Date and time simulation for time-sensitive applications

An apparatus for providing a simulated date and/or time to a time-sensitive application, the apparatus comprising:

• a detection module to detect the invocation of a time handler method, the time handler method configured to retrieve the system time of a computing system;
• a capture module to capture the contents of a call stack once the invocation is detected;
• a stack analysis module to analyze the contents of the call stack to determine which requestor method initiated the invocation;
• the stack analysis module further configured to determine whether the requester method that initiated the invocation should receive one of a real system time and a simulated system time;
• a return module configured to return a real system time in the event the requester method should receive the real system time;
• and
• the return module further configured to return a simulated system time in the event the requester method should receive the simulated system time.

A computer program product for providing a simulated date and/or time to a time-sensitive application, the computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-usable program code embodied therein, the computer-usable program code comprising:

• computer-usable program code to detect the invocation of a time handler method, the time handler method configured to retrieve the system time of a computing system;
• computer-usable program code to capture the contents of a call stack upon detecting the invocation;
• computer-usable program code to analyze the contents of the call stack to determine which requester method initiated the invocation;
• computer-usable program code to determine whether the requester method that initiated the invocation should receive one of a real system time and a simulated system time;
• computer-usable program code to return a real system time in the event the requester method is intended to receive the real system time;
• and
• computer-usable program code to return a simulated system time in the event the requester method is intended to receive the simulated system time.