--- a/graal/com.oracle.graal.debug/src/com/oracle/graal/debug/Debug.java	Mon Sep 22 09:22:29 2014 +0200
+++ b/graal/com.oracle.graal.debug/src/com/oracle/graal/debug/Debug.java	Mon Sep 22 14:25:42 2014 +0200
@@ -929,7 +929,7 @@
 
     private static DebugMetric createMetric(String format, Object arg1, Object arg2) {
         String name = formatDebugName(format, arg1, arg2);
-        boolean conditional = enabledMetrics == null || !enabledMetrics.contains(name);
+        boolean conditional = enabledMetrics == null || !findMatch(enabledMetrics, enabledMetricsSubstrings, name);
         if (!ENABLED && conditional) {
             return VOID_METRIC;
         }
@@ -1083,32 +1083,57 @@
 
     private static final Set<String> enabledMetrics;
     private static final Set<String> enabledTimers;
+    private static final Set<String> enabledMetricsSubstrings = new HashSet<>();
+    private static final Set<String> enabledTimersSubstrings = new HashSet<>();
+
     static {
         Set<String> metrics = new HashSet<>();
         Set<String> timers = new HashSet<>();
-        parseMetricAndTimerSystemProperties(metrics, timers);
-        enabledMetrics = metrics.isEmpty() ? null : metrics;
-        enabledTimers = timers.isEmpty() ? null : timers;
+        parseMetricAndTimerSystemProperties(metrics, timers, enabledMetricsSubstrings, enabledTimersSubstrings);
+        enabledMetrics = metrics.isEmpty() && enabledMetricsSubstrings.isEmpty() ? null : metrics;
+        enabledTimers = timers.isEmpty() && enabledTimersSubstrings.isEmpty() ? null : timers;
+    }
+
+    private static boolean findMatch(Set<String> haystack, Set<String> haystackSubstrings, String needle) {
+        if (haystack.contains(needle)) {
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (!haystackSubstrings.isEmpty()) {
+            for (String h : haystackSubstrings) {
+                if (needle.startsWith(h)) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
     }
 
     public static boolean areUnconditionalTimersEnabled() {
-        return enabledTimers != null && !enabledTimers.isEmpty();
+        return enabledTimers != null;
     }
 
     public static boolean areUnconditionalMetricsEnabled() {
-        return enabledMetrics != null && !enabledMetrics.isEmpty();
+        return enabledMetrics != null;
     }
 
-    protected static void parseMetricAndTimerSystemProperties(Set<String> metrics, Set<String> timers) {
+    protected static void parseMetricAndTimerSystemProperties(Set<String> metrics, Set<String> timers, Set<String> metricsSubstrings, Set<String> timersSubstrings) {
         do {
             try {
                 for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> e : System.getProperties().entrySet()) {
                     String name = e.getKey().toString();
                     if (name.startsWith(ENABLE_METRIC_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX) && Boolean.parseBoolean(e.getValue().toString())) {
-                        metrics.add(name.substring(ENABLE_METRIC_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length()));
+                        if (name.endsWith("*")) {
+                            metricsSubstrings.add(name.substring(ENABLE_METRIC_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length(), name.length() - 1));
+                        } else {
+                            metrics.add(name.substring(ENABLE_METRIC_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length()));
+                        }
                     }
                     if (name.startsWith(ENABLE_TIMER_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX) && Boolean.parseBoolean(e.getValue().toString())) {
-                        timers.add(name.substring(ENABLE_TIMER_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length()));
+                        if (name.endsWith("*")) {
+                            timersSubstrings.add(name.substring(ENABLE_TIMER_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length(), name.length() - 1));
+                        } else {
+                            timers.add(name.substring(ENABLE_TIMER_PROPERTY_NAME_PREFIX.length()));
+                        }
                     }
                 }
                 return;
@@ -1206,7 +1231,7 @@
 
     private static DebugTimer createTimer(String format, Object arg1, Object arg2) {
         String name = formatDebugName(format, arg1, arg2);
-        boolean conditional = enabledTimers == null || !enabledTimers.contains(name);
+        boolean conditional = enabledTimers == null || !findMatch(enabledTimers, enabledTimersSubstrings, name);
         if (!ENABLED && conditional) {
             return VOID_TIMER;
         }