Operations manager infrastructure for dynamically updating software operational policy

• US 7,765,525 B1
• Filed: 09/01/2004
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Huff, Gerald B., Davidson, Harold R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang; Insun
• Application Number:
  US10/932,987
• Time in Patent Office: 2,155 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3624 by performing operations on the source code, e.g. via a compiler
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3636 by tracing the execution of the program

Abstract

An Operations Manager subsystem decouples the generation of operational events from an associated behavior triggered by those events. The Operations Manager subsystem allows changing the associated behavior without requiring rebuilds or recompilations of the source code. In addition, changes to policies are possible even at runtime in order to enable more agile debugging and better application supportability. The Operations Manger subsystem includes separate reporting and subscription services. The reporting services provide an API defining operational code for the generation of operational events. The subscription services include a file system and an API that support multiple user subscriptions to the various code operational events defining the behavior associated with those events.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for dynamically updating a software debugging policy associated with a software application, the method comprising:

executing an application code with embedded debugging code that produces at least one corresponding debugging event;

receiving configuration information that includes a debugging action associated with the corresponding debugging event;

encountering the debugging event during the execution of the application code;

determining the corresponding debugging action for the debugging event from the configuration information;

performing the corresponding debugging action;

receiving a modification to the configuration information during the execution of the application code, wherein the modification includes a new debugging action for the corresponding debugging event;

applying the modification to the configuration information without halting the execution of the application code and without modifying the application code; and

performing the new debugging action in response to the corresponding debugging event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the debugging event includes at least one of logging, verifying, asserting, check-pointing, or tracing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the debugging action includes at least one of outputting to a file, outputting to a platform'"'"'s default debugging output, breaking an execution, providing an audible alert, or displaying an alert message display window.

4. An operations manager system in a software development platform for providing programming tools to handle debugging policy concerns in software applications, the operations manager system implemented in an apparatus which includes a processor and a memory, and the operations manager system comprising:

a reporting service programming tool for programming debugging events in the software applications, the reporting service programming tool including a reporting API comprising definitions for a set of programming elements that when programmed into a software application and executed in a computer system produce the debugging events;

a subscription service programming tool for specifying debugging policies associated with the debugging events based on subscriptions to the debugging events, the subscription service programming tool including a subscription configuration file definition that comprises a set of tags for defining subscriptions, the subscriptions configured to specify a debugging action when parsed by an executing software application that includes the programmed debugging events, wherein the subscription service programming tool enables debugging code embedded in the software application to perform debugging without requiring additional modification to the software application; and

wherein the subscription service programming tool is further configured to modify the subscription configuration file during runtime.

5. The operations manager system of claim 4, wherein the debugging events include at least one of logging, verifying, asserting, check-pointing, or tracing.

6. The operations manager system of claim 4, wherein the debugging action includes at least one of outputting to a file, outputting to a platform'"'"'s default debugging output, breaking an execution, providing an audible alert, or displaying an alert message display window.

7. The operations manager system of claim 4, wherein the programming elements defined by the reporting API of the reporting service programming tool include programming language specific classes and objects, the programming language including one of C++, C#, C, and JAVA.

8. The operations manager system of claim 7, wherein the reporting API includes a first set of programming elements associated with debugging mode execution and a second set of programming elements associated with normal execution, wherein the first set of programming elements are automatically omitted by a compiler when compiling a software application for normal execution.

9. The operations manager system of claim 4, wherein the subscription service programming tool includes a subscription API that defines the programming elements, at least one of the programming elements configured to cause the software application to monitor one or more subscription configuration files when executed by the processor.

10. The operations manager system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the programming elements is configured to parse the one or more subscription configuration files.

11. The operations manager system of claim 9, wherein at least one of the programming elements is configured to associate one or more subscriptions in the one or more subscription configuration files to one operational debugging action based on the tags in the one or more subscription configuration files.

12. The operations manager system of claim 4, wherein the set of tags in the configuration file definition includes operational configuration tags, subscription tags, and condition tags.

13. The operations manager system of claim 12, wherein the configuration file definition includes a plurality of attribute definitions configured to be combined with the plurality of tags to filter the debugging events programmed in the software application for indicating particular debugging events for output to one or more associated debugging actions.

14. A method for debugging an executable computer software program, the method comprising:

creating a subscription configuration file, the subscription configuration file indicating a debugging action associated with an debugging event which is produced by a debugging code, wherein the debugging code is embedded in the executable computer software program without specifying the debugging action, wherein the subscription configuration file enables the debugging code to perform diagnosis at a developer site or at a customer site without requiring additional modification to the executable computer software program;

transmitting the subscription configuration file over a computer network for placing in a computer system directory;

collecting data output according to the debugging action indicated in the subscription configuration file;

modifying the subscription configuration file;

transmitting the modified subscription configuration file over the computer network for placing in the computer system directory; and

collecting data output according to the debugging action indicated in the modified subscription configuration file, wherein the change from the subscription configuration file to the modified subscription file takes place at runtime without modifying the executable computer software program.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the subscription configuration file is created according to a configuration file definition that comprises a set of tags for defining subscriptions that when parsed by the executable computer software program triggers the associated debugging action.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein transmitting the subscription configuration file includes one of sending via electronic mail, enabling a user to download the subscription configuration file via the Internet, or placing the subscription configuration file in a computer storage device accessible to a user through the network.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the executable computer software is configured to monitor the subscription configuration file to detect changes and further configured to, in response to detecting the changes, implement computer operations to trigger the debugging actions associated with each debugging event as indicated in the subscription configuration file.

18. A computer-implemented system having a processor for dynamically updating a software debugging policy associated with a software application, the system comprising:

means for executing an application code with embedded debugging code that produces at least one corresponding debugging event;

means for receiving configuration information that includes a debugging action associated with the corresponding debugging event;

means for encountering the debugging event during the execution of the application code;

means for determining the corresponding debugging action for the debugging event from the configuration information;

means for performing the corresponding debugging action;

means for receiving a modification to the configuration information during the execution of the application code, wherein the modification includes a new debugging action for the corresponding debugging event;

means for applying the modification to the configuration information without halting the execution of the application code and without modifying the application code; and

means for performing the new debugging action in response to the corresponding debugging event.

19. A computer-implemented method for providing a dynamically updatable debugging policy associated with a software application, the method comprising:

providing an add-on interface in an operations manager system, the add-on interface for registering one or more custom action tags, each associated with one or more subscription actions, the subscription actions associated with computer programmed functions that when executed by a computer processor implement a custom debugging action with respect to the software application;

providing a subscription configuration file including at least one filter tag associated with one or more filters, the filters defining one or more conditions with respect to the software application, wherein the subscription configuration file indicates the debugging action associated with a debugging event which is produced by a debugging code, wherein the debugging code is embedded in the software application without specifying the debugging action, wherein the subscription configuration file can enable the debugging code to perform diagnosis at a developer site or at a customer site without requiring additional modification to the software application;

providing a parsing function in the operations manager system, the parsing function configured to parse the subscription configuration file, the parsing function further configured to invoke the execution of the computer programmed functions associated with at least one subscription action in response to parsing the one or more custom action tags associated with said subscription action and determining that the software application meets the one or more conditions specified in the associated one or more filters; and

providing a replacement function for replacing the subscription configuration file with a modified subscription configuration file at runtime, wherein the replacement function causes a change in the debugging action associated with the debugging event without modifying the software application.

20. A computer-implemented method for providing a dynamically updatable debugging policy associated with a software application, the method comprising:

providing an add-on interface in an operations manager system, the add-on interface for registering custom filter tags associated with filters, the filters associated with conditions in the software application;

providing a subscription configuration file including action tags and at least one custom filter tag, at least one action tag associated with at least one of said custom filter tags, the action tags further associated with computer program functions that when executed by a computer processor produce debugging actions associated with the software application, wherein the subscription configuration file indicates a debugging action associated with an debugging event which is produced by a debugging code, wherein the debugging code is embedded in the software application without specifying the debugging action, wherein the subscription configuration file enables the debugging code to perform diagnosis at a developer site or at a customer site without requiring additional modification to the software application;

providing a parsing function in the operations manager system, the parsing function configured to parse the subscription configuration file, the parsing function further configured to invoke the execution of at least one of said computer program functions associated with the at least one action tag in response to parsing the at least one action tag associated with said at least one of the custom filter tags and determining that the software application meets the conditions specified in the at least one custom filter associated with said at least one of the custom filter tags; and

providing a replacement function for replacing the subscription configuration file with a modified subscription configuration file at runtime, wherein the replacement function causes a change in the debugging action associated with the debugging event without modifying the software application.