PL/SQL w/ Java to run OS batch file crashes Oracle

Question

I followed instructions from "Ask Tom" on using PL/SQL with Java to execute an OS batch file. For testing purposes, my batch file does nothing more than display the date and time from the OS.
However, when I run the PL/SQL that executes this simple batch file repeatedly - anywhere from two to four times, the Oracle instance crashes abruptly. Nothing is written to the alert log. No trace files are created.
Here is a sample session:
SQL*Plus: Release 9.0.1.3.0 - Production on Wed Mar 24 10:04:26 2004
(c) Copyright 2001 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
Connected to:
Oracle9i Enterprise Edition Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP and Oracle Data Mining options
JServer Release 9.2.0.1.0 - Production
SQL> set serveroutput on size 1000000
SQL> exec dbms_java.set_output(1000000) ;
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> begin
2 rc('c:\dba_tools\jobs\test.cmd') ;
3 end ;
4 /
C:\Ora9ir2\DATABASE>date /t
Wed 03/24/2004
C:\Ora9ir2\DATABASE>time /t
10:05 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> begin
2 rc('c:\dba_tools\jobs\test.cmd') ;
3 end ;
4 /
C:\Ora9ir2\DATABASE>date /t
Wed 03/24/2004
C:\Ora9ir2\DATABASE>time /t
10:06 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
Shortly after the second "run", Oracle crashed. All I received was the following error message:
Unhandled exception in oracle.exe (ORAJOX9.DLL): 0xC0000005: Access Violation
Here is the Java procedure at the heart of my PL/SQL:
create or replace and compile
java source named "Util"
as
import java.io.*;
import java.lang.*;
public class Util extends Object
public static int RunThis(String args)
Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
int rc = -1;
try
Process p = rt.exec(args);
int bufSize = 4096;
BufferedInputStream bis =
new BufferedInputStream(p.getInputStream(), bufSize);
int len;
byte buffer[] = new byte[bufSize];
// Echo back what the program spit out
while ((len = bis.read(buffer, 0, bufSize)) != -1)
System.out.write(buffer, 0, len);
rc = p.waitFor();
catch (Exception e)
e.printStackTrace();
rc = -1;
finally
return rc;
I am running Oracle 9i rel. 2 installed on my PC under Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2). My knowledge of Java is next to nothing.
Can anyone give me an idea(s) as to what might be causing Oracle to crash?
Thanks.

Answer 1

Using 9.2.0.4 I made the following adjustments and it seems to run as often as I care to do it:
Java changes:
create or replace and compile
java source named "Util"
as
import java.io.*;
import java.lang.*;
public class Util extends Object
public static void RunThis(java.lang.String args)
Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
int rc = -1;
try
Process p = rt.exec(args);
int bufSize = 4096;
BufferedInputStream bis =
new BufferedInputStream(p.getInputStream(), bufSize)
int len;
byte buffer[] = new byte[bufSize];
// Echo back what the program spit out
while ((len = bis.read(buffer, 0, bufSize)) != -1)
System.out.write(buffer, 0, len);
rc = p.waitFor();
catch (Exception e)
e.printStackTrace();
finally
PL/SQL Wrapper :
create or replace procedure rc (cmd VARCHAR2) as
language java name 'Util.RunThis(java.lang.String)';
Execution:
begin
rc('c:\dba_tools\jobs\test.cmd');
end ;
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>date /t
Fri 03/26/2004
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>time /t
10:48 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> /
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>date /t
Fri 03/26/2004
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>time /t
10:48 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> /
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>date /t
Fri 03/26/2004
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>time /t
10:49 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> /
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>date /t
Fri 03/26/2004
D:\oracle\ora92\DATABASE>time /t
10:50 AM
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
The only thing I really changed was the reurn value from the java procedure. If it has a return value then it should be declared as a function, not a procedure. Since you probably (apparently) weren't using the return value I dropped it and made it a procedure.