GENERATE DIAGNOSTIC DATA FOR OVERDUE THREAD IN A DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20100077258A1
• Filed: 09/22/2008
• Published: 03/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lee, Van H., Sanner, David D., Tran, Thi N.
• Granted Patent: US 7,958,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/39
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2736 using a dedicated service processor for test

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer implemented method, computer program product, and apparatus for generating diagnostic data for a thread. A service processor may begin by executing the computer usable program code to allocate a first thread to a monitoring function. The service processor determines if a second thread is running, wherein the second thread is associated with an operation. The service processor obtains an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the second thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time. The service processor calculates the check time as a maximum running time interval added to an initially sampled timestamp. The service processor determines if a current time exceeds the check time. In addition, the service processor generates an error log, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method to generate diagnostic data for a thread, the method comprising:

allocating a first thread to a monitoring function;

determining if a second thread is running, wherein the second thread is associated with an operation;

obtaining an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the second thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

calculating the check time as a maximum running time interval added to an initially sampled timestamp;

determining if a current time exceeds the check time; and

responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time, generating an error log.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the operation is a hardware-object-model operation.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

responsive to obtaining the object pointer, determining whether the maximum running time interval is finite; and

responsive to a determination that the maximum running time interval is finite, performing the step of calculating.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining if a third thread is running, wherein the third thread is associated with an operation;

obtaining an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the third thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

calculating the check time as a maximum running time interval added to the initially sampled timestamp;

determining if a current time exceeds the check time; and

responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time, generating an error log.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining the initially sampled timestamp.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to a determination that current time exceeds the check time, sending a signal to a calling thread to continue.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

sleeping for a sleep duration.

8. A computer program product for generating diagnostic data for a thread, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer program product comprising;

computer usable program code configured to allocate a first thread to a monitoring function;

computer usable program code configured to determine if a second thread is running, wherein the second thread is associated with an operation;

computer usable program code configured to obtain an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the second thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

computer usable program code configured to calculate the check time as a maximum running time interval added to an initially sampled timestamp;

computer usable program code configured to determine if a current time exceeds the check time; and

computer usable program code configured to generate an error log, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the operation is a hardware-object-model operation.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine whether the maximum running time interval is finite, responsive to obtaining the object pointer; and

computer usable program code configured to perform the step of calculating, responsive to a determination that the maximum running time interval is finite.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine if a third thread is running, wherein the third thread is associated with an operation;

computer usable program code configured to obtain an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the third thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

computer usable program code configured to calculate the check time as a maximum running time interval added to the initially sampled timestamp;

computer usable program code configured to determine if a current time exceeds the check time; and

computer usable program code configured to generate an error log, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to obtain the initially sampled timestamp.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to send a signal to a calling thread to continue, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to sleep for a sleep duration.

15. A data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a storage device connected to the bus, wherein computer usable code is located in the storage device;

a communication unit connected to the bus; and

a processing unit connected to the bus, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable code for generating diagnostic data for a thread, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable program code to allocate a first thread to a monitoring function;

determine if a second thread is running, wherein the second thread is associated with an operation;

obtain an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the second thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

calculate the check time as a maximum running time interval added to an initially sampled timestamp;

determine if a current time exceeds the check time; and

generate an error log, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

16. The data processing system claim 15, wherein the operation is a hardware-object-model operation.

17. The data processing system claim 16, wherein the processor further executes computer usable code to determine whether the maximum running time interval is finite, responsive to obtaining the object pointer;

and perform the step of calculating, responsive to a determination that the maximum running time interval is finite.

18. The data processing system claim 17, wherein the processor further executes computer usable code to determine if a third thread is running, wherein the third thread is associated with an operation;

obtain an object pointer from a list of running threads, wherein the object pointer references a time data structure associated with the third thread, the time data structure comprising a maximum running time interval and a check time;

calculate the check time as a maximum running time interval added to the initially sampled timestamp;

determine if a current time exceeds the check time; and

generate an error log, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.

19. The data processing system claim 18, wherein the processor further executes computer usable code to obtain the initially sampled timestamp.

20. The data processing system claim 18, wherein the processor further executes computer usable code to send a signal to a calling thread to continue, responsive to a determination that the current time exceeds the check time.