spec clarification: wildcard array element signature

[Alex Buckley]

On 2/7/2017 10:54 AM, Dan Smith wrote:
> Yes, I object! "?[]" is not a type. It's meaningless.
>
> It is always wrong to perform substitutions that replace type
> variables with wildcards. javac has a history of doing so, and those
> cases need to be fixed. The compiler's internal representation of
> wildcards should not even allow such an attempt at substitution to
> compile (e.g., a class Wildcard should not extend a class Type), but
> alas, we have a lot of legacy violating this rule.

Am I right to say that this is what javac is doing in the recent snipper 
from Stephan Herrmann? :-

---
public class Bug494198<T> { class Inner<U> {...} }

Bug494198<?> outer = ...
... outer.new Inner<String>() {...}

final class Bug494198$1
   extends ***Bug494198<<captured wildcard>>***.Inner<java.lang.String>
---

> Liam's program raises issues related to two existing spec bugs:
> JDK-8030746: 4.10: Define subtyping for inner classes of
> parameterized types JDK-8016196: Inference: define supertype
> parameterization for wildcard-parameterized types
>
> These are part of our type system cleanup effort; when addressed,
> we'll have a clear answer for how to interpret "B<?>.I" and, thus,
> how to record it in bytecode. (Preview: the answer is probably "A<?
> extends Object[]>.I".)
>
> Suggest closing JDK-8172742 as "Not an Issue"—the JVMS grammar is
> fine.

OK -- please close it with an explanation for Liam and Stephan's benefit.

Alex