Dynamic debugging dump for game console

• US 20070105607A1
• Filed: 11/08/2005
• Published: 05/10/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sinclair, Stefan, Ryan, Harold, Timmins, Luke, Russell, Zachary
• Granted Patent: US 8,088,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3688 for test execution, e.g. scheduling of test suites

Abstract

An error data dumping process on a game console is described, in which a request for an error data dump may be initiated using commands mapped to a handheld game controller. The request may include parameters for customizing the resulting dump, where the parameters may identify one or more physical memory address ranges to be included in the dump. Allocated virtual memory contents may also be added to the dump data structure, as can call stack data (such as thread lists and module lists) and system information. The assembled dump data can be written to a file and uploaded, via secure communication, to a network location where it may be indexed.

Claims

1. A computer program testing method, comprising the steps of:

executing a program on a game console;

receiving a debugging dump trigger command when an error is identified in said game program, wherein said dump trigger includes an identification of a physical game console memory address range whose data is to be included in a requested data dump;

collecting data from said physical address range, and

transmitting said collected data to a dump destination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said dump trigger comprises a command sequence entered using a handheld game console controller operatively connected to the game console having at least one analog directional control.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said command sequence uses a plurality of buttons on said handheld game console controller.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said dump trigger command comprises a command line instruction entered using a keyboard.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said dump trigger command comprises an instruction within said game program.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said game program automatically sends said dump trigger command.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said dump trigger command is sent automatically by said game program using an exception handler.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of generating said debugging dump trigger command using one or more onscreen prompts.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitted data includes call stack information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitted data includes game program build version information or game console hardware identification information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said transmitted data includes information identifying a user using said game console.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of receiving an indication of data that is to be excluded from said requested dump.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said dump destination comprises an Internet server.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of indexing said transmitted data at said server.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said step of transmitting employs encrypted transmission, and wherein said collected data is compressed before transmission.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said trigger is received during a first game state, and said step of transmitting further includes transmitting game state data for at least one game state occurring prior to said first game state.

17. One or more computer-readable media, storing computer-executable instructions for performing a method of causing a game console to perform a test of a game program, said method comprising the steps of:

executing a program on a game console;

receiving a debugging dump trigger command when an error is identified in said game program, wherein said dump trigger includes an identification of a physical game console memory address range whose data is to be included in a requested data dump, and wherein said dump trigger command is entered using a handheld game controller;

collecting data from said physical address range, and

transmitting said collected data to a dump destination.

18. A method of communicating between two processes in a game console system, comprising the steps of:

identifying an error condition in a first process;

issuing, from said first process, a first call to a physical memory list error data dumping process, said call including a first parameter identifying a physical memory address range, a second parameter identifying an error data dump structure, and a third parameter identifying a location in said error dump data structure; and

said error data dumping process retrieving memory contents from said physical memory address range, and adding said retrieved contents to said error data dump structure at said identified location.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of issuing, from said first process, a second call to said physical memory list error data dumping process to add contents of a second physical memory address range to said error dump data structure.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of issuing a call to a virtual memory error data dumping process, said virtual memory error data dumping process sequentially checking portions of a memory for whether said portions are allocated, and adding said allocated portions to said error data dump structure.