US 7,743,280 B2Granted

Method and system for analyzing memory leaks occurring in java virtual machine data storage heaps

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorMichael John Brady

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Abstract

An invention is disclosed for analyzing memory leaks occurring in Java Virtual Machine (JVM) data storage, consisting of a dynamically modifiable JVM “profiler” and an “object tracker” tool for analyzing the output from the profiler. Specifically, a method and system is disclosed for programming a JVM profiler used to analyze and correct memory leaks in stored data heaps, consisting of a program segment (or “stub”) initialized by the JVM application program interface to determine the parameters to be passed to the main profiler memory leak analysis program logic, which is then initialized by the stub to examine a minimal number of “heap dumps” in order to identify data elements or objects for the existence and/or correction of memory leaks. Updated information on data elements or objects can be requested from the profiler as needed by use of the object movement tracking option to record the details of subsequent changes in data memory storage status once a heap dump has been obtained.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A computer system, comprising:

a memory;
a modifiable profiler coupled to the memory, the modifiable profiler being programmed to:
in response to a first heap dump event request comprising a first configuration file, create a plurality of heap dump files by causing successive dumping of a heap of the memory, the plurality of heap dump files comprising a first and a second heap dump file, each of the plurality of heap dump files comprising a plurality of objects;
determine a first command file from the first configuration file, the first command file controlling the modifiable profiler;
and
in response to a second heap dump event request comprising a second configuration file, determine a second command file, the second command file modifying control of the modifiable profiler;
and
an object tracker coupled to the memory, the object tracker being programmed to:
store in a cache an object identification for each of the objects in the first heap dump file;
associate one of a plurality of generation numbers with each of the object identifications stored in the cache;
identify a specific one of the plurality of generation numbers;
and
remove persistent objects from the heap to correct a memory leak and dump the persistent objects into a file, each of the persistent objects having a corresponding object identification stored in the cache with an associated the specific one of the plurality of generation numbers.

10 more elements

A method, comprising:

in response to a first heap dump event request comprising a first configuration file, executing a profiler program to create a plurality of heap dump files by causing successive dumping of a heap of a computer memory, the plurality of heap dump files comprising a first and a second heap dump file, each of the plurality of heap dump files comprising a plurality of objects;
determining a first command file from the first configuration file, the first command file controlling execution of the profiler program;
in response to a second heap dump event request comprising a second configuration file, determining a second command file, the second command file modifying the execution of the profiler program;
storing in a computer cache an object identification for each of the objects in the first heap dump file;
associating one of a plurality of generation numbers with each of the object identifications stored in the computer cache;
identifying a specific one of the plurality of generation numbers;
and
removing persistent objects from the heap to correct a memory leak and dumping the persistent objects into a file, each of the persistent objects having a corresponding object identification stored in the computer cache with an associated the specific one of the plurality of generation numbers.

5 more elements

A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium containing program instructions, where the program instructions when executed on a computer cause the computer to:

in response to a first heap dump event request comprising a first configuration file, execute a profiler program to create a plurality of heap dump files by causing successive dumping of a heap of a computer memory, the plurality of heap dump files comprising a first and a second heap dump file, each of the plurality of heap dump files comprising a plurality of objects;
determine a first command file from the first configuration file, the first command file controlling execution of the profiler program;
in response to a second heap dump event request comprising a second configuration file, determine a second command file, the second command file modifying the execution of the profiler program;
store in a cache an object identification for each of the objects in the first heap dump file;
associate one of a plurality of generation numbers with each of the object identifications stored in the cache;
identify a specific one of the plurality of generation numbers;
and
remove persistent objects from the heap to correct a memory leak and dump the persistent objects into a file, each of the persistent objects having a corresponding object identification stored in the cache with an associated the specific one of the plurality generation numbers.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.