The code that is currently in the trunk for JBossWeb breaks backward compatibility because of changes in the AuthenticatorBase class to both the authenticate() and register methods(). These methods have always used  org.apache.catalina.connector.Response instead of the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse. Even the JBoss 2.1.4 release still does it the old way.

The new AuthenticatorBase class has changed the signatures for authenticate() and register(), while leaving invoke() the same. Obviously, the signature change will break anything that inherits from AuthenticatorBase in the future.

The authenticate method is less problematic because it is abstract. But the register method is bad because it has all the logic.

Would it be possible to add a simple method:

protected void register(Request request, Response response, Principal principal, String authType, String username, String password)
{
  register(request, (HttpServletResponse) response, principal, authType, username, password);
}

This would allow current changes, without breaking any code that has even depended on AuthenticatorBase.

A similar method for authenticate() would also be nice for the same reasons.

FYI, the current trunk code for JBossWeb is being used in JBoss 6 M2/M3.