Method, system and program product for recording and replaying target service interaction data

• US 20060047496A1
• Filed: 09/02/2004
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Starkey, Michael, Genkin, Mikhail B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,752,604 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network

Abstract

An architecture that allows target service interactions to be realistically simulated in a development environment. The architecture includes a proxy service, an interaction recorder, an interaction store and an emulator service. The proxy service delegates service requests received from a client component to a target service. If it is in “record” mode, the proxy service routes any interaction data corresponding to the interaction (between the target service and the client component) to the interaction recorder. Upon receipt, the interaction recorder records the interaction data in the interaction store. Later, the proxy service can be placed in “replay” mode so that a subsequent service request for the target service is delegated to the emulator service. Upon receipt, the emulator service retrieves the corresponding interaction data from the data store and replays the same to emulate/simulate the target service.

Claims

1. A method for recording and replaying target service interaction data, comprising:

receiving a service request on a proxy service from a client component;

delegating the service request from the proxy service to a target service;

receiving interaction data on the proxy service from the target service, wherein the interaction data corresponds to an interaction between the client component and the target service pursuant to the service request; and

recording the interaction data in an interaction store.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a subsequent service request on the proxy service for the target service;

delegating the subsequent service request from the proxy service to an emulator service; and

replaying the interaction data from the interaction store with the emulator service to simulate the target service for the subsequent service request.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising creating the proxy service, the interaction store and the emulator service using a target service definition corresponding to the target service and an emulator model.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the proxy service, the target service and the emulator service implement a common target interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the interaction data from the proxy service to an interaction recorder prior to the recording step.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the interaction data comprises invocation semantics of the interaction, input data for the interaction, output data for the interaction, a time taken to complete the interaction, a transaction context of the interaction, and a security context of the interaction.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a mode of the proxy service to record prior to receiving the service request.

8. A system for recording and replaying target service interaction data, comprising:

a proxy service for delegating a service request received from a client component to a target service, and for receiving interaction data from the target service corresponding to an interaction between the client component and the target service pursuant to the service request; and

an interaction recorder for receiving the interaction data from the proxy service, and for recording the interaction data in an interaction store.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising an emulator service, wherein the proxy service further receives a subsequent service request for the target service and delegates the subsequent service request to the emulator service, and wherein the emulator service replays the interaction data from the interaction store to simulate the target service for the subsequent service request.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a generator for creating the proxy service, the interaction store and the emulator service using a target service definition corresponding to the target service and an emulator model.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the proxy service, the target service and the emulator service implement a common target interface.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the interaction data comprises invocation semantics of the interaction, input data for the interaction, output data for the interaction, a time taken to complete the interaction, a transaction context of the interaction, and a security context of the interaction.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the client component is selected from the group consisting of a Java Bean, an Enterprise Java Bean, and a process.

14. A program product stored on a recordable medium for recording and replaying target service interaction data, which when executed, comprises:

a first program module for delegating a service request received from a client component to a target service, and for receiving interaction data from the target service corresponding to an interaction between the client component and the target service pursuant the service request; and

a second program module for receiving the interaction data from the proxy service, and for recording the interaction data in an interaction store.

15. The program product of claim 14, further comprising a third program module for emulating the target service, wherein the first program module further receives a subsequent service request for the target service and delegates the subsequent service request to the third program module, and wherein the third program module replays the interaction data from the interaction store to simulate the target service for the subsequent service request.

16. The program product of claim 15, wherein the first program module, the second program module and the third program module implement a common target interface.

17. The program product of claim 15, further comprising a fourth program module for creating the first program module, the interaction store and the third program module using a target service definition corresponding to the target service and an emulator model.

18. The program product of claim 14, wherein the interaction data comprises invocation semantics of the interaction, input data for the interaction, output data for the interaction, a time taken to complete the interaction, a transaction context of the interaction, and a security context of the interaction.

19. The program product of claim 14, wherein the client component is selected from the group consisting of a Java Bean, an Enterprise Java Bean, and a process.

20. A system for deploying an application for recording and replaying target service interaction data, comprising:

a computer infrastructure being operable to;

receive a service request on a proxy service from a client component;

delegate the service request from the proxy service to a target service;

receive interaction data on the proxy service from the target service, wherein the interaction data corresponds to an interaction between the client component and the target service pursuant to the service request; and

record the interaction data in an interaction store.

21. The system for deploying of claim 20, wherein the computer infrastructure is further operable to:

receive a subsequent service request on the proxy service for the target service;

delegate the subsequent service request from the proxy service to an emulator service; and

replay the interaction data from the interaction store with the emulator service to simulate the target service for the subsequent service request.

22. Computer software embodied in a propagated signal for recording and replaying target service interaction data, the computer software comprising instructions to cause a computer system to perform the following functions:

receive a service request on a proxy service from a client component;

delegate the service request from the proxy service to a target service;

receive interaction data on the proxy service from the target service, wherein the interaction data corresponds to an interaction between the client component and the target service pursuant to the service request; and

record the interaction data in an interaction store.

23. The computer software of claim 22, wherein the instructions further cause the computer system to perform the following functions:

receive a subsequent service request on the proxy service for the target service;

delegate the subsequent service request from the proxy service to an emulator service; and

replay the interaction data from the interaction store with the emulator service to simulate the target service for the subsequent service request.

24. A method for creating components for recording and replaying target service interaction data:

providing a target service definition corresponding to a target service;

providing an emulator model for emulating the target service; and

creating a proxy service, an interaction store and an emulator service using the target service definition and the emulator model.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the proxy service delegates a service request received from a client component to the target service and receives interaction data from the target service corresponding to an interaction between the client component and the target service, wherein the interaction data is recorded in the interaction store, and wherein the interaction data is accessed in the interaction store and replayed by the emulator service to emulate the target service for a subsequent service request.

26. A generator for creating components for recording and replaying target service interaction data, comprising:

an information access system for accessing a target service definition corresponding to a target service and an emulator model for emulating the target service; and

a component creation system for creating a proxy service, an interaction store and an emulator service using the target service definition and the emulator model.

27. The generator of claim 26, wherein the proxy service delegates a service request received from a client component to the target service and receives interaction data from the target service corresponding to an interaction between the client component and the target service, wherein the interaction data is recorded in the interaction store, and wherein the interaction data is accessed in the interaction store and replayed by the emulator service to emulate the target service for a subsequent service request.