JVMTM Tool Interface

Version 1.1


What is the JVM Tool Interface?

The JVMTM Tool Interface (JVM TI) is a programming interface used by development and monitoring tools. It provides both a way to inspect the state and to control the execution of applications running in the JavaTM virtual machine (VM).

JVM TI is intended to provide a VM interface for the full breadth of tools that need access to VM state, including but not limited to: profiling, debugging, monitoring, thread analysis, and coverage analysis tools.

JVM TI may not be available in all implementations of the JavaTM virtual machine.

JVM TI is a two-way interface. A client of JVM TI, hereafter called an agent, can be notified of interesting occurrences through events. JVM TI can query and control the application through many functions, either in response to events or independent of them.

Agents run in the same process with and communicate directly with the virtual machine executing the application being examined. This communication is through a native interface (JVM TI). The native in-process interface allows maximal control with minimal intrusion on the part of a tool. Typically, agents are relatively compact. They can be controlled by a separate process which implements the bulk of a tool's function without interfering with the target application's normal execution.

Architecture

Tools can be written directly to JVM TI or indirectly through higher level interfaces. The Java Platform Debugger Architecture includes JVM TI, but also contains higher-level, out-of-process debugger interfaces. The higher-level interfaces are more appropriate than JVM TI for many tools. For more information on the Java Platform Debugger Architecture, see the Java Platform Debugger Architecture website.

Writing Agents

Agents can be written in any native language that supports C language calling conventions and C or C++ definitions.

The function, event, data type, and constant definitions needed for using JVM TI are defined in the include file jvmti.h. To use these definitions add the J2SETM include directory to your include path and add
#include <jvmti.h>
    
to your source code.

Deploying Agents

An agent is deployed in a platform specific manner but is typically the platform equivalent of a dynamic library. On the WindowsTM operating system, for example, an agent library is a "Dynamic Linked Library" (DLL). On the SolarisTM Operating Environment, an agent library is a shared object (.so file).

An agent may be started at VM startup by specifying the agent library name using a command line option. Some implementations may support a mechanism to start agents in the live phase. The details of how this is initiated are implementation specific.

Agent Command Line Options

The term "command-line option" is used below to mean options supplied in the JavaVMInitArgs argument to the JNI_CreateJavaVM function of the JNI Invocation API.

One of the two following command-line options is used on VM startup to properly load and run agents. These arguments identify the library containing the agent as well as an options string to be passed in at startup.
-agentlib:<agent-lib-name>=<options>
The name following -agentlib: is the name of the library to load. Lookup of the library, both its full name and location, proceeds in a platform-specific manner. Typically, the <agent-lib-name> is expanded to an operating system specific file name. The <options> will be passed to the agent on start-up. For example, if the option -agentlib:foo=opt1,opt2 is specified, the VM will attempt to load the shared library foo.dll from the system PATH under WindowsTM or libfoo.so from the LD_LIBRARY_PATH under the SolarisTM operating environment.
-agentpath:<path-to-agent>=<options>
The path following -agentpath: is the absolute path from which to load the library. No library name expansion will occur. The <options> will be passed to the agent on start-up. For example, if the option -agentpath:c:\myLibs\foo.dll=opt1,opt2 is specified, the VM will attempt to load the shared library c:\myLibs\foo.dll.
The start-up routine Agent_OnLoad in the library will be invoked.

Libraries loaded with -agentlib: or -agentpath: will be searched for JNI native method implementations to facilitate the use of Java programming language code in tools, as is needed for bytecode instrumentation.

The agent libraries will be searched after all other libraries have been searched (agents wishing to override or intercept the native method implementations of non-agent methods can use the NativeMethodBind event).

These switches do the above and nothing more - they do not change the state of the VM or JVM TI. No command line options are needed to enable JVM TI or aspects of JVM TI, this is handled programmatically by the use of capabilities.

Agent Start-Up

The VM starts each agent by invoking a start-up function. If the agent is started in the OnLoad phase the function Agent_OnLoad will be invoked. If the agent is started in the live phase the function Agent_OnAttach will be invoked. Exactly one call to a start-up function is made per agent.

Agent Start-Up (OnLoad phase)

If an agent is started during the OnLoad phase then its agent library must export a start-up function with the following prototype:
JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL 
Agent_OnLoad(JavaVM *vm, char *options, void *reserved)
The VM will start the agent by calling this function. It will be called early enough in VM initialization that:

The VM will call the Agent_OnLoad function with <options> as the second argument - that is, using the command-line option examples, "opt1,opt2" will be passed to the char *options argument of Agent_OnLoad. The options argument is encoded as a modified UTF-8 string. If =<options> is not specified, a zero length string is passed to options. The lifespan of the options string is the Agent_OnLoad call. If needed beyond this time the string or parts of the string must be copied. The period between when Agent_OnLoad is called and when it returns is called the OnLoad phase. Since the VM is not initialized during the OnLoad phase, the set of allowed operations inside Agent_OnLoad is restricted (see the function descriptions for the functionality available at this time). The agent can safely process the options and set event callbacks with SetEventCallbacks. Once the VM initialization event is received (that is, the VMInit callback is invoked), the agent can complete its initialization.

Rationale: Early startup is required so that agents can set the desired capabilities, many of which must be set before the VM is initialized. In JVMDI, the -Xdebug command-line option provided very coarse-grain control of capabilities. JVMPI implementations use various tricks to provide a single "JVMPI on" switch. No reasonable command-line option could provide the fine-grain of control required to balance needed capabilities vs performance impact. Early startup is also needed so that agents can control the execution environment - modifying the file system and system properties to install their functionality.

The return value from Agent_OnLoad is used to indicate an error. Any value other than zero indicates an error and causes termination of the VM.

Agent Start-Up (Live phase)

A VM may support a mechanism that allows agents to be started in the VM during the live phase. The details of how this is supported, are implementation specific. For example, a tool may use some platform specific mechanism, or implementation specific API, to attach to the running VM, and request it start a given agent.

If an agent is started during the live phase then its agent library must export a start-up function with the following prototype:
JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL 
Agent_OnAttach(JavaVM* vm, char *options, void *reserved)

The VM will start the agent by calling this function. It will be called in the context of a thread that is attached to the VM. The first argument <vm> is the Java VM. The <options> argument is the startup options provided to the agent. <options> is encoded as a modified UTF-8 string. If startup options were not provided, a zero length string is passed to options. The lifespan of the options string is the Agent_OnAttach call. If needed beyond this time the string or parts of the string must be copied.

Note that some capabilities may not be available in the live phase.

The Agent_OnAttach function initializes the agent and returns a value to the VM to indicate if an error occurred. Any value other than zero indicates an error. An error does not cause the VM to terminate. Instead the VM ignores the error, or takes some implementation specific action -- for example it might print an error to standard error, or record the error in a system log.

Agent Shutdown

The library may optionally export a shutdown function with the following prototype:
JNIEXPORT void JNICALL 
Agent_OnUnload(JavaVM *vm)
This function will be called by the VM when the library is about to be unloaded. The library will be unloaded and this function will be called if some platform specific mechanism causes the unload (an unload mechanism is not specified in this document) or the library is (in effect) unloaded by the termination of the VM whether through normal termination or VM failure, including start-up failure. Uncontrolled shutdown is, of couse, an exception to this rule. Note the distinction between this function and the VM Death event: for the VM Death event to be sent, the VM must have run at least to the point of initialization and a valid JVM TI environment must exist which has set a callback for VMDeath and enabled the event None of these are required for Agent_OnUnload and this function is also called if the library is unloaded for other reasons. In the case that a VM Death event is sent, it will be sent before this function is called (assuming this function is called due to VM termination). This function can be used to clean-up resources allocated by the agent.

JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS

Since the command-line cannot always be accessed or modified, for example in embedded VMs or simply VMs launched deep within scripts, a JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS variable is provided so that agents may be launched in these cases.

Platforms which support environment variables or other named strings, may support the JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS variable. This variable will be broken into options at white-space boundaries. White-space characters include space, tab, carriage-return, new-line, vertical-tab, and form-feed. Sequences of white-space characters are considered equivalent to a single white-space character. No white-space is included in the options unless quoted. Quoting is as follows: JNI_CreateJavaVM (in the JNI Invocation API) will prepend these options to the options supplied in its JavaVMInitArgs argument. Platforms may disable this feature in cases where security is a concern; for example, the Reference Implementation disables this feature on Unix systems when the effective user or group ID differs from the real ID. This feature is intended to support the initialization of tools -- specifically including the launching of native or Java programming language agents. Multiple tools may wish to use this feature, so the variable should not be overwritten, instead, options should be appended to the variable. Note that since the variable is processed at the time of the JNI Invocation API create VM call, options processed by a launcher (e.g., VM selection options) will not be handled.

Environments

The JVM TI specification supports the use of multiple simultaneous JVM TI agents. Each agent has its own JVM TI environment. That is, the JVM TI state is separate for each agent - changes to one environment do not affect the others. The state of a JVM TI environment includes: Although their JVM TI state is separate, agents inspect and modify the shared state of the VM, they also share the native environment in which they execute. As such, an agent can perturb the results of other agents or cause them to fail. It is the responsibility of the agent writer to specify the level of compatibility with other agents. JVM TI implementations are not capable of preventing destructive interactions between agents. Techniques to reduce the likelihood of these occurrences are beyond the scope of this document.

An agent creates a JVM TI environment by passing a JVM TI version as the interface ID to the JNI Invocation API function GetEnv. See Accessing JVM TI Functions for more details on the creation and use of JVM TI environments. Typically, JVM TI environments are created by calling GetEnv from Agent_OnLoad.

Bytecode Instrumentation

This interface does not include some events that one might expect in an interface with profiling support. Some examples include object allocation events and full speed method enter and exit events. The interface instead provides support for bytecode instrumentation, the ability to alter the Java virtual machine bytecode instructions which comprise the target program. Typically, these alterations are to add "events" to the code of a method - for example, to add, at the beginning of a method, a call to MyProfiler.methodEntered(). Since the changes are purely additive, they do not modify application state or behavior. Because the inserted agent code is standard bytecodes, the VM can run at full speed, optimizing not only the target program but also the instrumentation. If the instrumentation does not involve switching from bytecode execution, no expensive state transitions are needed. The result is high performance events. This approach also provides complete control to the agent: instrumentation can be restricted to "interesting" portions of the code (e.g., the end user's code) and can be conditional. Instrumentation can run entirely in Java programming language code or can call into the native agent. Instrumentation can simply maintain counters or can statistically sample events.

Instrumentation can be inserted in one of three ways:

The class modification functionality provided in this interface is intended to provide a mechanism for instrumentation (the ClassFileLoadHook event and the RetransformClasses function) and, during development, for fix-and-continue debugging (the RedefineClasses function).

Care must be taken to avoid perturbing dependencies, especially when instrumenting core classes. For example, an approach to getting notification of every object allocation is to instrument the constructor on Object. Assuming that the constructor is initially empty, the constructor could be changed to:
      public Object() {
        MyProfiler.allocationTracker(this);
      }
    
However, if this change was made using the ClassFileLoadHook event then this might impact a typical VM as follows: the first created object will call the constructor causing a class load of MyProfiler; which will then cause object creation, and since MyProfiler isn't loaded yet, infinite recursion; resulting in a stack overflow. A refinement of this would be to delay invoking the tracking method until a safe time. For example, trackAllocations could be set in the handler for the VMInit event.
      static boolean trackAllocations = false;

      public Object() {
        if (trackAllocations) {
          MyProfiler.allocationTracker(this);
        }
      }
    

The SetNativeMethodPrefix allows native methods to be instrumented by the use of wrapper methods.

Modified UTF-8 String Encoding

JVM TI uses modified UTF-8 to encode character strings. This is the same encoding used by JNI. Modified UTF-8 differs from standard UTF-8 in the representation of supplementary characters and of the null character. See the Modified UTF-8 Strings section of the JNI specification for details.

Specification Context

Since this interface provides access to the state of applications running in the Java virtual machine; terminology refers to the Java platform and not the native platform (unless stated otherwise). For example:

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Java, and JVM are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries.


Functions

Accessing Functions

Native code accesses JVM TI features by calling JVM TI functions. Access to JVM TI functions is by use of an interface pointer in the same manner as Java Native Interface (JNI) functions are accessed. The JVM TI interface pointer is called the environment pointer.

An environment pointer is a pointer to an environment and has the type jvmtiEnv*. An environment has information about its JVM TI connection. The first value in the environment is a pointer to the function table. The function table is an array of pointers to JVM TI functions. Every function pointer is at a predefined offset inside the array.

When used from the C language: double indirection is used to access the functions; the environment pointer provides context and is the first parameter of each function call; for example:
jvmtiEnv *jvmti;
...
jvmtiError err = (*jvmti)->GetLoadedClasses(jvmti, &class_count, &classes);
    

When used from the C++ language: functions are accessed as member functions of jvmtiEnv; the environment pointer is not passed to the function call; for example:
jvmtiEnv *jvmti;
...
jvmtiError err = jvmti->GetLoadedClasses(&class_count, &classes);
    
Unless otherwise stated, all examples and declarations in this specification use the C language.

A JVM TI environment can be obtained through the JNI Invocation API GetEnv function:
jvmtiEnv *jvmti;
...
(*jvm)->GetEnv(jvm, &jvmti, JVMTI_VERSION_1_0);
    
Each call to GetEnv creates a new JVM TI connection and thus a new JVM TI environment. The version argument of GetEnv must be a JVM TI version. The returned environment may have a different version than the requested version but the returned environment must be compatible. GetEnv will return JNI_EVERSION if a compatible version is not available, if JVM TI is not supported or JVM TI is not supported in the current VM configuration. Other interfaces may be added for creating JVM TI environments in specific contexts. Each environment has its own state (for example, desired events, event handling functions, and capabilities). An environment is released with DisposeEnvironment. Thus, unlike JNI which has one environment per thread, JVM TI environments work across threads and are created dynamically.

Function Return Values

JVM TI functions always return an error code via the jvmtiError function return value. Some functions can return additional values through pointers provided by the calling function. In some cases, JVM TI functions allocate memory that your program must explicitly deallocate. This is indicated in the individual JVM TI function descriptions. Empty lists, arrays, sequences, etc are returned as NULL.

In the event that the JVM TI function encounters an error (any return value other than JVMTI_ERROR_NONE) the values of memory referenced by argument pointers is undefined, but no memory will have been allocated and no global references will have been allocated. If the error occurs because of invalid input, no action will have occurred.

Managing JNI Object References

JVM TI functions identify objects with JNI references (jobject and jclass) and their derivatives (jthread and jthreadGroup). References passed to JVM TI functions can be either global or local, but they must be strong references. All references returned by JVM TI functions are local references--these local references are created during the JVM TI call. Local references are a resource that must be managed (see the JNI Documentation). When threads return from native code all local references are freed. Note that some threads, including typical agent threads, will never return from native code. A thread is ensured the ability to create sixteen local references without the need for any explicit management. For threads executing a limited number of JVM TI calls before returning from native code (for example, threads processing events), it may be determined that no explicit management is needed. However, long running agent threads will need explicit local reference management--usually with the JNI functions PushLocalFrame and PopLocalFrame. Conversely, to preserve references beyond the return from native code, they must be converted to global references. These rules do not apply to jmethodID and jfieldID as they are not jobjects.

Prerequisite State for Calling Functions

Unless the function explicitly states that the agent must bring a thread or the VM to a particular state (for example, suspended), the JVM TI implementation is responsible for bringing the VM to a safe and consistent state for performing the function.

Exceptions and Functions

JVM TI functions never throw exceptions; error conditions are communicated via the function return value. Any existing exception state is preserved across a call to a JVM TI function. See the Java Exceptions section of the JNI specification for information on handling exceptions.

Function Index


Memory Management

Memory Management functions: These functions provide for the allocation and deallocation of memory used by JVM TI functionality and can be used to provide working memory for agents. Memory managed by JVM TI is not compatible with other memory allocation libraries and mechanisms.


Allocate

jvmtiError
Allocate(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jlong size,
            unsigned char** mem_ptr)
Allocate an area of memory through the JVM TI allocator. The allocated memory should be freed with Deallocate.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may be called during any phase This function may be called from the callbacks to the Heap iteration functions, or from the event handlers for the GarbageCollectionStart, GarbageCollectionFinish, and ObjectFree events. 461.0

Capabilities
Required Functionality

Parameters
Name Type Description
sizejlong The number of bytes to allocate.

Rationale: jlong is used for compatibility with JVMDI.

mem_ptrunsigned char** On return, a pointer to the beginning of the allocated memory. If size is zero, NULL is returned.

Agent passes a pointer to a unsigned char*. On return, the unsigned char* points to a newly allocated array of size size. The array should be freed with Deallocate.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY Memory request cannot be honored.
JVMTI_ERROR_ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT size is less than zero.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER mem_ptr is NULL.

Deallocate

jvmtiError
Deallocate(jvmtiEnv* env,
            unsigned char* mem)
Deallocate mem using the JVM TI allocator. This function should be used to deallocate any memory allocated and returned by a JVM TI function (including memory allocated with Allocate). All allocated memory must be deallocated or the memory cannot be reclaimed.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may be called during any phase This function may be called from the callbacks to the Heap iteration functions, or from the event handlers for the GarbageCollectionStart, GarbageCollectionFinish, and ObjectFree events. 471.0

Capabilities
Required Functionality

Parameters
Name Type Description
mem unsigned char * A pointer to the beginning of the allocated memory. Please ignore "On return, the elements are set."

Agent passes an array of unsigned char. The incoming values of the elements of the array are ignored. On return, the elements are set. If mem is NULL, the call is ignored.

Errors
This function returns a universal error


Thread

Thread functions: Thread function types: Thread types: Thread flags and constants:


Get Thread State

jvmtiError
GetThreadState(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jint* thread_state_ptr)
Get the state of a thread. The state of the thread is represented by the answers to the hierarchical set of questions below:

The answers are represented by the following bit vector.
Thread State Flags
Constant Value Description
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE0x0001 Thread is alive. Zero if thread is new (not started) or terminated.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED0x0002 Thread has completed execution.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLE0x0004 Thread is runnable.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKED_ON_MONITOR_ENTER0x0400 Thread is waiting to enter a synchronization block/method or, after an Object.wait(), waiting to re-enter a synchronization block/method.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING0x0080 Thread is waiting.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_INDEFINITELY0x0010 Thread is waiting without a timeout. For example, Object.wait().
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT0x0020 Thread is waiting with a maximum time to wait specified. For example, Object.wait(long).
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SLEEPING0x0040 Thread is sleeping -- Thread.sleep(long).
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_IN_OBJECT_WAIT0x0100 Thread is waiting on an object monitor -- Object.wait.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_PARKED0x0200 Thread is parked, for example: LockSupport.park, LockSupport.parkUtil and LockSupport.parkNanos.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SUSPENDED0x100000 Thread suspended. java.lang.Thread.suspend() or a JVM TI suspend function (such as SuspendThread) has been called on the thread. If this bit is set, the other bits refer to the thread state before suspension.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_INTERRUPTED0x200000 Thread has been interrupted.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_IN_NATIVE0x400000 Thread is in native code--that is, a native method is running which has not called back into the VM or Java programming language code.

This flag is not set when running VM compiled Java programming language code nor is it set when running VM code or VM support code. Native VM interface functions, such as JNI and JVM TI functions, may be implemented as VM code.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_VENDOR_10x10000000 Defined by VM vendor.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_VENDOR_20x20000000 Defined by VM vendor.
JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_VENDOR_30x40000000 Defined by VM vendor.
The following definitions are used to convert JVM TI thread state to java.lang.Thread.State style states.
java.lang.Thread.State Conversion Masks
Constant Value Description
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_MASKJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKED_ON_MONITOR_ENTER | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_INDEFINITELY | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT Mask the state with this before comparison
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_NEW0 java.lang.Thread.State.NEW
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATEDJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED java.lang.Thread.State.TERMINATED
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLEJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLE java.lang.Thread.State.RUNNABLE
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKEDJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKED_ON_MONITOR_ENTER java.lang.Thread.State.BLOCKED
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_WAITINGJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_INDEFINITELY java.lang.Thread.State.WAITING
JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_TIMED_WAITINGJVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT java.lang.Thread.State.TIMED_WAITING
Rules

There can be no more than one answer to a question, although there can be no answer (because the answer is unknown, does not apply, or none of the answers is correct). An answer is set only when the enclosing answers match. That is, no more than one of can be set (a J2SETM compliant implementation will always set one of these if JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE is set). And if any of these are set, the enclosing answer JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE is set. No more than one of can be set (a J2SETM compliant implementation will always set one of these if JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING is set). And if either is set, the enclosing answers JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE and JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING are set. No more than one of can be set. And if any of these is set, the enclosing answers JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE and JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING are set. Also, if JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SLEEPING is set, then JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT is set. If a state A is implemented using the mechanism of state B then it is state A which is returned by this function. For example, if Thread.sleep(long) is implemented using Object.wait(long) then it is still JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SLEEPING which is returned. More than one of can be set, but if any is set, JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE is set.

And finally, JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED cannot be set unless JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE is not set.

The thread state representation is designed for extension in future versions of the specification; thread state values should be used accordingly, that is they should not be used as ordinals. Most queries can be made by testing a single bit, if use in a switch statement is desired, the state bits should be masked with the interesting bits. All bits not defined above are reserved for future use. A VM, compliant to the current specification, must set reserved bits to zero. An agent should ignore reserved bits -- they should not be assumed to be zero and thus should not be included in comparisons.

Examples

Note that the values below exclude reserved and vendor bits.

The state of a thread blocked at a synchronized-statement would be:
            JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE + JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKED_ON_MONITOR_ENTER
        
The state of a thread which hasn't started yet would be:
            0
        
The state of a thread at a Object.wait(3000) would be:
            JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE + JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING + 
                JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT + 
                JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_MONITOR_WAITING
        
The state of a thread suspended while runnable would be:
            JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE + JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLE + JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SUSPENDED
        

Testing the State

In most cases, the thread state can be determined by testing the one bit corresponding to that question. For example, the code to test if a thread is sleeping:
	jint state;
	jvmtiError err;

	err = (*jvmti)->GetThreadState(jvmti, thread, &state);
	if (err == JVMTI_ERROR_NONE) {
	   if (state & JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_SLEEPING) {  ...
        

For waiting (that is, in Object.wait, parked, or sleeping) it would be:
	   if (state & JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING) {  ...
        
For some states, more than one bit will need to be tested as is the case when testing if a thread has not yet been started:
	   if ((state & (JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_ALIVE | JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED)) == 0)  {  ...
        
To distinguish timed from untimed Object.wait:
	   if (state & JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_IN_OBJECT_WAIT)  {  
             if (state & JVMTI_THREAD_STATE_WAITING_WITH_TIMEOUT)  {
               printf("in Object.wait(long timeout)\n");
             } else {
               printf("in Object.wait()\n");
             }
           }
        

Relationship to java.lang.Thread.State

The thread state represented by java.lang.Thread.State returned from java.lang.Thread.getState() is a subset of the information returned from this function. The corresponding java.lang.Thread.State can be determined by using the provided conversion masks. For example, this returns the name of the java.lang.Thread.State thread state:
	    err = (*jvmti)->GetThreadState(jvmti, thread, &state);
	    abortOnError(err);
            switch (state & JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_MASK) {
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_NEW:
              return "NEW";
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_TERMINATED:
              return "TERMINATED";
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_RUNNABLE:
              return "RUNNABLE";
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_BLOCKED:
              return "BLOCKED";
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_WAITING:
              return "WAITING";
            case JVMTI_JAVA_LANG_THREAD_STATE_TIMED_WAITING:
              return "TIMED_WAITING";
            }
        

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 171.0

Capabilities
Required Functionality

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to query. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.
thread_state_ptrjint* On return, points to state flags, as defined by the Thread State Flags.

Agent passes a pointer to a jint. On return, the jint has been set.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER thread_state_ptr is NULL.

Get Current Thread

jvmtiError
GetCurrentThread(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread* thread_ptr)
Get the current thread. The current thread is the Java programming language thread which has called the function.

Note that most JVM TI functions that take a thread as an argument will accept NULL to mean the current thread.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the start or the live phase No 181.1

Capabilities
Required Functionality

Parameters
Name Type Description
thread_ptrjthread* On return, points to the current thread.

Agent passes a pointer to a jthread. On return, the jthread has been set. The object returned by thread_ptr is a JNI local reference and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER thread_ptr is NULL.

Get All Threads

jvmtiError
GetAllThreads(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jint* threads_count_ptr,
            jthread** threads_ptr)
Get all live threads. The threads are Java programming language threads; that is, threads that are attached to the VM. A thread is live if java.lang.Thread.isAlive() would return true, that is, the thread has been started and has not yet died. The universe of threads is determined by the context of the JVM TI environment, which typically is all threads attached to the VM. Note that this includes JVM TI agent threads (see RunAgentThread).

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 41.0

Capabilities
Required Functionality

Parameters
Name Type Description
threads_count_ptrjint* On return, points to the number of running threads.

Agent passes a pointer to a jint. On return, the jint has been set.
threads_ptrjthread** On return, points to an array of references, one for each running thread.

Agent passes a pointer to a jthread*. On return, the jthread* points to a newly allocated array of size *threads_count_ptr. The array should be freed with Deallocate. The objects returned by threads_ptr are JNI local references and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER threads_count_ptr is NULL.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER threads_ptr is NULL.

Suspend Thread

jvmtiError
SuspendThread(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread)
Suspend the specified thread. If the calling thread is specified, this function will not return until some other thread calls ResumeThread. If the thread is currently suspended, this function does nothing and returns an error.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 51.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_suspend Can suspend and resume threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to suspend. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_suspend. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_SUSPENDED Thread already suspended.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).

Suspend Thread List

jvmtiError
SuspendThreadList(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jint request_count,
            const jthread* request_list,
            jvmtiError* results)
Suspend the request_count threads specified in the request_list array. Threads may be resumed with ResumeThreadList or ResumeThread. If the calling thread is specified in the request_list array, this function will not return until some other thread resumes it. Errors encountered in the suspension of a thread are returned in the results array, not in the return value of this function. Threads that are currently suspended do not change state.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 921.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_suspend Can suspend and resume threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
request_countjint The number of threads to suspend.
request_listconst jthread* The list of threads to suspend.

Agent passes in an array of request_count elements of jthread.
resultsjvmtiError* An agent supplied array of request_count elements. On return, filled with the error code for the suspend of the corresponding thread. The error code will be JVMTI_ERROR_NONE if the thread was suspended by this call. Possible error codes are those specified for SuspendThread.

Agent passes an array large enough to hold request_count elements of jvmtiError. The incoming values of the elements of the array are ignored. On return, the elements are set.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_suspend. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT request_count is less than 0.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER request_list is NULL.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER results is NULL.

Resume Thread

jvmtiError
ResumeThread(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread)
Resume a suspended thread. Any threads currently suspended through a JVM TI suspend function (eg. SuspendThread) or java.lang.Thread.suspend() will resume execution; all other threads are unaffected.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 61.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_suspend Can suspend and resume threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to resume.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_suspend. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_SUSPENDED Thread was not suspended.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_TYPESTATE The state of the thread has been modified, and is now inconsistent.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).

Resume Thread List

jvmtiError
ResumeThreadList(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jint request_count,
            const jthread* request_list,
            jvmtiError* results)
Resume the request_count threads specified in the request_list array. Any thread suspended through a JVM TI suspend function (eg. SuspendThreadList) or java.lang.Thread.suspend() will resume execution.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 931.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_suspend Can suspend and resume threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
request_countjint The number of threads to resume.
request_listconst jthread* The threads to resume.

Agent passes in an array of request_count elements of jthread.
resultsjvmtiError* An agent supplied array of request_count elements. On return, filled with the error code for the resume of the corresponding thread. The error code will be JVMTI_ERROR_NONE if the thread was suspended by this call. Possible error codes are those specified for ResumeThread.

Agent passes an array large enough to hold request_count elements of jvmtiError. The incoming values of the elements of the array are ignored. On return, the elements are set.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_suspend. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT request_count is less than 0.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER request_list is NULL.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER results is NULL.

Stop Thread

jvmtiError
StopThread(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jobject exception)
Send the specified asynchronous exception to the specified thread (similar to java.lang.Thread.stop). Normally, this function is used to kill the specified thread with an instance of the exception ThreadDeath.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 71.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_signal_thread Can send stop or interrupt to threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to stop.
exceptionjobject The asynchronous exception object.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_signal_thread. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_OBJECT exception is not an object.

Interrupt Thread

jvmtiError
InterruptThread(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread)
Interrupt the specified thread (similar to java.lang.Thread.interrupt).

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 81.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_signal_thread Can send stop or interrupt to threads

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to interrupt.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_signal_thread. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).

Get Thread Info

typedef struct {
    char* name;
    jint priority;
    jboolean is_daemon;
    jthreadGroup thread_group;
    jobject context_class_loader;
} jvmtiThreadInfo;
jvmtiError
GetThreadInfo(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jvmtiThreadInfo* info_ptr)
Get thread information. The fields of the jvmtiThreadInfo structure are filled in with details of the specified thread.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 91.0

Capabilities
Required Functionality

jvmtiThreadInfo - Thread information structure
Field Type Description
namechar* The thread name, encoded as a modified UTF-8 string.
priorityjint The thread priority. See the thread priority constants: jvmtiThreadPriority.
is_daemonjboolean Is this a daemon thread?
thread_groupjthreadGroup The thread group to which this thread belongs. NULL if the thread has died.
context_class_loaderjobject The context class loader associated with this thread.

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to query. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.
info_ptrjvmtiThreadInfo* On return, filled with information describing the specified thread.

For JDK 1.1 implementations that don't recognize context class loaders, the context_class_loader field will be NULL.

Agent passes a pointer to a jvmtiThreadInfo. On return, the jvmtiThreadInfo has been set. The pointer returned in the field name of jvmtiThreadInfo is a newly allocated array. The array should be freed with Deallocate. The object returned in the field thread_group of jvmtiThreadInfo is a JNI local reference and must be managed. The object returned in the field context_class_loader of jvmtiThreadInfo is a JNI local reference and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER info_ptr is NULL.

Get Owned Monitor Info

jvmtiError
GetOwnedMonitorInfo(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jint* owned_monitor_count_ptr,
            jobject** owned_monitors_ptr)
Get information about the monitors owned by the specified thread.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 101.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_get_owned_monitor_info Can get information about ownership of monitors - GetOwnedMonitorInfo

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to query. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.
owned_monitor_count_ptrjint* The number of monitors returned.

Agent passes a pointer to a jint. On return, the jint has been set.
owned_monitors_ptrjobject** The array of owned monitors.

Agent passes a pointer to a jobject*. On return, the jobject* points to a newly allocated array of size *owned_monitor_count_ptr. The array should be freed with Deallocate. The objects returned by owned_monitors_ptr are JNI local references and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_get_owned_monitor_info. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER owned_monitor_count_ptr is NULL.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER owned_monitors_ptr is NULL.

Get Owned Monitor Stack Depth Info

typedef struct {
    jobject monitor;
    jint stack_depth;
} jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo;
jvmtiError
GetOwnedMonitorStackDepthInfo(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jint* monitor_info_count_ptr,
            jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo** monitor_info_ptr)
Get information about the monitors owned by the specified thread and the depth of the stack frame which locked them.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 1531.1

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_get_owned_monitor_stack_depth_info Can get information about owned monitors with stack depth - GetOwnedMonitorStackDepthInfo

jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo - Monitor stack depth information structure
Field Type Description
monitorjobject The owned monitor.
stack_depthjint The stack depth. Corresponds to the stack depth used in the Stack Frame functions. That is, zero is the current frame, one is the frame which called the current frame. And it is negative one if the implementation cannot determine the stack depth (e.g., for monitors acquired by JNI MonitorEnter).

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to query. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.
monitor_info_count_ptrjint* The number of monitors returned.

Agent passes a pointer to a jint. On return, the jint has been set.
monitor_info_ptr jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo ** The array of owned monitor depth information.

Agent passes a pointer to a jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo*. On return, the jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo* points to a newly allocated array of size *owned_monitor_depth_count_ptr. The array should be freed with Deallocate. The objects returned in the field monitor of jvmtiMonitorStackDepthInfo are JNI local references and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_get_owned_monitor_stack_depth_info. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD thread is not a thread object.
JVMTI_ERROR_THREAD_NOT_ALIVE thread is not live (has not been started or is now dead).
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER monitor_info_count_ptr is NULL.
JVMTI_ERROR_NULL_POINTER monitor_info_ptr is NULL.

Get Current Contended Monitor

jvmtiError
GetCurrentContendedMonitor(jvmtiEnv* env,
            jthread thread,
            jobject* monitor_ptr)
Get the object, if any, whose monitor the specified thread is waiting to enter or waiting to regain through java.lang.Object.wait.

PhaseCallback SafePositionSince
may only be called during the live phase No 111.0

Capabilities
Optional Functionality: might not be implemented for all virtual machines. The following capability (as returned by GetCapabilities) must be true to use this function.
Capability Effect
can_get_current_contended_monitor Can GetCurrentContendedMonitor

Parameters
Name Type Description
threadjthread The thread to query. If thread is NULL, the current thread is used.
monitor_ptrjobject* On return, filled with the current contended monitor, or NULL if there is none.

Agent passes a pointer to a jobject. On return, the jobject has been set. The object returned by monitor_ptr is a JNI local reference and must be managed.

Errors
This function returns either a universal error or one of the following errors
Error Description
JVMTI_ERROR_MUST_POSSESS_CAPABILITY The environment does not possess the capability can_get_current_contended_monitor. Use AddCapabilities.
JVMTI_ERROR_INVALID_THREAD</