Automated Dump Analysis and Error Scenario Recreation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Debugging runtime errors in systems is a time-consuming and resource-intensive manual process prone to human errors, often impossible to replicate due to complex or non-reproducible scenarios, necessitating an automated dump analysis and scenario recreation technique.
Innovation Solution
A software tool that automatically analyzes system dumps, recreates the error scenario on a user interface, and provides a visual reproduction of processing steps leading up to the dump, utilizing a client-server architecture with a step recorder, data store, and user interface to correlate user interactions with call stacks and identify error types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual dump analysis is performed by developers and testers, then error identification can be done with human reasoning, but the process is time-consuming and resource-intensive
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service automated dump analysis by having the error analysis system automatically analyze dumps and generate scenario reproductions without requiring manual developer intervention for each error case, thus reducing time loss while maintaining accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual analysis process with an automated computer-based system that uses algorithms to analyze dumps and reconstruct scenarios, substituting human manual effort with automated computational processes to reduce time consumption
2Reliability
If manual reproduction of dump scenarios is attempted, then root cause analysis can be performed, but the process is prone to human errors and may be impossible for complex scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual scenario reproduction with automated computer-based reconstruction that programmatically recreates the exact sequence of events leading to the dump, eliminating human error and making complex scenarios reproducible through automated execution of recorded steps
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a precise copy of the original error scenario by recording and reproducing the exact sequence of user interactions and system states that led to the dump, allowing reliable analysis without manual reproduction attempts
3Reliability
If testers attempt to replicate complex dump scenarios, then error reproduction may be achieved, but the process becomes resource intensive and may fail for non-reproducible errors
Solution Approach 1:
The automated system performs self-service scenario reproduction by automatically recording and replaying the exact steps leading to dumps without requiring tester intervention, thereby maintaining high reproduction success rates while preserving productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary recording of user interactions and system states as they naturally occur during normal operation, so that when a dump occurs, the scenario is already captured and can be instantly reproduced without requiring subsequent manual replication efforts
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes recording, in a first database table, user interactions of one or more users with a user interface, retrieving a list of runtime errors that have occurred in a system resulting from the user interactions, for each runtime error in the list, identifying a type of the runtime error comprising one of a first type and a second type, and retrieving a corresponding call stack comprising a sequence of function calls that led to the runtime error, storing information from the call stack in a second database table, correlating the user interactions recorded in the recording step with the function calls in the call stack, and providing, on a display device, a visual reproduction of processing steps leading up to the runtime error using the correlations in the correlating step.