Introspection/Reflection/this

Question

Hi,
I would like to get the method name, dynamically, using introspection/reflection.
for example:
//begin of problem
Class SomeClass {
public void SomeMethod() {
System.out.println("method name == "+
this.getClass(). ...?( what goes here to get this method's name)
expected output:
method name == SomeMethod
//end of problem
Hope the problem is clear. I need to retreive the name of the method or constructor using "this", which is the current object reference.
any further questions please reply to the dicussion.
thanks in advance.
Mohan

Answer 1

Hello Mohan,
you cannot do what you want using the reflection API. The reflection API works at runtime, but uses the class definition to find out all the relevant information (fields, method signatures, ...), thus, it cannot tell you which is the currently executing method of a given class instance object.
The only way you can dynamically find out which method is currently executing (or even better, which method called your method) is how you have already described, by parsing an Exception stack trace.
This is not a very effective debugging practice, and should only be used in stead of a debugging utility to find the specific bug you are after. Once you have found your bug, this code should be removed.
Remember, the Reflection API works on a class definition, this is why you cannot use it to work out runtime characteristics (how many times has this method or that method been called, etc.).
Regards,
Manuel Amago.