Troubleshooting
Problem
Repeating "depth limit reached" messages in the FFDC (First failure data capture) logs.
Symptom
Found repeating "depth limit reached" messages in some of the FFDC (First failure data capture) logs.
Cause
A "depth limit reached" message indicates that the callstack for a particular method invocation executed by the FFDC trace component exceeded the limit imposed by the JVM.
Diagnosing The Problem
Here are just a few examples that one can encounter:
com.ibm.ws.container.AbstractContainer::attributes:java.util.Collections$SynchronizedMap@8041c depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::commands:java.util.ArrayList@45cc55 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::requestMapper:com.ibm.wsspi.webcontainer.util.URIMapper@69f621 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::parent:com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebGroupImpl@127522c depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::envObject:com.ibm.ws.util.WSThreadLocal@83ed40 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::perm:com.ibm.websphere.security.WebSphereRuntimePermission@14d060a depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::loader:com.ibm.ws.classloader.CompoundClassLoader@26354a depth limit reached
etc.
com.ibm.ws.container.AbstractContainer::attributes:java.util.Collections$SynchronizedMap@8041c depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::commands:java.util.ArrayList@45cc55 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::requestMapper:com.ibm.wsspi.webcontainer.util.URIMapper@69f621 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.core.BaseContainer::parent:com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebGroupImpl@127522c depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::envObject:com.ibm.ws.util.WSThreadLocal@83ed40 depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::perm:com.ibm.websphere.security.WebSphereRuntimePermission@14d060a depth limit reached
...
com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp::loader:com.ibm.ws.classloader.CompoundClassLoader@26354a depth limit reached
etc.
Resolving The Problem
FFDC is mainly an internal tool as described in our product documentation:
First failure data capture (FFDC)
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/was/8.5.5?topic=wtt-first-failure-data-capture-ffdc
"The FFDC feature instantly collects information about events and conditions that might lead up to a failure. The captured data in these files can be used to analyze a problem. FFDC is intended primarily for use by IBM Service."
Application errors are logged to SystemOut.log.
First failure data capture (FFDC)
https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/was/8.5.5?topic=wtt-first-failure-data-capture-ffdc
"The FFDC feature instantly collects information about events and conditions that might lead up to a failure. The captured data in these files can be used to analyze a problem. FFDC is intended primarily for use by IBM Service."
Application errors are logged to SystemOut.log.
It is not abnormal to get "depth limit reached" messages in the FFDC logs as the FFDC trace component is making recursive calls to print more information.
Related Information
[{"Product":{"code":"SSEQTP","label":"WebSphere Application Server"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"General","Platform":[{"code":"PF002","label":"AIX"},{"code":"PF010","label":"HP-UX"},{"code":"PF012","label":"IBM i"},{"code":"PF016","label":"Linux"},{"code":"PF014","label":"iOS"},{"code":"PF027","label":"Solaris"},{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"},{"code":"PF035","label":"z\/OS"}],"Version":"7.0;8.0;8.5","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]
Was this topic helpful?
Document Information
Modified date:
03 July 2023
UID
swg21674152