Method and system for reporting failures of a program module in a corporate environment

• US 20040205421A1
• Filed: 03/01/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Glerum, Kirk A., Ruhlen, Matthew J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,257,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and system for reporting failures in an application program module to a corporate file server. The failure may be a crash or a set-up failure. Once detected, the program failures are categorized, i.e. bucketed, and reported directly to a local file server operated by a corporation. The corporate file server may be used to store the failures encountered by users in a corporate environment until these failures are reported to a server operated by the manufacturer of the program module (a destination server). Once the failures are reported to the destination server, developers or programmers may examine the data and determine what is causing the failures in the program module. A failure reporting executable on the user'"'"'s computer provides communications between the failed application program module and the local file server. An administrative reporting executable (typically operated at the corporate file server) provides communications between the failure reporting executable and the corporate file server and between the corporate file server and the destination server. A cab tree, a counts tree and a status tree stores bucket information for a failure at the corporate file server. The bucket information for a crash may comprise an AppName, an AppVer, a ModuleName, a ModuleVer, and an offset into that module. The bucket information in the corporate file server may be uploaded to a destination server by a corporate system administrator thus preventing sensitive information from being disclosed by the corporation'"'"'s users.

Claims

1-11. -11. (Canceled)

12. A method for synchronizing failure data maintained in a corporate file server with a destination server, the method comprising the steps of:

loading a plurality of failure information entries into a memory of the corporate file server, wherein each entry corresponds to a failure of a computer program module;

selecting which failure information entries to upload to the destination server;

for each failure information entry to upload performing the following steps;

obtaining information from the destination server regarding the type of failure information that is needed;

determining whether the type of failure information needed is the type in the failure information entry; and

if so, then uploading the failure information entry to the destination server.

13. The method recited in claim 12 further comprising the step of renaming the failure information entry to indicate that the failure information entry has been uploaded to the destination server.

14. The method recited in claim 12 further comprising the steps of:

if the type of failure information needed is not they type in the failure information entry, then downloading from the destination server to the corporate file server the type of information that needs to be obtained for the particular failure of the computer program module.

15. A system for reporting failures of a program module, the system comprising:

a corporate file server operative to receive and store failure reports from users of the program module within a corporation; and

an administrative reporting executable comprising computer-executable steps for receiving the failure reports from users within the corporation.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising a destination server for periodically receiving uploads of the failure reports from the corporate file server and wherein the administrative reporting executable is further operative to upload the failure reports to a destination server.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the destination server is operated by the manufacturer of the program module and wherein the corporate file server is maintained by an administrator of the corporation.