Adaptive log file scanning utility

• US 20050144526A1
• Filed: 12/10/2003
• Published: 06/30/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation (Perspecta, Inc.)
• Inventors: Banko, Stephen J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,213,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/38
• 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

Abstract

A method is provided for monitoring error log files for specified error events through the use of a software program. In accordance with the method, each time the program is run, the steps are performed of: (a) accessing (405) an error log file, (b) identifying (419) those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program, (c) reading (413, 417) essentially only those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program and identifying (423) any predefined error conditions recorded therein, (d) generating a report (425, 429) which notes the existence of any predefined error conditions identified, and (e) terminating (427) the program.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring error log files with a software program, comprising the steps, each time the software program is run, of:

accessing an error log file;

identifying those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program;

reading essentially only those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program and identifying any predefined error conditions recorded therein;

generating a report which notes the existence of any predefined error conditions identified; and

terminating the program.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined error conditions are strings of characters, and wherein the program is adapted to search for these strings in the error log file.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the program is adapted, each time it is executed, to create a record of the portion of the error log file that the program has read, and wherein the program is further adapted to use this record to identify the unread portion of the error log file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the program is adapted, each time it is executed, to create a record of the position of the file pointer in the error log file after the error log file has been read, and wherein the program is further adapted, in the subsequent execution, to read the error log file starting from the last recorded position of the file pointer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the program is adapted to monitor a plurality of error log files associated with an application, and wherein the program is further adapted to read any of the plurality of error log files that have been partially read in a previous program iteration from the last recorded position of the file pointer associated with that error log file.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the program is further adapted to read any of the plurality of error log files that have not previously been read.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the program is adapted to issue a first type of notification if none of the predefined error conditions have been identified in the error log file, and wherein the program is further adapted to issue a second type of notification, distinct from the first type of notification, if at least one of the predefined error conditions have been identified in the error log file.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined error conditions are set forth in first and second lists of character strings, wherein the program is adapted to issue a first type of notification if an error condition is detected that is set forth in the first list, and wherein the program is further adapted to issue a second type of notification if an error condition is detected that is set forth in the second list.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the program is adapted to monitor a plurality of error log files associated with an application, and wherein the error log files are arranged in the form of a circular buffer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the size of the error log file is used to determine whether the program has previously read that error log file.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the date and time on which the error log file was last modified is used to determine whether the program has previously read that error log file.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of reading essentially only those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program comprises the steps of:

maintaining a tracking file which tracks the position of a file pointer that points to the last read line in an error log file;

retrieving, from the tracking file, the last recorded position of the file pointer;

reading the error log file from the last recorded position of the file pointer such that, when the step of reading is completed, the file pointer points to the end of the last entry in the error log file which was read; and

updating, in the tracking file, the recorded position of the file pointer in the error log file which has been read.

13. A system for monitoring error log files with a software program, comprising:

instructions for accessing an error log file associated with at least one software application;

instructions for reading essentially only those portions of an error log file not previously read by the program and identifying any predefined error conditions;

instructions for generating a report which notes the existence of any predefined error conditions identified by the program; and

instructions for terminating the program.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions for reading essentially only those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program include instructions for:

maintaining a tracking file which tracks the position of a file pointer that points to the last read line in an error log file;

retrieving, from the tracking file, the last recorded position of the file pointer;

reading the error log file from the last recorded position of the file pointer such that, when the step of reading is completed, the file pointer points to the end of the last entry in the error log file which was read; and

updating, in the tracking file, the recorded position of the file pointer in the error log file which has been read.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the program is adapted to utilize the new location of the file pointer, the next time the program operates on the error log file, to identify any portions of the error log file that the program has not read.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the error log file comprises a plurality of files arranged in the form of a circular buffer.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the program is adapted to operate on the error log files associated with a plurality of software applications.

18. A storage medium for a computer system comprising instructions for a monitoring system for monitoring error log files with a software program, the monitoring system comprising:

utilizing a file pointer to identify the portion of an error log file not previously read by the program;

reading the unread portion of the error log file and identifying any predefined error conditions detected therein;

generating a report which notes any predefined error conditions identified by the program; and

terminating the program.

19. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein the step of reading the unread portion of the error log file involves the step of moving the file pointer to a new location, and wherein the program is adapted to record the new location of the file pointer.

20. The storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions for reading essentially only those portions of the error log file not previously read by the program include instructions for:

maintaining a tracking file which tracks the position of a file pointer that points to the last read line in an error log file;

retrieving, from the tracking file, the last recorded position of the file pointer;

reading the error log file from the last recorded position of the file pointer such that, when the step of reading is completed, the file pointer points to the end of the last entry in the error log file which was read; and

updating, in the tracking file, the recorded position of the file pointer in the error log file which has been read.