Getting "java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space" exception while reading xlsx file using POI 3.7

[Pooja De]

This is very intermittent problem and does not occur regularly.

I am reading an xlsx file using POI 3.7 and I have code as follows,

ReadOnlySharedStringsTable strings = new ReadOnlySharedStringsTable(this.xlsxPackage);
XSSFReader xssfReader = new XSSFReader(this.xlsxPackage);
StylesTable styles = xssfReader.getStylesTable();

When I do xssfReader.getStylesTable() I get a stacktrace as follows,

Caused by: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: PermGen space
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass1(Native Method)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.defineClass(ClassLoader.java:621)
        at java.security.SecureClassLoader.defineClass(SecureClassLoader.java:124)
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.defineClass(URLClassLoader.java:260)
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.access$000(URLClassLoader.java:56)
        at java.net.URLClassLoader$1.run(URLClassLoader.java:195)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at java.net.URLClassLoader.findClass(URLClassLoader.java:188)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:307)
        at sun.misc.Launcher$AppClassLoader.loadClass(Launcher.java:301)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClass(ClassLoader.java:252)
        at java.lang.ClassLoader.loadClassInternal(ClassLoader.java:320)
        at java.lang.Class.forName0(Native Method)
        at java.lang.Class.forName(Class.java:247)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.schema.SchemaTypeImpl.getJavaImplClass(SchemaTypeImpl.java:1709)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.schema.SchemaTypeImpl.getJavaImplConstructor(SchemaTypeImpl.java:1725)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.schema.SchemaTypeImpl.createUnattachedNode(SchemaTypeImpl.java:1853)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.schema.SchemaTypeImpl.createElementType(SchemaTypeImpl.java:1021)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.values.XmlObjectBase.create_element_user(XmlObjectBase.java:893)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.store.Xobj.getUser(Xobj.java:1657)
        at org.apache.xmlbeans.impl.store.Xobj.find_all_element_users(Xobj.java:2080)
        at org.openxmlformats.schemas.spreadsheetml.x2006.main.impl.CTCellXfsImpl.getXfArray(Unknown Source)
        at org.apache.poi.xssf.model.StylesTable.readFrom(StylesTable.java:148)
        at org.apache.poi.xssf.model.StylesTable.<init>(StylesTable.java:92)
        at org.apache.poi.xssf.eventusermodel.XSSFReader.getStylesTable(XSSFReader.java:84)
        at ariba.collaborate.spreadsheet.basic.ExcelReaderXSSF.process(ExcelReaderXSSF.java:172)

I tried searching for this on forums and on Google but did not come across anyone who has run into this. Does anyone know why I got this and how I should proceed with a resolution?

Thanks.

[Tim Moores]

POI needs a lot of memory when dealing with sizable files. Try increasing the Permgen space using something like "XX:MaxPermSize=128m".