How to choose an AWT-EventQueue thread, when there are several of them

Question

I successfully injected my own Java code in a running Oracle Forms application, using DLL Injection and some jni trickery. (Windows 7, 32 bits, Oracle Forms 11, JRE Java 8)

I am able to traverse the tree of Components and to query and set values in some basic Java objects, such as those from class oracle.forms.ui.VTextField

I am stuck when trying to simulate user click on a oracle.apps.fnd.ui.Button

I tried 2 things :

call the simulatePush method of the AbstractButton class
call the activate method of the PushButton class

(the 2 classes are in the class hierarchy for Button)

Results were identical: 1. At first, it works fine: when the button is a "Search" button, the search is done and the results are displayed. 2. Then, it immediately breaks the application, with a pop-up saying FRM-92100 Your connection to the Server was interrupted.

From there, the Application is hung.

Update: It seems that the error which cause a disconnection from the Server is:

java.lang.SecurityException: this KeyboardFocusManager is not installed in the current thread's context at java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager.checkCurrentKFMSecurity(Unknown Source) at java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager.getGlobalFocusOwner(Unknown Source) at java.awt.KeyboardFocusManager.processSynchronousLightweightTransfer(Unknown Source) at sun.awt.windows.WComponentPeer.processSynchronousLightweightTransfer(Native Method) at sun.awt.windows.WComponentPeer.requestFocus(Unknown Source) at java.awt.Component.requestFocusHelper(Unknown Source) at java.awt.Component.requestFocusHelper(Unknown Source) at java.awt.Component.requestFocus(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.UICommon.updateFocus(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.UICommon.setFVP(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.UICommon.setFVP(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.UICommon.onUpdate(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.ComponentItem.onUpdate(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.JavaContainer.onUpdate(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.handler.UICommon.onUpdate(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.onUpdateHandler(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.processMessage(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.processSet(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.onMessageReal(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.onMessage(Unknown Source) at oracle.forms.engine.Runform.processEventEnd(Unknown Source) at oracle.ewt.lwAWT.LWComponent.redispatchEvent(Unknown Source) at oracle.ewt.lwAWT.LWComponent.processEvent(Unknown Source) at oracle.ewt.button.PushButton.activate(Unknown Source) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source) at CustomAWT.run(CustomAWT.java:34) at java.awt.event.InvocationEvent.dispatch(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue.access$400(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue$2.run(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue$2.run(Unknown Source) at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method) at java.security.AccessControlContext$1.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source) at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)

My code is here: CustomAWT.run(CustomAWT.java:34) and is called with invokeLater. Problem is probably: when calling the oracle.ewt.button.PushButton.activate method, I am NOT in the right EDT.

Using "List Threads" in the Java Console, I got:

Dump thread list ...
Group main,ac=30,agc=2,pri=10
    main,5,alive
    traceMsgQueueThread,5,alive,daemon
    Timer-0,5,alive
    Java Plug-In Pipe Worker Thread (Client-Side),5,alive,daemon
    AWT-Shutdown,5,alive
    AWT-Windows,6,alive,daemon
    AWT-EventQueue-0,6,alive
    SysExecutionTheadCreator,5,alive,daemon
    CacheMemoryCleanUpThread,5,alive,daemon
    CacheCleanUpThread,5,alive,daemon
    Browser Side Object Cleanup Thread,5,alive
    JVM[id=0]-Heartbeat,5,alive,daemon
    Windows Tray Icon Thread,5,alive
    Thread-13,5,alive
Group Plugin Thread Group,ac=3,agc=0,pri=10
    AWT-EventQueue-1,6,alive
    TimerQueue,5,alive,daemon
    ConsoleWriterThread,6,alive,daemon
Group http://xxxx.xxxx.xxxxx.xx:8001/OA_JAVA/-threadGroup,ac=13,agc=0,pri=4
    Applet 1 LiveConnect Worker Thread,4,alive
    AWT-EventQueue-2,4,alive
    thread applet-oracle/apps/fnd/formsClient/FormsLauncher.class-1,4,alive
    Applet 2 LiveConnect Worker Thread,4,alive
    thread applet-oracle.forms.engine.Main-2,4,alive
    Forms-StreamMessageReader,4,alive
    Forms-StreamMessageWriter,4,alive
    HeartBeat,4,alive
    Busy indicator,1,alive,daemon
    TaskScheduler timer,4,alive
    CursorIdler,4,alive
    Thread-14,4,alive
    Flush Queue,4,alive
Done.

So, there is THREE AWT-EventQueue threads... Question is now: How to query/retrieve the right one, and how to make the Runnable passed to invokeLater to run in the "Good Thread" (I guess that the good one is the last one (AWT-EventQueue-2)

Have you tried with the `separateFrame="True"` applet parameter? — dan, Dec 14 '15 at 20:16
@dan I have no way to change anything on the server. Not sure I understand what you are suggesting. The Oracle Forms application (Oracle Application eBusiness Center) is already running as a main Window, child of the Window Desktop. — manuell, Dec 15 '15 at 07:40

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 21 '15 at 17:21

After a lot of experimentation and google searches with keywords like EventQueue and ThreadGroup I have finally found a solution (in the Works For Me category, mind you).

I use the sun.awt.AppContext class. Some documentation and sources here (grepcode.com)

Get a Collection of the running AppContext's using the getAppContexts method.
For each retrieved AppContext, get his ThreadGroup using the getThreadGroup method.
With the ThreadGroup object, Use the getName method.
When the name of the Thread Group starts with the http: address of your Forms Application, retrieve the Object property with key name sun.awt.AppContext.EVENT_QUEUE_KEY, using the get method of AppContext.
The retrieved object is an EventQueue. Create an java.awt.event.InvocationEvent object, passing your Runnable to the CTOR, and use the postEvent method of EventQueue.
Your run method will be executed in the right thread.

Remarks:

This answer is a specific, works for me, solution for an Oracle Forms Application launched via an Internet Explorer link, and running in a java.exe process. In that situation, the 3 Thread Groups are as shown in the question: main, Plugin Thread Group, and http://xxxx.xxxx.xxxxx.xx:8001/OA_JAVA/-threadGroup Your mileage may vary.
If you don't use full reflection, but instead do import sun.awt.AppContext, the compiler may emit warnings in the form warning: sun.awt.AppContext is Sun proprietary API and may be removed in a future release That's not very cool, but I will live with that, for the time being.
In the run method, I tested OK with the simulatePush method of oracle.ewt.lwAWT.AbstractButton.
The method emulated here is invokeLater. For invokeAndWait, more code is needed around the postEvent call. See some sources for the EventQueue class, as a starting point.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '17 at 10:57

To get the correct EDT thread regardless of your thread group, you can use SunToolkit.targetToAppContext(Object target), and for the parameter you can feed it the AWT component you intend to act on. Example source.

Then get the EventQueue using EventQueue eq = SunToolkit.getSystemEventQueueImplPP(appContext);

Finally, create a new InvocationEvent with your runnable and call postEvent on the EQ.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 17 '15 at 10:46

You should be able to extend VButton class Your class definition should be something like:

public class AmazingButton extends VButton implements FocusListener

Then you need an init class like:

public void init(IHandler handler)
  {
    m_handler = handler;
    super.init(handler);
    addMouseListener(new ButtonMouseAdapter());
    addFocusListener(this);
  }

And then afterwards you need to implement the listeners and do some stuff in it:

public void focusGained(FocusEvent e)
     {
         if (e.getComponent() == this)
         {
             // put the focus on the component
             e.getComponent().requestFocus();
             bFocus = true ;
         }
     }

  public void focusLost(FocusEvent e)
     {     
       bFocus = false ;
     }

  /**
   * Private class to handle user mouse actions
   */
  class ButtonMouseAdapter extends MouseAdapter
  {
    /**
     * User moved the mouse over the button
     */
    public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent me)
    {
      bFocus=true ;
      mouseON();
    }

    /**
     * User moved the mouse out of the button
     */
    public void mouseExited(MouseEvent me)
    {
      bFocus=false ;
      mouseOFF();
    }
    /**
     * User moved the mouse out of the button
     */
    public void mousePressed(MouseEvent me)
    {
      bPressed = true ;
    }
    /**
     * User moved the mouse out of the button
     */
    public void mouseReleased(MouseEvent me)
    {
      bPressed = false ;
    }

  }

I hope this code works for you.

Regards

I don't understand why this should be an answer to my question, sorry. Please read carefully the question. My problem is about invoking a GUI method in the right EDT thread. — manuell, Dec 17 '15 at 17:34

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Dec 18 '15 at 13:58

I successfully injected my own Java code in a running Oracle Forms application, using DLL Injection and some jni trickery.

That is the real problem here, IMO.

You are suffering from target fixation, which means that you, the programmer, has a fixed mental idea of what kind of solution they want and this blinds you to everything else. Target fixation has resulted in plane crashes, as even highly experienced and intelligent pilots ( in fact whole cockpits ! ) have become so fixated on one issue in one mindset that they let other disasters slip right by.

Get out of this frame of mind.

Your desired solution is not working out, so move on and try something else. Like the sensible option already presented to you by @nightfox79 and variations on that.

You are trying to circumvent a complex object class, when you should probably simply be extending the existing class you are trying to hack your way around. That's the whole basis of OOPs development.

DLL/JNI Trickery has no place in a sensible solution, IMO.

And I pity the person who has to maintain and repair any code solution based on a DLL/JNI hack. That way madness lies.

Your theory that invokeLater() is not running under the right EDT is probably wrong. invokeLater() will, according to the documentation, always queue the code you request onto the pending code list for the AWT Event handler, which is precisely where it should be. Trying to bypass that is almost certain to cause ghastly problems. The entire purpose of invokeLater() is to defer heavyweight processing in the EDT you invoke it from, and run it later on the exact same thread. It's a bug in invokeLater() if it does not, IMO.

If, however, you wish to check what thread code is running in then the only test I know of is to use this in your code ;

if (SwingUtilities.isEventDispatchThread())
{
    System.err.println("Is running on EDT");
}
else
{
    System.err.println("Is not running on EDT");
}

I can't modify the Oracle Forms Application. When my injected code uses `involkeLater`, the `Runnable` finally runs in a thread named `AWT-EventQueue-0`. Same thing when I use `getSystemEventQueue` and `postEvent` with an `InvocationEvent`. See the Thread List in the question. The EDT I should use is named `AWT-EventQueue-2`, and that's effectively the one that's called when I install one `AWTEventListener`. Question is really about how to select the correct `EventQueue`/`EDT`. — manuell, Dec 18 '15 at 17:16
You are, in essence, trying to bypass what sounds awfully like a security barrier - your code throws a SecurityException, after all. If you are not permitted or able to install the event listener on the correct thread, the you probably should not be doing this at all. You should probably accept that and find a different solution to whatever you're actually trying to provide in the way of functionality. Sometimes that is the only solution. — StephenG - Help Ukraine, Dec 18 '15 at 17:37
I am permitted and able to install my own `AWTEventListener`, and I correctly receive all events, in the `AWT-EventQueue-2` Java thread. The request for "simulate Push Button action" comes, asynchronously from another process, and that's why I need a way to retrieve the good EventQueue (because if I just use `getSystemEventQueue` my `Runnable` will run in the `AWT-EventQueue-0`). — manuell, Dec 18 '15 at 18:18

How to choose an AWT-EventQueue thread, when there are several of them

4 Answers4

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