Issues with running UNIX shell command from Java

Question

Here is my java class file:
create or replace and compile java source named host as
import java.lang.* ;
public class Host
   public static void cmdTest()
        String cmd = "ps -ef | grep orcl" ;
        int rc = 0 ;
        int = runCmd(cmd) ;
   public static int runCmd(String str )
       Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime() ;
       int     rc = -1 ;
      try
            Process p = rt.exec(str) ;
            int bufSize = 4096 ;
            BufferedInputStream bis =
                new BufferedInputStream(p.getInputStream(), bufSize) ;
            int len ;
            byte buffer[] = new byte[bufSize] ;
            // Log what the program spit out
            while ((len = bis.read(buffer, 0, bufSize)) != -1)
                rc = p.waitFor() ;
        catch (Exception e)
            e.printStackTrace();
            rc = -1 ;
        finally
            return rc ;
show errorsI can call runCmd directly from SQLPlus using an Oracle stored procedure and it runs like expected. I can see the returned output using dbms_java.set_output(1000000).
But when I call cmdTest from SQLPlus using an Oracle stored procecdure it just hangs forever and I have to kill the session.
Is there something I am missing in the cmdTest method?

Answer 1

Jimmy,
If you haven't already seen it, I think the following article may be of help:
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-2000/jw-1229-traps.html
Also a "finally" block should not contain a "return" statement:
http://weblogs.java.net/blog/staufferjames/archive/2007/06/_dont_return_in.html
Good Luck,
Avi.