Java: Class for inline javadoc tag

[Marcono1234]

Description of the issue
It appears JavadocTag only matches block tags, though this is not obvious from the documentation and it would be good if that was clarified.
Would it be possible to either extend its functionality or create a new class which matches inline tags (e.g. {@code a + b})?

[aschackmull]

I've put up a PR for the qldoc improvement. As for making a class to represent inline tags, I think that's most easily accomplished by a regex on the text of a JavadocText.

[Marcono1234]

Thanks! Do you think that, even if implemented using a regex, it would make sense to add a predicate for that to Javadoc?

Also note that JavadocText matches regular comments (#3695) so in that case no result should be found, and for block comments each line is a separate JavadocText (#3696), so they would have to be joined using " " before applying the regex since it is possible to wrap an inline tag.

I have not found documentation for exact format of inline tags yet, but it appears:

Source	Generated javadoc	Note
{@code {@code a}}	{@code a}
{@code {@code a}	{@code {@code a}	Is reported as error "unterminated inline tag" and affects subsequent text so behavior can likely change
{@ {@code a}}	{@ a}	Is reported as error "no tag name after @" so behavior can likely change
{@link {@code T}}	{@link {@code T}}	Is reported as error "unexpected text" so behavior can likely change; using correct @link format works, so this might be specific to that tag
{ @code a}	{ @code a}	Apparently not detected as tag
{\n@code a}	-	Is reported as error "incorrect use of inline tag" and breaks subsequent formatting
{@code\nc\n}	c
{@code\n@MyAnnotation\n}	{@code	Is reported as error "unterminated inline tag" and "unknown tag: MyAnnotation"

So it looks like the behavior is not completely consistent, though for wellformed writing a regex should be possible.
See also JDK-8237241: "[specification] inline tag brace balancing is not documented".