Method and system for a debugging utility based on a TCP tunnel

• US 20040199629A1
• Filed: 04/01/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bomer, Staton Thomas, Margolis, Bernardo, Mathew, Saju
• Granted Patent: US 7,441,036 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/362 Software debugging
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3632 of specific synchronisation aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/169 Special adaptations of TCP, UDP or IP for interworking of IP based networks with other networks protocols for interworking, protocol conversion H04L69/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A software development and debugging tool is based upon a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel. The TCP tunnel operates independently without a requirement of pre-configuring a client application or a server application to interoperate with the TCP-tunnel-based debugging utility. Various content-related tests can be performed by modifying the client-generated request messages at the TCP tunnel. Various timing-related tests can be performed by delaying the client-generated requests and/or server-generated responses at the TCP tunnel.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring network messages from an application, the method comprising:

receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

modifying the request message at the TCP tunnel in accordance with user-configurable filtering rules; and

forwarding the modified request message from the TCP tunnel to a server.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a modification based on a history of modification operations on previous request messages such that modifications vary over time.

3. A method for monitoring network messages from an application, the method comprising:

receiving a message at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

delaying the message at the TCP tunnel for a time period; and

forwarding the message from the TCP tunnel in response to passage of the time period.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the message is a request message that is received from a client and forwarded to a server or the message is a response message that is received from a server and forwarded to a client.

5. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

determining the time period based upon user-configurable parameters.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

determining the time period based on a history of delay operations on previous request messages such that delays vary over time.

7. A method for monitoring network messages from an application, the method comprising:

receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

generating multiple copies of the request message at the TCP tunnel;

forwarding a copy of the request message from the TCP tunnel to a server such that the multiple copies are forwarded to a unique server in a set of servers;

receiving at the TCP tunnel a response message from each server in the set of servers; and

computing at the TCP tunnel a response time for each server in the set of servers.

8. An apparatus for monitoring network messages from an application, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for modifying the request message at the TCP tunnel in accordance with user-configurable filtering rules; and

means for forwarding the modified request message from the TCP tunnel to a server;

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

means for determining a modification based on a history of modification operations on previous request messages such that modifications vary over time.

10. An apparatus for monitoring network messages from an application, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a message at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for delaying the message at the TCP tunnel for a time period; and

means for forwarding the message from the TCP tunnel in response to passage of the time period.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the message is a request message that is received from a client and forwarded to a server or the message is a response message that is received from a server and forwarded to a client.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

means for determining the time period based upon user-configurable parameters.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

means for determining the time period based on a history of delay operations on previous request messages such that delays vary over time.

14. An apparatus for monitoring network messages from an application, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for generating multiple copies of the request message at the TCP tunnel;

means for forwarding a copy of the request message from the TCP tunnel to a server such that the multiple copies are forwarded to a unique server in a set of servers;

means for receiving at the TCP tunnel a response message from each server in the set of servers; and

means for computing at the TCP tunnel a response time for each server in the set of servers.

15. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system for monitoring network messages from an application, the computer program product comprising:

means for receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for modifying the request message at the TCP tunnel in accordance with user-configurable filtering rules; and

means for forwarding the modified request message from the TCP tunnel to a server.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising:

means for determining a modification based on a history of modification operations on previous request messages such that modifications vary over time.

17. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system for monitoring network messages from an application, the computer program product comprising:

means for receiving a message at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for delaying the message at the TCP tunnel for a time period; and

means for forwarding the message from the TCP tunnel in response to passage of the time period.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein the message is a request message that is received from a client and forwarded to a server or the message is a response message that is received from a server and forwarded to a client.

19. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

means for determining the time period based upon user-configurable parameters.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising:

means for determining the time period based on a history of delay operations on previous request messages such that delays vary over time.

21. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system for monitoring network messages from an application, the computer program product comprising:

means for receiving a request message from a client at a TCP (Transport Control Protocol) tunnel;

means for generating multiple copies of the request message at the TCP tunnel;

means for forwarding a copy of the request message from the TCP tunnel to a server such that the multiple copies are forwarded to a unique server in a set of servers;

means for receiving at the TCP tunnel a response message from each server in the set of servers; and

means for computing at the TCP tunnel a response time for each server in the set of servers.