Method for compressing and decompressing log files and an information technology system

A method for compressing and decompressing log files using customizable dictionaries, the method comprising:

• monitoring, by a monitoring unit, a runtime component,
• generating, by the monitoring unit based on the monitoring, a source log file, wherein the source log file documents behavior of the runtime component described during the monitoring;
• reading, by the monitoring unit, the source log file into a log encoder;
• initializing, by the log encoder, a coding table from a versioned dictionary or from the source log file;
• generating, by the log encoder, an encoded log file by applying the coding table to the source log file;
• transferring the encoded log file from the monitoring unit to a developer unit;
• reading, by the developer unit, the encoded log file into a log decoder and obtaining, by the developer unit, a version reference to the versioned dictionary used by the log encoder or to the coding table from the monitoring unit;
• accessing, by the developer unit, a dictionary database comprising different versioned dictionaries;
• providing, by the developer unit to the log encoder, a dictionary corresponding to the version reference;
• initializing, by the log encoder, a coding table from the versioned dictionary;
• and
• generating, by the log decoder, a decoded log file by applying the coding table to the encoded log file,
• wherein the monitoring unit
• reads in the source log file,
• generates a coding table depending on the information contained in the source log file,
• derives a dictionary from the coding table and provides the derived dictionary with a version reference, and
• transfers the dictionary and the version reference to the dictionary database for storage.

An information technology system comprising:

• a monitoring unit;
• and
• a developer unit,
• wherein the monitoring unit is configured to
• monitoring a runtime component,
• generate, based on the monitoring, a source log file, wherein the source log file documents behavior of the runtime component described during the monitoring,
• read the source log file into a log encoder, wherein the log encoder is configured to initialize a coding table from a versioned dictionary or from the source log file and the log encoder is configured to generate an encoded log file by applying the coding table to the source log file, and
• transfer the encoded log file to the developer unit,
• read in the source log file,
• generate a coding table depending on the information contained in the source log file,
• derive a dictionary from the coding table and provides the derived dictionary with a version reference, and
• transfer the dictionary and the version reference to a dictionary database for storage,
• wherein the developer unit is configured to
• read the encoded log file into a log decoder and obtain a version reference to the versioned dictionary used by the log encoder or to the coding table from the monitoring unit,
• access the dictionary database comprising different versioned dictionaries,
• provide a dictionary corresponding to the version reference, wherein the log encoder is configured to initialize a coding table from the versioned dictionary, and the log encoder is configured to generate a decoded log file by applying the coding table to the encoded log file.