Use the explicit string 'dynamic' to refer to dynamic in summaries.

pkg/analyzer/tool/summary/idl.dart

 // Copyright (c) 2015, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
 // for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
 // BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 /**
  * This file is an "idl" style description of the summary format.  It is not
  * executed directly; instead it is parsed and transformed into code that
  * implements the summary format.
  *
  * The code generation process introduces the following non-typical semantics:
@@ skipping 65 matching lines @@
    * is unique within the compilation unit) identifying the target of type
    * propagation or type inference with which this [EntityRef] is associated.
    *
    * Otherwise zero.
    */
   int slot;
 
   /**
    * Index into [UnlinkedUnit.references] for the entity being referred to, or
    * zero if this is a reference to a type parameter.
-   *
-   * Note that since zero is also a valid index into
-   * [UnlinkedUnit.references], we cannot distinguish between references to
-   * type parameters and references to other entities by checking [reference]
-   * against zero.  To distinguish between references to type parameters and
-   * references to other entities, check whether [paramReference] is zero.
    */
   int reference;
 
   /**
    * If this is a reference to a type parameter, one-based index into the list
    * of [UnlinkedTypeParam]s currently in effect.  Indexing is done using De
    * Bruijn index conventions; that is, innermost parameters come first, and
    * if a class or method has multiple parameters, they are indexed from right
    * to left.  So for instance, if the enclosing declaration is
    *
@@ skipping 149 matching lines @@
   int unit;
 
   /**
    * If the entity being referred to is generic, the number of type parameters
    * it accepts.  Otherwise zero.
    */
   int numTypeParameters;
 
   /**
    * If this [LinkedReference] doesn't have an associated [UnlinkedReference],
-   * name of the entity being referred to.  The empty string refers to the
-   * pseudo-type `dynamic`.
+   * name of the entity being referred to.  For the pseudo-type `dynamic`, the
+   * string is "dynamic".
    */
   String name;
 }
 
 /**
  * Linked summary of a compilation unit.
  */
 class LinkedUnit {
   /**
    * Information about the resolution of references within the compilation
@@ skipping 921 matching lines @@
    */
   List<String> parts;
 }
 
 /**
  * Unlinked summary information about a name referred to in one library that
  * might be defined in another.
  */
 class UnlinkedReference {
   /**
-   * Name of the entity being referred to.  The empty string refers to the
-   * pseudo-type `dynamic`.
+   * Name of the entity being referred to.  For the pseudo-type `dynamic`, the
+   * string is "dynamic".
    */
   String name;
 
   /**
    * Prefix used to refer to the entity, or zero if no prefix is used.  This is
    * an index into [UnlinkedUnit.references].
    *
    * Prefix references must always point backward; that is, for all i, if
    * UnlinkedUnit.references[i].prefixReference != 0, then
    * UnlinkedUnit.references[i].prefixReference < i.
@@ skipping 92 matching lines @@
   @informative
   UnlinkedDocumentationComment libraryDocumentationComment;
 
   /**
    * Unlinked public namespace of this compilation unit.
    */
   UnlinkedPublicNamespace publicNamespace;
 
   /**
    * Top level and prefixed names referred to by this compilation unit.  The
-   * zeroth element of this array is always populated and always represents a
-   * reference to the pseudo-type "dynamic".
+   * zeroth element of this array is always populated and is used to represent
+   * the absence of a reference in places where a reference is optional (for
+   * example [UnlinkedReference.prefixReference or
+   * UnlinkedImport.prefixReference]).
    */
   List<UnlinkedReference> references;
 
   /**
    * Classes declared in the compilation unit.
    */
   List<UnlinkedClass> classes;
 
   /**
    * Enums declared in the compilation unit.
@@ skipping 94 matching lines @@
   /**
    * If this variable is propagable, nonzero slot id identifying which entry in
    * [LinkedLibrary.types] contains the propagated type for this variable.  If
    * there is no matching entry in [LinkedLibrary.types], then this variable's
    * propagated type is the same as its declared type.
    *
    * Non-propagable variables have a [propagatedTypeSlot] of zero.
    */
   int propagatedTypeSlot;
 }