First failure data capture

• US 20040024726A1
• Filed: 07/11/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Salem, Hany A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,080,287 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0706 the processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment
• 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

Abstract

An example of a solution provided here comprises: selecting an incident that requires further processing, capturing data associated with said incident, outputting captured data, and outputting a description for said captured data, whereby problem-solving is promoted. Another example comprises: providing runtime features for data capture, selecting an incident that requires further processing, capturing data on a thread that encounters said incident, and outputting captured data. In some cases, such a solution might include comparing a current incident to known incidents, and if a match is found, retrieving information that is relevant to said current incident. In some cases, such a solution might include taking recovery action or corrective action in response to said incident. Methods for handling errors, systems for executing such methods, and instructions on a computer-usable medium, for executing such methods, are provided.

Claims

1. A method for handling errors, said method comprising:

selecting an incident that requires further processing;

capturing data associated with said incident;

outputting captured data; and

outputting a description for said captured data;

whereby problem-solving is promoted.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

keeping code for said capturing substantially separate from in-line paths.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting further comprises:

maintaining a list of incident types that require further processing.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

preventing multiple invocation of said capturing data for the same incident.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said capturing further comprises at least one action chosen from:

producing a thread dump;

producing a process dump; and

producing a core dump.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

parsing exceptions; and

based on said parsing, selecting data for capture.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said capturing further comprises:

performing operations on multiple servers.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

customizing said capturing based on said incident'"'"'s characteristics.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing a current incident to known incidents; and

if a match is found, retrieving information that is relevant to said current incident.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

taking corrective action in response to said incident.

11. A method for handling errors, said method comprising:

providing runtime features for data capture;

selecting an incident that requires further processing;

capturing data on a thread that encounters said incident; and

outputting captured data.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said providing further comprises:

minimizing in-line code for said data capture.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said providing further comprises:

transferring control to at least one data-capture engine when said incident occurs.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein said providing further comprises:

creating a diagnostic module;

registering said diagnostic module with a diagnostic engine; and

making data available to said diagnostic module.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

bundling said incident in a persistent form that gathers data from multiple components.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said outputting further comprises:

describing said captured data; and

describing a context for said captured data;

whereby problem-solving is promoted.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

isolating at least one data-capture engine from the specific features of a computing platform or product.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein said capturing further comprises:

initiating boundaries for an incident;

capturing general data for said incident,

logging data from components that are involved with said incident; and

bundling output when processing is complete.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said initiating boundaries further comprises at least one action chosen from:

associating an incident with an output stream; and

creating an output stream for said incident.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein said capturing general data further comprises capturing at least one item chosen from:

date;

timestamp;

classpath;

class loader; and

configuration settings.

21. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

suppressing said capturing during certain states.

22. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

temporarily logging data that can be retrieved later if an incident occurs.

23. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

comparing a current incident to known incidents; and

if a match is found, retrieving information that is relevant to said current incident.

24. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

taking corrective action in response to said incident.

25. A system for handling errors, said system comprising:

means for selecting an incident that requires further processing;

means for capturing data associated with said incident;

means for outputting captured data; and

means for outputting a description for said captured data.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein said means for capturing further comprises:

code that is substantially separate from in-line paths.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein said means for selecting further comprises:

means for maintaining a list of incident types that require further processing.

28. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for preventing multiple invocation of said means for capturing data, for the same incident.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein said means for capturing further comprises means for performing at least one action chosen from:

producing a thread dump;

producing a process dump; and

producing a core dump.

30. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for parsing exceptions; and

means responsive to said parsing, for selecting data for capture.

31. The system of claim 25, wherein said means for capturing further comprises:

means for performing operations on multiple servers.

32. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for customizing said means for capturing, based on said incident'"'"'s characteristics.

33. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for comparing a current incident to known incidents; and

means for retrieving information that is relevant to said current incident, if a match is found.

34. The system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for taking corrective action in response to said incident.

35. A computer-usable medium having computer-executable instructions for handling errors, said computer-executable instructions comprising:

means for selecting an incident that requires further processing;

means for capturing data associated with said incident;

means for outputting captured data; and

means for outputting a description for said captured data.

36. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, wherein said means for capturing further comprises:

code that is substantially separate from in-line paths.

37. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, wherein said means for selecting further comprises:

means for maintaining a list of incident types that require further processing.

38. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, further comprising:

means for preventing multiple invocation of said means for capturing data for the same incident.

39. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, wherein said means for capturing further comprises means for performing at least one action chosen from:

producing a thread dump;

producing a process dump; and

producing a core dump.

40. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, further comprising:

means for parsing exceptions; and

means responsive to said parsing, for selecting data for capture.

41. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, wherein said means for capturing further comprises:

means for performing operations on multiple servers.

42. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, further comprising:

means for customizing said means for capturing, based on said incident'"'"'s

characteristics.

43. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, further comprising:

means for comparing a current incident to known incidents; and

means for retrieving information that is relevant to said current incident, if a match is found.

44. The computer-usable medium of claim 35, further comprising:

means for taking corrective action in response to said incident.