octave from java

[frank buloup]

Hello,

I'm trying to use Octave from java but I'm facing a strange problem that 
have already
been encountered. From java program, I'm using Runtime exec to start an 
external
process, getting back input, output and error streams; sending command 
using
output stream and parsing the result from input stream. Everything is 
working fine
until a bad command is sent to Octave (a command containing a call to a 
function
from a package that has not been installed for instance) : octave seems 
to crash
and I 've not found any log file that could help me to debug something.

This problem has already been encountered, please see thread :

http://octave.1599824.n4.nabble.com/Octave-from-Java-td1630041.html#a1630055

Two points are mentioned from this thread :

1) Something has already been done in python using pipes or sockets - At 
the begining of the thread
2) Using Runtime exec approach, you must use "--interactive" option and 
read data in bytes - At the end of the thread

My questions :

1) Is anybody know how to use pipes or sockets and can give me some 
links, starting points
that could help me ?

2) I did not understood the read "data in bytes". There is no 
ByteBufferedReader class and
from a BufferedReader there exist only a read(char[],offset,length) 
method, but it reads chars,
not bytes !!! Must we use a BufferedInputStream instead ?

Thanks a lot for your help,
frank