Method and system for error reporting and correction in transaction-based applications

• US 8,978,012 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2008
• Issued: 03/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Operating Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Poole, James Cabell
• Primary Examiner(s): Das, Chameli
• Assistant Examiner(s): MACASIANO, JOANNE GONZALES
• Application Number:
  US12/057,809
• Time in Patent Office: 2,538 Days
• Field of Search: 717/174
• US Class Current: 717/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• 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 8/61 Installation

Abstract

A system, apparatus and method for reporting a failure in execution of a software transaction (e.g., scripts and executables to install software on a computer) to a network resource that can then store the error-related information and automatically provide a previously determined solution to the error or links to resources to which the customer can refer for help in resolving the problem is provided. Automatically searching a database of reported errors and their solutions for a variety of products and providing a found solution to a customer experiencing an error (e.g., an installation error) is further provided. In the event that a solution to a customer-experienced error is not found by the network resource, alternate sites for information such as a customer support website can also be provided.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, at a computer system, an execution-related failure associated with an execution of a first software item of a plurality of software items, wherein

the plurality of software items comprises the first software item;

automatically identifying a first template file from a plurality of template files, wherein

each software item of the plurality of software items is associated with a template file of the plurality of template files,

the first template file is automatically identified based on the first software item, and

the first template file specifies a set of data associated with the execution-related failure;

acquiring the set of data, wherein

the acquiring the set of data is based on the first template file, and

at least a portion of the set of data is acquired after the first template file is automatically identified;

submitting the set of data for analysis to determine whether a solution to the execution-related failure is available, wherein

the submitting the set of data for analysis comprises

transmitting the set of data to an error handling server, and

the error handling server is configured to

automatically search a set of solutions for the solution to the execution-related failure;

receiving, at the computer system, the solution from the error handling server; and

in response to the receiving the solution from the error handling server, executing, using a processor of the computer system, the solution to the execution-related failure.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing identifying information to a source of support for the first software item, if the solution to the execution-related failure is not available.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein

the first template file identifies each data item in the set of data, and

each data item in the set of data is associated with the execution of the first software item.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

installing the plurality of software items, wherein

the execution-related failure is an installation-related failure, and

the installation-related failure is related to a failure of an installation of the plurality of software items.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said detecting the execution-related failure comprises detecting an error code generated by an installation of the first software item.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein

the error handling server is further configured to

search the set of solutions associated with corresponding criteria associated with execution-related failures associated with the first software item for a match to the set of data associated with the execution-related failure,

provide a solution associated with the match, if the match is found, and

provide identifying information to a source of support for the first software item, if the match is not found.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the error handling server is further configured to:

store the set of data, and

flag the set of data for further analysis, if the match is not found.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

displaying identifying data related to the set of data to a user; and

limiting a set of data subjected to said submitting for analysis to a selected subset of the set of data, wherein the selected subset is selected by the user upon review of the identifying data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein

the solution comprises a revised first software item, and

the revised first software item is configured to be executed instead of the first software item.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein

the executing is performed in response to a determination to execute the solution,

wherein

the solution is displayed to a user;

the user is provided with

an option to perform the solution, and

an option to not perform the solution; and

the determination to execute the solution comprises the user selecting the option to perform the solution.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein

the executing further comprises

downloading the solution to the computer system, wherein

the executing is performed in response to the downloading.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a first memory, coupled to the processor, and storing instructions executable by the processor, the instructions configured to

detect an execution-related failure associated with an execution of a first software item of a plurality of software items, wherein

the plurality of software items comprises the first software item,

automatically identify a first template file from a plurality of template files,

wherein

each software item of the plurality of software items is associated with a template file of the plurality of template files,

the first template file is automatically identified based on the first software item, and

the first template file specifies a set of data associated with the execution-related failure;

acquire the set of data, wherein

the set of data is acquired based on the first template file, and

at least a portion of the set of data is acquired after the first template file is automatically identified;

submit the set of data for analysis to determine whether a solution to the execution-related failure is available, wherein

the submitting the set of data for analysis comprises

transmitting the set of data to an error handling server, and

the error handling server is configured to

automatically search a set of solutions for the solution to the execution-related failure,

receive, at the computer system, the solution from the error handling server, and

in response to receipt of the solution from the error handling server, execute the solution to the execution-related failure.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the execution-related failure is an installation-related failure and further comprising:

a second memory storing the first template file, wherein

each data item in the set of data is associated with an installation of the first software item.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising:

the first memory further storing instructions configured to install the plurality of software items; and

the second memory further stores an associated template file for each software item of the plurality of software items.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said detecting the execution-related failure comprises detecting an error code generated by the installation of the first software item.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:

a network interface, coupled to the processor, and configured to perform the transmitting of the set of data to the error handling server, wherein

the error handling server is further configured to

search a set of solutions associated with corresponding criteria associated with execution-related failures associated with the first software item for a match to the set of data associated with the execution-related failure,

provide a solution associated with the match, if the match is found, and

provide identifying information to a source of support for the first software item, if the match is not found.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:

a display, coupled to the processor, and configured to display identifying data related to the set of data to a user; and

the first memory further storing instructions configured to limit a set of data subjected to said submitting for analysis to a selected subset of the set of data, wherein the selected subset is selected by the user upon review of the identifying data.

18. A system comprising:

a processor;

an installation module, executable by the processor, configured to

perform steps related to an installation of a first software item of a plurality of software items, wherein

the plurality of software items comprises the first software item, and

detect an installation-related failure associated with the installation of the first software item; and

a reporting module configured to

automatically identify a first template file from a plurality of template files,

wherein

each software item of the plurality of software items is associated with a template file of the plurality of template files,

the first template file is automatically identified based on the first software item, and

the first template file specifies a set of data associated with the installation-related failure;

acquire the set of data, wherein

the set of data is acquired based on first template file, and

at least a portion of the set of data is acquired after the first template file is automatically identified,

submit the set of data for analysis to determine whether a solution to the installation-related failure is available, wherein

the reporting module is configured to perform the submitting the set of data for analysis by

transmitting the set of data to an error handling server, and

the error handling server is configured to

automatically search a set of solutions for the solution to the installation-related failure,

receive the solution from the error handling server, and

execute the solution to the installation-related failure.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the error handling server is further configured to

receive the set of data from the reporting module,

search the set of solutions associated with corresponding criteria associated with installation-related failures associated with the first software item for a match to the set of data associated with the installation-related failure,

provide a solution associated with the match to the reporting module, if the match is found, and

provide identifying information to a source of support for the first software item to the reporting module, if the match is not found.

20. A computer program product comprising:

a plurality of instructions, comprising;

a first set of instructions, executable by a processor, configured to detect an execution-related failure associated with an execution of a first software item of a plurality of software items, wherein

the plurality of software items comprises the first software item,

a second set of instructions, executable by the processor, configured to automatically identify a first template file from a plurality of template files, wherein

each software item of the plurality of software items is associated with a template file of the plurality of template files,

the first template file is automatically identified based on the first software item, and

the first template file specifies a set of data associated with the execution-related failure;

a third set of instructions, executable by the processor, configured to acquire the set of data, wherein

the set of data is acquired based on the first template file, and

at least a portion of the set of data is acquired after the first template file is automatically identified,

a fourth set of instructions, executable by the processor, configured to submit the set of data for analysis to determine whether a solution to the execution-related failure is available, wherein

the submitting the set of data for analysis comprises

transmitting the set of data to an error handling server, and

the error handling server is configured to

automatically search a set of solutions for the solution to the execution-related failure,

a fifth set of instructions, executable by the processor, configured to receive, at the computer system, the solution from the error handling server, and

a sixth set of instructions, executable by the processor, configured to, in response to receipt of the solution from the error handling server, execute the solution to the execution-related failure, and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the plurality of instructions are encoded in the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.