Object oriented framework mechanism for performing computer system diagnostics

• US 5,745,675 A
• Filed: 04/23/1996
• Issued: 04/28/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Warne, Thomas Joseph, Herbig, Kyle David, McKelvey, Mark Ambrose
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott T.
• Application Number:
  US08/636,292
• Time in Patent Office: 735 Days
• Field of Search: 395/183.14, 395/183.01, 395/183.22, 395/614, 395/62
• US Class Current: 714/38.12
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2257 using expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2273 Test methods

Abstract

An object oriented framework for diagnostic testing operates upon a user-defined diagnostic script to perform the desired tests. Certain core functions are provided by the framework, which interact with extensible functions. This separation of core and extensible functions allows the separation of the diagnostic application from the attributes of the test. A user may thus define extensible functions that allow the framework to test specific hardware and/or software without the framework having the knowledge of the specific tests being performed, or the results of those tests.

Claims

1. A computer system, the computer system comprising:

a central processing unit; and

a main memory coupled to the central processing unit, the main memory containing a framework that provides an extensible diagnostic processing system that performs diagnostic testing according to a diagnostic script, the framework executing on the central processing unit, the framework including a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application and a second level of extensibility to define at least one test that the diagnostic application executes.

2. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the framework defines a diagnostic script class comprising:

at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in the diagnostic script; and

a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed.

3. The computer system of claim 2 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of test units.

4. The computer system of claim 3 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of test units by identifying a next test unit to process depending on the results of processing the previous test unit.

5. The computer system of claim 2 wherein the framework further defines a resource instance class, a user interface class, and a policy class, and wherein the diagnostic script class has a using relationship with each of the resource instance class, the user interface class, and the policy class.

6. The computer system of claim 5 wherein the diagnostic script class, the resource class, the user interface class, and the policy class are user-extensible classes of the framework, the implementation of which by a user defines the diagnostic script.

7. The computer system of claim 2 wherein the first set of object methods include at least one method that retrieves a test unit.

8. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the framework defines a test unit class comprising:

at least one test unit object that defines at least one of a plurality of tests to be performed when the diagnostic script is processed; and

a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests.

9. The computer system of claim 8 wherein the framework further defines an attribute class, a list class, and an attribute list class, the attribute class and the list class defining the characteristics of the attribute list class.

10. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the test unit class and the attribute class are user-extensible classes of the framework, the implementation of which by a user defines at least one of the plurality of tests that is performed during processing of the diagnostic script, and the attributes of the at least one test.

11. The computer system of claim 9 wherein the list class and the attribute list class are core classes of the framework that are defined by the framework and cannot be modified by the user of the framework.

12. The computer system of claim 8 wherein the second set of object methods include methods that retrieve attributes of a selected test unit and that run the at least one test associated with the selected test unit.

13. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the framework defines a result class comprising:

at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of a plurality of tests; and

a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test.

14. The computer system of claim 13 wherein the framework further defines a test unit result class, a script result class, and a service action class, the test unit result class and the script result class being subclasses of the result class.

15. The computer system of claim 14 wherein the test unit result class and the service action class are user-extensible classes of the framework, the implementation of which by a user defines the conditions that determine when an error is returned when at least one of the plurality of tests is processed and what service action, if any, is needed based on the error.

16. The computer system of claim 14 wherein the result class and the script result class are core classes of the framework that are defined by the framework and cannot be modified by the user of the framework.

17. The computer system of claim 13 wherein the third set of object methods include at least one method that returns the results of processing a selected test.

18. The computer system of claim 17 wherein the third set of object methods further include at least one method that performs a predetermined service action in response to at least one of the result objects containing a predetermined result after performing the selected test.

19. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the framework comprises:

at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in the diagnostic script, the diagnostic script object including a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed;

at least one test unit object that defines at least one of a plurality of tests that are performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit object including a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests; and

at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result object including a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test.

20. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the main memory contains an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment containing the framework, and wherein the diagnostic script is provided from a source external to the operating system.

21. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the framework comprises:

core functions defined by at least one core class, wherein the implementation of the core functions is defined by the framework and cannot be modified by a user of the framework; and

extensible functions defined by at least one extensible class, wherein the implementation of the extensible functions is defined by the user of the framework by extending the at least one extensible class.

22. The computer system of claim 1 wherein the diagnostic script comprises information that allows the central processing unit to perform a plurality of tests on a targeted product.

23. A method for performing diagnostic testing of a targeted product, the method comprising the steps of:

providing an extensible object oriented framework mechanism that performs at least one test according to a diagnostic script customized to test the targeted product, the framework mechanism including a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application and a second level of extensibility to define the at least one test that the diagnostic application executes; and

executing the object oriented framework mechanism on a computer system in accordance with the diagnostic script.

24. The method of claim 23 further including the step of:

extending the framework mechanism to define the diagnostic script, the diagnostic script processing a plurality of test units.

25. The method of claim 24 further including the step of:

determining the order of processing the plurality of test units by identifying a next test unit to process depending on the results of processing the previous test unit.

26. The method of claim 24 further including the steps of:

providing a last test unit indicator to signal when at least one of the plurality of test units are processed; and

halting the processing of the plurality of test units when the last test indicator signals the processing of the at least one test unit.

27. The method of claim 23 further including the step of:

providing an output indicating the results of each test performed when the computer system executes the framework mechanism in accordance with the diagnostic script.

28. The method of claim 23 further including the steps of:

coupling the targeted product to the computer system;

defining a plurality of policy considerations corresponding to each test;

determining whether each test should be performed based on the plurality of policy considerations; and

performing only those tests for which the corresponding policy considerations allow.

29. A program product comprising:

a framework mechanism for diagnostic testing, the framework mechanism including an extensible diagnostic processing system that performs diagnostic testing according to a diagnostic script, the framework mechanism including a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application and a second level of extensibility to define the at least one test that the diagnostic application executes; and

computer-readable signal bearing media bearing the framework mechanism.

30. The program product of claim 29 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

31. The program product of claim 29 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

32. The program product of claim 29 wherein the diagnostic script processes a plurality of tests.

33. The program product of claim 32 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of tests.

34. The program product of claim 33 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of tests by identifying a next test to process depending on the results of processing the previous test.

35. An object oriented framework mechanism for use in a computer system having an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment, the framework mechanism comprising:

a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application;

a second level of extensibility to define a plurality of tests that the diagnostic application executes;

at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in a diagnostic script, the diagnostic script object including a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units corresponding to the plurality of tests and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed;

at least one test unit object that defines at least one of the plurality of tests that are performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit object including a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests; and

at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result object including a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test.

36. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the framework mechanism further defines a resource instance class, a user interface class, and a policy class, and wherein the diagnostic script class has a using relationship with each of the resource instance class, the user interface class, and the policy class.

37. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the first set of object methods include at least one method that retrieves a test unit.

38. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the second set of object methods include methods that retrieve attributes of a selected test unit and that run the at least one test associated with the selected test unit.

39. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the third set of object methods include at least one method that returns the results of processing a selected test.

40. The framework mechanism of claim 39 wherein the third set of object methods further include at least one method that performs a predetermined service action in response to at least one of the result objects containing a predetermined result after performing the selected test unit.

41. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the diagnostic script is provided from a source external to the operating system.

42. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the framework comprises:

core functions defined by at least one core class, wherein the implementation of the core functions is defined by the framework and cannot be modified by a user of the framework; and

extensible functions defined by at least one extensible class, wherein the implementation of the extensible functions is defined by the user of the framework by extending the at least one extensible class.

43. The framework mechanism of claim 35 wherein the diagnostic script comprises information that allows the framework mechanism to perform a plurality of diagnostic functions on a targeted product.

44. A method for performing diagnostic testing of a targeted product, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) providing a framework mechanism, the framework mechanism including a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application and a second level of extensibility to define a plurality of tests that the diagnostic application executes;

(B) providing at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in a diagnostic script, the diagnostic script object including a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units corresponding to the plurality of tests and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed;

(C) providing at least one test unit object that defines at least one of a plurality of tests that are performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit object including a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests;

(D) providing at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result object including a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test;

(E) providing an object oriented framework mechanism that comprises the at least one diagnostic script object, the at least one test unit object, and the at least one result object, and wherein the object oriented framework mechanism performs at least one diagnostic test according to the diagnostic script;

(F) executing the object oriented framework mechanism on a computer system in accordance with the diagnostic script to test the targeted product.

45. The method of claim 44 further including the step of:

extending the framework mechanism to define the diagnostic script, the diagnostic script processing a plurality of tests.

46. The method of claim 45 further including the step of:

determining the order of processing the plurality of tests by identifying a next test to process depending on the results of processing the previous test.

47. The method of claim 45 further including the steps of:

providing a last test unit indicator to signal when at least one of the plurality of tests are processed; and

halting the processing of the plurality of tests when the last test indicator signals the processing of the at least one test.

48. The method of claim 44 further including the step of:

providing an output indicating the results of each test performed when the computer system executes the framework mechanism in accordance with the diagnostic script.

49. The method of claim 44 further including the steps of:

coupling the targeted product to the computer system;

defining a plurality of policy considerations corresponding to each test;

determining whether each test should be performed based on the plurality of policy considerations; and

performing only those tests for which the corresponding policy considerations allow.

50. A program product comprising:

(A) an object oriented framework mechanism for diagnostic testing, the framework mechanism including a first level of extensibility to define a diagnostic application, a second level of extensibility to define a plurality of tests that the diagnostic application executes, at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in a diagnostic script, the diagnostic script object including a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units corresponding to the plurality of tests and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed, the framework mechanism further including at least one test unit object that defines at least one of a plurality of tests to be performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit object including a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests, the framework mechanism further including at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result object including a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test; and

(B) computer-readable signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism.

51. The program product of claim 50 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

52. The program product of claim 50 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

53. The program product of claim 50 wherein the diagnostic script processes a plurality of tests.

54. The program product of claim 53 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of tests.

55. The program product of claim 54 wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of test units by identifying a next test unit to process depending on the results of processing the previous test unit.

56. An object oriented framework mechanism that performs at least one diagnostic test according to a diagnostic script, the framework mechanism comprising:

at least one core class wherein the implementation of the core class is defined by the framework and cannot be modified by a user of the framework; and

at least one extensible class wherein the implementation of the extensible class is defined by the user of the framework, by extending the at least one extensible class, thereby defining the diagnostic script.

57. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 56 further comprising:

at least one diagnostic script object that defines the information contained in a diagnostic script, the diagnostic script object including a first set of object methods to process a plurality of test units and to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed;

at least one test unit object that defines at least one of the plurality of tests to be performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit object including a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests; and

at least one result object that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result object including a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test.

58. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 57 wherein the framework mechanism further defines a resource instance class, a user interface class, and a policy class, and wherein the diagnostic script class has a using relationship with each of the resource instance class, the user interface class, and the policy class.

59. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 57 wherein the first set of object methods include at least one method that retrieves a test unit.

60. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 57 wherein the second set of object methods include methods that retrieve attributes of a selected test unit and that run the at least one test associated with the selected test unit.

61. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 57 wherein the third set of object methods include at least one method that returns the results of processing a selected test.

62. The object oriented framework mechanism of claim 61 wherein the third set of object methods further include at least one method that performs a predetermined service action in response to at least one of the result objects containing a predetermined result after processing the selected test.

63. A method for performing diagnostic testing of a targeted product using a computer system having a central processing unit and a main memory, the main memory having an operating system that supports an object oriented programming environment, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) providing in the operating system an object oriented framework mechanism that performs at least one test according to a diagnostic script, the framework mechanism including;

a set of core functions wherein the implementation of the core functions is defined by the framework and cannot be modified by a user of the framework mechanism; and

a set of extensible functions wherein the implementation of the extensible functions is defined by the user of the framework mechanism;

(B) extending the extensible functions in the framework mechanism to define particular diagnostic script objects having predetermined protocols and defining particular object methods that perform the at least one test, the extensible functions defining the diagnostic script;

(C) generating an executable diagnostic system by integrating together the extensible functions and the core functions; and

(D) executing the executable diagnostic system on the computer system to perform the testing of the targeted product.

64. The method of claim 63 further including the step of:

determining the order of processing the plurality of test units by identifying a next test unit to process depending on the results of processing the previous test unit.

65. The method of claim 63 further including the steps of:

providing a last test unit indicator to signal when at least one of the plurality of test units are processed; and

halting the processing of the plurality of test units when the last test indicator signals the processing of the at least one test unit.

66. The method of claim 63 further including the step of:

providing an output indicating the results of each test performed when the computer system executes the framework mechanism in accordance with the diagnostic script.

67. The method of claim 63 further including the steps of:

coupling the targeted product to the computer system;

defining a plurality of policy considerations corresponding to each test;

determining whether each test should be performed based on the plurality of policy considerations; and

performing each test only if the corresponding policy considerations allow.

68. A program product comprising:

an object oriented framework mechanism for diagnostic testing, the framework mechanism including at least one core class wherein the implementation of the core class is defined by the framework and cannot be modified by a user of the framework, the framework mechanism further including at least one extensible class wherein the implementation of the extensible class is defined by the user of the framework by extending the at least one extensible class, thereby defining a diagnostic script that governs the operation of the framework mechanism; and

computer-readable signal bearing media bearing the object oriented framework mechanism.

69. The program product of claim 68 wherein the signal bearing media comprises recordable media.

70. The program product of claim 68 wherein the signal bearing media comprises transmission media.

71. The program product of claim 68 wherein the diagnostic script processes a plurality of tests defined by a plurality of test units, and wherein the diagnostic script determines the order of processing the plurality of test units by identifying a next test unit to process depending on the results of processing the previous test unit.

72. The program product of claim 71 wherein the framework comprises:

at least one extensible diagnostic script class, the implementation of which by a user defines the diagnostic script, the diagnostic script class defining a first set of object methods to process the plurality of test units, to determine when the last of the plurality of test units has been processed, and to retrieve a test unit;

at least one extensible test unit class, the implementation of which by a user defines at least one of the plurality of tests that are performed when the diagnostic script is processed, the test unit class defining a second set of object methods to perform at least one of the plurality of tests, to retrieve attributes of a selected test unit, and to run the at least one test associated with the selected test unit;

at least one extensible result class that contains the results of processing at least one of the plurality of tests, the result class defining a third set of object methods to determine the results of processing the at least one test, to return the results of processing the at least one test, and to perform a predetermined service action in response to at least one of the result objects containing a predetermined result after performing the at least one test.