Can I override a hidden (but public) method and call its super method?

Question

There is a non public api that I need to override in order to workaround a quirk with Android's WebView.

The api is hidden but it is public:

/**
 * ...
 *
 * @hide pending API council approval
 */
public boolean selectText() {
    ...
}

So I can override it by simply declaring it in my own WebView class, minus the @Override:

public boolean selectText() {
    ...
}

Is it possible to call the super method from my override? Normally I could write:

public boolean selectText() {
    return super.selectText();
}

But the method is hidden, so super.selectText() is not available. If I use reflection:

public boolean selectText() {
    return (Boolean) WebView.class.getMethod("selectText").invoke(this, (Object[]) null);
}

I get an infinite loop because it calls my overridden method.

Is there anyway to override this method AND be able to call the super method?

Thanks!

Answer 1

1. YES You CAN :) - first part of question
2. NO You CAN'T - second one

solution 1) - best what you can do here closest to what you want to achieve

// to override method 
// which IDE doesn't see - those that contains {@ hide} text in JavaDoc
// simple create method with same signature
// but remove annotation
// as we don't know if method will be present or not in super class 
//
//@Override      
public boolean callMethod(String arg) {

    //  can we do it ?
    // boolean result = super.callMethod(arg)
    // no  why ? 
    // You may think you could perhaps
    // use reflection and call specific superclass method 
    // on a subclass instance.


/** 
 * If the underlying method is an instance method, it is 
 * invoked using dynamic method lookup as documented in The 
 * Java Language Specification, Second Edition, section 
 * 15.12.4.4; in particular, overriding based on the runtime
 * type of the target object will occur.
 */


   // but always you can see what super class is doing in its method 
   // and do the same by forward call in this method to newly created one
   // return modified  result 
  return doSomthingWhatSuperDo()
}

solutions 2)

does the object (which calls this method) belongs to you? and implements interface?

if so how about proxy ?

1. extend class
2. create proxy
3. use proxy
4. intercept method call
5. based on some conditions ? call own implementation or fall back to originally?