Pattern oriented data collection and analysis

• US 10,380,001 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2018
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ramachandra, Anoop G. M., Surampalli, Murali K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Manoskey, Joseph D
• Application Number:
  US15/912,739
• Publication Number:
  US 20180196729A1
• Time in Patent Office: 525 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3604 Software analysis for verifying properties of programs byte-code verification G06F9/44589
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/364 tracing values on a bus

Abstract

A process for determining a problematic condition while running software includes: loading a first pattern data set into a volatile memory of a computer, with the first pattern data set being associated with a set of problematic conditions, determining that a runtime symptom code generated while running software on the computer matches a pre-defined symptom code in a set of pre-defined symptom codes, collecting information during runtime according to a set of data collection instructions as a set of collected data, and determining, by applying a set of logic data to the set of collected data, a first problematic condition of the set of problematic conditions triggered the runtime symptom code.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

loading a first pattern data set into a volatile memory of a computer, with the first pattern data set being associated with a set of problematic conditions and including;

a set of pre-defined symptom codes corresponding to patterns in the first pattern data set, a set of data collection instructions defining a scope of data collection required to identify problematic conditions of the set of problematic conditions, and a set of logic data for processing collected data to identify a problematic condition;

determining that a runtime symptom code generated while running software on the computer matches a pre-defined symptom code in the set of pre-defined symptom codes;

collecting information during runtime according to the set of data collection instructions as a set of collected data; and

determining, by applying the set of logic data to the set of collected data, a first problematic condition of the set of problematic conditions triggered the runtime symptom code.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the first problematic condition being caused by running the software on the computer, generating the runtime symptom code.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

taking a responsive action corresponding to the first problematic condition;

wherein;

the first pattern data set further includes a set of responsive actions corresponding to the set of problematic conditions; and

the responsive action is taken during the running of the software on the computer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the responsive action is a member of the group consisting of:

presenting a solution to the first problematic condition to a customer;

sending, in executable form, a solution to the first problematic condition to the customer; and

collecting specific traces for the first problematic condition in a format suitable for a software support group.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

integrating a second pattern data set and a third pattern data set to form the first pattern data set.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing a plurality of pattern data sets including the first pattern data set;

wherein;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are loosely coupled;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are pluggable; and

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are able to interact with each other.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the runtime symptom code corresponds to one or more symptoms of at least one problematic condition;

the runtime symptom code is packaged with program code for operating a particular software application; and

the runtime symptom code is identifiable by the symptom code module of the first pattern data set as corresponding to the first problematic condition.

8. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a set of instructions stored therein, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

loading a first pattern data set into a volatile memory of a computer, with the first pattern data set being associated with a set of problematic conditions and including;

a set of pre-defined symptom codes corresponding to patterns in the first pattern data set, a set of data collection instructions defining a scope of data collection required to identify problematic conditions of the set of problematic conditions, and a set of logic data for processing collected data to identify a problematic condition;

determining that a runtime symptom code generated while running software on the computer matches a pre-defined symptom code in the set of pre-defined symptom codes;

collecting information during runtime according to the set of data collection instructions as a set of collected data; and

determining, by applying the set of logic data to the set of collected data, a first problematic condition of the set of problematic conditions triggered the runtime symptom code.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further causing the processor to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

responsive to the first problematic condition being caused by running the software on the computer, generating the runtime symptom code.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, further causing the processor to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

taking a responsive action corresponding to the first problematic condition;

wherein;

the first pattern data set further includes a set of responsive actions corresponding to the set of problematic conditions; and

the responsive action is taken during the running of the software on the computer.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the responsive action is a member of the group consisting of:

presenting a solution to the first problematic condition to a customer;

sending, in executable form, a solution to the first problematic condition to the customer; and

collecting specific traces for the first problematic condition in a format suitable for a software support group.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, further causing the processor to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

integrating a second pattern data set and a third pattern data set to form the first pattern data set.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, further causing the processor to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

providing a plurality of pattern data sets including the first pattern data set;

wherein;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are loosely coupled;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are pluggable; and

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are able to interact with each other.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein:

the runtime symptom code corresponds to one or more symptoms of at least one problematic condition;

the runtime symptom code is packaged with program code for operating a particular software application; and

the runtime symptom code is identifiable by the symptom code module of the first pattern data set as corresponding to the first problematic condition.

15. A computer system comprising:

a processor set; and

a computer readable storage medium;

wherein;

the processor set is structured, located, connected, and/or programmed to run program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium; and

the program instructions, which, when executed by the processor set, cause the processor set to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by;

loading a first pattern data set into a volatile memory of a computer, with the first pattern data set being associated with a set of problematic conditions and including;

a set of pre-defined symptom codes corresponding to patterns in the first pattern data set, a set of data collection instructions defining a scope of data collection required to identify problematic conditions of the set of problematic conditions, and a set of logic data for processing collected data to identify a problematic condition;

determining that a runtime symptom code generated while running software on the computer matches a pre-defined symptom code in the set of pre-defined symptom codes;

collecting information during runtime according to the set of data collection instructions as a set of collected data; and

determining, by applying the set of logic data to the set of collected data, a first problematic condition of the set of problematic conditions triggered the runtime symptom code.

16. The computer system of claim 15, further causing the processor set to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

responsive to the first problematic condition being caused by running the software on the computer, generating the runtime symptom code.

17. The computer system of claim 15, further causing the processor set to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

taking a responsive action corresponding to the first problematic condition;

wherein;

the first pattern data set further includes a set of responsive actions corresponding to the set of problematic conditions; and

the responsive action is taken during the running of the software on the computer.

18. The computer system of claim 15, further causing the processor set to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

integrating a second pattern data set and a third pattern data set to form the first pattern data set.

19. The computer system of claim 15, further causing the processor set to determine a problematic condition caused by running of software on a computer that includes a volatile memory by:

providing a plurality of pattern data sets including the first pattern data set;

wherein;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are loosely coupled;

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are pluggable; and

the pattern data sets of the plurality of pattern data sets are able to interact with each other.

20. The computer system of claim 15, wherein:

the runtime symptom code corresponds to one or more symptoms of at least one problematic condition;

the runtime symptom code is packaged with program code for operating a particular software application; and

the runtime symptom code is identifiable by the symptom code module of the first pattern data set as corresponding to the first problematic condition.