Changing Java memory in DbVisualizer 9.1.3 and later versions


Starting with DbVisualizer 9.1.3 Java VM properties such as virtual memory is modified from within the DbVisualizer user interface. You find the Java VM Properties setup in Tools->Tool Properties and in the General top level category.



The screenshot shows two text areas, the bottom area lists the default Java properties while the upper shows properties set by the user. In this example the default Java memory is specified as -Xmx768m. To increase the memory from 768m to 1024m insert for example

-Xmx1024m in the upper text area. 


Note: Don't set the -Xmx property higher than the available RAM on the machine as it may result in Java not being able to launch properly. If you experience problems starting DbVisualizer open a file explorer tool on your system and remove this file depending on operating system:


Windows: C:\Users\<user>\.dbvis\user.vmoptions

Linux/Unix: /home/<user>/.dbvis/user.vmoptions

Mac OS X: /Users/<user>/.dbvis/user.vmoptions


Java properties for the dbvisgui and dbviscmd scripts are changed by editing respective script.


The memory information shown in the DbVisualizer status bar shows information about memory available for new tabs, result sets etc. It does not include memory reserved for internal processing and the max amount is therefore always lower than the value specified by the 

-Xmx option. With -Xmx512m, the status bar max value is typically 341M.


Also note that if you still run out of memory after increasing the max memory, you may find the hints about how to reduce the memory requirements in Handling Memory Constraints helpful.


NOTE: If the _JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable is set and includes any of the Java VM properties that are set in DbVisualizer. The _JAVA_OPTIONS properties are used first. If this happens, Java will printout for example "Picked up _JAVA_OPTIONS: -Xmx512m" when starting DbVisualizer.


Changing Java VM memory in 9.1.3 and earlier versions

The following explains how to increase the memory for each platform for versions older than DbVisualizer 9.1.3 or when the current runtime don't allow changing memory settings from within the DbVisualizer UI.

Windows/Linux/UNIX:

  1. Open the DBVIS-HOME\dbvis.vmoptions options file in a texteditor. (This file is located in the installation directory for DbVisualizer).
  2. Any Java system property can be added to this file and each row is interpreted as a standard system property to the Java VM
  3. To increase the maximum memory available for Java modify the property -Xmx768m

(This example sets the memory to 768MB but you can set it to any value that is appropriate for your system). 


Mac OS X:

On Mac OS X, edit the Info.plist file to change the Java VM parameters including the maximum memory property.