The Java Language Specification, Third Edition

17.8 Wait Sets and Notification THREADS AND LOCKS
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17.8 Wait Sets and Notification
17.8.1 Wait
Wait actions occur upon invocation of wait(), or the timed forms
wait(long millisecs) and wait(long millisecs, int nanosecs). A call
of wait(long millisecs) with a parameter of zero, or a call of wait(long
millisecs, int nanosecs) with two zero parameters, is equivalent to an invocation
of wait().
A thread returns normally from a wait if it returns without throwing an
InterruptedException.
Let thread t be the thread executing the wait method on object m, and let n be
the number of lock actions by t on m that have not been matched by unlock
actions. One of the following actions occurs.
• If n is zero (i.e., thread t does not already possess the lock for target m) an
IllegalMonitorStateException is thrown.
• If this is a timed wait and the nanosecs argument is not in the range of 0-
999999 or the millisecs argument is negative, an IllegalArgumentException
is thrown.
• If thread t is interrupted, an InterruptedException is thrown and t's interruption
status is set to false.
• Otherwise, the following sequence occurs:
1. Thread t is added to the wait set of object m, and performs n unlock actions on
m.
2. Thread t does not execute any further instructions until it has been removed
from m's wait set. The thread may be removed from the wait set due to any
one of the following actions, and will resume sometime afterward.
DRAFT
◆ A notify action being performed on m in which t is selected for removal
from the wait set.
◆ A notifyAll action being performed on m.
◆ An interrupt action being performed on t.
◆ If this is a timed wait, an internal action removing t from m's wait set that
occurs after at least millisecs milliseconds plus nanosecs nanoseconds
elapse since the beginning of this wait action.