Method and system for metering usage of software products with fast run-time identification

A computer program in a computer readable medium directly loadable into a working memory of a data processing system for performing a method for metering usage of software products in the system when the program is run on the system, the method including the steps of:

• providing a global catalogue associating each product to be metered with at least one executable module indicating the usage of the product when running,
• creating a local catalogue associating a path for accessing each module installed on the system being included in the global catalogue with a location for identifying the module when running,
• detecting the location of each module running on the system,
• determining the path associated with the location of each running module according to the local catalogue, and
• accessing each running module through the corresponding path for identifying the product associated with the running module according to the global catalogue.

A data processing system including means for metering usage of software products in the system, the means for metering including:

• a global catalogue associating each product to be metered with at least one executable module indicating the usage of the product when running,
• means for creating a local catalogue associating a path for accessing each module installed on the system being included in the global catalogue with a location for identifying the module when running,
• means for detecting the location of each module running on the system,
• means for determining the path associated with the location of each running module according to the local catalogue, and
• means for accessing each running module through the corresponding path for identifying the product associated with the running module according to the global catalogue.