Web Session Event Capture via Browser Extension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current monitoring systems for web applications struggle to accurately capture and replay web sessions due to the independent execution of code and increased state information in modern web pages, leading to missed events and inaccurate replay, which negatively impacts user experience and e-commerce businesses.
Innovation Solution
A capture system that combines network data and User Interface (UI) event monitoring, with a detection and inference system to identify missed events and generate replay rules, allowing for more accurate simulation of user interactions and improved analytics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If web pages execute code independently with more state information, then web application functionality is improved, but monitoring systems cannot capture all events accurately
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a browser extension as an intermediary component that runs within the user's browser environment. This extension acts as a mediator between the independent web page code and the external monitoring system, capturing events that occur within the browser's context including those generated by independent web page execution. The extension can observe DOM changes, user interactions, and network requests that would otherwise be invisible to traditional monitoring systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts the monitoring perspective from external network-level observation to internal browser-level observation. By embedding the monitoring capability within the browser through an extension, the system gains access to a new dimension of event data including DOM manipulations, client-side JavaScript executions, and user interface interactions that occur before network requests are generated. This dimensional shift enables comprehensive event capture despite web pages executing independently.
2Device complexity
If capture system only monitors network data, then system complexity is reduced, but replay accuracy is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two previously separate monitoring approaches into a unified capture system: network-level monitoring and browser-level monitoring. The browser extension captures UI events and DOM changes, while the server continues to capture network traffic. Both data streams are combined and correlated to create a comprehensive event log that enables accurate replay. This merging allows the system to maintain the simplicity of separate components while achieving the reliability of integrated monitoring.
3Measurement precision
If monitoring system tries to capture all events, then replay accuracy is improved, but system performance and user experience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the monitoring granularity adaptive and context-dependent. The browser extension captures events with varying levels of detail based on their significance. Critical events such as user actions, DOM changes, and network requests are captured in full detail, while less significant events are captured with reduced detail or aggregated. This selective monitoring approach maintains replay accuracy for important events while minimizing the performance overhead of comprehensive monitoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial monitoring by focusing capture efforts on the most critical event types rather than attempting to capture every possible event. The system identifies and prioritizes events that are essential for accurate replay, such as user interactions and state-changing operations, while optionally monitoring or aggregating less critical events. This partial action approach achieves sufficient replay accuracy without the excessive performance cost of capturing all events in detail.
Data Source
AI summary
A test system uses an instrumented browser to identify events that were not successfully captured during a client web session. The identified events can be used to modify a capture system that captures the client web session. Alternatively, the test system may generate replay rules that are used by a replay system to infer the missed events while replaying of the previously captured client web session. The events can include changes to Document Object Models (DOMs) for web pages used during the web sessions. The DOMs can be used to identify significant web session events and force replay sessions into the correct states.