Gregory Hildstrom Projects Publications Resume Contact About Youtube

Calling Java Class Methods from C with JNI

It never fails. There is some great piece of code that will save you tons of time, but it is written in Java and your project is written in C or C++. Okay, I've really only needed this a few times, but sometimes calling Java class methods from C code with JNI is the best approach. I leveraged existing examples and web pages heavily, but many of them did not include a Makefile or any sort of build notes. This is what worked for me: hello_world.tar.gz.

helloWorld.java

public class helloWorld{
	public static void main(String[] args){
		System.out.println("Hello, World");
	}
	public static int square(int input){
		int output = input * input;
		return output;
	}
	public static int power(int input, int exponent){
		int output,i;
		output=1;
		for(i=0;i<exponent;i++){
			output *= input;
		}
		return output;
	}
}

hello_world.c

/*
These three pages were instrumental while trying to get this working.
I started with existing examples, got them working, and updated
them to make sure I understood how things worked. If you are trying this
for the first time, I suggest adding a new method with different arguments
to the Java class and then calling it from this C program.
Use 'javap -s -p helloWorld.class' to get the new method signature.
After that is working, package the class in a jar file, update the class
path in this C source file, and get that working.
http://www.inonit.com/cygwin/jni/invocationApi/c.html
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/22881/How-to-Call-Java-Functions-from-C-Using-JNI
http://java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/Programming/JDCBook/jniexamp.html
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <jni.h>

JNIEnv* create_vm(JavaVM **jvm)
{
    JNIEnv* env;
    JavaVMInitArgs args;
    JavaVMOption options;
    args.version = JNI_VERSION_1_6;
    args.nOptions = 1;
    options.optionString = "-Djava.class.path=./";
    args.options = &options;
    args.ignoreUnrecognized = 0;
    int rv;
    rv = JNI_CreateJavaVM(jvm, (void**)&env, &args);
    if (rv < 0 || !env)
        printf("Unable to Launch JVM %d\n",rv);
    else
        printf("Launched JVM! :)\n");
    return env;
}

void invoke_class(JNIEnv* env)
{
    jclass hello_world_class;
    jmethodID main_method;
    jmethodID square_method;
    jmethodID power_method;
    jint number=20;
    jint exponent=3;
    hello_world_class = (*env)->FindClass(env, "helloWorld");
    main_method = (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, hello_world_class, "main", "([Ljava/lang/String;)V");
    square_method = (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, hello_world_class, "square", "(I)I");
    power_method = (*env)->GetStaticMethodID(env, hello_world_class, "power", "(II)I");
    (*env)->CallStaticVoidMethod(env, hello_world_class, main_method, NULL);
    printf("%d squared is %d\n", number,
        (*env)->CallStaticIntMethod(env, hello_world_class, square_method, number));
    printf("%d raised to the %d power is %d\n", number, exponent,
        (*env)->CallStaticIntMethod(env, hello_world_class, power_method, number, exponent));
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    JavaVM *jvm;
    JNIEnv *env;
    env = create_vm(&jvm);
    if(env == NULL)
        return 1;
    invoke_class(env);
    return 0;
}

Makefile

all: run

helloWorld.class: helloWorld.java
	/usr/java/latest/bin/javac helloWorld.java

hello_world: hello_world.c
	gcc -o hello_world \
	-L /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/server/ \
	-ljvm \
	-I /usr/java/latest/include/ \
	-I /usr/java/latest/include/linux/ \
	hello_world.c

run: helloWorld.class hello_world
	export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/server/"
	./hello_world

clean:
	rm -f helloWorld.class hello_world

Building and Test Output

[BUILDROOT-RHEL5 hello_world]# make
/usr/java/latest/bin/javac helloWorld.java
gcc -o hello_world \
        -L /usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/server/ \
        -ljvm \
        -I /usr/java/latest/include/ \
        -I /usr/java/latest/include/linux/ \
        hello_world.c
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/java/latest/jre/lib/amd64/server/"
./hello_world
Launched JVM! :)
Hello, World
20 squared is 400
20 raised to the 3 power is 8000