Platform for computer process monitoring

• US 20060005085A1
• Filed: 08/29/2005
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Green, Bradley Ray, Zunino, Gilles
• Granted Patent: US 7,337,365 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3447 Performance evaluation by modeling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring

Abstract

Monitoring components that provide monitors for computer processes are disclosed, including a monitoring component that provides multiple monitors that may be selectively activated for a particular process where each monitor is responsive to a different type of event that signifies a defect. The monitoring component provides monitors including a debugger monitor, window monitor, a hang monitor, and a timeout monitor that may individually or collectively be activated for a process. A Remote Monitoring component is disclosed that consolidates control for multiple monitoring components instantiated for multiple processes on one computer where each monitoring component has one or more monitors that are activated. A Remote Monitor Client component is also disclosed and consolidates control for multiple remote monitoring components that are instantiated on multiple computers to control monitoring components attached to the distributed processes of one or more applications.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a process running on a computer, comprising:

instantiating on the computer a monitoring component that provides a set of monitors and at least one interface, wherein the monitoring component is attached to the process to be monitored;

selectively activating one or more of the monitors from the set when instantiating the monitoring component, wherein each of the one or more monitors is responsive to a particular type of event;

storing the identification of each activated monitor in a session table as a session;

detecting events of the process with the one or more monitors that are activated; and

reporting through the at least one interface an indication of detected events.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set includes a service monitor, a debugger monitor, a window monitor, a time-out monitor, and a hang monitor.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising prior to reporting detected events, storing each detected event in a queue.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising starting the process to be monitored by specifying a target for the instantiated monitoring component.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering the detected events based upon at least one criteria prior to reporting detected events, and reporting through the at least one interface the indication of detected events only for the detected events that pass through the filtering.

48. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting events further comprises separately detecting events for each session of the session table.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein reporting further comprises separately reporting detected events for each session of the session table through the interface corresponding to the monitor identified in the session.

6. A monitoring component for a computer, comprising:

at least one interface;

a queue;

a set of selectively activatable monitors through which one or more events of a process are detected, wherein the monitoring component attaches the activated monitors to the process upon instantiation and the activated monitors store indications of the one or more events of the process in the queue;

a session table that stores the identification of each activated monitor as a session, and an event handler that reports the indications of the one or more events from the queue through the at least one interface.

7. The monitoring component of claim 6, wherein the set of selectively activatable monitors includes a service monitor, a debugger monitor, a time-out monitor, a hang monitor, and a window monitor.

10. The monitoring component of claim 6, wherein the set of selectively activatable monitors are customizable by adding additional monitors through utilization of the at least one interface, specifying a method for the additional monitors in a properties interface associated with the set of selectively activatable monitors, and accepting by the event handler from the queue information generated by the additional monitors.

50. The monitoring component of claim 6, wherein a separate event handler is provided for each session of the session table.

8-9. -9. (canceled)

11-14. -14. (canceled)

15. A method of monitoring multiple processes of a computer, comprising:

instantiating a remote monitoring component for controlling individual monitoring components, the remote monitoring component having at least one interface;

for each process being monitored under the remote monitoring component, instantiating on the computer an individual monitoring component providing at least one monitor and at least one interface;

for each instantiated individual monitoring component, activating the at least one monitor that is responsive to a particular type of event;

storing the identification of each activated monitor in a session table as a session;

for each process being monitored, detecting events with the at least one monitor of the monitoring component;

when an event is detected by the at least one monitor for a process, reporting an indication of the event through the at least one interface to the remote monitoring component; and

once an indication of the event is reported to the remote monitoring component, reporting the event from the remote monitoring component through the at least one interface of the remote monitoring component.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each individual monitoring component includes a set of multiple monitors.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the multiple monitors of the set are selectively activatable when instantiating each individual monitoring component.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the set includes a service monitor, a debugger monitor, a window monitor, a time-out monitor, and a hang monitor.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising starting the process to be monitored by specifying a target for the instantiated monitoring component from the remote monitoring component.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising after receiving the indication of the event from the individual monitoring component, filtering the indication based upon at least one criteria and reporting the event from the remote monitoring component through the at least one interface of the remote monitoring component when the indication of the event passes through the filtering.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein filtering is performed by an event filter specific to each individual monitoring component and the event filter is configured to modify the indication of the event received from the individual monitoring component prior to reporting the indication of the event.

51. The method of claim 15, wherein detecting events further comprises separately detecting events for each session of the session table.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein reporting further comprises separately reporting detected events for each session of the session table through the interface corresponding to the monitor identified in the session.

16. (canceled)

23-47. -47. (canceled)