U.S. patent application number 09/799338 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-04 for system and method for software diagnostics using a combination of visual and dynamic tracing.
Invention is credited to Golender, Valery, Moshe, Ido Ben, Wygodny, Shlomo.
Application Number | 20020087949 09/799338 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26882280 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020087949 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Golender, Valery ; et
al. |
July 4, 2002 |
System and method for software diagnostics using a combination of
visual and dynamic tracing
Abstract
A software system is disclosed that provides remote
troubleshooting and tracing of the execution of computer programs.
The software system allows a remote software developer or help desk
person to troubleshoot computer environment and installation
problems such as missing or corrupted environment variables, files,
DLLs, registry entries, and the like. In one embodiment the
software system includes an information-gathering module that
gathers run-time information about program execution, program
interaction with the operating system and the system resources. The
information-gathering module also monitors user actions and
captures screen output. The information-gathering module passes the
gathered information to an information-display module. The
information-display module allows a support technician (e.g., a
software developer, a help desk person, etc.) to see the user
interactions with the program and corresponding reactions of the
system. In one embodiment, the information-display module allows
the support technician to remotely view environment variables, file
access operations, system interactions, and user interactions that
occur on the user's computer and locate failed operations that
cause execution problems
Inventors: |
Golender, Valery; (Kfar
Saba, IL) ; Moshe, Ido Ben; (Herzlia, IL) ;
Wygodny, Shlomo; (Ramut Hasharon, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
KNOBBE MARTENS OLSON & BEAR LLP
620 NEWPORT CENTER DRIVE
SIXTEENTH FLOOR
NEWPORT BEACH
CA
92660
US
|
Family ID: |
26882280 |
Appl. No.: |
09/799338 |
Filed: |
March 5, 2001 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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60186636 |
Mar 3, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
717/124 ;
714/E11.181; 714/E11.2; 714/E11.204; 714/E11.212 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 11/323 20130101;
G06F 9/453 20180201; G06F 11/366 20130101; G06F 11/3466 20130101;
G06F 9/547 20130101; G06F 11/3476 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
717/124 |
International
Class: |
G06F 009/44 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A software system that facilitates the process of identifying
and isolating software execution problems within a program without
requiring modifications to the executable of the client program,
said system comprising: an information-gathering module that
monitors selected events occurring during execution of the client
program and store data describing said events in a log file, said
information-gathering module configured to monitor API events,
message events, and program events, said information-gathering
module further configured to obtain screen captures during
execution of the client program, said information-gathering module
configured to connect to said client program at runtime by hooking
an in-memory executable image of said client program; and an
information-display module that displays information from said log
file, said information-display module configured to list events
logged in said log file, said information-display module further
configured to display screen captures obtained by said
information-gathering module, said information-display module
configured to run on a different computer than said
information-gathering module, thereby allowing remote
troubleshooting of said client program.
2. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors file access operations.
3. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors and highlights failed system
interactions
4. The software system of claim 1, wherein said information-display
module displays screen captures synchronized with logged
events.
5. The software system of claim 1, wherein said information-display
module replays screen captures in sequence.
6. The software system of claim 1, wherein said information-display
module replays screen captures in sequence to produce a screen
capture sequence, said information-display module also showing
event information in sequence to produce an event information
sequence, said event information sequence synchronized with said
screen capture sequence.
7. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors attempts by said client
program to access a windows registry.
8. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors use of DLLs.
9. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors attempts by said client
program to spawn a subprocess or create a thread.
10. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors database operations.
11. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-display module includes filters to control displaying
of events in said log file.
12. The software system of claim 1, wherein said
information-gathering module monitors interprocess communication
performed by said client program.
13. The software system of claim 12, wherein said interprocess
communication includes communication using COM.
14. The software system of claim 12, wherein said interprocess
communication includes communication using DCOM.
15. The software system of claim 12, wherein said interprocess
communication includes communication using semaphores.
16. The software system of claim 12, wherein said interprocess
communication includes communication using shared memory.
17. The software system of claim 12, wherein said interprocess
communication includes communication using network protocols.
18. A method for remotely troubleshooting problems occurring when
trying to execute a client program on a remote computer,
comprising: loading a client program on a remote computer to create
an in-memory executable image of said client program; loading an
information-gathering module on said remote computer, said
information-gathering module configured to connect to said client
program at runtime by hooking said in-memory executable image, said
information-gathering module configured to monitor selected events
occurring during execution of said client program and store event
data describing said events, said information-gathering module
configured to monitor API events, message events, and program
events, said information-gathering module further configured to
obtain screen captures during execution of said client program;
loading an information-display module on a second computer; and
sending said event data to said information-display module, said
information-display module configured to receive said event data
and list events logged in said event data, said information-display
module further configured to display screen captures obtained by
said information-gathering module.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors file access operations.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to access
non-existent files.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to access protected
files.
22. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to write to a full
disk.
23. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to access locked
files.
24. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to access one or
more registry entries.
25. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors use of one or more DLLs.
26. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to spawn a
subprocess.
27. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors attempts by said client program to create a
thread.
28. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-gathering
module monitors interprocess communication performed by said client
program.
29. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of defining
one or more filters to control how said information-display module
displays said event data.
30. The method of claim 18, wherein said information-display module
creates a first window to display a list of events monitored by
said information-gathering module, and wherein said
information-display module creates a second window to display
screen capture information from said remote computer.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein said information-display module
creates a third window to display a list of DLLs used by said
client program.
32. A system for remotely troubleshooting problems occurring when
trying to execute a client program on a remote computer,
comprising: means for monitoring events and capturing screenshots
occurring during execution of a client program and storing data
describing said events, said events including API events, message
events, and program events; means for hooking said means for
monitoring to an in-memory executable copy of said client program;
and an information-display module that displaying said data
describing said events, said information-display module configured
to list events in chronological order, said information-display
module further configured to display screen captures obtained by
said information-gathering module.
Description
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority benefit of
Provisional Application No. 60/186,636, filed Mar. 3, 2000, titled
"SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SOFTWARE DIAGNOSTICS USING COMBINATION OF
VISUAL AND DYNAMIC TRACING," the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to software tools for
assisting software developers and help desk personnel in the task
of monitoring and analyzing the execution of computer programs
running on remote computers and detection and troubleshooting of
execution problems.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] The problem of ascertaining why a particular piece of
software is malfunctioning is currently solved by a number of
techniques including static analysis of configuration problems and
conventional debugging techniques such as run-time debugging and
tracing. Despite the significant diversity in software tracing and
debugging programs ("debuggers"), virtually all debuggers share a
common operational model: the developer notices the presence of a
bug during normal execution, and then uses the debugger to examine
the program's behavior. The second part of this process is usually
accomplished by setting a breakpoint near a possibly flawed section
of code, and upon reaching the breakpoint, single-stepping forward
through the section of code to evaluate the cause of the
problem.
[0006] Two significant problems arise in using this model. First,
the developer needs to know in advance where the problem resides in
order to set an appropriate breakpoint location. Setting such a
breakpoint can be difficult when working with an event-driven
system (such as the Microsoft Windows.RTM. operating system),
because the developer does not always know which of the event
handlers (callbacks) will be called.
[0007] The second problem is that some bugs give rise to actual
errors only during specific execution conditions, and these
conditions cannot always be reproduced during the debugging
process. For example, a program error that occurs during normal
execution may not occur during execution under the debugger, since
the debugger affects the execution of the program. This situation
is analogous to the famous "Heizenberg effect" in physics: the tool
that is used to analyze the phenomena actually changes its
characteristics. The Heizenberg effect is especially apparent
during the debugging of time-dependent applications, since these
applications rely on specific timing and synchronization conditions
that are significantly altered when the program is executed
step-by-step with the debugger.
[0008] An example of this second type of problem is commonly
encountered when software developers attempt to diagnose problems
that have been identified by customers and other end users. Quite
often, software problems appear for the first time at a customer's
site. When trying to debug these problems at the development site
(typically in response to a bug report), the developer often
discovers that the problem cannot be reproduced. The reasons for
this inability to reproduce the bug may range from an inaccurate
description given by the customer, to a difference in environments
such as files, memory size, system library versions, and
configuration information. Distributed, client/server, and parallel
systems, especially multi-threaded and multi-process systems, are
notorious for having non-reproducible problems because these
systems depend heavily on timing and synchronization sequences that
cannot easily be duplicated.
[0009] When a bug cannot be reproduced at the development site, the
developer normally cannot use a debugger, and generally must resort
to the tedious, and often unsuccessful, task of manually analyzing
the source code. Alternatively, a member of the software
development group can be sent to the customer site to debug the
program on the computer system on which the bug was detected.
Unfortunately, sending a developer to a customer's site is often
prohibitively time consuming and expensive, and the process of
setting up a debugging environment (source code files, compiler,
debugger, etc.) at the customer site can be burdensome to the
customer.
[0010] Some software developers attempt to resolve the problem of
monitoring the execution of an application by imbedding tracing
code in the source code of the application. The imbedded tracing
code is designed to provide information regarding the execution of
the application. Often, this imbedded code is no more than code to
print messages which are conditioned by some flag that can be
enabled in response to a user request. Unfortunately, the imbedded
code solution depends on inserting the tracing code into the source
prior to compiling and linking the shipped version of the
application. To be effective, the imbedded code must be placed
logically near a bug in the source code so that the trace data will
provide the necessary information. Trying to anticipate where a bug
will occur is, in general, a futile task. Often there is no
imbedded code where it is needed, and once the application has been
shipped it is too late to add the desired code.
[0011] Another drawback of current monitoring systems is the
inability to correctly handle parallel execution, such as in a
multiprocessor system. The monitoring systems mentioned above are
designed for serial execution (single processor) architectures.
Using serial techniques for parallel systems may cause several
problems. First, the sampling activity done in the various parallel
entities (threads or processes) may interfere with each other
(e.g., the trace data produced by one entity may be over written by
another entity). Second, the systems used to analyze the trace data
cannot assume that the trace is sequential. For example, the
function call graph in a serial environment is a simple tree. In a
parallel processing environment, the function call graph is no
longer a simple tree, but a collection of trees. There is a
time-based relationship between each tree in the collection.
Displaying the trace data as a separate calling tree for each
entity is not appropriate, as this does not reveal when, during the
execution, contexts switches were done between the various parallel
entities. The location of the context switches in the execution
sequence can be very important for debugging problems related to
parallel processing.
[0012] Moreover, the computing model used in the Microsoft Windows
environment, which is based on the use of numerous sophisticated
and error-prone applications with many components interacting in a
complex way, requires a significant effort for system servicing and
support. Many Windows problems experienced by users are software
configuration errors that commonly occur when the users add new
programs and devices to their computers. Problems also occur due to
the corruption of important system files, resources, or setups.
Another important source of software malfunctioning is "unexpected"
user behavior that was not envisioned by the software developers
(as occurs when, for example, the user inadvertently deletes a file
needed by the application).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present invention overcomes these and other problems
associated with debugging and tracing the execution of computer
programs. The present invention provides features that allow a
remote software developer or help desk person to debug
configuration problems such as missing or corrupted environment
variables, files, DLLs, registry entries, and the like. In one
embodiment, a "visual problem monitor" system includes an
information-gathering module that gathers run-time information
about program execution, program interaction with the operating
system and the system resources. The information-gathering module
also monitors user actions and captures screen output. In one
embodiment, file interactions, DLL loading and/or registry accesses
are monitored non-intrusively. In one embodiment, the relevant
support information captured by the information-gathering module is
saved in a log file. The information-gathering module passes the
gathered information to an information-display module. In one
embodiment, the information-gathering module attaches to the
running program using a hooking process. The program being
monitored need not be specially modified or adapted to allow the
information-gathering module to attach.
[0014] The information-display module allows a support technician
(e.g., a software developer, a help desk person, etc.) to see the
user interactions with the program and corresponding reactions of
the system. This eliminates the "questions and answers" game that
support personnel often play with users in order to understand what
the user did and what happened on the user's PC. In one embodiment,
the information-display module allows the support technician to
remotely view environment variables, file access operations, system
interactions, and user interactions that occur on the user's
computer. In one embodiment, the information-display module allows
the support technician to remotely view crash information (in the
event of a crash on the user's computer), system information from
the user's computer, and screen captures from the user's
computer.
[0015] One aspect of the present invention is a software system
that facilitates the process of identifying and isolating bugs
within a client program by allowing a developer to trace the
execution paths of the client. The tracing can be performed without
requiring modifications to the executable or source code files of
the client program. In one embodiment, the system interaction
tracing can be performed even without any knowledge of the source
code or debug information of the client. Preferably, the trace data
collected during the tracing operation is collected according to
instructions in a trace control dataset, which is preferably stored
in a Trace Control Information (TCI) file. Typically, the developer
generates the TCI file by using a trace options editor program
having a graphical user interface. The options editor displays the
client's source code representation on a display screen together
with controls that allow the software developer to interactively
specify the source code and data elements to be traced. The options
editor may use information created by a compiler or linker, such as
debug information, in order to provide more information about the
client and thereby make the process of selecting trace options
easier. Once the trace options are selected, the client is run on a
computer, and a tracing library is used to attach to the memory
image of the client (the client process). The tracing library is
configured to monitor execution of the client, and to collect trace
data, based on selections in the trace options. The trace data
collected by the tracing library is written to an encoded buffer in
memory. The data in the buffer may optionally be saved to a trace
log file for later use.
[0016] The developer then uses a trace analyzer program, also
having a graphical user interface, to decode the trace information
into a human-readable form, again using the debug information, and
displays translated trace information on the display screen to
allow the developer to analyze the execution of the client program.
In a preferred embodiment, the trace options editor and the trace
analyzer are combined into a single program called the analyzer.
The analyzer is preferably configured to run under the control of a
multi-process operating system and to allow the developer to trace
multiple threads and multiple processes. The tracing library is
preferably configured to run in the same process memory space as
the client thereby tracing the execution of the client program
without the need for context switches.
[0017] In one embodiment, the software system provides a remote
mode that enables the client program to be traced at a remote site,
such as by the customer at a remote customer site, and then
analyzed at the developer site. When the remote mode is used, the
developer sends the TCI file for the particular client to a remote
user site together with a small executable file called the tracing
"agent." The agent is adapted to be used at the remote user site as
a stand-alone tracing component that enables a remote customer, who
does not have access to the source code of the client, to generate
a trace file that represents execution of the client application at
the remote site. The trace file is then sent to the developer site
(such as by email), and is analyzed by the software developer using
the analyzer. The remote mode thus enables the software developer
to analyze how the client program is operating at the remote site,
without the need to visit the remote site, and without exposing to
the customer the source code or other confidential details of the
client program.
[0018] The software system also preferably implements an online
mode that enables the software developer to interactively trace and
analyze the execution of the client. When the software system is
used in the online mode, the analyzer and agent are effectively
combined into one program that a developer can use to generate
trace options, run and trace the client, and display the trace
results in near real-time on the display screen during execution of
the client program.
[0019] In one embodiment, the support technician typically uses a
default TCI file that allows the trace system to trace interactions
and other important API functions without access to source code
and/or debug information. This is useful for troubleshooting
commercial applications such Microsoft Office, Internet Information
Server, CRM and ERP systems, and other legacy products and the
like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] A software system which embodies the various features of the
invention will now be described with reference to the following
drawings.
[0021] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating the use of the
system to create a trace control information file.
[0022] FIG. 1B is a block diagram illustrating the use of the
system in remote mode.
[0023] FIG. 1C is a block diagram illustrating the use of the
system to analyze a trace log file.
[0024] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the use of the system
in online mode.
[0025] FIG. 3A is an illustration of a typical main frame window
provided by the system's trace analyzer module.
[0026] FIG. 3B is an illustration of a typical main frame window
showing multiple threads.
[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates a process list window that lists the
processes to be traced.
[0028] FIG. 5 illustrates the trace options window that allows a
developer to select the functions to be traced and the information
to be collected during the trace.
[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates a file page window that provides a
hierarchical tree of trace objects listed according to hierarchical
level.
[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates a class page window that provides a
hierarchical tree of trace objects sorted by class.
[0031] FIG. 8 illustrates the process page window that provides a
hierarchical tree that displays the traced process, and the threads
for each process.
[0032] FIG. 9 illustrates the running process window that allows
the user to attach to and start tracing a process that is already
running.
[0033] FIG. 10 illustrates the start process window that allows the
user to load an executable file, attach to the loaded file, execute
the loaded file, and start tracing the loaded file.
[0034] FIG. 11 shows a trace detail pane that displays a C++ class
having several members and methods, a class derived from another
classes, and classes as members of a class.
[0035] FIG. 12 illustrates a trace tree pane, showing a break (or
tear) in the trace tree where tracing was stopped and then
restarted.
[0036] FIG. 13 is a flowchart which illustrates the process of
attaching to (hooking) a running process.
[0037] FIG. 14 is a flowchart which illustrates the process of
loading an executable file and attaching to (hooking) the
program.
[0038] FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the architecture of the
visual problem monitor system including the information-gathering
module and the information-display module.
[0039] FIG. 16 shows a multi-window display provided by the
information-display module.
[0040] FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the use of the system to
solve software support problems.
[0041] In the drawings, like reference numbers are used to indicate
like or functionally similar elements. In addition, the first digit
or digits of each reference number generally indicate the figure
number in which the referenced item first appears.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0042] The present invention provides a new model for software
diagnostics by tracing the execution path of a computer program and
user interaction with the computer program. In the preferred
embodiment of the invention, this tracing model is implemented
within a set of tracing and debugging tools that are collectively
referred to as the BugTrapper system ("BugTrapper"). The BugTrapper
tools are used to monitor and analyze the execution of a computer
program, referred to as a client. One feature of the BugTrapper is
that it does not require special instructions or commands to be
imbedded within the source code of the client, and it does not
require any modifications to be made to the source or executable
files of the client. "Tracing," or "to trace," refers generally to
the process of using a monitoring program to monitor and record
information about the execution of the client while the client is
running. A "trace" generally refers to the information recorded
during tracing. Unlike conventional debuggers that use breakpoints
to stop the execution of a client, the BugTrapper tools collect
data while the client is running. Using a process called
"attaching", the BugTrapper tools instrument the client by
inserting interrupt instructions at strategic points defined by the
developer (such as function entry points) in the memory image of
the client. This instrumentation process is analogous to the
process of connecting a logic analyzer to a circuit board by
connecting probes to test points on the circuit board. When these
interrupts are triggered, the BugTrapper collects trace information
about the client without the need for a context switch, and then
allows the client to continue running.
[0043] The BugTrapper implementations described herein operate
under, and are therefore disclosed in terms of, the Windows-NT/2000
and Windows-95/98 operating systems and the like. It will be
apparent, however, that the underlying techniques can be
implemented using other operating systems that provide similar
services. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent from
the following detailed description of the BugTrapper.
[0044] Overview of BugTrapper System and User Model
[0045] The BugTrapper provides two modes of use, remote mode, and
online mode. As discussed in more detail in the following text
accompanying FIGS 1A-1C, using remote mode a developer can trace
the remote execution of a program that has been shipped to an end
user (e.g. a customer or beta user) without providing a special
version of the code to the user, and without visiting the user's
site or exposing the source code level details of the program to
the user. The system can also be used in an online mode wherein the
developer can interactively trace a program and view the trace
results in real time.
[0046] Remote Mode
[0047] Remote mode involves three basic steps shown in FIGS. 1A
through 1C. In step 1, shown in FIG. 1A, a developer 112 uses a
program called the BugTrapper analyzer 106 to create a file called
a trace control information (TCI) file 120. The TCI file 120
contains instructions that specify what information is to be
collected from a program to be traced (the client). The analyzer
106 obtains information about the client from a build (e.g.,
compile and link) by-product, such as a link map file, or, as in
the preferred embodiment, a debug information file 121. Typically,
the debug information file 112 will be created by a compiler and
will contain information such as the names and addresses of
software modules, call windows, etc. for the specific client. The
developer 112 then sends the TCI file 120 and a small tracing
application called the agent 104 to a user 110 as shown in FIG. 1B.
The user 110 runs the agent 104 and the client 102 and instructs
the agent 104 to attach to the client 102. The agent attaches to
the client 102 by loading a client-side trace library 125 into the
address space of the client 102. An agent-side trace library 124 is
provided in the agent 104. The client-side trace library 125 and
the agent-side trace library 124 are referred to collectively as
the "trace library." The agent-side trace library 124 and the
client-side trace library 125 exchange messages through normal
interprocess communication mechanisms, and through a shared memory
trace buffer 105. The agent-side trace library 124 uses information
from the TCI file 102 to attach the client-side trace library 125
into the client 102, and thereby obtain the trace information
requested by the developer 112.
[0048] The agent 104 and the client-side trace library 125 run in
the same context so that the client 102 can signal the client-side
trace library 125 without performing a context switch and thus
without incurring the overhead of a context switch. For the
purposes herein, a context can be a process, a thread, or any other
unit of dispatch in a computer operating system. The client 102 can
be any type of software module, including but not limited to, an
application program, a device driver, or a dynamic link library
(DLL), or a combination thereof. The client 102 can run in a single
thread, or in multiple processes and/or multiple threads.
[0049] In operation, the agent 104 attaches to the client 102 using
a process known as "attaching." The agent 104 attaches to the
client 102, either when the client 102 is being loaded or once the
client 102 is running. Once attached, the agent 104 extracts trace
information, such as execution paths, subroutine calls, and
variable usage, from the client 102. Again, the TCI file 120
contains instructions to the client-side trace library 125
regarding the trace data to collect. The trace data collected by
the client-side trace library 125 is written to the trace buffer
105. On command from the user 110 (such as when a bug manifests
itself), the agent 104 copies the contents of the trace buffer 105
to a trace log file 122. In some cases, the log data is written to
a file automatically, such as when the client terminates. The user
110 sends the trace log file 122 back to the developer 112. As
shown in FIG. 1C, the developer 112 then uses the analyzer 106 to
view the information contained in the trace log file 122. When
generating screen displays for the developer 112, the analyzer 106
obtains information from the debug information file 121. Since the
analyzer 106 is used to create the TCI file 120 and to view the
results in the trace log file 122, the developer can edit the TCI
file 120 or create a new TCI file 120 while viewing results from a
trace log file 122.
[0050] Remote mode is used primarily to provide support to users
110 that are located remotely relative to the developer 112. In
remote mode, the agent 104 is provided to the user 110 as a
stand-alone component that enables the user to generate a trace log
file that represents the execution of the client. The TCI file 120
and the trace log file 122 both may contain data that discloses
secrets about the internal operation of the client 102 and thus
both files are written using an encoded format that is not readily
decipherable by the user 110. Thus, in providing the TCI file 120
and the agent 104 to the user, the developer 112 is not divulging
information to the user that would readily divulge secrets about
the client 102 or help the user 110 in an attempt to reverse
engineer the client 102. The Agent traces the client without any
need for modification of the client. The developer 112 does not
need to build a special version of the client 102 executable file
and send it to the customer, neither does the customer need to
pre-process the client executable file before tracing.
[0051] From the perspective of the remote user, the agent 104 acts
essentially as a black box that records the execution path of the
client 102. As explained above, the trace itself is not displayed
on the screen, but immediately after the bug reoccurs in the
application, the user 110 can dump the trace data to the trace log
file 122 and send this file to the developer 112 (such as by email)
for analysis. The developer 112 then uses the analyzer 106 to view
the trace log file created by the user 110 and identify the
problematic execution sequence. In remote mode, the user 110 does
not need access to the source code or the debug information. The
agent 104, the TCI file 120, and the trace log file 122 are
preferably small enough to be sent via email between the developer
112 and the user 110. Further details regarding the remote mode of
operation are provided in the sections below.
[0052] Online Mode
[0053] As shown in FIG. 2, the BugTrapper may also be used in an
online mode rather than remote mode as shown in the previous
figures. In this mode, the BugTrapper is used by the developer 112
to locally analyze a client 102, which will typically be a program
that is still being developed. For example, the online mode can be
used as an aid during the development as a preliminary or
complementary step to using a conventional debugger. In many cases
it is hard to tell exactly where a bug resides and, therefore,
where breakpoints should be inserted. Online mode provides the
proper basis for setting these breakpoints. Later, if further
analysis is required, a more conventional debugger can be used. In
online mode, the analyzer 106 is used to perform all of its normal
operations (e.g. creating the TCI file 120 and viewing the trace
results) as well as the operations performed by the agent 104 in
remote mode. Thus, in online mode, the agent 104 is not used
because it is not needed. The developer 112 uses the analyzer 106
to run the client 102 and attach the client-side trace library 125
to the client 102. In online mode, the analyzer 106 reads the trace
buffer 105 in near real-time to provide near real-time analysis
functionality. In the online mode, the analyzer 106 immediately
displays the trace information to the developer 112.
[0054] The developer 112 uses the analyzer 106 to interactively
create trace control information (TCI). The TCI may be sent to the
client-side trace library 125 via file input/output operations or
through conventional inter-process communication mechanisms such as
shared memory, message passing or remote procedure calls. The TCI
indicates to the client-side trace library 125 what portions of the
client 102 to trace, and when the tracing is to be performed. As
the client program 102 runs, the client-side trace library 125
collects the trace information and relays the information back to
the analyzer 106, which displays the information in near real-time
within one or more windows of the BugTrapper.
[0055] Operational Overview of the Tracing Function
[0056] Regardless of which operational mode is used (online or
remote), the client 102 is run in conjunction with the client-side
trace library 125. As described in detail below, the client-side
trace library 125 is attached to the in-memory image of the client
102 and generates trace information that describes the execution of
the client 102. The TCI file 120, provided by the developer 112,
specifies where tracing is to take place and what information will
be stored. Because the client is traced without the need for
context switches, the effect of this tracing operation on the
performance of the client 102 is minimal, so that even
time-dependent bugs can be reliably diagnosed. As described below,
this process does not require any modification to the source or
object code files of the client 102, and can therefore be used with
a client 102 that was not designed to be traced or debugged.
[0057] The analyzer 106 is used to analyze the trace data and
isolate the bug. The developer 112 may either analyze the trace
data as it is generated (online mode), or the developer 112 may
analyze trace data stored in the trace log file 122 (mainly remote
mode). As described below, the assembly level information in the
trace log file is converted back to a source level format using the
same debug information used to create the TCI file 120. During the
trace analysis process, the analyzer 106 provides the developer 112
with execution analysis options that are similar to those of
conventional debuggers, including options for single stepping and
running forward through the traced execution of the client 102
while monitoring program variables. In addition, the analyzer 106
allows the developer 112 to step backward in the trace, and to
search for breakpoints both in the future and in the past.
[0058] The attaching mechanism used to attach the client-side trace
library 125 to the client 102 involves replacing selected object
code instructions (or fields of such instructions) of the memory
image of the client 102 with interrupt (INT) instructions to create
trace points. The locations of the interrupts are specified by the
TCI file 122 that is created for the specific client 102. When such
an interrupt instruction is executed, a branch occurs to the
tracing library 125. The client-side trace library 125 logs the
event of passing the trace point location and captures
pre-specified state information, such as values of specific program
variables and microprocessor registers. The instructions that are
replaced by the interrupt instructions are maintained within a
separate data structure to preserve the functionality of the
application.
[0059] Overview of the Analyzer User Interface
[0060] The analyzer 106 comprises a User Interface module that
reads trace data, either from the trace buffer 105 (during on-line
mode tracing) or from the trace log file 122 (e.g. after remote
tracing) and displays the data in a format, such as a trace tree,
that shows the sequence of traced events that have occurred during
execution of the client 102. Much of the trace data comprises
assembly addresses. With reference to FIG. 1C, the analyzer 106
uses the debug information 121 to translate the traced assembly
addresses to comprehensive strings that are meaningful to the
developer. In order to save memory and gain performance, this
translation to strings is preferably done only for the portion of
the trace data which is displayed at any given time, not the whole
database of trace data. Thus, for example, in formatting a screen
display in the user interface, only the trace data needed for the
display in the user interface at any given time is read from the
log file 122. This allows the analyzer 106 to display data from a
trace log file 122 with more than a million trace records.
[0061] The debug information 121 is preferably created by a
compiler when the client is compiled. Using the debug information
121 the analyzer translates function names and source lines to
addresses when creating the TCI file 120. Conversely, the analyzer
106 uses the debug information 121 to translate addresses in the
trace data back into function names and source lines when
formatting a display for the user interface. One skilled in the art
will recognize that other build information may be used as well,
including, for example, information in a linker map file and the
Type Library information available in a Microsoft OLE-compliant
executable.
[0062] Preferably, the debug information is never used by the trace
libraries 124, 125 or the agent 102, but only by the analyzer 106.
This is desirable for speed because debug information access is
typically relatively slow. This is also desirable for security
since there is no need to send to the user 110 any symbolic
information that might disclose confidential information about the
client 102.
[0063] The analyzer 106 allows the developer 112 to open multiple
trace tree windows and define a different filter (trace control
instructions) for each of window. When reading a trace record, each
window filter is preferably examined separately to see if the
record should be displayed. The filters from the various windows
are combined in order to create the TCI file 120, which is read by
the client-side trace library 125. In other words, the multiple
windows with different filters are handled by the User Interface,
and the client-side trace library 125 reads from a single TCI file
120.
[0064] FIG. 3A is an illustration of a typical frame window 300
provided by the analyzer 106. The analyzer frame window 300
displays similar information both when performing online tracing
(online mode) and when displaying a trace log file (remote mode).
The frame window 300 is a split frame having four panes. The panes
include a trace tree pane 310, an "executable" pane 314, a trace
detail pane 316, and a source pane 318. The analyzer frame 300
further provides a menu bar 304, a dockable toolbar 306, and a
status bar 312. The menu bar 304 provides drop-down menus labeled
"File," "Edit," "View," "Executable," and "Help." The trace tree
pane 310 contains a thread caption bar 320, described below in
connection with the Analyzer. Below the thread caption bar 320 is a
trace tree 330. The trace tree 330 is a hierarchical tree control
that graphically displays the current trace information for the
execution thread indicated in the thread caption bar 320. The trace
tree 330 displays, in a hierarchical tree graph, the sequence of
function calls and returns (the dynamic call tree) in the
executable programs (collectively the client 102) listed in the
executable pane 314. Traced source lines also appear in the trace
tree, between the call and return of the function in which the
lines are located. FIG. 3 illustrates a single thread header and
thread tree combination (the items 320 and 330). However, multiple
thread captions and thread tree combinations will be displayed when
there are context switches between multiple threads or
processes.
[0065] The executable pane 314 displays an "executable" listbox
361. Each line in the executable listbox 361 displays information
about an executable image that is currently being traced. Each line
in the list box 361 displays a filename field 360, a process id
(PID) field 362, and a status field 364. Typical values for the
status field 364 include "running," "inactive," and "exited." The
trace detail pane 316 contains a trace detail tree 350, which that
is preferably implemented as a conventional hierarchical tree
control. The trace detail tree 350 displays attributes, variables
such as arguments in a function call window, and function return
values of a function selected in the trace tree 330. The source
pane 318 displays a source listing of one of the files listed in
the source listbox 361. The source listing displayed in the source
pane 318 corresponds to the source code of the function selected in
the trace tree 330 of to the selected source line. The source code
is automatically scrolled to the location of the selected
function.
[0066] The frame window 300 also contains a title bar which
displays the name of the analyzer 106 and a file name of a log or
Trace Control Information (TCI) file that is currently open. If the
current file has not yet been saved, the string "-New" is
concatenated to the file name display.
[0067] The status bar 312 displays the status of the analyzer 106
(e.g. Ready), the source code file containing the source code
listed in the source code pane 318, and the line and column number
of a current line in the source pane 318.
[0068] The toolbar 306 provides windows tooltips and the buttons
listed in Table 1.
[0069] FIG. 3B shows a typical frame window 300 with multiple
threads in the trace tree pane 310. FIG. 3B shows a separate trace
tree for each thread and a thread caption bar (similar to the
thread caption bar 320 shown in FIG. 3A) for each thread.
1TABLE 1 Buttons on the toolbar 306 Menu Button Equivalent Key
Description "Open" File .vertline. Open Ctrl+O Opens an existing
Trace Control Information file. "Save" File .vertline. Save Ctrl+S
Saves the current Trace Control Information to a file. "Clear" Edit
.vertline. Clear Clears the Trace Tree pane, the All Trace Detail
pane, and the Source pane. "Find" Edit .vertline. Find Ctrl+F Finds
a specific string in the executable source code or trace tree.
"Bookmark" Edit .vertline. Adds or deletes a bookmark for Bookmark
the currently selected function, or edits the name of an existing
bookmark. "Window" View .vertline. New Opens a new instance of the
Window analyzer. "Start/Stop" Executable .vertline. Starts or stops
tracing the Start/Stop executables listed in the Trace Executable
pane. "Add" Executable .vertline. Ins Adds an executable to the Add
Executable pane, without running it, so that it can be run and
traced at a later date. "Run" Executable .vertline. F5 When the
<New Executable> Run string is selected, adds an executable
to the Executable pane, starts this executable and begins tracing.
When an executable which is not running is selected in the
Executable pane, starts this executable and begins tracing.
"Attach" Executable .vertline. When the <New Executable>
Attach string is selected, attaches a running executable to the
Executable pane and begins tracing. When an executable that is not
traced is selected, attaches the running process of this
executable, if it exists. "Terminate" Executable .vertline.
Terminates the executable Terminate currently selected in the
Executable pane. "Options" Executable .vertline. Opens the Trace
Options Trace Options window in which you can specify the elements
that you want to trace for the selected executable.
[0070] Using the Analyzer to Create the TCI File
[0071] The TCI file 120 specifies one or more clients 102 and the
specific elements (functions, processes and so on) to be traced
either in online or remote mode. The TCI information is specified
in a trace options window (described in the text associated with
FIG. 5). The TCI file 120 is used to save trace control information
so that the same trace options can be used at a later time and to
send trace control information to a user 110 to trace the client
102. The subsections that follow provide a general overview of
selecting trace information for a TCI file 120 and descriptions of
various trace options, different ways to access the trace options,
and how to use the trace options to specify elements to be
traced.
[0072] The TCI file 120 for a client 102 is interactively generated
by the software developer 112 using the analyzer 106. During this
process, the analyzer 106 displays the source structure (modules,
directories, source files, C++ classes, functions, etc.) of the
client 102 using the source code debug information 121 generated by
the compiler during compilation of the client 102. As is well known
in the art, such debug information 121 may be in an open format (as
with a COFF structure), or proprietary format (such as the
Microsoft PDB format), and can be accessed using an appropriate
application program interface (API). Using the analyzer 106, the
developer 112 selects the functions and source code lines to be
traced. This information is then translated into addresses and
instructions that are recorded within the TCI file. In other
embodiments of the invention, trace points may be added to the
memory image of the client 102 by scanning the image's object code
"on the fly" for specific types of object code instructions to be
replaced.
[0073] Trace control information is defined for a specific client
102. In order to access the trace tool, the developer 112 first
adds the desired programs 110 to the list of executables shown in
the executable pane 314 shown in FIG. 3. The executable is
preferably compiled in a manner such that debug information is
available. In many development environments, debug information may
be included in an optimized "release" build such that creation of
the debug information does not affect the optimization. In a
preferred embodiment, the debug information is stored in a PDB
file. If during an attempt to add the executable to the Executable
pane 314 a PDB file is not found by the analyzer 106, the developer
112 is prompted to specify the location of the PDB file. Once an
executable has been added to the Executable pane 314, the developer
112 can set the trace control information using the available trace
options described below.
[0074] To use the online mode to trace an executable 314 that is
not currently running, the developer selects an executable file to
run as the client 102. To run an executable file, the developer 112
double-clicks the <New Executable> text 365 in the executable
pane 314 to open a file selection window thus allowing the
developer 112 to select the required executable. Alternatively, the
developer 112 can click the Run button on the toolbar 306, or
select the Run option from the "Executable" menu after selecting
the <New Executable> text. The file selection window provides
a command line arguments text box to allow the developer 112 to
specify command line arguments for the selected executable
file.
[0075] After selecting an executable to be a client 102 a trace
options window (as described below in connection with FIG. 5.) is
displayed which allows the developer 112 to specify which functions
to trace. After selecting the desired trace options and closing the
trace options window, the executable starts running and BugTrapper
starts tracing. As the client 102 runs, trace data is collected and
the trace data are immediately displayed in the analyzer frame
window 300 as shown in FIG. 3.
[0076] To cause the analyzer 106 to trace an executable that is
currently running, the developer 112 may click the "Attach" button
on the toolbar 306 after selecting the <New Executable> text.
Upon clicking the "Attach" button on the toolbar 306, a process
list window 400 is displayed, as shown in FIG. 4. The process list
window 400 displays either an applications list 402 or a process
list (not shown). One skilled in the art will understand that,
according to the Windows operating system, an application is a
process that is attached to a top level window. The applications
list 402 displays a list of all of the applications that are
currently running. The process list window 400 also provides a
process list, which is a list of the processes that are currently
running. The applications list 402 is selected for display by an
applications list tab and the process list is selected for display
by pressing the applications list tab. To select a process from the
process list window, the developer 112 clicks the Applications tab
or the Processes tab as required, and then selects the application
or process to be traced. The process list window 400 also provides
a refresh button to refresh the application list and the process
list, and an OK button to close the process list window 400.
[0077] After the developer 112 selects an application or process
using the process list window 400, and closes the process list
window 400, the analyzer 106 displays a trace options window 500,
as shown in FIG. 6 below. The application or process selected in
the process list window 400 becomes the client 102. The analyzer
106 can display trace data for multiple processes and applications
(multiple clients); however, for the sake of simplicity, the
operation of the analyzer 106 is described below primarily in terms
of a single client 102. The trace options window 500 allows the
developer 112 to select the functions to be traced. Selecting trace
options is described below in the text in connection with FIG. 5.
After selecting trace options and closing the trace options window
500, the client-side trace library 125 is attached to the client
102, and the client 102 continues to run. The client-side trace
library 125 thereafter collects trace information that reflects the
execution of the client 102 and sends the trace information to the
analyzer 106 for display.
[0078] The developer can also add an executable file (e.g. a
windows .exe file) to the executable pane 314 without actually
running the executable file. To add an executable that is not
currently running (and which is not to be run yet) to the
executable pane 314, the developer 112 selects the <New
Executable> text 365 and then clicks the Add button on the
toolbar 306, whereupon a file selection window is displayed. The
developer 112 uses the file selection window to select the desired
executable and closes the file selection window. The file selection
window provides a text field to allow the developer to enter
command line arguments for the executable. Upon closing the file
selection window, the trace options window 500 is displayed which
enables the developer 112 to select the functions to trace. After
selecting trace options and closing the trace options window, the
selected executable is inserted into the Executable pane 314 with
the status "Inactive." The developer can then begin a trace on the
inactive executable by selecting the executable in the executable
pane 314 and clicking the "Run" or "Attach" buttons on the toolbar
306.
[0079] In a preferred embodiment, the developer 112 can only create
a new TCI file 120 when the executable list 361 contains the names
of one or more executable files. To create a TCI file 120, the
developer 112 selects "Save" from the "File" menu. The developer
can also open a previously saved TCI file 120 and then modify the
TCI file 120 using the trace options window 500. Once a TCI file
120 has been created (or opened) the developer 112 can select an
executable from the executable pane and click the "Run" or "Attach"
button from the toolbar to start tracing.
[0080] FIG. 5 illustrates the trace options window 500. The trace
options window 500 is divided into two panes, a filter tree pane
501 and a source code pane 504. The filter tree pane 501 is a
multi-page pane having four pages: a file page 602 which is
selected by a file tab 510; a class page 702 which is selected by a
class tab 512; a name page 502 which is selected by a name tab 514;
and a process page 802 which is selected by a process tab 516. The
name page 502 is shown in FIG. 5. The file page 602 is shown in
FIG. 6, the class page 702 is shown in FIG. 7, and the process page
802 is shown in FIG. 8. The trace options window also provides an
"advanced" button 520 and an "add DLL" button 522.
[0081] The trace options window 500 allows the developer 112 to
specify which functions to trace and what to display in the trace
tree 330. The trace options window 502 allows the developer 112 to
filter out functions which have already been traced. These
functions will be redisplayed where they were traced if they are
later re-select for tracing. If a function is not selected for
tracing in the trace options window 500, it will not be displayed
in the trace tree 330. If a function that was not traced is
filtered in again, it will not appear in that portion of the
information that has already been displayed.
[0082] For example, consider the following C++ program:
2 f1 ( ) { } f2 ( ) { } main ( ) { while (1) { getchar (c) ; f1 ( )
; f2 ( ) ; } }
[0083] Using the above program as an example of a client 102, and
assuming that the user forms the following steps:
[0084] 1. Select the functions f1, f2, and main for tracing in the
trace options window 500.
[0085] 2. Execute one loop and view the resulting trace.
[0086] 3. Deselect (filter out) f2 for tracing in the Trace Options
window 500.
[0087] 4. Execute the loop again.
[0088] 5. Re-select (filter in) f2 for tracing in the Trace Options
window.
[0089] 6. Execute the loop once more.
[0090] Then, after Step 4 the following depicts the elements that
are displayed in the trace window, with the symbol
.about..about..about.repre- senting a tear in the trace as
described below in connection with FIG. 12. 1 main f1 ~ ~ ~ ~ f1 (
Step 3 )
[0091] After Step 6 the trace appears as follows: 2 main f1 f2 ~ ~
~ ~ ( Step 4 ) f1 ~ ~ ~ ~ f1 f2 ( Step 5 )
[0092] In the above example, after f2 was filtered in again in step
5, it was restored in the first portion of the trace because
filtering out occurred after this portion had already been
executed. However, f2 never returned to the second portion, which
was executed after f2 had been filtered out. Therefore, changing
the trace options also determines which of the functions that have
already been traced will be displayed. If a traced function is then
filtered out from the trace, it can later be filtered in again.
[0093] In the filter tree pane 501, the process tab 516,
corresponding to the process page 802, is not displayed prior to
activating a process. Each of the four pages in the filter tree
pane 501 displays a tree that the developer 112 can use to select
the functions to be traced and analyzed. The source code pane 504
displays a source code fragment that contains the source code for
the selected function and enables the developer 112 to select the
specific source lines to be traced. Each line of executable source
in the source code pane 504 is provided with a check box displayed
along the left edge of the pane 504. The developer 112 checks the
box to select the corresponding source line for tracing.
[0094] The "advanced" button 520 opens a window which allows the
developer 112 to specify which elements to display during the trace
(e.g. arguments, pointers, "this" class members and return values)
and the maximum string length to be traced. The add DLL button 522
opens a window which allows the developer 112 to specify DLL files
to be traced. This is useful when a DLL is loaded dynamically, as
described below.
[0095] The developer 112 uses the filter tree pane 501 to select
functions to be traced. Four page selection tabs at the top of the
filter tree pane 501 enable the developer 112 to view the functions
classified (sorted) according to file (on the file page 602), class
(on the class page 702), name (on the name page 502) or process (on
the process page 802). The way the functions are organized is
different for each classification tab. However, the tree structure
that is displayed in each of the four pages operates in the same
way, even though the data elements in the tree are different for
each page. Thus, the following discussion relating to the filter
tree applies to any of the four pages of the filter tree pane
502.
[0096] The filter tree is a tree of function names with check boxes
to the left of each name. Function check boxes appear blank,
checked or dimmed as follows:
[0097] Blank: No sub-element of this branch is checked.
[0098] Checked: All sub-elements of this branch are checked.
[0099] Dimmed: Some (but not all) sub-elements of this branch are
checked.
[0100] The developer 112 uses the check boxes to selected the
functions to trace and then closes the trace options window by
clicking an OK button.
[0101] The file page 602, shown in FIG. 6, provides a hierarchical
tree that lists the objects according to their hierarchical level
in the following order:
3 + The Process that is traced. + The executable and DLL files
which comprise the process. + Static Libraries + Source file
directories. + Source files residing in these directories. +
Classes contained in each source file and functions in each source
file that do not belong to any class. + Functions belonging to the
classes.
[0102] The source file structure is taken from the debug
information (e.g., .PDB) files 121 for the client 102. If the full
path name of the source file is not contained in the .PDB file,
then the functions contained in that source file are located in a
separate branch of the trace tree 330 under the title <Unknown
Directory>. Functions that are included in the .PDB file, but
whose source file is unknown, are located in a separate branch of
the trace tree 330 under the title <Unknown Source File>.
[0103] The class page 702, shown in FIG. 7, provides a hierarchical
tree that lists the trace objects sorted by class, ignoring their
distribution amongst source files. Functions, which do not belong
to a specific class are located in a separate branch of the trace
tree 330 under the title <Functions>. The name page 502,
shown in FIG. 5, provides a hierarchical tree that lists functions
sorted alphabetically by name. Leading underscores and class names
for methods are ignored. The process page 802, shown in FIG. 8,
provides a hierarchical tree that displays each process that has
been selected for tracing. Under each process is a list of the
threads for that process.
[0104] DLL files that are not linked with the executable but rather
are loaded dynamically (e.g. libraries loaded using the LoadLibrary
system call), are not shown by default in the trace options window
500. In order to trace a dynamically loaded DLL file, the
dynamically loaded DLL file should be added to the list of DLL
files using the Add DLL button 522 in the Trace Options window 500.
Clicking the add DLL button 522 displays a file selection window.
Using the file selection window, the developer 112 then selects the
required DLL file. The selected DLL file is added to the filter
tree in the filter tree pane 502 of the trace options window
500.
[0105] The BugTrapper can also trace DLL files loaded by an
executable, even when the executable does not contain debug
information. For example, if the developer 112 writes a DLL file as
an add-on (e.g., an ActiveX control) to a commercial program (e.g.
Microsoft Internet Explorer), the developer 112 can activate
BugTrapper on the commercial program and perform a trace on the
add-on.
[0106] The BugTrapper also allows the developer 112 to specify
various function attributes to be displayed in the trace detail
pane 316 of the analyzer frame window 300, (shown in FIG. 3) while
performing a trace. The developer 112 can choose to display
arguments, pointers, "this" class members and return values. One
skilled in the art will recognize that under the terminology of
C++, a "this" class member is a class member that is referenced by
the C++ "this" pointer. The developer 112 can also specify the
maximum string length to be displayed. Selecting more options
generally reduces the number of records in the trace log file and
thus reduces the amount of execution time that is logged. The
discussion below regarding the cyclic trace buffer provides further
details of how much execution time is actually logged. The advanced
button provides access to an advanced options window (not
shown).
[0107] Selecting the arguments checkbox causes function arguments
to be displayed in the trace detail pane 316. Selecting the
"pointers" checkbox causes data to which a first level function
argument of the pointer type points to be displayed. In other
words, selecting the pointers checkbox causes function arguments
that are pointers to be de-referenced for the display. The
developer 112 may select the "this" checkbox to have "this" to have
all members in a class displayed in the trace detail pane 316 when
there is a call to a method which has a this pointer. The developer
112 may select the return checkbox to have function return values
displayed in the trace detail pane 316.
[0108] The BugTrapper also allows the developer 112 to control
tracing of specific source lines. In the source code pane 504, a
checkbox is located to the left of each executable source line,
which can be traced. To view the source code fragment containing a
specific function, the developer 112 selects the required function
in the filter tree pane 502 and the analyzer 106 displays the
appropriate source code fragment in the source code pane 504. If
analyzer cannot locate the source code, then the source code is not
displayed and the developer 112 may press the spacebar or
right-click in the source code pane 504 and select a "Source
Location" command from a pop-up menu. The "Source Location" command
opens a dialog box which allows the developer 112 to specify a
source code file to be displayed in the source code pane 504. The
appropriate source code is then displayed in the source code pane
504, as shown in FIG. 5.
[0109] To select the source code lines to trace, the developer
clicks the check boxes corresponding to the desired lines. To
select multiple lines, the developer 112 can either press CTRL+A to
select the whole source code file, or drag the mouse along several
lines and thereby select a group of lines. The developer 112 can
then click on any checkbox in the selected area to check all the
selected lines or click on a checkbox that is already checked to
deselect all selected the lines. If lines of code in a file are
selected for tracing, then the filename is displayed in blue. The
developer 112 may also select which variables (e.g., local
variables, global variables, static variables, etc.) should be
traced for each traced line.
[0110] If a client 102 is modified and recompiled, it may not be
desirable to use an existing TCI file for that client 102 (for
example, a function that was selected for tracing may have been
from the modified and recompiled version). Whenever the BugTrapper
encounters an outdated TCI file 122, it issues a warning and then
continues to trace based on a heuristic algorithm, which attempts
to match the trace instructions to the modified client executable.
Trace information for an application that may be recompiled at some
future date can be supplemented by saving the trace information to
an Extended Trace Control Information (TCE) file rather than a
regular TCI file 120. The TCE file contains extra symbolic
information (such as function names) that is not part of a regular
TCI file 120. Using the extra symbolic information greatly
increases the chances that the heuristic trace algorithm will
produce the desired results. It is especially desirable to use a
TCE file at the user 102 site when the client 102 is frequently
modified, and the developer 112 does not want to redefine the trace
options after each compilation. The TCE file is identified by a
.TCE extension.
[0111] The developer may save a TCI file 120 by clicking the save
button on the toolbar 306, whereupon the trace control information
is saved. The first time that information is saved to a new TCI
file 120, a file selection window appears. In the file selection
window, the developer 112 may select the type of file (TCI or TCE)
in a "Save as" type box.
[0112] The TCI file 120 can be used to trace a local client 102 at
a later time, or it can be sent to a user 110 for use with the
agent 104 to trace a client 102 at a remote site. In a preferred
embodiment, for remote tracing, the developer 112 sends the user
110 a self-extracting zip file that contains the agent 104 and the
TCI file 120.
[0113] Using the Agent
[0114] As described above, the agent 104 is an executable module
which the developer 112 can provide to a user 110 along with a
Trace Control Information (TCI) file in order to trace a client
102. The trace data collected by the agent 104 are written to the
trace log file 122 which the user sends to the developer 112. The
developer 112 uses the analyzer 106 to view the contents of the
trace log file and analyze the trace information in the log file
122. Trace analysis using the analyzer 106 is discussed in
subsequent sections of this disclosure. The present section
discusses the procedures for starting the agent 104, including the
first step performed by the user 110 to run the agent 104. The
present section also discloses techniques for selecting the TCI
file 120, specifying a directory for the trace log file 122,
specifying the client 102, and, finally, using the agent 104 to
control the logging of trace data. The agent 104 is an easy-to-run
standalone application, with step-by-step instructions provided on
the screen. To trace an application, the user 102 needs both the
agent 104 and the TCI file 120. The TCI file 120 is prepared, as
described above, by the developer 112 and contains information
about the client 102 and the specific functions to be traced.
[0115] In a preferred embodiment, the developer supplies the agent
104 as a self extracting zip file that can be installed by simply
double clicking on the zip file name. At the end of the
installation, the user 110 can launch the agent 102. When the agent
102 is launched, it displays a TCI select window (not shown) which
is a conventional file select dialog that allows the user to select
the TCI file 120. Likewise, the agent 104 provides a log file
window, which allows the user 110 to select a directory for the log
file 122. The default log file is the last log file that was opened
by the agent 104. The next step in using the agent 104 is to
specify the client 102 executable(s) to trace.
[0116] If an executable specified in the TCI file 120 is already
running, an attach to running processes window (running window) 900
is displayed, as shown in FIG. 9. The running window 900 provides a
finish button 902, a cancel button 904, a back button 906, and a
list of processes 908. The list of processes 908 shows any
currently running processes that are specified in the TCI file 120.
The list of processes 908 shows all processes that are specified in
the TCI file 120 that are not currently running as disabled
(grayed). The running window 900 allows the user 102 to select a
currently running process to trace by selecting items in the list
908. Preferably, the user 110 will deselect any executables that
are to be re-run from the start (that is, when the user does not
want to attach to an executable that is already running). To select
a running process, the user 110 selects a process from the list
908, and then presses the finish button 902 to cause the BugTrapper
to attach to the client processes and starts to collect trace
data.
[0117] If an executable specified in the TCI file is not currently
running, then a start processes window (start window) 1000 is
displayed, as shown in FIG. 10,. The start window 1000 provides a
finish button 1002, a cancel button 1004, a back button 1006, and a
list of executable files 1010. The start window 1000 also provides
a path field 1012, a parameters field 1014, and a directory field
1016. The list of files 1010 shows any currently running processes
that are specified in the TCI file. The start window 1000 allows
the user to specify executables that are not currently running to
be traced. The agent 104 will run the selected client(s) 102 and
trace them according to the information in the TCI file 120.
[0118] The file list 1010 displays the executables, which are
listed in the TCI file. Each item in the file list 1010 is provided
with a check box. To specify the executables to run, the user 102
checks the boxes for the desired executables in the file list 1010.
If the file path in the file list 1010 is not correct, then the
user may enter the correct file path in the path field 1012. The
user 110 may also add command line arguments in the parameters
field 1014. The file path and command line steps may be repeated as
needed to specify the file path and commands for additional
executables. When the finish button 1002 is clicked, an agent
window (described below) is displayed and the agent 104 runs the
specified executables, attaches to the executable processes, and
starts tracing.
[0119] The agent window (not shown) is displayed by the agent 104.
The agent window displays the names of the TCI file and the log
file. The agent window also contains an animated icon whose
movement indicates whether trace data is currently being collected
while the client 102 is running. The agent window also contains: a
"Start/Stop" button to start or stop the trace; a "Clear" button to
clear the trace buffer 105, a "Dump" button to save the contents of
trace buffer 105 to the log file; and an "Exit" button to exit the
agent 104.
[0120] The "Stop/Start" button allows the user 110 to stop and
restart tracing when desired. Stopping the trace may improve system
performance. The "Start/Stop" button toggles between Stop and Start
according to the tracing status. The animated icon moves when
tracing is in progress. The "Clear" button allows the user 110 to
clear the trace buffer 105. The cleared information is not stored
in the log file 122 unless the user first uses the dump button. The
dump button allows the user 110 to save the contents of the trace
buffer 105 to the log file 122. On the first save after a new
process had been started, the agent 104 overwrites the old log file
122 (if one exists). On subsequent saves, new information will be
appended to the existing log file 122. Clicking the exit button
causes the agent 104 to exit. Upon exiting, the trace buffer is
written to the log file. Note that the trace information is written
to the log file when either dump or exit is clicked and also when
the traced application crashes or terminates. The user 110 will
preferably use the dump button frequently if it appears likely that
the entire operating system may crash.
[0121] In one embodiment, the user may select to write every trace
line to the disk as it is traced, or, the user may select to write
trace lines periodically every N seconds. Such writing is useful,
for example, when it appears likely that the entire operating
system may crash.
[0122] Analysis of the Trace Information
[0123] The analyzer 106 is used to analyze a trace, either online
as an application runs or off-line using a remote trace log. The
general topics that fall under the rubric of trace analysis
include, starting an online trace, opening a previously saved trace
log file, viewing trace information, interpreting the trace
information, working with trace information, and additional trace
functions that are available when performing an online trace.
[0124] The BugTrapper allows the developer 112 to trace a client
102 executable in order to pinpoint an element in the client 102
code that causes a bug. The primary device for displaying trace
information in the analyzer 106 is the trace tree 330 in the trace
tree pane 310 shown in FIG. 3. The trace control information (TCI)
filters can be modified during trace analysis to filter out some of
the available trace data according to the needs of the developer
112.
[0125] Analysis of a remote trace (or a previously saved online
trace) is started by opening a previously saved trace log file and
displaying the trace information that it contains in the trace tree
pane 310. The log file 122 may either have been created by saving
trace information using the analyzer 106, or the log file 122 may
have been created at a remote location using the agent 104. A trace
log file 122 is opened by using an "Open Log" command from the
"File" pull down menu found on the menu bar 304. Once a trace log
file 122 is open, the title bar 302 displays the name and path of
the opened log file 122. Once a trace log file 122 is open, the
developer can view the trace information using various panes in the
analyzer frame window 300. Trace information is displayed in the
trace tree pane 310, the trace detail pane 316, and the source pane
318.
[0126] The trace tree 330, in the trace tree pane 310, is a
hierarchical tree showing trace data collected from the client 102.
Trace data includes information about events that took place during
execution of the client 102, including function calls, function
returns, selected source lines, etc. The developer 112 can use the
mouse to choose any function from the trace tree, whereupon the
arguments and return values for the chosen function are shown in
the trace detail pane 316, and the source for the chosen function
is displayed in the source pane 318. The types of trace information
displayed for both online traces and a trace from log files is
almost identical, however the log file trace provides a static
display, while the online trace is dynamic and can be viewed as the
trace information is being collected.
[0127] The trace tree 330 displays a hierarchical tree of the
sequence of function calls and returns in the client 102. The
number of lines in the trace tree is shown in the trace tree pane
title bar 308. The trace tree 330 is organized in a standard tree
structure and the developer 112 can click on the tree control
buttons to collapse or expand the view of functions belonging to
lower hierarchical levels. Clicking on a function or a source line
in the trace tree pane 310 causes the trace detail pane 316 and the
source pane 318 to change to display information relevant to the
function. Selecting a function in the trace tree 330 and pressing
the delete button on the keyboard removes the selected function
from the trace. This is equivalent to filtering the function out of
the trace.
[0128] The trace data is written to a buffer in memory called the
trace buffer 105, and from there either displayed in the trace tree
pane 310 (when performing an online trace) or written to a log file
(when performing a remote trace). The trace buffer 105 is organized
as a circular buffer of fixed size. The size of the trace buffer
105 can be set by the developer 112. When the trace buffer 105 is
fill, new trace records overwrite the oldest records contained in
the buffer 105. One skilled in the art will recognize that other
buffering methods can be used without changing the scope of the
present invention. For example, the trace information could be
stored in a buffer, which simply added trace records without
overwriting old records. In a preferred embodiment, loss of old
data is acceptable because, when the client 102 malfunctions, the
developer 112 is usually interested in the most recent records
prior to the malfunction. Thus, there is usually little need to
keep all of the records, especially the oldest ones. The size of
the trace buffer 105 is set so that it will be big enough to hold a
large number of records without consuming too many system
resources. Typically, 20,000 to 40,000 records are kept.
[0129] When the trace buffer 105 is written to a log file 122, the
trace records are preferably appended to the end of the log file
122. In a log file, old records are not deleted, and the trace size
is limited only by the available disk space.
[0130] Alternatively, when tracing online, the trace tree is
actually an image of the trace buffer 105. Because of this, the
trace tree will not display more records than the trace buffer 105
contains, so old records are deleted ("scrolled out" of the
display). The rows counter at the top of the trace tree pane 310
indicates the number of records in the trace buffer 105 and the
number of rows in the trace tree. Because the buffer 10S is
circular, the number of rows in the trace tree 330 continuously
grows during the beginning of the tracing process until the buffer
wraps (typically 20,000 to 40,000 records). Thereafter, the number
remains approximately at the same level as old records are
overwritten with new records. The exact number of records that are
kept in the trace buffer 105 depends on the size of the trace
records. The size of each trace record is determined by the TCI
options specified by the developer 112. For example, if the
developer 112 requires tracing of "this" class members, the size of
the records will increase and the number of records in the buffer
will decrease.
[0131] The analyzer 106 and the agent 104 can trace a
multi-threaded and multi-processed client 102. When tracing a
multi-threaded process, different threads are separated from each
other in the trace tree pane 310 by a thread caption bar 320. For
multi-process applications, similar horizontal bars, called process
caption bars (not shown), separate trace lines belonging to
different processes. The thread caption bar 320 and the process
caption bar separate the trace tree 330 into sections. These
caption bars represent a context switch in the application, between
threads and between processes. Process caption bars are similar to
the thread caption bar 320, therefore any future mention of threads
also applies to processes in multi-process applications.
[0132] The thread caption bar 320 contains a name field, a process
ID number field, and a thread ID number field 321. Within the trace
tree 330 itself, there is an up arrow at the top of each section,
and a down arrow at the bottom of each section. Clicking the up
arrow causes the displayed trace tree 330 to jump to the previous
point in the trace tree 330 where the thread gained control.
Clicking the down arrow causes the displayed trace tree 330 to jump
to the next point in the trace tree 330 where the thread gains
control. The trace tree 330 also provides an expand/collapse
control button 326 to allow the developer 112 to expand and
collapse the current thread view. The trace tree pane 310 also
provides a vertical scroll bar for scrolling up and down through
the trace tree 330. When the trace tree pane 310 is scrolled up or
down to a section containing functions of lower hierarchical
levels, the portion of the trace tree 330 displayed in the window
is shifted leftwards. The depth of this shift, with respect to the
first function called in the process, is indicated by a stack level
indicator 328 appearing in a rectangle in the upper left corner
under the thread caption bar 320 (as shown in FIG. 3).
[0133] The trace detail pane 316 shows available details describing
the function selected in the trace tree view. FIG. 11 shows a trace
detail pane 1116 that displays a C++ class having several members
and methods, a class derived from another classes, and classes as
members of a class. The trace details are displayed in a trace
detail tree 350 which is a hierarchical tree structure. A right
arrow 351 in the trace detail pane 316 marks where the function is
called. A left arrow at the bottom of the detail tree 350 marks
where the function returned to its caller. Some of the data that
can be displayed (such as the arguments) are only displayed if an
option is selected in the advanced trace options. If an argument in
the call window of a function is of the aggregate type, the
argument's components will be displayed beneath the right arrow 351
in the form of a hierarchy tree. If an argument is of the pointer
type, and pointers were selected in the advanced trace options,
then the value displayed in the trace detail tree 350 will be that
of the data to which the pointer points. However, for pointer
fields that reside within arguments, only the address contained in
the pointer will be displayed. In other words, in the preferred
embodiment, the pointer is de-referenced only for the first level
arguments. One skilled in the art will understand that other
pointers could be de-referenced as well, and that the trace detail
tree 350 could display the value pointed to by arguments deeper
than the first level.
[0134] In one embodiment, the trace detail pane 316 also shows time
stamps. The time stamps display the time that a function is called
and the time that the function returns to its caller.
[0135] If the argument is an array of known size, then the elements
of the array will be displayed. If the array size is unknown, then
the value displayed is the value of the first array element. If the
argument is of character pointer type, then the string value is
displayed. If the argument is numeric, then the decimal, hex, or
decimal and hex values are displayed, depending on the selection
made in the advanced trace options. Right-clicking the mouse when
it points in the trace detail pane 316 displays a popup menu which
allows the developer 112 to select how numeric arguments are
displayed (as decimal, hex, or decimal and hex values).
[0136] The source pane 318 shows the source code for the selected
function or source line selected in the trace tree 330. The source
code listed in the source pane 318 is automatically scrolled to the
location of the selected object, if possible. The line in the
source code is displayed in bold and is pointed to by an arrow. The
analyzer 106 looks for the source file in the current directory and
in the directory indicated in the .PDB file. If the source file is
not found, the source pane remains blank. In this case, the
developer 112 can change the source file search path in order to
display the source code. To change the source file path the
developer should select a function in the trace tree 330, then
right-click in the source pane to open a pop-up menu, and then
select the "Source Location" from the pop-up menu. Alternatively,
the developer 112 can add additional source directories and remove
source directories by selecting the "Options" command from the
"View" menu on the menu bar 304. Source file paths can also be
removed.
[0137] The analyzer 106 provides several features which make it
easier to analyze trace information and pinpoint a bug in the
client 102. These features can be used both while performing an
online trace and while viewing trace information from a remote log
file 122. Analysis features include: saving trace information to a
log file 122; printing the trace tree 350; searching for trace
elements; locating a function in the trace options window 500;
filtering the trace information; adding, editing, deleting and
locating bookmarks; clearing the trace tree pane; and displaying
multiple windows. Additional features available for online tracing
include saving trace information to the log file 122.
[0138] The "Find" button on the toolbar 306 is used to initiate a
search for an element in the trace tree 330. Clicking the Find
button opens a "Find what" dialog box in which the developer 112
can enter a search text string. The find what dialog provides a
"Find Next" button to start a search for the occurrence of the
specified search text. The first occurrence of the specified text
is highlighted in the relevant pane. Functions in the source code
displayed in source pane 318 can be located in the trace options
dialog 500 by right-clicking inside the source code in the source
pane 318. The right-click opens a pop-up menu. The developer then
selects a "Locate in Trace Options" command from the pop-up menu to
open the trace options window 500. The trace options window 500
will open with the desired function displayed and highlighted.
[0139] The trace filter previously described in the text relating
to FIG. 5 is a tool that enables the developer 112 to select the
functions to trace. When using the trace filter to change the
display while performing an online trace, the trace continues in
the background, and when the developer 112 closes the trace options
window 500 the new filter is applied to the display in the trace
window 300. The developer 112 can also use the trace options window
500 to change the display while performing an off-line trace. This
enables the developer 112 to filter out traced elements and display
a subset of the traced information. The information contained in
the log file is not modified, only the display changes.
[0140] A bookmark allows the developer 112 to mark trace lines
(functions or source lines) in the trace tree 330. The developer
112 can also edit the name of a bookmark or delete the bookmark it
as required. Bookmarks are inserted in the trace tree 330 by using
the bookmark button on the toolbar 306. Bookmarks allow easy jumps
to the bookmarked element. To insert a bookmark in the trace tree
330, the developer will: select the trace line (a function or
source line in the trace tree 330) to mark; press the bookmark
button to open the bookmark window; type the bookmark name in the
bookmark widow; and click the OK button. A waiving flag icon 332
appears on the left of the bookmarked trace line in the trace tree
330. The bookmark name is displayed whenever the cursor is placed
over the bookmarked line. To change a bookmark name, the developer
112 repeats the steps to create a bookmark. To delete a bookmark
from the trace tree 300, the developer 112 can press a delete
button on the bookmark window. The "Goto Bookmark" command from the
"Edit" menu is used to go to a bookmark in the trace tree 330.
[0141] Multiple instances of the analyzer 106 can be open
simultaneously. Each instance can define different filter options
for each window. This feature is especially useful for
multi-threaded applications, where it is convenient to observe each
thread in a separate window.
[0142] The analyzer 106 provides for starting and stopping of an
online trace. All trace points are disabled when tracing is
stopped. Stop is helpful if the trace adversely influences the
application performance and it appears that the subsequent
operations in the client 102 are not relevant to the problem being
analyzed. The Start/Stop Tracing button on the toolbar 306 is used
to toggle tracing on and off. Tracing is stopped or restarted as
specified. When tracing is stopped, the boundaries of the lost tree
portion appear in the trace tree pane 330 as a tear 1202, as shown
in FIG. 12. When tracing is resumed, the trace tree 330 continues
under the tear 1202.
[0143] Internal Implementation Details of the BugTrapper System
[0144] The sections that follow discuss various internal
operational and implementation details of the agent 104, the
analyzer 106, the trace libraries 124, 125, and how these elements
interact with the client 102 and the operating system.
[0145] The Attaching Mechanism
[0146] One aspect of the present invention is the attaching
mechanism used by the BugTrapper to collect trace information. With
traditional tools, it was necessary to manually enter trace points
in the application's source code, or at a minimum, even if trace
points were automatically added to the source, to re-compile the
source code. With BugTrapper, tracing is accomplished by attaching
to the memory image of the application (i.e., the copy of the
executable code that is loaded into RAM or other memory for
execution). There is no need to enter trace points into, or to
otherwise modify, the source, object, or executable files of the
client 102 application. No special tracing version of the client
102 is needed, and the client 102 need not be written in any
special manner. Attaching to the client 102 in memory allows
function calls, returns, and other source lines to be traced. The
attaching mechanism also allows for the tracing of any executable,
including optimized (release) builds, multi-threading and
multi-processes, longjumps, signals, exceptions, and
recursions.
[0147] The BugTrapper client-side trace library 125 is attached to
the client 102, in part, by modifying certain executable
instructions of the memory image of the client 102. This process is
generally called "executable code instrumentation," or simply
"instrumentation." The instrumentation process is performed such
that the functionality of the client 102 is preserved. Because the
instrumentation is made only on the memory image, there is no need
to pre-process or modify the source code or executable files of the
client 102. Use of the client-side trace library 125 provides
significant advantages over the prior art by eliminating the need
for context switches when debugging a program. Context switching
has the effect of significantly slowing down the rate of execution.
The tracing implementation provided by BugTrapper can therefore be
used to study the real time behavior of a program and detect bugs
resulting from such behavior. Although one skilled in the art will
recognize that the present invention can advantageously be used
with any operating system, a preferred embodiment runs under the
Windows-NT/2000, Windows-95/98 and similar operating systems
supplied by Microsoft Inc. The following description of the
internal details of the BugTrapper will thus be described in terms
of the Windows-NT/2000/95/98 operating systems with the
understanding that the invention is not limited to said
systems.
[0148] The trace libraries 124, 125 include a number of callable
functions (discussed below). By using the callable functions, and
system functions provided by the Win32 API (application program
interface), the trace libraries performs two major tasks: (1)
attaching specialty functions to application, and (2) tracing the
execution of the application's executable code. Both of these tasks
are described separately below. The agent-side trace library 124 is
primarily responsible for attaching the client-side trace library
125 to the client 102. The agent-side trace library 124 also
provides communication with the client-side library 125. The
client-side trace library 125 is primarily responsible for placing
data in the trace buffer 105. In the following description, the
term "client process" is used to refer to the executable code of
the client 102 that has been loaded into a memory space for
execution. BugTrapper refers both to BugTrapper Agent or BugTrapper
Analyzer, depending whether it is operating in the Online mode or
the Remote mode.
[0149] The act of attaching to a currently running process is known
as a Process Attach. The act of attaching to a new process, during
the creation of the new process, in order to trace the new process
from its start is known as a Creation Attach. In a Creation Attach
it is desirable to pause the client 102 process as close as
possible to its entry point so that virtually all of the functions
executed by the client 102 will be traced.
[0150] In the Windows-NT/2000 compatible and Windows-95/98
compatible operating systems, each process resides at a distinct
location or "address space" in memory. A DLL, such as the
client-side trace library 125, which resides in another address
space, cannot simply be loaded into the same address space as the
client process. To overcome this limitation, BugTrapper forces the
client process to load the client-side trace library 125 DLL (using
a process called injection) into the process space of the client
process.
[0151] Attaching to a Client Running Under Windows-NT/2000
[0152] In a preferred embodiment, the injection process for Process
Attach in Windows-NT is accomplished by using the
CreateRemoteThread( ) function of the Win32 API, to create a remote
thread in the client process and to force the newly created thread
to run code in the client process. The code that is run by the
remote thread is a copy of an injection function copied to the
remote thread using the Win32 API WriteProcessMemory( ) function.
The Process Attach involves the following sequence of events shown
in FIG. 13 beginning with a procedure block 1302 where the function
inst_attach( ) of the tracing library is called in BugTrapper,
using the process ID ("PID") of the client (client) process as an
argument. The function inst_attach( ) performs the following
operations:
[0153] 1) It obtains a handle to the client process using
OpenProcess( );
[0154] 2) It allocates memory in the client process's address space
using the Win32 API function VirtualAllocEx( );
[0155] 3) It copies the code for the injection function and other
various data (including the full path of the Trace Library) onto
the allocated memory space using the WriteProcessMemory( )
function; and
[0156] 4) It creates a new thread in the client process with
CreateRemoteThread( ).
[0157] The new thread created in step 4 starts executing at the
address to which the injection function was previously copied in
step 3. The procedure then advances from the procedure block 1302
to a procedure block 1304 where the injection function starts
running in the new thread of the client process. Using data passed
to it via other parts of the memory space, the injection function
loads the client-side trace library 125.
[0158] The procedure advances from the procedure block 1304 to a
procedure block 1306 where the client-side trace library 125 runs
in the context of the new thread while the instrumentation is
taking place. The client-side trace library 125 communicates with
BugTrapper (i.e., the agent-side trace library 124), handling
commands, and actually performing the instrumentation.
[0159] The procedure advances from the procedure block 1306 to a
procedure block 1308 where the client-side trace library 125 exits,
and the injection function destroys its own thread and stops
executing by calling the ExitThread( ) function. Unlike other
debuggers that terminate the debugged process on exit, here the
client 102 continues to run, without any substantial alteration to
the functionality of the client 102.
[0160] Creation Attach is accomplished under Windows-NT by creating
the client process in a suspended state, by using the
CREATE_SUSPENDED flag in the CreateProcess( ) function. In this
case, the previously described procedure cannot be used, since none
of the system DLLs in the client process have been initialized. In
particular, since KERNEL32.DLL is not loaded, the client-side trace
library 125 cannot be loaded. The present attaching procedure
overcomes this difficulty by performing the following attaching
procedure, which begins at a procedure block 1402 shown in FIG.
14.
[0161] To attach to a new client 102, the attaching procedure
begins in block 1402, in which the client process is created in a
CREATE_SUSPENDED state. The attaching procedure then advances to a
procedure block 1404. In the procedure block 1404, BugTrapper makes
a call to the inst_prepare( ) of the agent-side trace library 124.
The inst_prepare function, using WriteProcessMemory( ) and
VirtualAllocEx( ), allocates memory in the client process and
copies a small assembly language code segment into the allocated
space. The procedure then proceeds to a procedure block 1406 where
the inst_prepare function overwrites the entry point of the client
executable in the client process with a jump instruction to the new
assembly code. The attaching procedure then advances to a procedure
block 1408 wherein the inst_prepare function allows the client
process to resume, and thereby start the initialization process for
the client process. After all DLLs are initialized, including the
client-side trace library 125, execution continues to the entry
point of the client executable, which now contains a jump to the
new assembly code. When the jump occurs, the attaching procedure
advances from the procedure block 1408 to a procedure block 1410.
In the procedure block 1410, the assembly code restores the
original client entry point, and suspends the client process. At
this point, the client process is suspended without running any
executable code, but is past the initialization stage. The
attaching procedure then advances to a procedure block 1412.
[0162] In the procedure block 1412, BugTrapper can now call
inst_attach( ) to attach to the client process and start
instrumenting it. When the attaching procedure is complete, it can
allow the client process to resume. The assembly code simply jumps
directly is back to the original entry point of the client 102, and
execution of the client 102 starts with the proper
instrumentation.
[0163] Attaching to a Client Running Under Windows-95/98
[0164] In Windows-95/98, Process Attach and Creation Attach are
implemented in a manner different from the Windows-NT/2000 manner
discussed above because the CreateRemoteThread API call is not
supported in this operating system.
[0165] Creation Attach under Windows-95/98 exploits the fact that
process initialization starts from a known entry point of
kernel32.dll. BugTrapper creates the client process in the
suspended mode and then calls to the inst95_attach function. This
function performs the following sequence of operations:
[0166] 1) It initializes the communication channel for IPC with the
client process.
[0167] 2) It copies various data (such as the Injection Function
code and the path for the client-side trace library 125) into the
client's address space, using WriteProcessMemory function.
[0168] 3) It initializes a shared heap memory.
[0169] 4) It copies onto the heap a small piece of assembler code
(a patch) that executes the jump to the function that creates
thread in the client process
[0170] 5) It copies the injection function itself
[0171] 6) It patches the entry point of kernel32.dll so that the
entry point points to the shared heap address where the assembler
code is located. Because of the lack of "Copy on Write" mechanism
in Windows-95, this patching applies also to the client
process.
[0172] 7) It resumes the main thread of the client process.
[0173] 8) In the client process, the entry point of kernel32.dll is
called and, thus, the applied patch starts execution. The patch
performs the following operations:
[0174] a) The patch removes the patch applied on the kernel32.dll
entry point and restores the original kernel32.dll code.
[0175] b) The patch creates a new thread, which runs the injection
function.
[0176] c) The injection function loads the client-side trace
library 125.
[0177] d) The injection function initializes the client-side trace
library 125 and the communication channel in the client process so
that the two trace libraries 124, 125 can communicate.
[0178] 9) If inst95_attach returns successfully, then the initial
instrumentation of the client process is done and the tracing
begins.
[0179] During a Process Attach, BugTrapper calls the
inst95_attach_to_running_process function in the agent-side trace
library 124. The inst95_attach_to_running_process function executes
the following sequence of operations:
[0180] 1) It initializes the communication channel for IPC with a
client process
[0181] 2) It calls a function create_remote_thread (not to be
confused with the CreateRemoteThread API call in Windows-NT), that
performs the following operations:
[0182] a) It allocates memory on the shared heap.
[0183] b) It copies various data (such as the Injection Function
code and the path for the client-side trace library 125) onto the
heap
[0184] c) It finds a valid thread handle from the client
process.
[0185] d) It suspends the valid thread
[0186] e) It sets the single step flag in the valid thread
context
[0187] f) It releases the valid thread
[0188] A device driver, which will be further described below,
intercepts the INT 1 interrupt that is caused by the first executed
instruction of the above mentioned valid thread. Upon receiving the
interrupt, the device driver sets the instruction pointer to the
start address of the injection function that was copied onto the
shared heap, and clears the single step flag in the valid thread
context. After clearing the single step flag, the driver proceeds
as if the interrupt was successfully handled, and returns the
control to Windows-95.
[0189] Since the instruction pointer now points to the injection
function, the injection function starts to execute in the context
of the client process. The injection function continues as in the
case of Creation Attach described above and creates a new thread
that subsequently performs the loading of the client-side trace
library 125 into the address space of the client 102.
[0190] In order to leave the interrupted valid thread intact, the
injection function executes the breakpoint instruction, which
immediately causes an INT 3 interrupt that is intercepted by the
device driver. The device driver restores the thread context that
was stored immediately after the thread was suspended and then the
device driver returns the control to Windows-95.
[0191] Tracing Execution
[0192] The trace function involves tracing the execution of the
instrumented client process and reporting certain events to
BugTrapper. The client-side trace library 125 accomplishes the
tracing function by using breakpoints, and by reporting information
concerning the status of the client process upon reaching the
breakpoints.
[0193] During the execution of the client process, the execution
trace is stored within a fixed size circular trace buffer 105 in
memory. In the remote mode of operation the contents of the trace
buffer 105 are copied to a trace log file 122. The trace log file
122 thus contains trace information that reflects a time window
ending with the writing of the log file 122. The length of this
time window is generally dependent upon the size of the trace
buffer 105. In a preferred embodiment, the trace buffer 105 is
small enough to allow the trace log file 122 to be sent to the
developer's site using standard email programs. In the online mode
of operation, the display is constantly being updated mirroring the
trace buffer 105. The displayed information can also be saved to a
log file 122 and later re-displayed.
[0194] After the client process has been attached, the process of
tracing the execution of the client 102 involves the steps of
installing breakpoints, triggering breakpoints, and catching
breakpoints. Breakpoints are installed by overwriting the target
address of the assembly instruction to be traced with an INT 3
instruction, occupying a single byte of space. The original byte at
that address, along with other information, is stored in a data
structure created by the agent-side trace library 124. The data
structure, which describes all trace points, is preferably a hash
table comprising a corresponding array of records for each hash
value. The hashing is implemented with the target address as a
parameter, allowing for a very fast searching for information
concerning a trace point by using its address.
[0195] Breakpoints are triggered whenever the target address gets
executed. When the target address is executed, the breakpoint
instruction generates an INT 3 interrupt. On Windows NT/2000 this
interrupt is handled by the Windows-NT/2000 kernel-mode handler.
The kernel-mode handler transfers the execution to the user-mode
routine KiUserExceptionDispatcher inside NTDLL.DLL (the system
DLL). The KiUserExceptionDispatcher routine handles the task of
locating a corresponding exception filter for the particular kind
of exception.
[0196] Catching of breakpoints occurs within the context of the
client 102. With standard debuggers, control would pass to the
debugger process at this point. BugTrapper, takes a new approach,
eliminating the need for context switching to properly trace the
execution (for better performance). Since no context switching
takes place, control remains with the client 102.
[0197] When the client-side trace library 125 is initially loaded,
a patch is applied to the KiUserExceptionDispatcher function,
having the effect of forcing a call to a function in the
client-side trace library 125 before processing the exception. This
function (the BugTrapper exception handler), determines whether the
breakpoint occurred as a result of the tracing or for another
reason. An exception that is not the result of tracing (i.e., no
trace point has been installed at this target address) will result
in a return of execution to KiUserExceptionDispatcher. When an
exception is the result of the tracing, the handler notifies the
appropriate routines in the tracing library 125 and defers the
breakpoint, thereby allowing the original instruction at the target
address to execute.
[0198] To defer a breakpoint, the original byte at the target
address is restored, returning execution while setting a trap flag
in the FLAGS register of an x86 processor. The trap flag causes an
INT 1 interrupt to occur as a result of the execution of the
original instruction. This interrupt is also treated as an
exception, eventually reflecting into the BugTrapper exception
handler. The handler restores the breakpoint instruction at the
target address and returns for second time, allowing the client
process code to continue running as if nothing happened.
[0199] In Windows 95/98, interception of the INT3 and INT1
interrupts is done by a device driver. The driver registers its
interrupt handler for INT1 and INT3 interrupts. When the interrupt
handler is called, it checks to see if the interrupt occurred in
the context of the client process. If the interrupt occurred in the
client process, then the interrupt handler changes the instruction
pointer of the thread to the address of a routine in the
client-side trace library 125, and passes back on its stack any
data needed by the function (such as thread context). After this
function handles the trace point, it triggers an additional INT 3
interrupt that is recognized by the device driver. The device
driver acts as if the interrupt has been successfully handled,
causing the traced thread to continue execution. When the device
driver recognizes that an interrupt has occurred not in the context
of the client process, then the device driver passes the interrupt
to the operating system interrupt handler (thus not affecting the
normal behavior of other programs in the system or the operating
system itself).
[0200] When tracing a plain source line (e.g., not a function entry
or exit point), the client-side trace library 125 inserts data in
the trace buffer to indicate that a trace point has been reached.
When reaching a function entry trace point (apart from writing data
to the trace buffer) a special mechanism is used because tracing of
information regarding both the entry to and exit from the function
is desired. This is preferably accomplished by modifyfing the
return address of the function. The return address is located on
the stack. The original return address is saved and a new return
address point is inserted. The new return address points to a
special assembly stub inside the client-side trace library 125.
Therefore, when the function returns the assembly stub is called.
The stub reports to the client-side trace library 125 function that
the function has exited, and the client-side trace library 125
writes this trace point to the trace buffer. The stub then jumps to
the real return address of the function.
[0201] In certain environments it is possible for a function to be
entered but not properly exited. The function ceases running (with
its stack erased and execution continuing elsewhere), but never
returns to its caller. Therefore, for tracing purposes, it never
returned to the BugTrapper assembly stub. For example, this would
happen when a C++ exception occurs inside the a function and the
exception handler at an outer function instructs the function
generating the exception to exit, or when the setjmp( )/longjmp( )
functions are used in C/C++ programs. To detect and trace such
events, the microprocessor's stack pointer register (ESP) is
checked whenever a trace point triggers to determine whether any
functions have exited. The stack pointer normally grows down. Its
position is registered at the entry of each function together with
the above-mentioned return address. If the stack pointer has moved
to a higher point than that at entry, the function is deemed to
have exited, and the client-side trace library 125 reports that the
function has exited. Several different redundant checks are also
performed to ensure the reliability of this mechanism.
[0202] Additional Tracing and Attaching Features
[0203] The BugTrapper attaching technology can be used with
multi-process and multi-threaded applications. Every trace record
is associated with a process and a thread. Stack information is
separately kept for each context. Therefore, the BugTrapper can
trace two or more client executables at the same time. This allows
BugTrapper to display any context switches between the processes
and threads of the client(s) 102.
[0204] The BugTrapper supports the tracing of Dynamically Linked
Libraries (DLLs), including all sub-formats such as OCX, Active-X,
drivers (DRV), etc. The tracing of DLLs is accomplished by
analyzing the client 102 process to find the DLLs it uses, and by
displaying the source structures of the DLLs to the user. The user
can then specify trace points within the DLLs as is done for any
other executable. When applying trace points to a DLL, BugTrapper
finds the base address into which the DLL was loaded, and uses the
address to translate the addresses in the debug information to
actual addresses in the running image.
[0205] The BugTrapper also supports the tracing of DLLs for which
no debug information is available, such as system DLL's. The
tracing of such DLLs is accomplished by tracking the exported
functions used by the DLLs. This is done by analyzing the DLL
exported function table in the client 102 to retrieve information
concerning the exported function names and addresses.
[0206] The BugTrapper also supports tracing of sub-processes. For
example, when a first process P1 and a second process P2 are listed
in the executable pane 314, and P1 spawns P2 as a sub-process, then
BugTrapper will start tracing P2. This is done by tracing the
CreateProcess function in all of the traced processes, even if the
developer 112 did not specify tracing the CreateProcess function.
By tracing CreateProcess, BugTrapper will know that PI spawned a
sub-process, and BugTrapper can identify that the sub-process name
(P2 in the present example) is listed in the executable pane 314.
When the sub-process is created, BugTrapper will attach to the
sub-process using the "Creation Attach" mechanism discussed
above.
[0207] Variables and memory values can also be traced by
BugTrapper. The user can view variable values as in an ordinary
debugger. The variables may include function arguments, the C++
"this" pointer, function return values, local variables, global
variables, static variables, etc. The data to which a pointer is
pointing can also be traced. This information can be viewed for
optimized builds, which cannot always be done by current debuggers.
Tracking of variables in memory is accomplished by first analyzing
the debug information to find the address (global, static, stack,
or dynamic address) of the variable and the data it holds.
BugTrapper then uses these addresses to dump to the trace log file
122 the memory content according to variable size.
[0208] When the traced application crashes, BugTrapper records the
point where the failure occurred, even if the line was not
specified in the TCI file 120. All stack variables are saved by
using the Win32 debug API and the system library IMAGEHLP.DLL.
[0209] Interprocess Communication
[0210] Communication between the client-side trace library 125 and
the agent-side trace library 124 (in the agent 104 or the analyzer
106) can be divided into two categories. Category one comprises
normal messages. Category two comprises trace data.
[0211] Category one communication is accomplished using standard
Windows InterProcess Communication (IPC) primitives, such as shared
memory to pass data, and semaphores to signal and synchronize.
Normal messages include commands sent to the client-side trace
library 125 such as, start trace function at a given address, or
suspend tracing. Normal messages also include notifications sent by
the client-side trace library 125, such as creation of a
sub-process or run-time loading of a DLL.
[0212] The trace data itself is sent using a different mechanism,
because of the quantity of data. Trace data comprises: function
calls (including the assembly address of the called function);
values of parameters for each call; function return values
(including function address); tracing of other source lines
specified in the TCI file 120 (including their address); variables
value at these addresses; etc. The trace records are written to a
shared memory area called the trace buffer 105, and from there
either displayed in the BugTrapper user interface by the analyzer
106 (when performing an online trace) or written to a log file by
the agent 104 (when performing a remote trace).
[0213] The client-side trace library 125 and the agent-side trace
library 124 prevent simultaneous access to the trace buffer using
standard locking mechanism such as Mutex (in Windows-95) or
Interlocked Functions (in Windows-NT). For performance reasons,
when collecting trace data, the client-side trace library 125
preferably only writes trace data to the trace buffer 125 in shared
memory. The client-side trace library 125 preferably performs no
I/O to the disk or to the display. Disk I/O and display updates are
done later by the agent 104 or the analyzer 106. This reduces the
performance penalty imposed on the client 102.
[0214] Indexing of the Trace Data
[0215] In order to process scrolling of the trace tree efficiently,
there should desirably be direct access to records in the trace
buffer 105 or trace log file 122. Serial access would be
inefficient because it would require a search for the needed data
in the trace buffer 125 upon every tree scroll operation. To
facilitate direct access, an index is maintained with every trace
tree window. The index contains the locations of all of the
"function call" records in the trace buffer, which are included in
the filter of the corresponding window in which the trace tree is
displayed. In addition to the location information, some
user-interface related information such as whether the record is
invisible ("collapsed") is kept. The developer 112 can "collapse"
(remove from display) part of a tree which is located under a
specific call in the tree hierarchy. Collapsing part of a tree
influences the current displayed portion of the tree.
[0216] For example, assuming that only one record is displayed on a
tree having a scroll bar, if the tree includes records (1 2 3 4 5)
and the scroll bar is located at the middle, record 3 should be
displayed. However, if records 2 and 3 are collapsed (leaving 1 4
5), then record 4 should be displayed. For a tree including more
than a million lines, including thousands of collapsed records, the
calculation of the location of the displayed portion of the trace
data might be a time-consuming task. In order to do this
efficiently, the analyzer 106 holds, together with the
above-mentioned calls index, a special array SA, where SA[i]
contains the number of visible records from record number 1000*i to
1000*(i+1). Use of the SA array greatly speeds up the task of
locating desired trace information. For example, assume that
records 500-550 are invisible (collapsed by the developer 112) and
that the vertical scroll bar position is 1500. In this case
SA[0]=950 and the appropriate record is 1550. The analyzer 106
calculates this number directly, without the need to scan the whole
calls index: 1000-SA[0]+1500(scroll bar position)=1550. The SA
array provides for very fast vertical scrolling. The SA array is
updated each time a new record is read from the trace buffer 105 or
the log file 122, or when the developer 112 collapses or expands
some of the trace tree. In general, when the analyzer 106 draws a
trace tree, it performs the following steps: (1) lock the trace
buffer 105; (2) scan new records and update the calls index and the
SA array; (3) read and analyze the records that must be shown; (4)
merge the records with the debug information 121 and create strings
for each record; (5) draw the page; and (6) unlock the shared
memory trace buffer 105. Note that when reading data from a trace
log file 122 only steps 3-5 are performed, since steps 1, 2, and 6
are unnecessary.
[0217] Visual Problem Monitor
[0218] In one embodiment, a visual problem monitor assists a
support technician (e.g., a help desk person, a system
administrator, etc.) in remotely analyzing problems by gathering
run-time information about: program execution; interaction between
the executing program and the operating system; system resources;
user actions; file operations; failed operations and screen output.
For example, file interactions, DLL loading and/or registry
accesses can be monitored non-intrusively. The support technician
can remotely view user interactions with the program and
corresponding reactions by the system. This mitigates (or in some
cases eliminates) the "questions and answers" game that support
technicians usually play with users in order to understand what the
user did and what happened on the customer's PC.
[0219] By using the dynamic analysis capabilities of the visual
problem monitor, the support technician can check the parameters
that influenced the program more effectively than by scanning
static data gathered from the user's computer. For example, there
is no need to check the versions of all the DLL's in the user's
computer or to dump the entire registry from the user's computer.
Rather, by using the visual problem monitor, the support technician
can choose to view only the DLL's used by the traced program, or
the registry entries or files accessed by the traced program. The
visual problem monitor helps the support technician understand the
details of problems in cases where programs produce cryptic
messages and in cases where the programs simply crash without any
specific error message.
[0220] In one embodiment, the visual problem monitor uses the
executable hooking technology described above. The hooking
technology allows trace points to be added to a running program
while preserving the program's original operation. Support and help
desk technicians can use this technology for tracing software
interaction with the system and other API functions, without access
to the source code, and therefore it does not require extra work to
be done by the software vendors. In one embodiment, tracing of API
functions using BugTrapper hooking technology requires one standard
TCI file for all Windows applications.
[0221] FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the components of a
visual problem monitor system 1500. The visual problem monitor
system 1500 includes an information-gathering module 1501 that runs
on the user's computer along with a client program 1509, and an
information-display module 1502 that runs on the support
technician's computer. The information-gathering module 1501
includes an Application Programming Interface (API) event hooking
module 1506, a message event hooking module 1507, and a program
code event hooking module 1508. The API event hooking module 1506,
the message event hooking module 1507, and the program code event
hooking module 1508 are controlled by, and send data to, an event
processing engine 1503. The event processing engine 1503 stores
information gathered from the program 1509 and the user's computer
system in a log file 1505. The event processing engine retrieves
commands and event tracing instructions from an event knowledge
base 1504.
[0222] System interaction tracing allows support personnel to
gather information about behavior of the program 1509, and to
diagnose sources of errors. The dynamic tracing mechanism provided
by the visual problem monitor system 1500 provides logging the
following Windows API functions and GUI events:
[0223] Calls of Windows API functions related to:
[0224] File and Directory operations
[0225] Registry operations
[0226] Environment variables
[0227] Spawned sub-processes
[0228] Loaded DLL's and other system components
[0229] IPC (semaphores, shared memory, messages, etc.)
[0230] WinSocket, RPC
[0231] SQL calls and related database operations
[0232] Keyboard input events
[0233] Mouse movement and mouse clicking events
[0234] Graphical screen capture of application windows updates
[0235] Calls to internal functions and code lines of applications.
(This an optional functionality for software producers, depending
on availability of source code and debug information as described
in the text accompanying FIGS. 1-14 above.)
[0236] The events are synchronized by time and logged into the log
file 1505. Several mechanisms can be used for gathering information
for event logging. Monitoring of Win32 API calls can be done using
any of the following tools and techniques:
[0237] The hooking and tracing techniques described in connection
with FIGS. 1-14 above.
[0238] The Microsft Detours library
[0239] DLL redirection
[0240] The Microsoft Standard debug API
[0241] Different techniques can be used to capture user
interactions and screen updates, including those used in such
programs and products as:
[0242] Screen-capture tools (e.g. Lotus SreenCam)
[0243] Remote PC administration tools (e.g. Norton PCAnywhere,
Netvision OpSession, AT&T WinVNC)
[0244] One embodiment of the visual problem monitor system 1500
uses the following logging mechanisms: (1) the hooking mechanism
described above is used to gather event data for logging of Windows
API functions; and (2) hooking to Windows messages related to
keyboard and mouse events and screen updates is used to gather
event data for logging of GUI interactions and screen capture. In
one embodiment, standard data compression techniques are used for
compression of the visual information and other records in the log
file 1505.
[0245] More specifically, the following system interaction
functions are traced by the visual problem monitor system 1500:
[0246] File operations
[0247] Open/Close/Lock/Unlock
[0248] Create/Delete
[0249] Read/Write/Copy
[0250] Find
[0251] Get disk free space
[0252] Directory operations (SetCurrentDirectory, RemoveDirectory
etc.)
[0253] Tracing of these operations allows detecttion of problems
such as:
[0254] Attempts by the program 1509 to access a non-existing
file
[0255] File operations by the program 1509 that violate file access
permissions
[0256] File operations by the program 1509 to a full disk
[0257] File operations by the program 1509 to a file that is locked
by another application
[0258] Environment values:
[0259] Registry operations (For example, the information-gathering
module 1501 can detect when the application 1509 tries to read a
non-existent key, a key has a wrong value, a key points to a
missing file, etc.)
[0260] Environment variables
[0261] INI files (e.g. Profile Strings)
[0262] Loaded DLLs: For example, the information-gathering module
1501 can detect loaded DLL name, version, date, location on disk,
etc. and pinpoint to a missing DLL or a DLL having an incorrect
version number.)
[0263] Requested services/drivers: The information-gathering module
1501 can collect information on missing, incorrect, and misbehaved
NT services and drivers.
[0264] Spawned sub-process: The information-gathering module 1501
can collect information regarding spawned executables (e.g.,
executable name, version, id, etc.). The information-gathering
module 1501 can also log information regarding unsuccessful
attempts to create a sub-process (e.g. because the executable was
not found, etc.)
[0265] Crash information: The information-gathering module 1501
collects information regarding the name of an executable (or DLL)
where a crash occurred, contents of the stack at the time of the
crash, memory status, sequence of function calls before the crash,
etc.
[0266] Communication Information
[0267] Event Log
[0268] Inter-Process Communication (e.g., Common Object Model (COM)
messages, Distributed COM (DCOM) messages, semaphores, shared
memory, messages, etc.)
[0269] Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) events
[0270] Networking events (e.g., Winsocket messages, Remote
Procedure Call (RPC) information, etc.)
[0271] In one embodiment, the information collected by the
information-gathering module 1501 and stored in the log file 1505
is passed to a remote support technician in order to allow the
support technician to resolve software support issues related to
the program 1509. The log file 1505 created by the
information-gathering module 1501 is transferred to the
information-display module 1502 running on the support technician's
computer. The log file 1505 can be transferred using email, WEB
access, network file transfer protocols and the like.
[0272] The support technician can select between two modes of
operation. In a first mode, the information-gathering module 1501
is continuously active. When a problem occurs, the log file 1505 is
created. If the user chooses to call the help desk, the support
technician can obtain the log file 1505 and use it for analysis. In
a second mode, the information-gathering module 1501 is active on
demand. In the second mode, when the user calls the help desk, the
support technician activates the information-gathering module 1501
on the user's computer and receives the log file 1505 using network
communication protocols. In one embodiment, the support technician
receives the log file 1505 by using a TCP/IP-based communication
protocol.
[0273] The information-display module 1502 is used by the support
technician to view the data from the log file 1505 (as shown in
FIG. 16 below). The information-display module 1502 allows the
support technician to filter the display to show only specific
types of events or the whole scenario. In one embodiment,
suspicious events (e.g. loading a non-existing DLL) are
highlighted.
[0274] FIG. 16 shows the graphical user interface (GUI) 1600
provided to the support technicianby the information-display module
1502. The GUI 1600 includes a window 1609 that lists executable
modules (by file name) that comprise the program 1509 and the
processes created by the executable modules. A window 1608 lists
module information including the DLLs (with version numbers) used
by the executable module. A window 1605 (shown as a tab) provides
crash information in the event of a crash of the program 1509. A
window 1607 (shown as a tab) lists environment information
including environment variables, registry variables, and INI
variables used by the program 1509. A window 1607 (shown as a tab)
lists system information about the user's computer (that is, the
computer running the program 1509 that is being traced). A window
1603 lists event information (by process) in chronological order. A
window 1606 (shown as a tab) provides options to allow the support
technician to define filters for the event information shown in the
window 1603. The filters allow the support technician to specify
which types of events are traced and displayed in the window 1603.
A window 1602 shows screen captures from the user's computer. A
group of video controls 1601 allows the support technician to "play
the movie" of screen capture events obtained from the user's
computer using standard video-type controls such as stop, play,
rewind, fast forward, next frame, etc.
[0275] The GUI 1601 provides verbalization of data from the log
file 1505. Events logged in the log file 1505 are displayed as
textual strings in plain English, or another natural language in
the window 1603. Thus the support technician and PC users need
relatively less programming experience to use the system 1500. In
one embodiment, the screen captures shown in the window 1602 are
replayed synchronously with the even displays provided by the GUI
1601. This allows the support technician to see what was happening
on the user's screen when various events occurred in the user's
system. Thus, for example, screen captures in the window 1602 are
replayed synchronously with the replay of events in the window
1603, 1608, etc. The support technician can use the controls 1601
to control (e.g., pause, rewind, etc) the animated screen-capture
display (in the window 1602) and the animated event displays
provided by the GUI 1601.
[0276] In one embodiment, the log file 1505 is an extension of the
trace log file 122 shown in FIG. 1B. The log file 1505 includes
records related to logging of screen updates and user interaction
with the application as follows:
[0277] vlSetFramebufferFormat (corresponding to a Set Framebuffer
Format operation)
[0278] vlFramebufferUpdate (corresponding to a Framebuffer Update
operation)
[0279] vlMouseMove (corresponding to a Mouse Move operation)
[0280] vlMouseClick (corresponding to a Mouse Click operation)
[0281] vlKeyPressure (corresponding to a Key Pressure
operation)
[0282] vlNumBookmark (corresponding to a Numeric Bookmark)
[0283] vlStrBookmark (corresponding to a String Bookmark)
[0284] vlProcessAttached (corresponding to an Attach Process
operation)
[0285] vlProcessDetached (corresponding to a Detach Process
operation)
[0286] vlProcessTerminated (corresponding to a Terminate Process
operation)
[0287] In one embodiment, the recording of GUI-related objects is
based on intercepting Windows messages by the message event hooking
module 1507. The message event hooking module 1507 is supplied with
an Attach(ThreadIdent) method that sets a hooking function with
help of the Windows SetWindowsHookEx( ) function and creates an
additional thread. The Hook( ) function in the current thread
analyzes intercepted messages and window regions that are re-drawn.
As a result, special messages are generated and directed to the
additional thread for transforming into records and writing into
DirectAccessStream objects.
[0288] The vlFramebufferUpdate records are generated to save
bitmaps of invalidated regions of windows. In one embodiment,
bitmaps are created by reading video memory using Microsoft DirectX
methods. In one embodiment, each created bitmap stores only a
minimal rectangle corresponding to the window update region.
[0289] A significant number of software problems arise from the
deletion or corruption of critical files. In many cases the
diagnostic messages issued by programs do not provide enough
information for troubleshooting. The visual problem monitor system
1500 provides more information about the missing file problem.
Consider, for example, a simple example with Acrobat Reader. If
font file Zd______ .pfb is missing, then the Acrobat Reader is not
started and the user gets the cryptic message "No Zapff)ingbats or
Multiple Master fonts found." After getting this cryptic message,
the user has to guess what happened with the application or the
system and where it is possible to find the suddenly lacking fonts
and how to restore the system to working order. A typical solution
in such a case is to reinstall the whole application. Since the
visual problem monitor system 1500 tracks file access operations,
the visual problem monitor system 1500 can easily detect that the
program lacks the file Zd______.pfb in the directory
C:Acrobat3ReaderFonts, thus providing a better way for the problem
resolution.
[0290] DLL management represents a significant challenge for
Windows users. The following scenario illustrates the problem.
Assume that installation of a vendor's program overrides the system
DLL mapi32.dll with an older version without any warning message.
As a result, after installing the vendor's program the Microsoft
Notepad+ program fails to send any mail and gives the user a
nonspecific message "SendMail failed to send message." Since the
visual problem monitor system 1500 tracks the use of DLLs, visual
problem monitor system 1500 can show a support technician that a
function from mapi32.dll made a call to a nonexistent executable
mapisrv.exe (the problem lies in MAPI version mismatch). In one
implementation, visual problem monitor system 1500 includes a DLL
management module that monitors DLL-related operations and detects
typical DLL problems.
[0291] In one embodiment, the visual problem monitor and the
BugTrapper can be used in concert to locate problems in software.
Support technicians typically analyze visual problem monitor trace
information without access to the source code. When the problem is
caused by a bug in the source code of the client program, the trace
log is transferred to a software developer. Software developers can
open visual problem monitor trace logs using the BugTrapper
analyzer and by accessing source code can view the calls of traced
API functions in the source code. The escalation workflow is
illustrated in the flowchart 1700 shown in FIG. 17. The flowchart
1700 begins at a process block 1701 where a visual problem monitor
agent (comprising the event processing engine 1503 and one or more
of the hooking modules 1506-1508) and the event knowledge database
1504 (an API-level TCI file) is sent to a user (e.g., a customer)
site. The process block 1701 typically happens in response to a
user complaint (regarding a software problem) to a support site. In
a subsequent block 1702, the user generates a trace log file 1505
by running (or attempting to run) the malfunctioning program client
in connection with the visual problem monitor agent. In a
subsequent block 1703, the trace log file 1505 is transferred to
the support site (e.g. by using the Internet, computer network,
etc.). In a subsequent process block 1704, the trace log file 1505
is analyzed by using the visual problem monitor. If the reason for
the software malfunction is found by using the visual problem
monitor, then the process advances to a process block 1706 where
the user is informed of the nature of the problem and, typically,
how to correct the problem; otherwise, the process advances to a
process block 1707. In the process block 1707, the trace log file
1505 is transferred to a developer (e.g., at a developer site). In
a subsequent process block 1708, the developer uses the BugTrapper
source code analyzer (with application source code inputs from a
process block 1709) to search for program bugs in the
malfunctioning application.
[0292] Other Embodiments
[0293] Although the present invention has been described with
reference to a specific embodiment, other embodiments will occur to
those skilled in the art. It is to be understood that the
embodiment described above has been presented by way of example,
and not limitation, and that the invention is defined by the
appended claims.
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