Visualizing Transaction Traces As Flows Through A Map Of Logical Subsystems

• US 20120260133A1
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Published: 10/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beck, Laura G., Litt, Natalya E., Isley, Nathan A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,516,301 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/38.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data

Abstract

A method for diagnosing problems in a computer system by visualizing flows through subsystems of the computer system. Diagnostic tools include a user interface which includes a triage map which graphically depicts subsystems, such as applications, through which a Business Transaction flows, and the calling relationship between the subsystems. The subsystems can be depicted by nodes which include alerts and performance information. The user can run a command to find transactions of a specific Business Transaction and/or front end subsystem which meet filter criterion such as response time and user identifier. Each captured transaction can be listed with information such as response time and reporting agent. Details of a particular transaction instance, such as its invoked components, can also be viewed in a transaction trace.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for visualizing flows through one or more applications, the method comprising:

accessing a data store to access data which is obtained from one or more agents associated with the one or more applications, the agents provide the data using instrumentation which is installed in the one or more applications;

displaying a triage map region on a user interface, the triage map region graphically depicts subsystems of the one or more applications and dependency relationships between the subsystems, the subsystems are depicted as nodes and the dependency relationships are depicted with arrows connecting the nodes; and

based on the accessed data, displaying an auxiliary region of the user interface, the auxiliary region provides information associated with at least one transaction instance.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the auxiliary region is displayed in response to a user command made via a pointing device pointed at one of the nodes.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method performed further comprises:

receiving a user selection, via the auxiliary region, of the at least one transaction instance; and

in response to the user selection, visually distinguishing a node of one subsystem of the multiple subsystems which was invoked by the at least one transaction instance from a node of another subsystem of the multiple subsystems which was not invoked by the at least one transaction instance.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method performed further comprises:

decorating nodes of the subsystems with net durations, each net duration is based on a total duration less a wait time.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein at least one un-instrumented back end is called by one of the subsystems, and the method performed further comprises:

decorating a node of the one of the subsystems with a time spent in the one of the subsystems based on a total duration less a back end call time to the at least one un-instrumented back end.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method performed further comprises:

decorating at least one of the arrows with a duration which represents an inter-subsystem communication time.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the triage map region decorates at least one of the subsystems with an alert icon, where the alert icon indicates an alert level based on an associated metric of the at least one of the subsystems.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the triage map region decorates at least one of the arrows with an alert icon, where the alert icon indicates an alert level based on an associated metric of a method call which is represented by the arrow.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the subsystems include an instrumented subsystem which calls an un-instrumented subsystem;

one of the arrows connects a node of the instrumented subsystem to a node of the un-instrumented subsystem; and

the triage map region decorates the one of the arrows to indicate a duration used by the instrumented subsystem in calling the un-instrumented subsystem.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the auxiliary region provides information associated with multiple transaction instances, and the method performed further comprises:

receiving a user selection, via the auxiliary region, of one transaction instance of the multiple transaction instances; and

in response to the user selection, visually distinguishing a node of one of the subsystems which was invoked by the one transaction instance from a node of another of the subsystems which was not invoked by the one transaction instance.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method performed further comprises:

receiving a user selection, via the auxiliary region, of the at least one transaction instance; and

in response to the selection, displaying at least one transaction trace of the at least one transaction instance, the at least one transaction trace is a graph which identifies invoked components of the at least one transaction instance, and calling relationships among the invoked components.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the method performed further comprises:

receiving a user selection, via the triage map region, of one of the nodes of one of the subsystem; and

in response to the user selection, displaying, via the auxiliary region, details associated with at least one transaction instance of the one of the subsystems.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein:

the details include at least one component invoked by the at least one transaction instance of the one of the subsystems.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein:

one or more calling components invoked in the one of the subsystems call another subsystem;

in the triage map region, one of the arrows connects the one of the nodes of the one of the subsystems to a node of the another subsystem; and

in response to a user selection of the one of the arrows, the details include identities of the one or more calling components.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

one or more calling components invoked in one of the subsystems call another subsystem;

in the triage map region, one of the arrows connects the one of the nodes of the one of the subsystems to a node of the another subsystem; and

in response to a user selection of the one of the arrows without a user selection of the one of the nodes of the one of the subsystems, the auxiliary region displays identities of the one or more calling components without displaying identities of other components of the one of the subsystems.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein:

in response to a user selection of the one of the arrows with the user selection of the one of the nodes of the one of the one of the subsystems, the auxiliary region displays identities of the one or more calling components and the identities of other components of the one of the subsystems.

17. A computer-implemented method for visualizing flows through one or more applications, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:

accessing a data store to access data which is obtained from one or more agents associated with the one or more applications, the agents provide the data using instrumentation which is installed in the one or more applications;

displaying a triage map region on a user interface, the triage map region graphically depicts subsystems of the one or more applications and dependency relationships between the subsystems, the subsystems are depicted as nodes and the dependency relationships are depicted with arrows connecting the nodes, and the triage map region identifies a Business Transaction, and multiple subsystems which are invoked in the Business Transaction; and

based on the accessed data, displaying an auxiliary region of the user interface.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein:

the triage map displays a node with a name of the Business Transaction; and

the user interface displays a hover box for the node with the name of the Business Transaction when a user points a pointing device over the node with the name of the Business Transaction, the hover box identifies a performance metric for the Business Transaction.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein:

the triage map displays a node with a name of the Business Transaction; and

in response to a user pointing a pointing device at the node with the name of the Business Transaction, the user interface displays a context menu for the Business Transaction.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein:

the context menu includes an option which displays a map of the Business Transaction by visually distinguishing nodes of the multiple subsystems of the Business Transaction in the triage map region from nodes of subsystems of at least one other Business Transaction in the triage map region.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein:

the context menu includes an option which displays, in the auxiliary region, locations for the Business Transaction, the locations identify at least one agent, at least one host and an associated performance metric.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein:

the context menu includes an option which displays health metrics associated with the Business Transaction.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein:

the context menu includes an option which finds transaction instances of the Business Transaction in a future time period which meet at least one filter criterion; and

the auxiliary region is updated to provide information associated with found transaction instances which meet the at least one filter criterion.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the option displays a window which allows a user to enter the at least one filter criterion, and the method performed further comprises:

receiving a user command to find more transaction instances of the Business Transaction in another future time period which meet the at least one filter criterion, without requiring the user to re-enter the at least one filter criterion.

25. Tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage having computer readable software embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform a method for visualizing flows through one or more applications, the method performed comprises:

accessing a data store to access data which is obtained from one or more agents associated with the one or more applications, the agents provide the data using instrumentation which is installed in the one or more applications;

displaying a triage map region on a user interface, the triage map region graphically depicts subsystems of the one or more applications and dependency relationships between the subsystems, the subsystems are depicted as subsystem nodes having names of the subsystems and the dependency relationships are depicted with arrows connecting the subsystem nodes;

one of the subsystems is invoked by at least first and second Business Transactions and is depicted by one of the subsystem nodes;

the triage map displays a first Business Transaction node with a name of the first Business Transaction, and a second Business Transaction node with a name of the second Business Transaction;

in response to a user selecting the one of the subsystem nodes, the user interface displays a context menu for the one of the subsystems, the context menu includes an option which finds transaction instances in a future time period which invoke the one of the subsystems at least as part of the first Business Transaction; and

updating the user interface to provide information associated with found transaction instances.

26. The tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 25, wherein:

if the user selects the first Business Transaction node but does not select the second Business Transaction node, the option of the context menu does not find transaction instances in the future time period which invoke the one of the subsystems as part of the second Business Transaction.

27. The tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 25, wherein:

if the user selects the first and second Business Transaction nodes, the option of the context menu finds transaction instances in the future time period which invoke the one of the subsystems as part of the second Business Transaction.