org.apache.logging.log4j.util

Class ReflectionUtil

java.lang.Object

org.apache.logging.log4j.util.ReflectionUtil

public final class ReflectionUtil
extends Object

Consider this class private. Provides various methods to determine the caller class.

Background

This method, available only in the Oracle/Sun/OpenJDK implementations of the Java Virtual Machine, is a much more efficient mechanism for determining the Class of the caller of a particular method. When it is not available, a SecurityManager is the second-best option. When this is also not possible, the StackTraceElement[] returned by Throwable.getStackTrace() must be used, and its String class name converted to a Class using the slow Class.forName(java.lang.String) (which can add an extra microsecond or more for each invocation depending on the runtime ClassLoader hierarchy).

During Java 8 development, the sun.reflect.Reflection.getCallerClass(int) was removed from OpenJDK, and this change was back-ported to Java 7 in version 1.7.0_25 which changed the behavior of the call and caused it to be off by one stack frame. This turned out to be beneficial for the survival of this API as the change broke hundreds of libraries and frameworks relying on the API which brought much more attention to the intended API removal.

After much community backlash, the JDK team agreed to restore getCallerClass(int) and keep its existing behavior for the rest of Java 7. However, the method is deprecated in Java 8, and current Java 9 development has not addressed this API. Therefore, the functionality of this class cannot be relied upon for all future versions of Java. It does, however, work just fine in Sun JDK 1.6, OpenJDK 1.6, Oracle/OpenJDK 1.7, and Oracle/OpenJDK 1.8. Other Java environments may fall back to using Throwable.getStackTrace() which is significantly slower due to examination of every virtual frame of execution.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
static Class<?>	getCallerClass(Class<?> anchor)
static Class<?>	getCallerClass(int depth)
static Class<?>	getCallerClass(String fqcn)
static Class<?>	getCallerClass(String fqcn, String pkg)
static Stack<Class<?>>	getCurrentStackTrace()
static boolean	supportsFastReflection()

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

supportsFastReflection

public static boolean supportsFastReflection()

getCallerClass

public static Class<?> getCallerClass(int depth)

getCallerClass

public static Class<?> getCallerClass(String fqcn)

getCallerClass

public static Class<?> getCallerClass(String fqcn,
                                      String pkg)

getCallerClass

public static Class<?> getCallerClass(Class<?> anchor)

getCurrentStackTrace

public static Stack<Class<?>> getCurrentStackTrace()