Assessing computer programs using stack frame signatures
AssigneeTechtracker, Inc.
InventorsScott Clementson Elliott, Kenneth A. Gengler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of assessing a computer program under actual working conditions according to one embodiment comprises executing the computer program multiple times under actual working conditions, in response to each unhandled exception encountered during execution of the computer program, creating a corresponding stack frame signature to characterize the state of the program, and comparing the stack frame signatures to determine which unhandled exceptions are likely to have resulted from similar features.
Claims40
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- tracing by a processor a call stack for an executed program;
- generating a selected metric for each stack frame in the call stack;
- encoding each selected metric into a corresponding symbol;
- and
- assembling the encoded symbols into an ordered list to form a stack frame signature with a historical execution path of the executed program.
A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium on which is stored a stack signature program for capturing and describing the state of an application program under actual working conditions, the stack signature program being registered with a target operating system that launches the stack signature program responsive to abnormal termination of the application program, the stack signature program comprising instructions that when executed cause a computing system to:
- trace a call stack for an executed program;
- generate a selected metric for each stack frame in the call stack;
- encode each selected metric into a corresponding symbol;
- and
- assemble the encoded symbols into an ordered list to form a stack frame signature with a historical execution path of the executed program.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a processor;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor, the memory to store a computer program to generate stack signatures that when executed by the processor is operative to trace a call stack for an executed program, generate a selected metric for each stack frame in the call stack, encode each selected metric into a corresponding symbol, and assemble the encoded symbols into an ordered list to form a stack frame signature with a historical execution path of the executed program.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.