diff -r 7c0eb1a5d0b8 -r d382dacfd73f rt/javap/src/main/java/org/apidesign/javap/AnnotationParser.java
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/rt/javap/src/main/java/org/apidesign/javap/AnnotationParser.java	Tue Feb 26 16:54:16 2013 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2002, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
+ * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
+ * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+package org.apidesign.javap;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.DataInputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+/** An abstract parser for annotation definitions. Analyses the bytes and
+ * performs some callbacks to the overriden parser methods.
+ *
+ * @author Jaroslav Tulach <jtulach@netbeans.org>
+ */
+public class AnnotationParser {
+    private final boolean textual;
+    private final boolean iterateArray;
+    
+    protected AnnotationParser(boolean textual, boolean iterateArray) {
+        this.textual = textual;
+        this.iterateArray = iterateArray;
+    }
+
+    protected void visitAnnotationStart(String type, boolean top) throws IOException {
+    }
+
+    protected void visitAnnotationEnd(String type, boolean top) throws IOException {
+    }
+
+    protected void visitValueStart(String attrName, char type) throws IOException {
+    }
+
+    protected void visitValueEnd(String attrName, char type) throws IOException {
+    }
+
+    
+    protected void visitAttr(
+        String annoType, String attr, String attrType, String value
+    ) throws IOException {
+    }
+    
+    protected void visitEnumAttr(
+        String annoType, String attr, String attrType, String value
+    ) throws IOException {
+        visitAttr(annoType, attr, attrType, value);
+    }
+    
+    /** Initialize the parsing with constant pool from <code>cd</code>.
+     * 
+     * @param attr the attribute defining annotations
+     * @param cd constant pool
+     * @throws IOException in case I/O fails
+     */
+    public final void parse(byte[] attr, ClassData cd) throws IOException {
+        ByteArrayInputStream is = new ByteArrayInputStream(attr);
+        DataInputStream dis = new DataInputStream(is);
+        try {
+            read(dis, cd);
+        } finally {
+            is.close();
+        }
+    }
+    
+    private void read(DataInputStream dis, ClassData cd) throws IOException {
+    	int cnt = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+        for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
+            readAnno(dis, cd, true);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void readAnno(DataInputStream dis, ClassData cd, boolean top) throws IOException {
+        int type = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+        String typeName = cd.StringValue(type);
+        visitAnnotationStart(typeName, top);
+    	int cnt = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+    	for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
+            String attrName = cd.StringValue(dis.readUnsignedShort());
+            readValue(dis, cd, typeName, attrName);
+        }
+        visitAnnotationEnd(typeName, top);
+        if (cnt == 0) {
+            visitAttr(typeName, null, null, null);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void readValue(
+        DataInputStream dis, ClassData cd, String typeName, String attrName
+    ) throws IOException {
+        char type = (char)dis.readByte();
+        visitValueStart(attrName, type);
+        if (type == '@') {
+            readAnno(dis, cd, false);
+        } else if ("CFJZsSIDB".indexOf(type) >= 0) { // NOI18N
+            int primitive = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+            String val = cd.stringValue(primitive, textual);
+            String attrType;
+            if (type == 's') {
+                attrType = "Ljava_lang_String_2";
+                if (textual) {
+                    val = '"' + val + '"';
+                }
+            } else {
+                attrType = "" + type;
+            }
+            visitAttr(typeName, attrName, attrType, val);
+        } else if (type == 'c') {
+            int cls = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+        } else if (type == '[') {
+            int cnt = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+            for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
+                readValue(dis, cd, typeName, iterateArray ? attrName : null);
+            }
+        } else if (type == 'e') {
+            int enumT = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+            String attrType = cd.stringValue(enumT, textual);
+            int enumN = dis.readUnsignedShort();
+            String val = cd.stringValue(enumN, textual);
+            visitEnumAttr(typeName, attrName, attrType, val);
+        } else {
+            throw new IOException("Unknown type " + type);
+        }
+        visitValueEnd(attrName, type);
+    }
+}