METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SOFTWARE DEFECT REPORTING

• US 20110258609A1
• Filed: 04/14/2010
• Published: 10/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Maczuba, Jed
• Granted Patent: US 8,813,039 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/128
• 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 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3636 by tracing the execution of the program
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3688 for test execution, e.g. scheduling of test suites
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3692 for test results analysis

Abstract

A method and system ties together the identification of a defect during testing with the supporting application code on the systems that led to the generation of a defect. The association between the two is through the use of a unique Trace ID. This Trace ID is unique to each interaction between the consumer (e.g. client browser) and the provider system(s) (web application server, back office systems, etc). When a potential defect is identified by the end user or tester, the present invention “collects” the associated log messages using the unique Trace ID and attaches those to the defect. The software developer providing the defect triage can then readily review the associated log files without having to manually search the supporting log files manually.

Claims

1. A method for improving a defect reporting mechanism for software in a software quality automated process using automated log scanning in a system, the method comprising:

identifying a software defect;

preparing a software defect report;

reviewing the software defect report;

determining if the software defect report information is complete; and

if the software defect report information is not complete, updating the defect report information.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising, if the software defect report information is complete, analyzing log files.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 further comprising determining a defect source, fixing the defect and releasing the software.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising, if the defect report information is incomplete, determining if the defect is reproducible.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 further comprising, if the defect is reproducible, recreating the defect.

6. The method as defined in claim 4 further comprising, if the defect report information is complete, searching log files, determining if log files are available, releasing the software.

7. A system for reporting software defects comprising:

a trace identification interceptor for intercepting trace identifications;

a log consolidator interceptor for intercepting log files; and

an action mechanism for generating a result.

8. The system as defined in claim 7 further comprising a service dispatcher.

9. The system as defined in claim 8 further comprising an action proxy connected to the service dispatcher.

10. A system for reporting software defects comprising:

a log consolidator interceptor being interconnected with source systems having log information therein, the log information having trace identification,

the log consolidator interceptor making calls to the source systems to obtain log information from the source systems,

wherein the source systems search the logs to obtain one or more trace identifications.

11. The system as defined in claim 10 further comprising an action mechanism for generating a result.

12. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable medium for operating in a system comprising a network I/O, a CPU, and one or more databases, for implementing a method for software defect reporting in development of software, the method comprising:

identifying a software defect;

preparing a software defect report having information relating to the software defect;

reviewing the software defect report;

determining if the software defect report information is complete; and

if the software defect report information is not complete, updating the software defect report information.

13. The computer program product as defined in claim 12, the method further comprising, if the software defect report information is complete, analyzing log files.

14. The computer program product as defined in claim 13, the method further comprising determining a defect source, fixing the software defect and releasing the software.

15. The computer program product as defined in claim 13, the method further comprising, if the defect report information is complete, analyzing log files, determining a defect detect source, fixing the software defect and releasing the software.

16. A method for deploying a computer infrastructure for implementing a process for improving a defect reporting mechanism in software quality automated process for software using automated log scanning in a system, the process comprising:

identifying a software defect;

preparing a software defect report having software defect information;

reviewing the software defect report;

determining if the software defect report information is complete; and

if the software defect report information is not complete, updating the software defect report information.

17. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the process further comprises, if the software defect report information is complete, analyzing log files.

18. The method as defined in claim 17 wherein the process further comprises determining a software defect source, fixing the software defect and releasing the software.

19. A method for identifying defects during a testing phase of a software product comprising:

executing a test case on the software product;

determining whether a defect is found;

if a defect is found, preparing a defect report;

logging the defect report;

determining whether the defect is valid;

if the defect is not valid, updating the test case; and

fixing the defect.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 further comprising, if the defect is valid, fixing the defect.