java.lang.System.currentTimeMillis() replace method

Question

Aside from recompiling rt.jar is there any way I can replace the currentTimeMillis() call with one of my own?

1# The right way to

Answer 1

I'm not 100% sure if I oversee something here, but you can create your own System class like this:

public static class System {
    static PrintStream err = System.err;
    static InputStream in = System.in;
    static PrintStream out = System.out;

    static void arraycopy(Object src, int srcPos, Object dest, int destPos, int length) {
        System.arraycopy(src, srcPos, dest, destPos, length);
    }

    // ... and so on with all methods (currently 26) except `currentTimeMillis()`

    static long currentTimeMillis() {
        return 4711L; // Your application specific clock value
    }
}

than import your own System class in every java file. Reorganize imports in Eclipse should do the trick. And than all java files should use your applicatikon specific System class.

As I said, not a nice solution because you will need to maintain your System class whenever Java changes the original one. Also you must make sure, that always your class is used.