Method and apparatus for controlling a computer system

• US 5,537,539 A
• Filed: 09/07/1994
• Issued: 07/16/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Narihiro, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Jr., Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LE, DIEU MINH T
• Application Number:
  US08/301,783
• Time in Patent Office: 678 Days
• Field of Search: 395/575, 395/325, 395/600, 395/183.14, 395/183.22, 395/184.01, 395/185.01, 395/185.02, 364/285, 364/243.3, 364/245.3, 364/267, 364/267.4, 364/274.1, 364/943.9
• US Class Current: 714/38.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0706 the processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0766 Error or fault reporting or storing
• 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

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling a computer system having an operating system program, that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of the computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by the operating system and which are separate from the operating system program. When the operating system detects a fault occurring in a certain application program, management information concerning the faulty application program is transferred to a space in a dedicated application program for processing any fault; the program space of the faulty application program is stored into the space in the dedicated application program; necessary information regarding the faulty application program is collected by means of the dedicated application program; and a substitute process for the request for the faulty application program is executed in accordance with a predetermined procedure, by means of the dedicated application program.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the method being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a collection-procedure file, which stores a procedure for collecting fault information about a fault, is provided for every application program, as well as an information file for storing said fault information and other information, said other information indicating the type of said fault information that is to be collected when a fault occurs and also indicating a procedure for collecting said fault information that is to be collected when said fault occurs,

a dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, and a third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs, and

said operating system having functions of excepting said selected one of the other application programs from the management by said operating system to control execution of said application programs, of transferring the program space of said selected one of the other application programs to the program space of said dedicated application program having said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information and, further, of carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of

said selected one of the other application programs which has a fault,

said method comprising;

dividing a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs into a plurality of memory blocks, and allocating a real memory for every memory block;

detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program, by means of said operating system;

transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

selecting said procedure for collecting said fault information from said collection-procedure file, and storing said procedure for collecting said fault information into said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

collecting necessary information which is designated in accordance with the stored procedure for collecting said fault information and storing the collected necessary information into said information file, by means of said dedicated application program; and

carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, when the step of transferring of said management information is completed, by means of said operating system.

2. A method for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable on said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the method being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a substitute-procedure file, provided for every application program, designates a procedure for executing a substitute process by means of a dedicated application program for processing any fault,

said dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, and a third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs, and

said operating system having functions of excepting said selected one of the other application programs from the management by said operating system to control execution of said application programs, of transferring the program space of said selected one of the other application programs to the program space of said dedicated application program having said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information and, further, of carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said selected one of the other application programs which has a fault,

said method comprising;

dividing a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs into a plurality of memory blocks, and allocating a real memory for every memory block;

detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program, by means of said operating system;

transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

reading out said procedure for executing said substitute process from said substitute-procedure file, and storing said procedure for executing said substitute process into said third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

executing said substitute process for the request for said faulty application program in accordance with the stored procedure for executing said substitute process by means of said dedicated application program; and

carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, when the step of transferring of said management information is completed, by means of said operating system.

3. A method for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the method being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a collection-procedure file, which stores a procedure for collecting fault information about a fault, is provided for every application program, as well as an information file for storing said fault information and other information, said other information indicating the type of said fault information that is to be collected when a fault occurs and also indicating a procedure for collecting said fault information that is to be collected when said fault occurs,

a substitute-procedure file is also provided for every application program, which designates a procedure for executing a substitute process by means of a dedicated application program for processing any fault,

said dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, a third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, and a third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs, and

said operating system has functions of excepting said selected one of the other application programs from the management by said operating system to control execution of said application programs, of transferring the program space of said selected one of the other application programs to the program space of said dedicated application program having said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information and, further, of carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said selected one of the other application programs which has a fault,

said method comprising;

dividing a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs into a plurality of memory blocks, and allocating a real memory for every memory block;

detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program, by means of said operating system;

transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said operating system;

storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

selecting said procedure for collecting said fault information from said collection-procedure file, and storing said procedure for collecting said fault information into said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

collecting necessary information which is designated in accordance with the stored procedure for collecting said fault information and storing the collected necessary information into said information file, by means of said dedicated application program;

reading out said procedure for executing said substitute process from said substitute-procedure file, and storing said procedure for executing said substitute process into said third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, by means of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

executing said substitute process for the request for said faulty application program in accordance with the stored procedure for executing said substitute process, by means of said dedicated application program; and

carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, when the step of transferring of said management information is completed, by means of said operating system.

4. An apparatus for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the apparatus being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a collection-procedure file, which stores a procedure for collecting fault information about a fault, is provided for every application program, as well as an information file for storing said fault information and other information, said other information indicating the type of said fault information that is to be collected when a fault occurs and also indicating a procedure for collecting said fault information that is to be collected when said fault occurs, and

a dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, and a third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs,

said apparatus comprising;

a plurality of memory blocks into which a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs are divided, a corresponding real memory being allocated for every memory block;

means for detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program;

means for transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for selecting said procedure for collecting said fault information from said collection-procedure file, and storing said procedure for collecting said fault information into said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information;

means for collecting necessary information which is designated in accordance with said procedure for collecting said fault information, and storing the thus collected necessary information into said information file; and

means for carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, in the case where it is confirmed that the transfer of said management information is completed.

5. An apparatus for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the apparatus being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a substitute-procedure file, provided, for every application program, designates a procedure for executing a substitute process by means of a dedicated application program for processing any fault, and

said dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, and a third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs,

said apparatus comprising;

a plurality of memory blocks into which a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs are divided, a corresponding real memory being allocated for every memory block;

means for detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program;

means for transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for reading out said procedure for executing said substitute process from said substitute-procedure file, and storing said procedure for executing said substitute process into said third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process;

means for executing said substitute process for the request for said faulty application program in accordance with said stored procedure for executing said substitute process; and

means for carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, when the step of transferring of said management information is completed.

6. An apparatus for controlling a computer system having an operating system program that constitutes a given operating system and that carries out control of operations of said computer system as a whole and also having one or a plurality of application programs that are executable by said operating system and which are separate from said operating system program, the apparatus being operable in a case in which a fault occurs in an application program, thereby designated a faulty application program, among said plurality of application programs having respective and different, plural address spaces, wherein:

a collection-procedure file, which stores a procedure for collecting fault information about a fault, is provided for every application program, as well as an information file for storing said fault information and other information, said other information indicating the type of said fault information that is to be collected when a fault occurs and also indicating a procedure for collecting said fault information that is to be collected when said fault occurs,

a substitute-procedure file is also provided, for every application program, which designates a procedure for executing a substitute process by means of a dedicated application program for processing any fault, and

said dedicated application program for processing any fault, defined as one of said application programs, is provided in a corresponding program space of said application programs, said dedicated application program having a first related space for storing management information about management of said operating system, a second related space for storing a program space of a faulty application program in which said fault occurs, a third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information, and a third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process, said dedicated application program executing a given control process for any selected one of the other application programs when said fault occurs in said selected one of the other application programs,

said apparatus comprising;

a plurality of memory blocks into which a program space of said operating system program and the program space of said application programs are divided, a corresponding real memory being allocated for every memory block;

means for detecting a fault of a certain application program corresponding to said faulty application program;

means for transferring said management information, including application management information of said faulty application program, to said first related space for storing said management information of said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for notifying said dedicated application program for processing any fault of said faulty application program and activating said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for storing the program space of said faulty application program, which is designated by said operating system, into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault;

means for taking out said procedure for collecting said fault information from said collection-procedure file, and storing said procedure for collecting said fault information into said third related space for storing said procedure for collecting said fault information;

means for collecting necessary information which is designated in accordance with the thus stored procedure for collecting said fault information and storing the collected necessary information into said information file;

means for reading out said procedure for executing said substitute process from said substitute-procedure file, and storing said procedure for executing said substitute process into said third related space for storing said procedure for executing said substitute process;

means for executing said substitute process for the request for said faulty application program in accordance with said stored procedure for executing said substitute process; and

means for carrying out an opening and deletion of the program space of said faulty application program, which has been stored into said second related space for storing the program space of said faulty application program in said dedicated application program for processing any fault, when the transfer of said management information is completed.