System and method for mitigating repeated crashes of an application resulting from supplemental code

• US 8,930,915 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2013
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Wolf, Christopher A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Das, Chameli
• Application Number:
  US13/886,534
• Publication Number:
  US 20130246837A1
• Time in Patent Office: 613 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/129
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/366 using diagnostics G06F11/0703 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/54 by adding security routines or objects to programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/62 Uninstallation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons

Abstract

Provided is a method for mitigating the effects of an application which crashes as the result of supplemental code (e.g., plug-in), particularly a plug-in from a source other than the source of the operating system of the device or the source of the application that crashes. The method includes executing the application. As the application is running, it may be monitored to determine if normal execution of instructions ceases. When that occurs, the system will make a determination if code from a supplemental code module was the cause of the crash, and will make an evaluation if that supplemental code module is from a source other than the source(s) of the operating system and application in question. In some implementations, remedial steps may be provided, such as providing information on subsequent executions of the application.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a processor executing an application, that the application has ceased execution of instructions associated with the application;

based on determining that the application has ceased execution, generating a list of code modules that were loaded during execution of the application;

evaluating whether a code module included in the list is programmed by a source that is different from a source associated with the application or a source associated with an operating system;

based on the evaluating, identifying a cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions; and

presenting a user interface to a user including information associated with the application having ceased execution of instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein presenting the user interface to the user comprises:

presenting the user interface to the user, including displaying information directing the user to contact the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system for assistance.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating whether a code module included in the list is provided by a source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system comprises:

receiving an address associated with the code module;

using the address associated with the code module, determining whether information associated with an origin of the code module is available;

based on determining whether information associated with the origin of the code module is available, checking whether a descriptive attribute associated with the code module is available; and

in response to determining at least one of the information associated with the origin of the code module or the descriptive attribute associated with the code module, identifying the source of the code module.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the descriptive attribute is selected from the group consisting of a cryptographic signature or a hash code, a developer string or numeric code, a globally unique identification (GUID), a copyright string and a recognizable symbolic name for a memory address or a function within the code module.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluating comprises:

determining that a first code module included in the list is provided by a first source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system;

based on the determining, evaluating whether the first code module is present in the list a predetermined number of times;

in response to evaluating that the first code module is present in the list the predetermined number of times, identifying the first code module as the cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions; and

writing in a data store an entry that is associated with the application, the entry recording the first code module as the cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions and including an indication that the first code module is provided by a source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising:

retrieving, from the data store, entries associated with the application that include information on code modules that have caused the application to have ceased execution of instructions at instances prior to a present instance;

computing a number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries; and

based on the computing, determining whether the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is at least equal to a predetermined threshold number.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising:

in response to determining that the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is less than the predetermined threshold number, setting at least one of a do not load (DNL) flag associated with the first code module to null or an uninstall flag associated with the first code module to false.

8. The method of claim 6, comprising:

in response to determining that the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is at least equal to a predetermined threshold number, presenting the user interface to the user indicating possible actions the user may take;

receiving an input from the user selecting one of the indicated possible actions; and

based on the input from the user, setting at least one of a do not load (DNL) name or an uninstall flag associated with the first code module.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the possible actions are selected from the group consisting of uninstalling the first code module, disabling the first code module, and loading the first code module, and wherein setting at least one of the DNL name and the uninstall flag associated with the first code module comprises one of:

setting the DNL name to a name of the first code module and the uninstall flag to true base do the user selecting to uninstall the first code module;

setting the DNL name to the name of the first code module and the uninstall flag to false based on the user selecting to disable the first code module; and

setting the DNL name to null and the uninstall flag to false base do the user selecting to load the first code module.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein presenting the user interface to the user comprises:

presenting the user interface to the user including a suggestion to contact the first source that provided the first code module.

11. A computer program product that includes instructions stored in a non-transitory medium, the instructions configured to cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

determining, by a processor executing an application, that the application has ceased execution of instructions associated with the application;

based on determining that the application has ceased execution, generating a list of code modules that were loaded during execution of the application;

evaluating whether a code module included in the list is programmed by a source that is different from a source associated with the application or a source associated with an operating system;

based on the evaluating, identifying a cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions; and

presenting a user interface to a user including information associated with the application having ceased execution of instructions.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising presenting the user interface to the user include instructions that are configured to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

presenting the user interface to the user including displaying information directing the user to contact the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system for assistance.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising evaluating whether a code module included in the list is provided by a source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system include instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving an address associated with the code module;

using the address associated with the code module, determining whether information associated with an origin of the code module is available;

based on determining whether information associated with the origin of the code module is available, checking whether a descriptive attribute associated with the code module is available; and

in response to determining at least one of the information associated with the origin of the code module or the descriptive attribute associated with the code module, identifying the source of the code module.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the descriptive attribute is selected from the group consisting of a cryptographic signature or a hash code, a developer string or numeric code, a globally unique identification (GUID), a copyright string and a recognizable symbolic name for a memory address or a function within the code module.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising evaluating whether a code module included in the list is provided by a source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system include instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

determining that a first code module included in the list is provided by a first source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system;

based on the determining, evaluating whether the first code module is present in the list a predetermined number of times;

in response to evaluating that the first code module is present in the list the predetermined number of times, identifying the first code module as the cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions; and

writing in a data store an entry that is associated with the application, the entry recording the first code module as the cause for the application to have ceased execution of instructions and including an indication that the first code module is provided by a source that is different from the source associated with the application or the source associated with the operating system.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, including instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

retrieving, from the data store, entries associated with the application that include information on code modules that have caused the application to have ceased execution of instructions at instances prior to a present instance;

computing a number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries; and

based on the computing, determining whether the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is at least equal to a predetermined threshold number.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, including instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

in response to determining that the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is less than the predetermined threshold number, setting at least one of a do not load (DNL) flag associated with the first code module to null or an uninstall flag associated with the first code module to false.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, including instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

in response to determining that the number of times the first code module is included in the retrieved entries is at least equal to a predetermined threshold number, presenting the user interface to the user indicating possible actions the user may take;

receiving an input from the user selecting one of the indicated possible actions; and

based on the input from the user, setting at least one of a do not load (DNL) name or an uninstall flag associated with the first code module.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the possible actions are selected from the group consisting of uninstalling the first code module, disabling the first code module, and loading the first code module, and wherein setting at least one of the DNL name and the uninstall flag associated with the first code module comprises one of:

setting the DNL name to a name of the first code module and the uninstall flag to true base do the user selecting to uninstall the first code module;

setting the DNL name to the name of the first code module and the uninstall flag to false based on the user selecting to disable the first code module; and

setting the DNL name to null and the uninstall flag to false base do the user selecting to load the first code module.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising presenting the user interface to the user include instructions that cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

presenting the user interface to the user including a suggestion to contact the first source that provided the first code module.