc/StaticTypesMethodReferenceExpressionWriter.java	86.8201% <62.5000%> (-0.2287%)	⬇️
...rm/sc/transformers/ConstructorCallTransformer.java	94.0298% <82.3529%> (-0.5014%)	⬇️

... and 12 files with indirect coverage changes

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[daniellansun]

LGTM for GROOVY-12717.

Outside its package, a protected constructor may only be invoked via super(...) or an anonymous subclass (JLS 6.6.2.2), and a protected instance method needs a receiver of the calling subclass (JVMS 4.10.1.8). Reporting those at SC generation time — instead of a VerifyError / BootstrapMethodError at load — is the right UX, and leaving @TypeChecked on the meta-class path is consistent with dynamic Groovy.

Notable pieces: StaticInvocationWriter constructor accessibility error; protected instance-method receiver check excluding super / class-with-super; method-reference validation for protected cross-package receivers; map-style construction routed through the invocation writer so the same check applies. Tests cover ObjectInputStream/ObjectOutputStream, cross-package Groovy types, property accessors, bound and unbound references, and the allowed subclass-receiver / AIC / super() cases.

CI fully green. Companion to the GROOVY-12568 runtime-package work (#3097 and siblings); land with that family in mind. Soft adjacency to #3253 (indy refused constructor → meta-class) — complementary layers.

[testlens-app]

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🏷️ Commit: 0b62c0e
▶️ Tests: 128638 executed
⚪️ Checks: 26/26 completed

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