Failures of computer system diagnostic procedures addressed in specified order

• US 7,263,634 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2004
• Issued: 08/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Gong, Huiling, Wu, Yuh-Cherng
• Primary Examiner(s): Chu; Gabriel
• Assistant Examiner(s): CONTINO, PAUL F
• Application Number:
  US10/814,836
• Publication Number:
  US 20050097400A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 714/46, 714/50, 714/20, 714/26
• US Class Current: 714/46
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2257 using expert systems

Abstract

A method of executing a diagnosis program including multiple procedures associated with remedy procedures wherein the diagnosis program does not specify an order in which the remedy procedures are executed comprises receiving, in a computer system wherein a plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is performed, priority information specifying an order in which failures of any of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures are to be addressed. The plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is performed. Upon at least some of the automated diagnostic procedures failing, a plurality of automated remedy procedures is performed in the specified order, the automated remedy procedures being associated with the failed automated diagnostic procedures.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of executing a diagnosis program including multiple procedures associated with remedy procedures wherein the diagnosis program does not specify an order in which the remedy procedures are executed, the method comprising:

receiving, in a computer system wherein a plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is performed, priority information specifying an order in which a plurality of automated remedy procedures is to be performed to address failures of any of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures, the priority information reflecting dependencies between the automated remedy procedures;

performing the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures; and

upon at least some of the automated diagnostic procedures failing, performing the plurality of automated remedy procedures in the specified order, the automated remedy procedures being associated with the failed automated diagnostic procedures, wherein each of the automated remedy procedures is configured to change at least one of a configuration or a setting in the computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the plurality of automated remedy procedures in the specified order comprises initially displaying a first identifier for a failed automated diagnostic procedure that is to be addressed first, the first identifier being displayed for a user to initiate an automated remedy procedure associated with the failed automated diagnostic procedure.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying a second identifier following performance of the automated remedy procedure, the second identifier being associated with another failed automated diagnostic procedure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a failure of at least one of the automated remedy procedures comprises one selected from the group consisting of:

an informational message, an advisory, a warning, a fatal error notification, and combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority information comprises a matrix with dependency values for the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein one of the dependency values indicates a correlation probability between two of the automated diagnostic procedures, and wherein the method further comprises deciding a relative order of addressing the failures of the two automated diagnostic procedures based on the correlation probability if the correlation probability is at least a threshold value.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating the priority information upon at least some of the automated diagnostic procedures failing.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising updating the priority information also if any of the automated remedy procedure causes any other of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures to fail.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising updating the priority information also if any of the automated remedy procedures resolves a problem that causes any other of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures to fail.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining whether to change the order specified by the priority information and in so doing assigning less weight to (i) some of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures failing than to (ii) any of the automated remedy procedures resolving a problem that causes any of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures to fail.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein a user enters the priority information in the computer system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user specifies that a relationship between addressing the failures of at least two of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is not to be changed in any updates.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the priority information is received from a publisher according to a subscription.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the priority information is updated, further comprising publishing the updated priority information.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating the priority information using a dependency model for the automated diagnostic procedures.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the dependency model associates at least two problems with the observed data and wherein the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures includes two automated diagnostic procedures designed to identify the two problems, and wherein the method further comprises deciding a relative order of the two automated diagnostic procedures using the dependency model.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising generating a policy using the dependency model and using the policy in generating the priority information.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the policy specifies how to perform at least two of the automated remedy procedures upon observing certain data.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures includes a first user-developed automated diagnostic procedure and a plurality of preconfigured automated diagnostic procedures, the preconfigured automated diagnostic procedures being part of a program that is configured to accept user-developed automated diagnostic procedures.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the user-developed automated diagnostic procedure is a Business Add-In component.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving user input modifying the priority information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the input does at least one selected from the group consisting of:

specifies a correlation probability between two of the automated diagnostic procedures, selects a correlation probability between two of the automated diagnostic procedures not to be updated, modifies the specified order, and combinations thereof.

23. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

receive, in a computer system wherein a plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is performed, priority information specifying an order in which a plurality of automated remedy procedures is to be performed to address failures of any of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures, the priority information reflecting dependencies between the automated remedy procedures;

perform the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures; and

upon at least some of the automated diagnostic procedures failing, perform the plurality of automated remedy procedures in the specified order, the automated remedy procedures being associated with the failed automated diagnostic procedures, wherein each of the automated remedy procedures is configured to change at least one of a configuration or a setting in the computer system.

24. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, generate on a display device a graphical user interface for a diagnosis program, the graphical user interface comprising:

an identifier display area for displaying, upon a plurality of automated diagnostic procedures being performed in a computer system, a first identifier of at least one failed automated diagnostic procedure such that a user can initiate an automated remedy procedure associated therewith, the failed automated diagnostic procedure being selected using priority information specifying an order in which a plurality of automated remedy procedures is to be performed to address failures of any of the automated diagnostic procedures, the priority information reflecting dependencies between the automated remedy procedures, wherein each of the automated remedy procedures is configured to change at least one of a configuration or a setting in the computer system.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein a second identifier of at least one other failed automated diagnostic procedure is displayed in the identifier display area upon performance of the automated diagnostic procedure.

26. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the identifier display area is a critical error view area, and wherein the first identifier is displayed because the failed automated diagnostic procedure is most critical according to the priority information.

27. A computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device, the computer program product including instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, in a computer system wherein a plurality of automated diagnostic procedures is performed, priority information specifying an order in which failures of any of the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures are to be addressed, the priority information comprising a matrix with dependency values for the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures, wherein at least one of the dependency values indicates a correlation probability between two of the automated diagnostic procedures;

performing the plurality of automated diagnostic procedures;

deciding a relative order of addressing the failures of the two automated diagnostic procedures based on the correlation probability if the correlation probability is at least a threshold value; and

upon at least some of the automated diagnostic procedures failing, performing a plurality of automated remedy procedures in the specified order, the automated remedy procedures being associated with the failed automated diagnostic procedures.