--- a/src/share/vm/gc_interface/gcCause.hpp	Tue May 15 22:26:37 2012 +0200
+++ b/src/share/vm/gc_interface/gcCause.hpp	Tue May 15 10:25:06 2012 +0200
@@ -88,4 +88,36 @@
   static const char* to_string(GCCause::Cause cause);
 };
 
+// Helper class for doing logging that includes the GC Cause
+// as a string.
+class GCCauseString : StackObj {
+ private:
+   static const int _length = 128;
+   char _buffer[_length];
+   int _position;
+
+ public:
+   GCCauseString(const char* prefix, GCCause::Cause cause) {
+     if (PrintGCCause) {
+      _position = jio_snprintf(_buffer, _length, "%s (%s)", prefix, GCCause::to_string(cause));
+     } else {
+      _position = jio_snprintf(_buffer, _length, "%s", prefix);
+     }
+     assert(_position >= 0 && _position <= _length,
+       err_msg("Need to increase the buffer size in GCCauseString? %d", _position));
+   }
+
+   GCCauseString& append(const char* str) {
+     int res = jio_snprintf(_buffer + _position, _length - _position, "%s", str);
+     _position += res;
+     assert(res >= 0 && _position <= _length,
+       err_msg("Need to increase the buffer size in GCCauseString? %d", res));
+     return *this;
+   }
+
+   operator const char*() {
+     return _buffer;
+   }
+};
+
 #endif // SHARE_VM_GC_INTERFACE_GCCAUSE_HPP