javah - C header and stub file generator

javah [ options ] fully-qualified-classname ...

javah_g [ options ] fully-qualified-classname ...

The javah command generates C header and source files that are needed to implement native methods. The generated header and source files are used by C programs to reference instance variables of an object from native source code. The .h file contains a structure definition whose layout parallels that of the corresponding class. The fields in the structure correspond to instance variables in the class.

The name of the header file and the structure declared within it are derived from the name of the class. If the class passed to javah is inside a package, the package name is prepended to both the header file name and the structure name. Underscores ( _ ) are used as name delimiters.

By default, javah creates a header file for each class listed on the command line and puts the files in the current directory. Use the -stubs option to create source files. Use the -o option to concatenate the results for all listed classes into a single file.

The new native method interface, Java Native Interface (JNI), does not require header information or stub files. The javah command can still be used to generate native method function prototypes needed for JNI-style native methods. javah produces JNI-style output by default, and places the result in the .h file.

The javah_g version is a non-optimized version of javah suitable for use with debuggers like jdb.

The following options are supported:

-bootclasspath path

Specifies path from which to load bootstrap classes. By default, the bootstrap classes are the classes implementing the core Java platform located in jre/lib/rt.jar and jre/lib/charsets.jar.

-classpath path

Specifies the path javah uses to look up classes. Overrides the default of the environment variable if it is set. Directories are separated by colons. Thus the general format for path is: .:<your_path> For example: .:/home/avh/classes:/usr/local/java/classes

-d directory

Sets the directory where javah saves the header files or the stub files.

-force

Specifies that output files should always be written.

-help

Prints help message for javah usage.

-jni

Causes javah to create an output file containing JNI-style native method function prototypes. This is the default output, so use of -jni is optional.

-o outputfile

Concatenates the resulting header or source files for all the classes listed on the command line into outputfile. Only the -o or -d option may be used.

-old

Specifies the old JDK1.0-style header files should be generated.

-stubs

Causes javah to generate C declarations from the Java object file. Only the -o or -d option may be used.

-trace

Tracing is no longer supported. Instead, use the -verbose:jni option of the virtual machine.

-verbose

Indicates verbose output and causes javah to print a message to stdout concerning the status of the generated files.

-version

Prints build version.

J option

Pass option to the Java virtual machine, where option is one of the options described on the man page for the java application launcher, java(1). For example, -J-Xms48m sets the startup memory to 48 megabytes. It is a common convention for -J to pass options to the underlying virtual machine.

Used to provide the system with a path to user-defined classes. Directories are separated by colons, for example, .:/home/avh/classes:/usr/local/java/classes

java(1), javac(1), javadoc(1), javap(1), jdb(1)