Will system.gc() force garbage collection?

what impact will the method system.gc() have if i call it in one of the user methods.

If you use Sun's HotSpot 1.5.0 JVM (or later) with the -XX:+UseConcurrentMarkSweepGC (low-latency) garbage collector, you can use the additional flag -XX:+ExplicitGCInvokesConcurrent to have calls to System.gc() initiate a concurrent collection, rather than cause a stop-the-world compacting collection, which calling System.gc() usually does. Most people who run the low-latency collector are trying to avoid the pauses caused by compacting collections.
If you have some annoying third-party library that calls System.gc() and that upsets your application's performance, you can use the additional flag -XX:+DisableExplicitGC to make calls to System.gc() into no-ops. That works with whatever collector you are using.

Similar Messages

Do you think JOptionPane dialogs force garbage collection afterwards?

I ask because I've made a nested static class to implement my own file selection tool; the problem is that each time I call it the old JPanel is being recalled and so the components get re-added to it each time it's called, resulting in n versions of each file for every n times you open it.
I'm running myDialog.dispose() upon exiting, so is my only option now manual garbage collection? How could I force it to be garbage collected? Because System.gc() seems to have no effect.

Strictly speaking there is no way to force garbage collection, so, no, JOptionPane will not be doing it.
You almost certainly have a leak in your code. Post it and we may be able to help.

Applescript: force garbage collection?

Hello
I am trying to call applescript functions (from my cocoa application - using NSAppleScript's -executeAndReturnError), to automate some operations in Microsoft Word.
The problem is that after every Applescript call, the Word operates slower and slower (and i guess finally it won't respond at all). I am calling operations, like "set myvar to all words of current document whose [some conditional]" or "set myvar to all fields of current document whose [some conditional]" (which are memory consuming - on each call Word enumerates all the words of a long document, searches there some matches, etc), and i think that after each call of NSAppleScript's -executeAndReturnError, Word doesn't clean its previous "results", which slows it down with every next call. I wanted to try to do an explicit call of Applescript's garbage collector after each -executeAndReturnError from my Cocoa app, maybe that could eliminate the problem i have.
But i didn't find any info on how to do that. Java, ActionScript - both have System.gc() functions (that launch Garbage collection if it's needed right here and right now). If theres no way to force garbage collecting in AppleScript, maybe someone knows "implicit ways", when AppleScript engine calls it? Like the next iteration of a loop, or some other conditions? Or some timespan, after passing which the GC is called?
What could cause that slowness of Mac:Word? Is it a mistake of Microsoft, or am i forgetting to do something? If someone could advice readings about how applications usually implement Applescript interface "from the inside" (and who is responsible for cleaning the results of each call), i'd be very thankful.
Thanks for any advice!
George

If you really want to see the results you should also run the finalizer
thread on the newly garbage collected objects. It might take up to 2 GC
cycles for the memory to be actually free for new allocation at least on
the Sun JVMs. Maybe the new types of garbage collectors do it better or
more optimized but anyway, the GC would first mark the objects and only
then the finalizer will run to call the finalize method. Then next GC
will free the memory of the finalized objects.
HTH,
Dejan
Dinesh wrote:
Hi Slava Imeshev,
Thanks for immediate response. I agree JVM will do GC at specific interval. But,
I have found that , there is some difference in both of them. If you invoke "Force
Garbage Collection" explicitly, the graph will show the heap memory usage to baseline.
Where in, if you perform System.gc(). It won't make much difference.
Thus why, I want to know what is the code behind the "Force Garbage Collection"
button.
Thanks,
-Dinesh.
"Slava Imeshev" <[email protected]> wrote:
"Dinesh" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:406a8df4$[email protected]..
How can i schedule "Force Garbage Collection" to be done at every
week or daily?.
Can i automate this process instead of manually invoking the button?
GC is already done by JVM automatically.
Why would you want to "schedule" it?
Regards,
Slava Imeshev

Memory leak in java / forcing garbage collection for unused resource?

Is there any possibility in big programs if not designed properly for leakage of memory?
If say i forget to force garbage collection of unused resouces what will happen?
Even if i am forcing garbage collection how much assurity can be given to do so?
I need answers w.r.t typical programming examples if someone can provide i will be happy.
Or any useful link.
Thanks
Vijendra

Memory leaks are usually much related with C/C++ programming since in that language you have direct access to memory using pointers.
Now, in Java you do not have access to pointers, however you could still tie up your objects in a way that the garbage collection can not remove them.
Basically, the grabage collection will search all the object implementation, and see if they are referenced or not. If not it will free that memory. However if you, somehow in you code allow a reference to your object then the garbage collection will not displose of that object.
An example I can think of is when developing web applications. For example storing objects in the session will mean that you will have a reference to the object from the session, therefore the garbage collection will not free up the meomry taken by those objects untill the session has expired.
That is how I know it... at least that is how they tought it to me!
regards,
sim085

Force Garbage Collection through scripting

Hi ,
I am using weblogic server 8.1.5 on windows 2003 server.
can we do force garbage collection through a script? If so can i have a sample script for the same?
OS:windows 2003 server
thanks in advance.
Madan Mohan

And the key here is "any length of time". I used to have WLDF notification on for all errors in the log file, but I specifically disabled it for the "almost out of memory" error, because it happened constantly, even when we didn't really have a memory problem. It's a little harder to determine the "any length of time" constraint. I'm not aware of an interface to "gc()" through WLST, which would be the most practical way to do this.
I think it's possible the "shape" of your free/used memory patterns would change if you changed your GC algorithm. If you're currently using a "stop the world" collector, the free memory percentage will probably decrease almost to zero before it collects. However, if you use a generational collector, it's possible in normal operation that you won't get down so close to zero before it collects. In that case, the "almost out of memory" error might be more meaningful.

Why can we force Garbage Collection

Hello,
Why can we force garbage collection since we have AUTOMATIC garbage collection?

If you don't call dispose on the Window, it may keep a
GUI thread running in the background. Since this
thread is still running and accesible from the root,
it will hold onto the Window. You should always call
dipose() on Windows you want to be completely removed.I know I should that's why a mentioned it! But is it correct that I should have to? Nowhere in the documentation does it say so. The fundamental principle is you let go of all object references and eventually the object will be removed by the GC. In this case this important principle is broken.
At least a clear WARNING should be stated. Window (and all its subclasses) break an important principle of Java. If you don't call dispose your program will leak memory !!!

Force Garbage collection externally....

hi!
I am new to java.is it possible to the force Garbage collection externally?
can i achieve it by giving the command "System.gc();".pls give me idea...
Thanx
Rgds,

You can't force a full GC as far as I know. gc() might force a GC of the youngest generation.
Why do you think you need to force it?

Force Garbage Collection

Before I load a new level, should I force garbage collection on the old level? And if so, how?

Just remember that the method suggest the garbage collector to run, not forcing it..
If you have a lot of objects created that are later available for garbage collecting, you could try to reuse the objects instead of creating new ones (if garbage collection is really a problem for you).

When will wls try to garbage collect ?

The docs for the option "Low memory GC threshold" say that this is the "Threshold
level at which WLS will try to garbage collect once the granularity report has
been met".
My question is: When is this condition met ? If at least once there has been a
granularity report in the log ? Or if the server has been set to Warning state
The problem Im trying to address is that my "Low memory GC threshold" is set to
20% and my server has reached only 1% free memory and garbage collection did not
run, I had to force it via console.
Thanks in advance, Giselle

I am wonder when the WLS activate or passivate session and how can I          control it?
          > From documents, sessionWillPassivate in HttpSessionActivationListener will
          be
          > executed when a session is about to passivate on one server (ie. WLS
          instance)
          > and the sessionDidActivate method when the same session has been activated
          on
          > a second server.
          >
          > But I have monitor the behavior for a long time by setting
          PersistentStoreType
          > to file, memory, replicated. sessionDidActivate and sessionWillPassivate
          will
          > never executed. I expected it will passivate and activate when session is
          replicated
          > between servers or persist in files. Any ideas?
          What version of WL? the interface you describe was new in Servlet 2.3, so it
          may not be implemented until 6.1 or even 7.x.
          Peace,
          Cameron Purdy
          Tangosol, Inc.
          http://www.tangosol.com/coherence.jsp
          Tangosol Coherence: Clustered Replicated Cache for Weblogic
          "Karen Law" <[email protected]> wrote in message
          news:3ec86188$[email protected]..
          >

Howto Force Garbage Collection manually in Oracle Application Server

Hi,
I have a Oracle SOA suite installed on Oracle 10g Application Server. The heap memory for the SOA oc4j container is 2G with a permgen space of 256M. But it looks like there is some memory leak somewhere and the Heap area is getting filled frequently and this causes an *[libopmnoc4j] OC4J ping attempt timed out* and as a result of this the SOA oc4j container gets restarted automatically.
Is there any means by which we can force a Garbage Collection manually so that this automatic restart does not happen.
Kindly let me know if it is possible to trigger a Garbage Collection manually in Oracle Application Server.
Thanks,
Vijay.

We had a similar situation where the oc4j instance will throw OutOfMemoryException and opmn will restart a new instance every 10-12 hours. The JDBC 10.2.0.3 driver has a memory leak in the XA Resource classes. There is a fix available in metalink.

Can I force full garbage collection?

Hi, my program is memory bound , as users load more files more memory is required , if the user decides to load a very large number of files they will eventually run out of memory. So I am trying to detect when there is less 15% of heap memory left, then force garbage collection and if it cant free up more than 15% of the heap I will stop the user from loading any more files. But the problem is though I call System.gc() to try and force a full garbage collect it rarely
retrieve enough memory to get below the 15% limit. But using the Yourkit Profiler I can select the Force GarbageCollection option and this always manages to free up more memory to get the figure under the 15% limit. in support of this I found that sometimes my program stop me loading more files when there is still quite a bit available.
So my questions are.
1. I know System.gc() is only hint to garbage collect, but the docs imply it only replys after the garbage collection (if any) has been done, is this right or do I have to wait.
2. Is there any way to Force complete Garbage Collectionas profiler appears to do.
3. is there a VM option I could set instead to force the JVM to completely garbage collect at say 83% so that if I then polled that 85% of heap was being used I would know that it really was, and I wouldnt need to bother trying to garbage collect further. (Im using Suns 1.6. JVM on Windows and Linux, and Apples 1.5 or 1.6 JVM on Macs)
public static void checkMemoryWhilstLoadingFiles() throws LowMemoryException
        MemoryUsage mu = ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean().getHeapMemoryUsage();
        //No max defined future proofing
        if(mu.getMax()==-1)
            return;
        if (mu.getUsed() > (mu.getMax() * 0.85f))
            MainWindow.logger.warning("Memory low:" + mu);
            System.gc();
            MainWindow.logger.warning("Memory low gc1:" + ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean().getHeapMemoryUsage());
            System.gc();
            MainWindow.logger.warning("Memory low gc2:" + ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean().getHeapMemoryUsage());
            System.gc();
            MainWindow.logger.warning("Memory low gc3:" + ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean().getHeapMemoryUsage());
            mu = ManagementFactory.getMemoryMXBean().getHeapMemoryUsage();
            if (mu.getUsed() > (mu.getMax() * 0.85f))
                MainWindow.logger.severe("Memory too low:" + mu);
                throw new LowMemoryException("Running out of memory:"+mu.getUsed());
            else
                 MainWindow.logger.warning("Memory usage reduced to:" + mu);
    }thanks for any help Paul
Edited by: paultaylor on 27-Jun-2008 11:10

On all of the current Sun HotSpot JVM's, calling System.gc() will cause a full compacting collection. Unless you have -XX:+DisableExplicitGC on your command line, in which case the call is a noop. Or if you are running the mostly-concurrent collector (-XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC) and have the -XX:+ExplicitGCInvokesConcurrent flag on your command line, in which case calling System.gc() will start a concurrent collection (and the calling thread will block until the cycle is finished).
But calling System.gc() isn't enough to recover all the space that might be recovered. For example, System.gc() will identify objects that are unreferenced but need to have their finalize() methods called before their space becomes available again. So one call to System.gc() won't recover their space. Those finalize() methods need some cycles to run in, so back-to-back (or back-to-back-to-back :-) calls to System.gc() won't help. If you use a lot of finalize() methods, you should leave a lot of time for the finalize() methods to run between the calls to System.gc(). (Better would be to convert your code to use WeakReferences and run your own reference processing queues, and then you could tell when you were done processing references. But that's real work.) Some people try calling System.runFinalization() and wait for that to return, but that has at least two failure modes (details left to the reader).
In addition, there are details like: if there is still 15% of the heap free, then we won't aggressively clear SoftReferences when you call System.gc(). We might if you waited until the heap was full and we collected it on our own, since we know how much free space there will be after a collection at the point where we are choosing which SoftReferences to clear, and use that to decide how aggressively to clear SoftReferences.
There is no method to force the collector to do a compacting collection at, say 85% full. There is an option to have the mostly-concurrent collector start a collection cycle that way. But there's no way to find out if a collection cycle is running.
You are skating on the edge of the qualities of service offered by the different collectors in the various JVM's available. That weakens your ability to "write once, run anywhere".

Time machine is frozen and will not allow force quit

Time machine is frozen in a loop. It will not force quit and it will not stop. It last backed up almost 24 hrs ago and is now slowing Safari down with only a beach ball as any sign of life.

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a startup failure is to secure the data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since the last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to start. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Start up from the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.” The article refers to starting up from a DVD, but the procedure in Recovery mode is the same. You don't need a DVD if you're running OS X 10.7 or later.
b. If Step 1a fails because of disk errors, and no other Mac is available, then you may be able to salvage some of your files by copying them in the Finder. If you already have an external drive with OS X installed, start up from it. Otherwise, if you have Internet access, follow the instructions on this page to prepare the external drive and install OS X on it. You'll use the Recovery installer, rather than downloading it from the App Store.
c. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, start the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
d. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
If the startup process stops at a blank gray screen with no Apple logo or spinning "daisy wheel," then the startup volume may be full. If you had previously seen warnings of low disk space, this is almost certainly the case. You might be able to start up in safe mode even though you can't start up normally. Otherwise, start up from an external drive, or else use the technique in Step 1b, 1c, or 1d to mount the internal drive and delete some files. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of available space on the startup volume (as shown in the Finder Info window) for normal operation.
Step 3
Sometimes a startup failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 4
If you use a wireless keyboard, trackpad, or mouse, replace or recharge the batteries. The battery level shown in the Bluetooth menu item may not be accurate.
Step 5
If there's a built-in optical drive, a disc may be stuck in it. Follow these instructions to eject it.
Step 6
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to start up, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can start up now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
Step 7
If you've started from an external storage device, make sure that the internal startup volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Start up in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know the login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you start up in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, the startup volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 11. If you ever have another problem with the drive, replace it immediately.
If you can start and log in in safe mode, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then restart as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the startup process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 8
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select the startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then restart as usual.
Step 9
If the startup device is an aftermarket SSD, it may need a firmware update and/or a forced "garbage collection." Instructions for doing this with a Crucial-branded SSD were posted here. Some of those instructions may apply to other brands of SSD, but you should check with the vendor's tech support.
Step 10
Reinstall the OS. If the Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 11
Do as in Step 9, but this time erase the startup volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically restart into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer the data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 12
This step applies only to models that have a logic-board ("PRAM") battery: all Mac Pro's and some others (not current models.) Both desktop and portable Macs used to have such a battery. The logic-board battery, if there is one, is separate from the main battery of a portable. A dead logic-board battery can cause a startup failure. Typically the failure will be preceded by loss of the settings for the startup disk and system clock. See the user manual for replacement instructions. You may have to take the machine to a service provider to have the battery replaced.
Step 13
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store, or go to another authorized service provider.

Manual garbage collection

Im running a huge combinatorial generation algorithm and i'm starting to run into memory allocation errors on larger problem instances. I am using the -Xmx256m run time option on the JVM to give it more memory but im generating huge masses off stuff here.
The question I have is, if I know an object isnt going to be used again is it worth destroying it in memory yourself; i assume if you have some undesired object you can do something like this;
myObject = null;
and then call the garbage collector to free up the memory..firstly will this work, secondly what is there performance tradeoff for calling the garbage collector more often and lastly is the garbage collector allready efficient enough that doing things like this is probably not worth it.
Regards,
Dave

Setting references to null MAY help get immediate relief, but its not guarunteed to help. Same with the System.gc() call.
Doing both those thing will not enable the system to operate with less memory than before, as variables that are out of scope will be discovered during garbage collection, and garbage collection WILL run when the heap is fully utilized.
Doing the above may make the GC pause lower at the expense of worse performance.
Instead of doing the above, I'd recommand using the Incremental GC by specifying -Xincgc on the command line. This will run GC more often in the background, leading to shorter GC pauses, but about 10% performance hit in general.
If OTOH you are running into OutOfMemoryErrors and don't think you should be, you probably have a memory leak. Most likely you are allocating objects and storing them somewhere then forgetting about them. For example, if you stick an object in a HashMap, and then forget about it, that object will not be GC'd, unless the HashMap can be GC'd.

Cache voluntary garbage collection called

We have installed Oracle Web Cache 2.0.0.4.0 on Windows 2000. We setup the Maximum cache size parameter to 1000Mb, but, when we try to caching a web using WGET, Oracle Web Cache return a "cache voluntary garbage collection called" in the file of log: "event_log".
What is the problem?

The message you're seeing in the event log isn't necessarily a problem. The cache has a voluntary garbage collection mechanism that "wakes up" periodically, checks to see if the system is sufficiently idle, and begins to clear out garbage (invalidated/expired) files. This is different from "forced garbage collection", which occurs when the cache nears its maximum size.
Are you able to cache content? Are you seeing responses served out of the cache?
I would strongly advise you to upgrade to release 9.0.2, available for download on OTN. There is also a migration tool there for moving from 2.0.0.x to 9.0.2.x. After you've migrated, you can optionally apply the 9.0.2.1 patch set, available on Metalink.

A possibility to prevent garbage collection?

inspired by the topic "Why can we force Garbage Collection" i asked myself if it is possible to explicitly prevent the automatic garbage collection of the VM.
regards
~elchaschab

hmm.. you didn't understand my question.
it's not about prevent the VM from freeing unused
objects, it's about preventing it doing it at the
wrong moment (e.g. a highly interactive part of code).No. But Sun's current GC works in smallish increments to reduce the impact. In extremis, you'd have to look at the realtime java project.
As for preventing objects from being reclaimed, even storing a reference to the object isn't sufficient. You have to provide code that convinces the optimiser that the object will actually be used again in a way that the optimise can't conclude is functionally null. Putting it in a list that will be traversed by an on-exit handler, which in turn will pass it to a native method would do it. Not sure whether anything else is sufficient.
Now throw in Reference objects and finalizers, and things really get exciting :(
Sylvia.

Will system.gc() force garbage collection?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for