Prioritizing and parallelizing the capture of data for debugging computer programs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11379290-B2
Application number	US-201916513935-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2019
Priority date	Jul 17, 2019
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

Aspects of the invention include receiving a request to obtain data located in an address space to diagnose a computer error. It is determined whether a threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data. Based on determining that the threshold number of resources is available to obtain the data, a priority level of the computer program is assessed. A number of threads to assign to a workload to obtain the data from the address space is determined based at least in part on the priority level of the computer program. The determined number of threads are assigned to the workload. The workload is divided into a number of parallel units equal to the number of threads assigned to the workload. The parallel units of the workload are executed by the assigned threads to capture the data in the address space. The captured data is stored.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a request to obtain data to diagnose a computer error, the data located in an address space assigned to a computer program;
estimating a size of the data;
determining whether a threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data, the threshold number based at least in part on the estimated size of the data; and
based on determining that the threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data:
assessing a priority level of the computer program;
determining a number of threads to assign to a workload to obtain the data from the address space, the number of threads based at least in part on the priority level of the computer program;
assigning the determined number of threads to the workload;
dividing the workload into a number of parallel units, the number of parallel units equal to the number of threads assigned to the workload;
executing, by the assigned threads, the parallel units of the workload to capture the data in the address space; and
storing the captured data,

wherein at least a portion of the data is located in a second address space of the computer and the determining is further based at least in part on a percentage of the data that is located in the second address space of the computer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the executing of two or more of the parallel units of the workload overlaps in time.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the number of threads to assign to a workload for obtaining the data is further based at least in part on the size of the data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the second address space is assigned more threads than the address space based at least in part on the address space and the second address space having the same priority level, and on the second address space having a greater percentage of the data than the address space.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the address space is assigned more threads than a second address space assigned to a second computer program having a lower priority level than the address space.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computer program is an application program.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computer program is middleware.

8. A system comprising:
a memory having computer readable instructions; and
one or more processors for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request to obtain data to diagnose a computer error, the data located in an address space assigned to a computer program;
estimating a size of the data;
determining whether a threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data, the threshold number based at least in part on the estimated size of the data; and
based on determining that the threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data:
assessing a priority level of the computer program;
determining a number of threads to assign to a workload to obtain the data from the address space, the number of threads based at least in part on the priority level of the computer program;
assigning the determined number of threads to the workload;
dividing the workload into a number of parallel units, the number of parallel units equal to the number of threads assigned to the workload;
executing, by the assigned threads, the parallel units of the workload to capture the data in the address space; and
storing the captured data,
wherein at least a portion of the data is located in a second address space of the computer and the determining is further based at least in part on a percentage of the data that is located in the second address space of the computer.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the executing of two or more of the parallel units of the workload overlaps in time.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the determining the number of threads to assign to a workload for obtaining the data is further based at least in part on the size of the data.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second address space is assigned more threads than the address space based at least in part on the address space and the second address space having the same priority level, and on the second address space having a greater percentage of the data than the address space.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the address space is assigned more threads than a second address space assigned to a second computer program having a lower priority level than the address space.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer program is an application program.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer program is middleware.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving a request to obtain data to diagnose a computer error, the data located in an address space assigned to a computer program;
estimating a size of the data;
determining whether a threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data, the threshold number based at least in part on the estimated size of the data; and
based on determining that the threshold number of resources are available to obtain the data:
assessing a priority level of the computer program;
determining a number of threads to assign to a workload to obtain the data from the address space, the number of threads based at least in part on the priority level of the computer program;
assigning the determined number of threads to the workload;
dividing the workload into a number of parallel units, the number of parallel units equal to the number of threads assigned to the workload;
executing, by the assigned threads, the parallel units of the workload to capture the data in the address space; and
storing the captured data,
wherein at least a portion of the data is located in a second address space of the computer and the determining is further based at least in part on a percentage of the data that is located in the second address space of the computer.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the executing of two or more of the parallel units of the workload overlaps in time.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the determining the number of threads to assign to a workload for obtaining the data is further based at least in part on the size of the data.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Patel Purvi Sharadchandra
• Compton Scott B
• Varanasi Girija
• Sharpe Ralph

Classifications

• G06F9/5038

  considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration (scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups) · CPC title

• G06F11/362

  Debugging of software · CPC title

• G06F9/3822

  Parallel decoding, e.g. parallel decode units · CPC title

• G06F11/0781 Primary

  Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level · CPC title

• G06F11/0778

  Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis · CPC title