JLS question regarding Text Blocks

[Dan Smith]

> On Apr 6, 2020, at 12:43 PM, Jim Laskey <james.laskey at oracle.com> wrote:
> 
> In section 3.10.6 Text Blocks of the updated spec;
> 
> "The opening delimiter is a sequence that starts with three double quote characters ("""), continues with zero or more space, tab, and form feed characters, and concludes with a line terminator."
> 
> However, the JEP 378 description reads "The opening delimiter is a sequence of three double quote characters (""") followed by zero or more white spaces followed by a line terminator.
> 
> javac uses the Character.isWhitespace test for characters following the opening three double quote characters.
> 
> Shouldn't the spec read as;
> 
> "The opening delimiter is a sequence that starts with three double quote characters ("""), continues with zero or more white space characters (Ex. space, tab, and form feed), and concludes with a line terminator."?

Is there a question about semantics here, or just a question of how best to present it?

Right now, TextBlockWhiteSpace defines precisely which characters can appear. Per 3.6, WhiteSpace is a grammar production that consists of 3 specific characters (space, horizontal tab, and form feed), plus the line terminators. TextBlockWhiteSpace excludes the line terminators.

Given this, I don't think redirecting through an abstract notion of "white space" or the "Character.isWhitespace" API would be helpful—the grammar has already nailed it down to exactly three characters.