cgojava-native-interfacecgojavah

How do I call a Java Native Interface C function from my Go code?


I am up with implementing my Java Native Interface functions in Golang using the golang C lib.
Now I want to convert a jstring to an UTF-8 string using the JNI function GetStringUTFChars but I get an error when doing it. These are the steps I have done:

In my Java class (called MyClass) where I have defined the JNI method, I have:

public static native void print(String msg);

Using javah, I have generated the .h-file with the function defined in C language:

JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_mypackage_MyClass_print
  (JNIEnv *, jclass, jstring);

Then, in my Go code I have the following code:

package main

// #cgo CFLAGS: -I/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home/include
// #cgo CFLAGS: -I/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_131.jdk/Contents/Home/include/darwin
/*
#include <jni.h>
*/
import "C"

//export Java_com_mypackage_MyClass_print
func Java_com_mypackage_MyClass_print(env *C.JNIEnv, clazz C.jclass, str C.jstring) {

    _ = C.GetStringUTFChars(env, str, 0)

}

When I build the go file using:
go build -buildmode=c-shared -o libmyclass.dylib libmyclass.go
then I get the following error:

could not determine kind of name for C.GetStringUTFChars

How should I call the GetStringUTFChars defined in the JNI spec so I then can print the string with fmt.println?

EDIT 2
Removed "edit 1" since the procedure above was correct, it was just the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable that was not set.


Solution

  • JNI functions like GetStringUTFChars are function pointers and cannot be called directly from Go. You have to wrap the functions you need in a separate C file. e.g.

    jx.c

    #include <jni.h>
    
    const char* jx_GetStringUTFChars(JNIEnv *env, jstring str, jboolean *isCopy) {
        return (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, str, isCopy);
    }
    

    After creating a library from the C file, your Go file will look something like this:

    package main
    
    /*
    #cgo CFLAGS: -I/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_162/include/ -I/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_162/include/linux/
    #cgo LDFLAGS: -L${SRCDIR}/ -ljx
    
    #include "jx.h"
    */
    import "C"
    import (
        "fmt"
    )
    
    //export Java_com_mypackage_MyClass_print
    func Java_com_mypackage_MyClass_print(env *C.JNIEnv, clazz C.jclass, str C.jstring) {
        s := C.jx_GetStringUTFChars(env, str, (*C.jboolean)(nil))
        fmt.Println(C.GoString(s))
    }
    
    func main() {}
    

    The reason why there is a separate C file just for the wrapper function is because of this clause in the documentation:

    Using //export in a file places a restriction on the preamble: since it is copied into two different C output files, it must not contain any definitions, only declarations.