Intelligent DOM Event Capture Agent for Web Session Replay
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing monitoring systems face challenges in accurately capturing and replaying web sessions due to the dispersion of log files across multiple tiers, leading to incomplete event capture and potential errors during replay, as well as bandwidth issues that can slow down web sessions.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent capture agent is configured to capture Document Object Model (DOM) events by selectively identifying and representing known DOM items with content identifiers, reducing data capture and transfer, and dynamically capturing DOM changes to maintain accurate session replay without slowing down web sessions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If extensive instrumentation is inserted to capture all user session events and webpage metadata, then the completeness of event capture is improved, but the bandwidth usage increases and web session performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and captures only the essential DOM events and changes that are critical for accurate session replay, rather than capturing all possible events. The system selectively captures DOM node changes, attribute modifications, and user interactions that directly impact the webpage state, filtering out redundant information to reduce bandwidth consumption while maintaining replay accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring system is segmented into multiple components: a capture agent embedded in the webpage, a standalone capture module, and a replay module. Each component has specific responsibilities - the capture agent monitors DOM events locally, the capture module processes and filters events, and the replay module reconstructs sessions. This segmentation allows efficient event capture with minimized bandwidth usage by processing events distributed across system tiers.
2Reliability
If extensive instrumentation is inserted to capture all user session events and webpage metadata, then the completeness of event capture is improved, but the web session speed deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the necessary DOM events required for accurate session replay, avoiding the performance overhead of capturing and processing all possible events. By focusing on critical DOM changes and user interactions, the system maintains complete event capture for replay purposes while minimizing the impact on web session execution speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The capture agent is embedded in the webpage during the development phase, allowing DOM event capture to be prepared in advance. The capture module is pre-configured with filtering rules and event priorities, enabling efficient processing of DOM events without adding significant overhead during actual user sessions. This preliminary setup ensures complete event capture while maintaining fast session performance.
3Reliability
If log files are captured and moved to a central repository, then the capability to replay web sessions is improved, but the bandwidth usage and impact on original web session increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the logging and replay functionality across multiple tiers - the capture agent embedded in the webpage captures DOM events locally, the capture module processes and filters events, and a central repository stores the processed log files. This segmentation enables accurate session replay while minimizing network bandwidth usage by processing and filtering events at distributed locations before centralization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the essential DOM event data required for session replay, removing redundant information before storing in the central repository. By capturing and filtering only critical DOM changes and user interactions at the edge (capture agent and capture module), the system reduces the volume of data transferred to the central repository while maintaining complete replay capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A monitoring system intelligently captures Document Object Model (DOM) events. The DOM events may provide state information that may not usually be captured during a web session. To reduce processing bandwidth, content identifiers may be used to represent some DOM events. Checkpoints may be identified during the web session and a current state of the webpage may be captured to provide replay synchronization. Different data may be captured based on a sequence and timing of the DOM events during the original web session. Data exchanged with third party websites also may be selectively captured to provide a more through simulation of the original web session.