javah - C Header and Stub File Generator

javah produces C header files and C source files from a Java class. These files provide the connective glue that allow your Java and C code to interact.

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

javah 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 an object's instance variables from native source code. The .h file contains a struct definition whose layout parallels the layout of the corresponding class. The fields in the struct 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. javah can still be used to generate native method function proptotypes needed for JNI-style native methods. javah produces JNI-style output by default, and places the result in the .h file.

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

OPTIONS

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

-d directory
Sets the directory where javah saves the header files or the stub files. Only one of -d or -o may be used.

-stubs
Causes javah to generate C declarations from the Java object file.

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

-help
Print help message for javah usage.

-version
Print out javah version information.

-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.

-classpath path
Specifies the path javah uses to look up classes. Overrides the default or the CLASSPATH 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
-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/i18n.jar.

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

-force
Specifies that output files should always be written.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

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

SEE ALSO

javac, java, jdb, javap, javadoc