Reading JVM heap bin file through java program

I can successfully generate take heap snapshot and save it as a binary file.
Now , the problem is as I don't know the structure / format of binary heap file , I can not read it from program. I know , I can do it using jhat. But I want to do it through code.

Any pointers in this regard ?

Thanks in advance..

This might be obvious... but if you want to write code which reads and interprets that file, you need to know its format. So your next step is to find that out.

Also, presumably "jhat" is a program, so it's reading the file "through code". However if you don't want to use that code, then yes, you need to write your own.

Paul Clapham wrote:This might be obvious... but if you want to write code which reads and interprets that file, you need to know its format. So your next step is to find that out.

Also, presumably "jhat" is a program, so it's reading the file "through code". However if you don't want to use that code, then yes, you need to write your own.

Yeah , I know that. I just wanted to know the format of binary file , as even after exhaustive googling I could not find anything in this regard.

I haven't checked, but I guess each JVM vendor has its own format for that. And it probably won't be easy to find much documentation around this.

Well, MAT is open source. I am pretty sure you can find all the code you need to parse heap dumps in there.