Detecting errors in web application runtime environments

• US 9,697,101 B1
• Filed: 09/20/2016
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Wei Qiong, Sun, Qiao Yun, Dong, Xiao Hui, Wan, Shu Chao, Pan, Jing Jing, Wang, Liang, Liu, Xin Peng, Wang, Yue, Zhang, Yu
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Thuy
• Application Number:
  US15/271,030
• Time in Patent Office: 287 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3438 monitoring of user actions tracking the activity of the user H04L67/535
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3612 by runtime analysis performance monitoring G06F11/3466
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3624 by performing operations on the source code, e.g. via a compiler
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3632 of specific synchronisation aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products to perform an operation comprising receiving a user action script, a first callback queue, and an asynchronous operation queue generated based on a first execution instance of a web application, simulating the first execution instance of the web application, comprising: invoking a second execution instance of the web application, simulating each user action of a plurality of user actions specified in the user action script, based on a plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue, simulating each asynchronous operation of a plurality of asynchronous operations specified in the asynchronous operation queue based on the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue, and generating a second callback queue based on the simulated plurality of user actions and asynchronous operations.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a user action script, a first callback queue, and an asynchronous operation queue generated based on a first execution instance of a web application in a first computing environment;

simulating, by operation of a computer processor, the first execution instance of the web application, comprising;

invoking a second execution instance of the web application in a second computing environment, different than the first computing environment;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each user action of a plurality of user actions specified in the user action script, based on a plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each asynchronous operation of a plurality of asynchronous operations specified in the asynchronous operation queue based on the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue; and

generating, during the second execution instance of the web application, a second callback queue based on the simulated plurality of user actions and asynchronous operations; and

upon determining that an order of the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue matches an order of a plurality of callback functions specified in the second callback queue, returning an indication that the simulation of the first execution instance of the web application was successful.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting each of the plurality of user actions during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the user action script during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the user action script, metadata describing each of the plurality of user actions detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of asynchronous operations invoked during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the asynchronous operation queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the asynchronous operation queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of asynchronous operations detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of callback functions invoked during the first execution instance of the web application; and

generating the first callback queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the first callback queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of callback functions detected during the first execution instance of the web application, wherein the plurality of callback functions comprise one of asynchronous operation callback functions and registered user event handlers.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

preprocessing a source code of the web application by;

identifying each instance of one of the plurality of callback functions in the source code based on a set of keywords; and

injecting, in the source code;

(i) a first module to detect user actions and generate the user action script, (ii) a second module to detect callback functions and generate the first callback queue, (iii) a third module to detect asynchronous operations and generate the asynchronous operation queue, (iv) a fourth module to simulate the user actions, and (v) a fifth module to simulate the asynchronous operations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein simulating each of the plurality of asynchronous operations comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation, simulating the respective asynchronous operation; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective asynchronous operation;

delaying simulation of the respective asynchronous operation for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation; and

simulating the respective asynchronous operation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein simulating each of the plurality of user actions comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action, simulating the respective user action; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective user action;

delaying simulation of the respective user action for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action; and

simulating the respective user action.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon determining that the order of the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue does not match the order of the plurality of callback functions specified in the second callback queue, returning an indication that the simulation of the first execution instance of the web application was not successful.

7. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code executable by a processor to perform an operation comprising;

receiving a user action script, a first callback queue, and an asynchronous operation queue generated based on a first execution instance of a web application;

simulating the first execution instance of the web application, comprising;

invoking a second execution instance of the web application;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each user action of a plurality of user actions specified in the user action script, based on a plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each asynchronous operation of a plurality of asynchronous operations specified in the asynchronous operation queue based on the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue; and

generating, during the second execution instance of the web application, a second callback queue based on the simulated plurality of user actions and asynchronous operations; and

upon determining that an order of the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue does not match an order of a plurality of callback functions specified in the second callback queue, returning an indication that the simulation of the first execution instance of the web application was not successful.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, the operation further comprising:

detecting each of the plurality of user actions during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the user action script during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the user action script, metadata describing each of the plurality of user actions detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of asynchronous operations invoked during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the asynchronous operation queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the asynchronous operation queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of asynchronous operations detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of callback functions invoked during the first execution instance of the web application; and

generating the first callback queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the first callback queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of callback functions detected during the first execution instance of the web application, wherein the plurality of callback functions comprise one of asynchronous operation callback functions and registered user event handlers.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, the operation further comprising:

preprocessing a source code of the web application by;

identifying each instance of one of the plurality of callback functions in the source code based on a set of keywords; and

injecting, in the source code;

(i) a first module to detect user actions and generate the user action script, (ii) a second module to detect callback functions and generate the first callback queue, (iii) a third module to detect asynchronous operations and generate the asynchronous operation queue, (iv) a fourth module to simulate the user actions, and (v) a fifth module to simulate the asynchronous operations.

10. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein simulating each of the plurality of asynchronous operations comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation, simulating the respective asynchronous operation; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective asynchronous operation;

delaying simulation of the respective asynchronous operation for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation; and

simulating the respective asynchronous operation.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein simulating each of the plurality of user actions comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action, simulating the respective user action; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective user action;

delaying simulation of the respective user action for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action; and

simulating the respective user action.

12. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the first execution instance of the web application occurs in a first computing environment, wherein the second execution instance of the web application occurs in a second computing environment, different from the first computing environment.

13. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing one or more instructions which, when executed by the processor, performs an operation comprising;

receiving a user action script, a first callback queue, and an asynchronous operation queue generated based on a first execution instance of a web application;

simulating the first execution instance of the web application, comprising;

invoking a second execution instance of the web application;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each user action of a plurality of user actions specified in the user action script, based on a plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue;

simulating, during the second execution instance of the web application, each asynchronous operation of a plurality of asynchronous operations specified in the asynchronous operation queue based on the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue; and

generating, during the second execution instance of the web application, a second callback queue based on the simulated plurality of user actions and asynchronous operations; and

upon determining that an order of the plurality of callback functions specified in the first callback queue does not match an order of a plurality of callback functions specified in the second callback queue, returning an indication that the simulation of the first execution instance of the web application was not successful.

14. The system of claim 13, the operation further comprising:

detecting each of the plurality of user actions during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the user action script during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the user action script, metadata describing each of the plurality of user actions detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of asynchronous operations invoked during the first execution instance of the web application;

generating the asynchronous operation queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the asynchronous operation queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of asynchronous operations detected during the first execution instance of the web application;

detecting each of the plurality of callback functions invoked during the first execution instance of the web application; and

generating the first callback queue during the first execution instance of the web application by storing, in the first callback queue, metadata describing each of the plurality of callback functions detected during the first execution instance of the web application, wherein the plurality of callback functions comprise one of asynchronous operation callback functions and registered user event handlers.

15. The system of claim 13, the operation further comprising:

preprocessing a source code of the web application by;

identifying each instance of one of the plurality of callback functions in the source code based on a set of keywords; and

injecting, in the source code;

(i) a first module to detect user actions and generate the user action script, (ii) a second module to detect callback functions and generate the first callback queue, (iii) a third module to detect asynchronous operations and generate the asynchronous operation queue, (iv) a fourth module to simulate the user actions, and (v) a fifth module to simulate the asynchronous operations.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein simulating each of the plurality of asynchronous operations comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation, simulating the respective asynchronous operation; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective asynchronous operation;

delaying simulation of the respective asynchronous operation for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective asynchronous operation; and

simulating the respective asynchronous operation.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein simulating each of the plurality of user actions comprises:

upon determining that a most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action, simulating the respective user action; and

upon determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is not associated with the respective user action;

delaying simulation of the respective user action for a predefined amount of time; and

upon determining that the predefined amount of time has lapsed;

determining that the most recent entry in the callback queue is associated with the respective user action; and

simulating the respective user action.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the first execution instance of the web application occurs in a first computing environment, wherein the second execution instance of the web application occurs in a second computing environment, different from the first computing environment.