Dynamically configurable session agent

• US 9,207,955 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2014
• Issued: 12/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acoustic, L.P.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Punjabi, Manoj, Wenig, Robert I.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEN, ALAN S
• Application Number:
  US14/516,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20150058616A1
• Time in Patent Office: 418 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/875 Monitoring of systems including the internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A monitoring system captures the behavior of distributed applications and also provides a framework for augmenting functionality of the application in response to user interactions and different states of the application and network. Network events exchanged between an application and an application server are captured and the local client events on the client device are also selectively captured. The different disparate network events and client events are then combined together during a replay operation to simulate the user experience during the previous application session.

Claims

1. A computing device, comprising:

a processor configured to;

modify operating parameters or code in a configuration file according to feedback instructions received from a session monitor during an application session; and

capture client events during the application session according to the operating parameters or code in the configuration file.

2. The computing device according to claim 1, wherein the configuration file identifies the client events to capture for different states of the application session.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein:

the operating parameters or code comprise support operations configured to assist a user during different states of the application session;

the feedback instructions are configured to identify the different states of the application session; and

the processor is configured to execute the support operations in response to the different states of the application session identified in the feedback instructions.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein:

the feedback instructions identify incentives associated with application session transactions, and

the processor is configured to present the incentives to a user in response to identifying the application session transactions during the application session.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the configuration file identifies what application sessions to capture, what application states to capture, what client events to capture, what screen images to capture, what client events from the application session to buffer, and what client events to forward to a session monitor.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to vary an amount of client events captured during the application session based on a transaction completion rate associated with the application session.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to store the client events in a local buffer and send, delete, or maintain the client events in the local buffer based on a communication bandwidth available for transmitting the client events to the session monitor.

8. A method, comprising:

storing, by a computing device, a configuration file;

detecting, by the computing device, an application session associated with in the configuration file;

varying an amount if the client events captured during the application session based on a transaction completion rate associated with the application session; and

forwarding, by the computing device, the client events to a session monitoring server.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

identifying, by the computing device, feedback instructions in the configuration file for assisting a user during different states of the application session;

monitoring, by the computing device, the different states of the application session; and

displaying, by the computing device, the feedback instructions based on the different states of the application session.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

identifying, by the computing device, incentives in the feedback instructions; and

displaying, by the computing device, the incentives based on the different states of the application session.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuration file identifies what application sessions to capture, what client events to capture within the application sessions, what screen images to capture from the application sessions, what client events from the application sessions to buffer, and what client events from the application sessions to forward to the session monitoring server.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising storing the client events in a local buffer based on operating parameters stored in the configuration file.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising capturing the client events for periods of time based on operating parameters stored in the configuration file.

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied wherewith, the program code readable/executable by a computer to perform a method comprising:

storing a configuration file identifying client events associated with web sessions;

storing buffering parameters in the configuration file;

identifying the web sessions operating on the computer;

identifying the client events identified in the configuration file executing on the computer during the web sessions;

capturing the client events;

buffering the client events based on the buffering parameters; and

sending the client events to a session monitor.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

storing screen location parameters in the configuration file; and

capturing the client events based on the screen location parameters.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

storing forwarding parameters in the configuration file; and

sending the client events to the session monitor based on the forwarding parameters.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

storing time parameters in the configuration file; and

capturing the client events for periods of time based on the time parameters.