1. Overview
Threads are fundamental building blocks for concurrent programming in Java. In many applications, we might need to locate a specific thread by its name to perform operations like debugging, monitoring, or even interacting with the thread’s state.
In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to retrieve a thread by its name in Java.
2. Understanding Thread Names in Java
Each thread has a unique name that helps identify it during execution. While the JVM automatically names threads (e.g., Thread-0, Thread-1, etc.), we can assign custom names to threads for better traceability:
Thread customThread = new Thread(() -> {
log.info("Running custom thread");
}, "MyCustomThread");
customThread.start();
This thread’s name is set to MyCustomThread.
Next, let’s explore ways to get a thread by its name.
3. Using Thread.getAllStackTraces()
The Thread.getAllStackTraces() method provides a map of all live threads and their corresponding stack traces. This map allows us to loop through all active threads and search for a specific thread by its name.
Here’s how we can use this method:
public static Thread getThreadByName(String name) {
return Thread.getAllStackTraces()
.keySet()
.stream()
.filter(thread -> thread.getName().equals(name))
.findFirst()
.orElse(null); // Return null if thread not found
}
Let’s dive into the details of what we’re doing in this method:
- The Thread.getAllStackTraces() method returns a Map<Thread, StackTraceElement[]> of all live threads.
- We use the stream() method for easier processing using Java’s Stream API, then filter the stream to include only threads whose name matches the input.
- If a match is found, we return that thread. Otherwise, we return null.
Let’s verify our method with a unit test:
@Test
public void givenThreadName_whenUsingGetAllStackTraces_thenThreadFound() throws InterruptedException {
Thread testThread = new Thread(() -> {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000); // Simulate some work
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
}
}, "TestThread");
testThread.start();
Thread foundThread = ThreadFinder.getThreadByName("TestThread");
assertNotNull(foundThread);
assertEquals("TestThread", foundThread.getName());
testThread.join(); // Ensure the thread finishes
}
Let’s see the key points of the test:
- Thread creation: We create a thread named TestThread that simulates some work by sleeping for a moment.
- Assertions: We check that the thread with the given name is found using each method and verify its name.
- Thread joining: Finally, we ensure the created thread finishes with join() to avoid lingering threads.
4. Using ThreadGroup
The ThreadGroup class is another option to locate a thread by its name. A ThreadGroup represents a group of threads and allows us to manage or inspect them as a collective entity. By querying a specific thread group, we can locate a thread by name.
There are multiple ways to access ThreadGroup:
- Get the current ThreadGroup via Thread.currentThread().getThreadGroup()
- Create a new ThreadGroup explicitly with new ThreadGroup(name)
- Navigate to the root group by following parent references
Here’s a solution using ThreadGroup:
public static Thread getThreadByThreadGroupAndName(ThreadGroup threadGroup, String name) {
Thread[] threads = new Thread[threadGroup.activeCount()];
threadGroup.enumerate(threads);
for (Thread thread : threads) {
if (thread != null && thread.getName().equals(name)) {
return thread;
}
}
return null; // Thread not found
}
Here’s what we do in this solution:
- The activeCount() method estimates the number of active threads in the thread group.
- The enumerate() method populates an array with all active threads.
- We iterate through the array to find and return the thread matching the desired name.
- If no match is found, we return null.
Let’s also have a unit test for this method:
@Test
public void givenThreadName_whenUsingThreadGroup_thenThreadFound() throws InterruptedException {
ThreadGroup threadGroup = Thread.currentThread().getThreadGroup();
Thread testThread = new Thread(threadGroup, () -> {
try {
Thread.sleep(1000);
} catch (InterruptedException e) {
Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
}
}, "TestThread");
testThread.start();
Thread foundThread = ThreadFinder.getThreadByThreadGroupAndName(threadGroup, "TestThread");
assertNotNull(foundThread);
assertEquals("TestThread", foundThread.getName());
testThread.join();
}
5. Conclusion
In this article, we examined two ways to get a thread by its name in Java. The Thread.getAllStackTraces() method is simpler but retrieves all threads without scoping, while the ThreadGroup approach gives us more control over specific groups of threads.