issuing hard drive commands with java

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+1 Q:

issuing hard drive commands with java

Does anyone know of a way to issue commands to a hard drive within Java? Does Java even support this kind of hardware interaction?

For example, if I have a SCSI hard drive that I would like to inquiry, is there a pre-existing Java method to do this, or would I have to write my own?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI has some general information on SCSI commands in case you aren't familiar.

+4 A:

Java doesn't support talking directly to hardware like that. However, you can use JNI to call a C/C++ function from Java that can.

dj_segfault 2008-12-24 00:13:25

Can I use other languages with JNI to access the hard drive, or is it limited to C/C++?Alternatively, would it be possible to write a program entirely in C/C++ that is called/run by a Java program?

Blue 2008-12-24 00:24:20

Yes and Yes. I've heard you can use aseambly directly, and yes, you can run a complete program from Java.

OscarRyz 2008-12-24 00:56:59

+1 A:

No, since Java runs in a "virtual" machine rather than a real one. But it could be used as a bridge as dj mentioned earlier using JNI.

According to Wikipedia JNI can also call assembly directly. JNI could be used to call complete programs written in C or C++

OscarRyz 2008-12-24 00:18:42

If the C/C++ code is a complete program, there's no reason to use JNI; you can just execute the program. JNI is non-trivial to implement, so I wouldn't use it unless I needed to.JNI is used to call *functions* in other languages. I used it at Polaroid to talk to a credit card reader.

dj_segfault 2008-12-24 04:14:20

+1 A:

Three words "JNI or JNA". I strongly recommend taking a look at the latter to see if it suits your situation, instead of just opting for JNI.

Software Monkey 2008-12-24 06:16:09

you need to write the HDD interface code in C/C++ and then call that from Java using JNI

JRomio 2008-12-24 07:12:55

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