Tool and method for diagnosing and correcting errors in a computer program
First Claim
1. A method for debugging a software application program, comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of:
- opening in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) a GUI window;
receiving a name of a process in the software application program, where the process is a process to be debugged;
obtaining information from the process about all resources currently being used by the process;
displaying in the GUI window a graphical process icon representing the process; and
displaying in the GUI window a graphical resource icon representing a resource being used by the process.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a computer system, an improved tool and method for debugging complex computer programs displays the relationship between processes and resources of the processes. Double clicking on the displayed information causes more detailed information to be displayed. The display is updated when predetermined operations are performed during debug. Debug commands are accepted by the tool through a graphical user interface using operations performed by the user directly on the graphical representation of program functions. The ability of the tool to accept user commands through the graphical user interface and to display critical debugging information using this same interface greatly facilitates program debugging.
187 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for debugging a software application program, comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of:
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opening in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) a GUI window; receiving a name of a process in the software application program, where the process is a process to be debugged; obtaining information from the process about all resources currently being used by the process; displaying in the GUI window a graphical process icon representing the process; and displaying in the GUI window a graphical resource icon representing a resource being used by the process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A software debugger apparatus including a debug client and a debug server, comprising:
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means, in the debug client, for opening a debugger window in a Graphical User Interface (GUI); means, in the debug client, for receiving a name of a currently executing process in the software application program, where the process is a process to be debugged; means, in the debug server, for obtaining information about all resources currently being used by the process; means, in the debug client, for displaying in the GUI window a graphical process icon representing the process; and means, in the debug client, for displaying in the GUI window a plurality of graphical resource icons representing respective ones of the resources being used by the process. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A computer-readable storage medium storing program code for causing a computer to perform the steps of:
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opening in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) a GUI window; receiving a name of a process in the software application program, where the process is a process to be debugged; obtaining information from the process about all resources currently being used by the process; displaying in the GUI window a graphical process icon representing the process; and displaying in the GUI window a graphical resource icon representing a resource being used by the process.
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Specification