Dynamic control over tracing of messages received by a message broker

• US 9,497,096 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2013
• Issued: 11/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kudikala, Shravan K., Shah, Amar A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Viet
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDWARDS, JAMES A
• Application Number:
  US13/874,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20130254313A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/36 Preventing errors by testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for dynamically controlling a tracing of messages. A header (referred to herein as the “trace header”) is placed in a message by a sending application, where the trace header includes a structure for storing fields of data for defining tracing operations. Once the message with the trace header is received by a message broker after being sent by the sending application, the message broker will analyze the fields of the trace header and perform the appropriate tracing operation in response to the information provided in the trace header. Through the use of the trace header, the tracing overhead can be minimized as well as a faster diagnosis of the problem (e.g., errors while processing the messages through a message flow of the message broker) can be provided since less data will be needed to be analyzed.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically controlling a tracing of messages, the method comprising:

randomly selecting messages by message flow threads, wherein an error occurred while processing a message from a sending application of said messages randomly selected through a message flow thread of said message flow threads, wherein said message comprises a header, wherein said header comprises a structure for storing fields of data used for defining tracing operations, wherein one or more of said fields of data are used for determining whether a user of said sending application has permission to trace said message in light of an access control list maintained by a message broker; and

performing, by a processor, a trace of said message in response to said header indicating said trace is to be performed.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

storing trace information from said header in a persistence store in response to said header indicating to store said trace information from said header in said persistence store.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

performing said trace of said message by applying trace rules associated with a trace identifier stored in said header.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

performing said trace of said message on a host specified within said header.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

instructing a processing application specified within said header to activate said trace of said message.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

instructing all processing applications that receive said message to activate said trace of said message.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

checking an identifier of said user of said sending application in said header against said access control list to determine whether said user of said sending application has permission to request said trace of said message.