protected access from another package

[biju joseph]

Hi,
Following class Base1 is in package base1p
package base1p;
public class Base1{
protected void amethod()
{
System.out.println("amethod1");
}
}

Following class Base2 is in default package.
import base1p.Base1;
public class Base2 extends base1p.Base1
{
public static void main(String argv[])
{
Base1 b = new Base1();
b.amethod();
}
}
This gives a compiler error saying "Can't access protected method amethod in class base1p.Base1. base1p.Base1 is not a subclass of the current class. b.amethod();"
But if both classes are given in the same source file, it prints "amethod1".
Any idea why it gives this error as protected should be accessible from another package?.

[Dan Chisholm]

The explanation can be found in
The Java Language Specification, Section 6.6.2, Details on protected Access.

Let C be the class in which a protected member m is declared. Access is permitted only within the body of a subclass S of C. In addition, if Id denotes an instance field or instance method, then:
...
If the access is by a field access expression E.Id, where E is a Primary expression, or by a method invocation expression E.Id(. . .), where E is a Primary expression, then the access is permitted if and only if the type of E is S or a subclass of S.

If you change the following statement
Base1 b = new Base1();
to
Base2 b = new Base2();
then it should work.
I haven't tried it myself, so please post your results if you try it.

[biju joseph]

Thanks Dan.
You are correct, it works with code
Base2 b = new Base2();