Reading streams from java Runtime.exec

Question

I have the following snippet of code:

Process proc = runtime.exec(command);
errorGobbler = new ErrorStreamGobbler(proc.getErrorStream(), logErrors, mdcMap);
outputGobbler = new OutputStreamGobbler(proc.getInputStream(), mdcMap);
executor.execute(errorGobbler);
executor.execute(outputGobbler);
processExitCode = proc.waitFor();

where the gobblers are Runnables which use a BufferedReader to read the input and error streams of the executing process. While this works most of the time, I get the occasional window (of about 2 minutes or so) where I get the processExitCode as 0, which indicates normal termination but there is nothing in the input and error streams - nothing to even indicate end-of-stream.

Like I indicated before, this works most of the time but this failure occurs every once in a while - and I am totally puzzled. Any ideas?

Rags

Langsyne

A little more context - this is a multi-threaded application where lots of Runtime.exec() occur simultaneously. Rags – Langsyne

You mean the stream gobblers block forever? – Mccrae

Yes they do! They just hang... – Langsyne

Answer 1

I've struggled with the same kind of issues. I can't remember what exactly was wrong (maybe I forgot to flush / close the streams correctly or something ...). Anyway, here is what I came up with.

/**
 *  Handle communication with a process, reading its output/error and feeding its input
 *  @param process The process to execute
 *  @param _in Reader that will feed the input pipe of the process
 *  @param out Writer that will receive the output of the process
 *  @param err Writer that will receive the error pipe of the process
 */
public static void communicate(
        Process process,
        final Reader _in,
        final Writer out,
        final Writer err)
{
    // Buffer the input reader
    final BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(_in);

    // Final versions of the the params, to be used within the threads
    final BufferedReader stdOut = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
    final BufferedReader stdErr = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
    final BufferedWriter stdIn = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(process.getOutputStream()));

    // Thread that reads std out and feeds the writer given in input
    new Thread() {
        @Override public void run() {
            String line;
            try {
                while ((line = stdOut.readLine()) != null) {
                   out.write(line + newline);
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {throw new Error(e);}
            try {
                out.flush();
                out.close();
            } catch (IOException e) { /* Who cares ?*/ }
        }
    }.start(); // Starts now

    // Thread that reads std err and feeds the writer given in input
    new Thread() {
        @Override public void run() {
            String line;
            try {
                while ((line = stdErr.readLine()) != null) {
                    err.write(line + newline);
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {throw new Error(e);}
            try {
                err.flush();
                err.close();
            } catch (IOException e) { /* Who cares ?*/ }
        }
    }.start(); // Starts now

    // Thread that reads the std in given in input and that feeds the input of the process
    new Thread() {
        @Override public void run() {
            String line;
            try {
                while ((line = in.readLine()) != null) {
                    stdIn.write(line + newline);
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {throw new Error(e);}

            try {
                stdIn.flush();
                stdIn.close();
            } catch (IOException e) { /* Who cares ?*/ }
        }
    }.start(); // Starts now

    // Wait until the end of the process
    try {
         process.waitFor();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new Error(e);
    }

} // End of #communicate

I hope this helps.

Tannatannage

I was already doing all of this and was still seeing a lot of these issues. After a lot of the trial and error, I think I've finally figured it out: the thread pool was running out of threads (even though it should not have) and the threads to read the streams never actually started. I'll be taking that question over to the Spring forums! (I'm using their thread pool implementation) Thanks for your input! – Langsyne