Method and apparatus for tracking program execution time in a computer system
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring execution time of an application program in a computer system, the application program being capable of spawning, either directly or indirectly, one or more associated application programs that execute independently from the application program, said method comprising the steps of:
- detecting initiation of an application program;
determining a first current system time corresponding to the detected initiation;
setting a starting time for the application program to the first system time;
tracking execution of the application program and its associated application programs;
detecting termination of the application program and associated application programs;
determining a second current system time corresponding to the detected termination of the application program or a last-ending associated application program, whichever is later; and
setting a final ending time for the application program to the second current system time.
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Abstract
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for monitoring application program execution time in a computer system having an operating system which controls execution of one or more application programs, with each application program including an executable task and one or more executable subtasks. The method includes detecting initiation of a first-executed task associated with an application program, determining a current system time corresponding to that initiation, and setting a starting time for the application program to the current system time. The method also includes detecting termination of a last-executed task or subtask associated with the application program, determining a current system time corresponding to that termination, and setting a final ending time for the application to the current system time.
59 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring execution time of an application program in a computer system, the application program being capable of spawning, either directly or indirectly, one or more associated application programs that execute independently from the application program, said method comprising the steps of:
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detecting initiation of an application program; determining a first current system time corresponding to the detected initiation; setting a starting time for the application program to the first system time; tracking execution of the application program and its associated application programs; detecting termination of the application program and associated application programs; determining a second current system time corresponding to the detected termination of the application program or a last-ending associated application program, whichever is later; and setting a final ending time for the application program to the second current system time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An instruction set residing on a storage medium for tracking program execution time on a computer system enabling a user to launch an application program capable of spawning, either directly or indirectly, one or more other application programs that execute independently from the launched application program, said instruction set comprising instructions for:
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detecting initiation of a launched application program; determining a first current system time corresponding to the detected initiation; setting a starting time for the launched application program to the first current system time; tracking execution of the launched application program and any spawned application programs; detecting termination of the launched application program and spawned application programs; determining a second current system time corresponding to the detected termination of the launched application program or a last-ending spawned application program, whichever is later; and setting a final ending time for the launched application program to the second current system time. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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- 14. An apparatus for monitoring application program execution times in a computer system including an operating system configured to manage concurrent execution of one or more application programs, said apparatus comprising a software-implemented routine configured to determine a total execution time for an application program that spawns, either directly or indirectly, one or more other application programs that execute independently of the spawning application program, said total execution time being defined as a time period between initiation of the spawning application program and termination of either the spawning application program or a last-ended spawned application program, whichever is later.
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17. A client-server computer system for central tracking of execution times for application programs used by remote users , said client-server computer system comprising:
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a client computer including a graphical user interface enabling a user to initiate execution of an application program, an operating system for managing execution of said application program, and a program monitor for compiling and reporting information relating to an execution time for said application program, said application program being capable of spawning, either directly or indirectly, one or more other application programs that execute independently from the spawning application program, said execution time being defined as a time period between initiation of the spawning application program and termination of either the spawning application program or a last-ended spawned application program, whichever is later; and a server computer coupled to said client computer, said server computer including a database for maintaining information relating to execution times for application programs reported by a plurality of client computers. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification