IBM User Guide for Java V7 on Windows > Troubleshooting and support > Problem determination > Windows problem determination

Receiving OutOfMemoryError exceptions

An OutOfMemoryError exception results from running out of space on the Java™ heap or the native heap.

If the Java heap is exhausted, an error message is received indicating an OutOfMemoryError condition with the Java heap.

If the process address space (that is, the native heap) is exhausted, an error message is received that explains that a native allocation has failed. In either case, the problem might not be a memory leak, just that the steady state of memory use that is required is higher than that available. Therefore, the first step is to determine which heap is being exhausted and increase the size of that heap.

If the problem is occurring because of a real memory leak, increasing the heap size does not solve the problem, but does delay the onset of the OutOfMemoryError exception or error conditions. That delay can be helpful on production systems.

The maximum size of an object that can be allocated is limited only by available memory. The maximum number of array elements supported is 2^31 - 1, the maximum permitted by the Java Virtual Machine specification. In practice, you might not be able to allocate large arrays due to available memory. Configure the total amount of memory available for objects using the -Xmx command-line option.

These limits apply to both 32-bit and 64-bit JVMs.

Parent: Windows problem determination

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