diff -r f067b4e0e04b -r aa3d708d67c4 src/share/vm/ci/ciEnv.hpp
--- a/src/share/vm/ci/ciEnv.hpp	Wed Feb 01 10:36:58 2012 +0100
+++ b/src/share/vm/ci/ciEnv.hpp	Wed Feb 01 07:59:01 2012 -0800
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 1999, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 1999, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -284,6 +284,20 @@
   // Return state of appropriate compilability
   int compilable() { return _compilable; }
 
+  const char* retry_message() const {
+    switch (_compilable) {
+      case ciEnv::MethodCompilable_not_at_tier:
+        return "retry at different tier";
+      case ciEnv::MethodCompilable_never:
+        return "not retryable";
+      case ciEnv::MethodCompilable:
+        return NULL;
+      default:
+        ShouldNotReachHere();
+        return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   bool break_at_compile() { return _break_at_compile; }
   void set_break_at_compile(bool z) { _break_at_compile = z; }