--- a/jdk/src/share/classes/javax/management/modelmbean/DescriptorSupport.java	Tue Dec 09 12:01:07 2008 +0100
+++ b/jdk/src/share/classes/javax/management/modelmbean/DescriptorSupport.java	Tue Dec 09 14:44:42 2008 +0100
@@ -229,9 +229,10 @@
             init(inDescr.descriptorMap);
     }
 
-
     /**
-     * <p>Descriptor constructor taking an XML String.</p>
+     * <p>Descriptor constructor taking an XML String or a
+     * <i>fieldName=fieldValue</i> format String. The String parameter is
+     * parsed as XML if it begins with a '<' character.</p>
      *
      * <p>The format of the XML string is not defined, but an
      * implementation must ensure that the string returned by
@@ -244,17 +245,20 @@
      * programmer will have to reset or convert these fields
      * correctly.</p>
      *
-     * @param inStr An XML-formatted string used to populate this
-     * Descriptor.  The format is not defined, but any
+     * @param inStr An XML-format or a fieldName=fieldValue formatted string
+     * used to populate this Descriptor.  The XML format is not defined, but any
      * implementation must ensure that the string returned by
      * method {@link #toXMLString toXMLString} on an existing
      * descriptor can be used to instantiate an equivalent
      * descriptor when instantiated using this constructor.
      *
-     * @exception RuntimeOperationsException If the String inStr
-     * passed in parameter is null
+     * @exception RuntimeOperationsException If the String inStr passed in
+     * parameter is null or, when it is not an XML string, if the field name or
+     * field value is illegal. If inStr is not an XML string then it must
+     * contain an "=". "fieldValue", "fieldName", and "fieldValue" are illegal.
+     * FieldName cannot be empty. "fieldName=" will cause the value to be empty.
      * @exception XMLParseException XML parsing problem while parsing
-     * the input String
+     * the XML-format input String
      * @exception MBeanException Wraps a distributed communication Exception.
      */
     /* At some stage we should rewrite this code to be cleverer.  Using
@@ -283,14 +287,27 @@
             throw new RuntimeOperationsException(iae, msg);
         }
 
+        // parse parameter string into structures
+
+        init(null);
+
+        if(!inStr.startsWith("<")) {
+            parseNamesValues(inStr);
+            if (MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.FINEST)) {
+                MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.logp(Level.FINEST,
+                    DescriptorSupport.class.getName(),
+                    "Descriptor(name=value)", "Exit");
+            }
+            return;
+        }
+
         final String lowerInStr = inStr.toLowerCase();
         if (!lowerInStr.startsWith("<descriptor>")
             || !lowerInStr.endsWith("</descriptor>")) {
             throw new XMLParseException("No <descriptor>, </descriptor> pair");
         }
 
-        // parse xmlstring into structures
-        init(null);
+
         // create dummy descriptor: should have same size
         // as number of fields in xmlstring
         // loop through structures and put them in descriptor
@@ -454,6 +471,16 @@
 
         init(null);
 
+        parseNamesValues(fields);
+
+        if (MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.FINEST)) {
+            MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.logp(Level.FINEST,
+                    DescriptorSupport.class.getName(),
+                    "Descriptor(String... fields)", "Exit");
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void parseNamesValues(String... fields) {
         for (int i=0; i < fields.length; i++) {
             if ((fields[i] == null) || (fields[i].equals(""))) {
                 continue;
@@ -495,11 +522,6 @@
 
             setField(fieldName,fieldValue);
         }
-        if (MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.FINEST)) {
-            MODELMBEAN_LOGGER.logp(Level.FINEST,
-                    DescriptorSupport.class.getName(),
-                    "Descriptor(String... fields)", "Exit");
-        }
     }
 
     private void init(Map<String, ?> initMap) {