Issues and limitations on AIX

From service refresh 7, the Java launcher (java command) and utilities (such as javac, jconsole, jar and others) set the environment variable MALLOCOPTIONS=multiheap,considersize to improve performance, particularly when the OpenJCEPlus security provider is used. If you start a process from your Java code (for example by using the java.lang.ProcessBuilder or java.lang.Runtime.exec() APIs) that inherits the environment in which your Java code runs, this environment variable is also set for that process, which might cause issues.

If you do not want the MALLOCOPTIONS variable set for the new process, either exclude the variable from the environment when you start the new process in your Java code, or start the new process then remove the variable. For example, if you are using the java.lang.ProcessBuilder API, you can use the environment() method to return a Map object that lists the environment variables that are in effect. You can then remove the MALLOCOPTIONS environment variable from the Map object before you use the start() method to start the new process. Alternatively, if the new process is a UNIX shell script, you can start the process without modifying the inherited environment, then specify unset MALLOCOPTIONS in the shell script so that the variable is removed after the process starts.

If one or more GNOME libraries are not available, the Desktop API might not work.

If you are using this release on 64-bit AIX, with UTF-8 locale and the local graphics terminal uses the UTF-8 locale, you might see an exception from java.io.Console.

IZ97736: CANNOT CONTROL TTY ATTRIBUTE BY USING 64BIT PROGRAM

IZ97912: CANNOT CONTROL TTY ATTRIBUTE BY USING 64BIT PROGRAM

You must close the candidate window and commit pre-edited strings before you switch the Input Method (IM) by using the IM selection menu. If you open the IM selection menu without either closing the candidate window or committing a pre-edited string, cancel the menu, then close the candidate window, and finally commit the pre-edited string. You can then try to switch the IM again.

DBCS characters might not display correctly in the title of a JFrame. To avoid this problem, set the language in the terminal login screen instead of in a prompt after you have logged in.

Swing applications might not render GUI components correctly if the GTK libraries are not correctly installed on your system. This issue is not seen on Version 7, which is not sensitive to the same conditions. If you receive console messages that indicate libraries are missing, install those libraries to rectify the problem.

By default on AIX, the system-wide udp_sendspace setting is 9216 bytes. If you are trying to send buffer data with a length greater than 9216 bytes, a UDP Datagram socket failure occurs. You can increase the size of the buffer by using the setSendBufferSize() function available in DatagramSocket.socket.setSendBufferSize(SEND_SIZE);.

The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) color palette now supports high color settings. As a result, the default SystemColor settings for the Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT) are now the same as Motif Toolkit on earlier releases. To revert to the earlier AWT color palette settings, set the ibm.awt.mediumColor system property to true. For more information, see Miscellaneous system property command-line options.