FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See section 10, Rule 13]
INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, MIDDLEWARE, INFORMATION
PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION, A CORPORATION ORGANISED
AND EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF JAPAN, WHOSE ADDRESS IS 7-3,
MARUNOUCHI 2-CHOME, CHIYODA-KU, TOKYO 100-8310, JAPAN
THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE
INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED.
2
DESCRIPTION
5 Field
[0001] The present invention relates to an information
processing device that uses middleware which implements
communication between application software and other
devices, and also relates to middleware, an information
10 processing method, and a program.
Background
[0002] Middleware intermediates between an operating
system (OS) and application software (hereinafter referred
15 to as “applications”) and provides specific functions for
various applications. Communication middleware exchanges
necessary information with another device that is external
(hereinafter referred to as “external device”) to establish
a connection for an application that requests communication
20 with the external device, and transmits data to and
receives data from the external device on behalf of the
application. Because the communication middleware performs
communication with external devices, each application does
not need to include an individual function of communicating
25 with the external devices.
[0003] Generally, various kinds of software including
the middleware each have a logging function of generating
and storing, in a storage device, data that includes
various kinds of information relevant to software operation,
30 such as details and results of an executed process, for use
in operation verification and examination intended for
identification of a cause of an occurred defect.
[0004] Patent Literature 1 describes an invention
3
according to which defect information is collected and
stored for analysis of a defect in a program executed by a
client terminal. According to the invention described in
Patent Literature 1, upon detecting occurrence of the
defect, software executed by the client 5 terminal collects
various kinds of information useful in the analysis of the
defect and transmits these collected various kinds of
information that have been collated as the defect
information to a server. Upon receiving the defect
10 information from the client terminal, the server stores
this in a storage medium.
Citation List
Patent Literature
15 [0005] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application
Laid-open No. 2003-256242
Summary
Technical Problem
20 [0006] The invention described in Patent Literature 1 is
configured such that the information at the time of the
defect occurrence is collected and stored, so that the
occurred defect is located. However, if the occurrence of
the defect results from operation of different software
25 with a cause being, for example, a memory leak which occurs
in association with operation of the different application,
interrupt handling that occurs in association with
performance monitoring performed by virus check software,
or the like, the cause is difficult to identify only with
30 the information at the time of the defect occurrence. For
example, status changes of a memory are needed for
ascertainment of whether or not the memory leak has
occurred at the time of the defect occurrence; however,
4
these changes cannot be ascertained because previous
developments cannot be ascertained from only the
information at the time of the defect occurrence.
[0007] The present invention has been made in view of
the above, and an object of the present 5 invention is to
obtain an information processing device that is capable of
collecting information for analysis of a cause of a defect
which occurs under influence of operation of an application.
10 Solution to Problem
[0008] To solve the above-stated problem and achieve the
object, the present invention is an information processing
device that is implemented when an electronic computer
executes middleware. The information processing device
15 includes a communication processing unit that performs
communication with an external device according to an
instruction from application software installed on the
electronic computer. The information processing device
also includes a trace processing unit that executes a first
20 information trace process when a first condition that is
predetermined is satisfied and executes a second
information trace process when a second condition that is
predetermined is satisfied. The first information trace
process includes obtaining, from an operating system
25 installed on the electronic computer, environmental
information that is information about an operating
environment of the application software and writing the
environmental information to an environmental information
log file. The second information trace process includes
30 writing, to a communication log file, information
indicating a procedure of communication that the
communication processing unit performs with the external
device, obtaining the environmental information from the
5
operating system, and writing the environmental information
to the environmental information log file.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0009] The information processing device 5 according to
the present invention can collect information for analysis
of a cause of a defect which occurs under influence of
operation of an application.
10 Brief Description of Drawings
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a hardware
configuration of an electronic computer that executes
middleware according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
15 FIG. 2 illustrates an essential configuration of an
information processing device according to the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an
operational example of the communication middleware
according to the embodiment.
20 FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operational
example of the communication middleware according to the
embodiment.
FIG. 5 illustrates an example of timing of an
information trace process that the communication middleware
25 according to the embodiment executes.
FIG. 6 illustrates another example of the timing of
the information trace process that the communication
middleware according to the embodiment executes.
30 Description of Embodiments
[0011] With reference to the drawings, a detailed
description is hereinafter provided of an information
processing device, middleware, an information processing
6
method, and a program according to an embodiment of the
present invention. It is to be noted that this embodiment
is not restrictive of the present invention.
[0012] Embodiment.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example 5 of a hardware
configuration of an electronic computer that executes
middleware according to the embodiment of the present
invention. The electronic computer 100 that executes the
middleware according to the present embodiment includes a
10 processor 101, a primary storage device 102, an auxiliary
storage device 103, an input device 104, a display device
105, and a communication interface 106.
[0013] The processor 101 is a central processing unit
(CPU that is also called a central processor, an arithmetic
15 unit, or the like).
[0014] The primary storage device 102 is main memory
that functions as a work area of the processor 101. The
primary storage device 102 includes a random access memory
(RAM) and operates at a higher speed than the auxiliary
20 storage device 103.
[0015] The auxiliary storage device 103 stores software
and various data. The auxiliary storage device 103
includes a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive, a
solid-state drive (SSD), a removable memory device, or a
25 combination of these. The middleware according to the
present embodiment is stored in the auxiliary storage
device 103. The processor 101 retrieves the middleware
according to the present embodiment from the auxiliary
storage device 103 to execute the middleware. When
30 provided, the middleware according to the present
embodiment is written to a storage medium such as an
optical disk. This middleware is installed on the
electronic computer 100, thus being written to the
7
auxiliary storage device 103. In this way, the middleware
becomes executable by the processor 101.
[0016] Examples of the input device 104 include a mouse,
a keyboard, and a touch panel. Examples of the display
device 105 include a liquid crystal monitor 5 and a display.
The communication interface 106 is a network interface card
or the like and is used when the electronic computer 100
communicates with external devices such as other electronic
computers across a network which is not illustrated.
10 [0017] FIG. 2 illustrates an essential configuration of
an information processing device according to the present
embodiment. The information processing device according to
the present embodiment is implemented when the electronic
computer 100 illustrated by FIG. 1 executes the middleware
15 according to the present embodiment. In other words, the
information processing device according to the present
embodiment corresponds to the electronic computer 100
executing the middleware according to the present
embodiment. In a description below, the electronic
20 computer 100 executing the middleware according to the
present embodiment may be called the information processing
device 100. The middleware according to the present
embodiment is communication middleware 10 and implements a
trace processing unit 11 and a communication processing
25 unit 12 of the information processing device 100. The
communication middleware 10, an OS 30, and a plurality of
applications 40 that are illustrated in FIG. 2 are executed
by the processor 101 illustrated in FIG. 1. In addition, a
storage unit 20 is implemented by the auxiliary storage
30 device 103 illustrated in FIG. 1. The storage unit 20
retains an environmental information log file 21 and a
communication log file 22 that are created and updated by
the trace processing unit 11 of the communication
8
middleware 10. The environmental information log file 21
and the communication log file 22 are files to which
various kinds of information that are necessary for a
process of analyzing an operational defect which is caused
to the communication middleware 10 are written. 5 Written to
the environmental information log file 21 while being
associated with date and time information is environmental
information that is described later. Written to the
communication log file 22 while being associated with date
10 and time information is information indicating a procedure
of communication that the communication middleware 10 has
performed with the external device 200.
[0018] When a first predetermined condition has been
satisfied, the trace processing unit 11 of the
15 communication middleware 10 obtains the information from
the OS 30 and writes the information to the environmental
information log file 21. Moreover, when a second
predetermined condition has been satisfied, the trace
processing unit 11 retrieves and writes, to the
20 communication log file 22, information written to a buffer
area by the communication processing unit 12. The trace
processing unit 11 also obtains the environmental
information (described later) from the OS 30 and writes the
environmental information to the environmental information
25 log file 21. The information that the trace processing
unit 11 writes to the communication log file 22 indicates a
procedure of communication performed between the
communication processing unit 12 and the external device
200. The communication processing unit 12 implements
30 communication between the application 40 and the external
device 200. The communication processing unit 12 uses the
communication interface 106 illustrated in FIG. 1 to
communicate with the external device 200. Moreover, when
9
communication with the external device 200 has failed, the
communication processing unit 12 notifies the trace
processing unit 11 of the failure of the communication.
Furthermore, when communicating with the external device
200, the communication processing unit 5 12 writes, to the
buffer area, information indicating a procedure of the
communication that the communication processing unit 12 has
performed with the external device 200.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an
10 operational example of the communication middleware
according to the present embodiment. When a need for
communication with the external device 200 arises from, for
example, user operation of the application 40 of the
electronic computer 100, the application 40 transmits an
15 activation request to the communication middleware 10 (step
S11). Upon receiving the activation request, the
communication middleware 10 executes an information trace
process (step S12). Specifically, the trace processing
unit 11 of the communication middleware 10 first requests,
20 from the OS 30, the environmental information that is
information about an operating environment of the
application 40, thus obtaining the environmental
information. It is to be noted that the environmental
information also includes information about an operating
25 environment of the communication middleware 10. In other
words, the environmental information can be said to be
information about an operating environment for both the
application 40 and the communication middleware 10. It is
to be noted here that the environmental information
30 includes, for example, information about a running process,
information about a status of use of the main memory, and
information about a communication port being used. The
status of use of the main memory includes both a status of
10
use of physical memory and a status of use of virtual
memory. The trace processing unit 11 uses a command that
is supported by the OS 30 to obtain the environmental
information. Next, the trace processing unit 11 writes the
obtained environmental information along 5 with date and time
information to the environmental information log file 21 of
the storage unit 20. The writing here refers to additional
writing. If there is no environmental information log file
21 in the storage unit 20, the trace processing unit 11
10 creates the environmental information log file 21. In
addition to the information trace process, the
communication middleware 10 carries out setting that is
necessary to start the communication with the external
device 200. This setting is similar to the one that
15 typical communication middleware carries out, so that its
details are not described in detail. The information trace
process that the trace processing unit 11 executes at step
S12 is a first information trace process.
[0020] When the information trace process and the
20 setting that is necessary to start the communication
terminate, the communication middleware 10 transmits, to
the application 40, an activation response indicating that
activation has been completed, that is to say, preparation
has been done to start the communication (step S13).
25 Having received the activation response, the application 40
transmits a communication request to the communication
middleware 10 (step S14). The communication request that
the application 40 transmits to the communication
middleware 10 includes information about the external
30 device 200 being a communication partner, and data to be
transmitted to the external device 200. Upon receiving the
communication request from the application 40, the
communication middleware 10 acknowledges this and transmits
11
the communication request to the external device 200 being
the communication partner (step S15). The communication
request is transmitted to the external device 200 by the
communication processing unit 12. The data output that the
application 40 has directed to the external 5 device 200 is
included in the communication request transmitted to the
external device 200. It is to be noted that not only the
transmission of the communication request by the
communication middleware 10 as described in step S15 of FIG.
10 3 and transmission of a communication response by the
external device 200 as described in step S16 of FIG. 3 but
also signal transmission and reception are performed
multiple times between the communication middleware 10 and
the external device 200 according to a procedure conforming
15 to a communication protocol being used.
[0021] Upon receiving the communication response from
the external device 200 (step S16), the communication
middleware 10 executes a buffering process (step S17). At
step S17, the buffering process is executed by the
20 communication processing unit 12 and is a process of
storing, in the buffer area, information indicating a
procedure of the communication performed at steps S15 and
S16 with the external device 200. The buffer area is
secured in the primary storage device 102. When the
25 buffering process terminates, the communication middleware
10 determines whether or not the communication has
succeeded. If the communication has been performed
according to the correct procedure specified by the
communication protocol, the communication processing unit
30 12 determines that the communication has succeeded. If the
communication has not been performed according to the
correct procedure, the communication processing unit 12
determines that the communication has failed. Examples of
12
the case where communication has not being performed
according to the correct procedure also includes a case
where the signal from the external device 200 has not
received within a predetermined time period. The method of
determining whether or not communication 5 has succeeded is
not limited thereto. Here the description continues
following the success of the communication. When the
communication has succeeded, the communication middleware
10 transmits a communication response to the application 40
10 (step S18). This is where one round of communication
processing between the application 40 and the external
device 200 terminates. The communication response that the
communication middleware 10 transmits at step S18 includes
information indicating the success of the communication.
15 [0022] When a communication request is thereafter
received again from the application 40 (step S19), the
communication middleware 10 transmits the communication
request to the external device 200 and receives a
communication response from the external device 200, thus
20 performing communication with the external device 200
(steps S20 and S21). The communication middleware 10
executes the buffering process again (step S22). These
steps S20, S21, and S22 are the same as above-described
steps S15, S16, and S17. When the buffering process
25 terminates, the communication middleware 10 determines
whether or not the communication has succeeded. Here the
description continues on the assumption that the
communication performed at steps S20 and S21 with the
external device 200 has failed. If the communication has
30 failed, the communication middleware 10 executes an
information trace process (step S23). Specifically, the
trace processing unit 11 first retrieves, from the buffer
area, information which has been stored when the above
13
buffering process has been executed, and writes, to the
communication log file 22 of the storage unit 20, the
retrieved information that is communication log information,
along with information about a date and time of the
retrieval. The writing here refers to additional 5 writing.
If there is no communication log file 22 in the storage
unit 20, the trace processing unit 11 creates the
communication log file 22. The above-mentioned
“information about a date and time of the retrieval” is
10 also information indicating the date and time of the
failure of the communication. Next, the trace processing
unit 11 requests, to the OS 30, the environmental
information that is the information about the operating
environment of the application 40, thus obtaining the
15 environmental information. The trace processing unit 11
writes the obtained environmental information to the
environmental information log file 21. This writing is the
same as the writing of the environmental information to the
environmental information log file 21 in the first
20 information trace process that is the information trace
process at above-described step S12. The information trace
process that the trace processing unit 11 executes at step
S23 is a second information trace process. It is to be
noted that when the communication with the external device
25 200 has failed, the communication processing unit 12
notifies the trace processing unit 11 of the failure of the
communication. The trace processing unit 11 executes the
second information trace process upon receipt of this
notification.
30 [0023] After executing the information trace process at
step S23, the communication middleware 10 transmits a
communication response to the application 40 (step S24).
The communication response that the communication
14
middleware 10 transmits at step S24 includes information
indicating the failure of the communication.
[0024] The communication middleware 10 also executes the
information trace process after every elapse of a
predetermined fixed time period T since 5 the reception of
the activation request at above-described step S11 (steps
S25 and S26). The information trace process that is
executed at steps S25 and S26 is the same as the
information trace process executed at above-described step
10 S12. In other words, this is the first information trace
process. Therefore, the communication middleware 10
executes the first information trace process after the
elapse of the fixed time period T following the previous
execution of the first information trace process.
15 [0025] When subsequent user operation of the application
40 of the electronic computer 100 eliminates the need for
communication with the external device 200, the application
40 transmits a termination request to the communication
middleware 10 (step S27). Upon receiving the termination
20 request, the communication middleware 10 executes an
information trace process (step S28) and transmits a
termination response to the application 40 (step S29). The
information trace process that the communication middleware
10 executes at step S28 is the same as the information
25 trace process executed at above-described step S12. In
other words, this is the first information trace process.
[0026] It is to be noted here that in the present
embodiment, a case where the communication middleware 10
receives the activation request from the application 40 , a
30 case where the communication middleware 10 receives the
termination request from the application 40, and a case
where the fixed time period T has elapsed since the
previous execution of the first information trace process
15
by the communication middleware 10 each correspond to “when
a first predetermined condition has been satisfied”. The
first information trace process is the information trace
process that is executed at predetermined timings. It is
also to be noted that the failure of 5 the communication
between the communication middleware 10 and the external
device 200 corresponds to “when a second predetermined
condition has been satisfied”. The second information
trace process is the information trace process that is
10 executed when the communication middleware 10 fails to
communicate with the external device 200.
[0027] The above-described operation of the
communication middleware 10 is illustrated by a flowchart
of FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is the flowchart illustrating the
15 operational example of the communication middleware 10
according to the present embodiment.
[0028] When the communication middleware 10 starts
operating, the communication middleware 10 first checks
whether an activation request from the application 40 has
20 been received or not (step S51). If there is no reception
of the activation request (step S51: No), step S51 is
repeated.
[0029] If the activation request has been received (step
S51: Yes), the communication middleware 10 obtains the
25 environmental information (step S52) and updates the
environmental information log file 21 (step S53). These
steps S52 and S53 correspond to the first information trace
process described above.
[0030] Next, the communication middleware 10 checks
30 whether a communication request from the application 40 has
been received or not (step S54). If there is no reception
of the communication request (step S54: No), a transition
is made to step S61. If the communication request has been
16
received (step S54: Yes), communication processing is
performed in relation to the external device 200 (step S55).
[0031] Next, the communication middleware 10 executes a
buffering process (step S56). The buffering process
corresponds to the buffering process at 5 steps S17 and S22
illustrated in FIG. 3. After the buffering process
terminates, the communication middleware 10 checks whether
or not the communication performed at above-described step
S55 has succeeded. If the communication has succeeded
10 (step S57: Yes), a transition is made to step S61.
[0032] If the communication has failed (step S57: No),
the communication middleware 10 updates the communication
log file 22 (step S58). Moreover, the communication
middleware 10 obtains the environmental information (step
15 S59) and updates the environmental information log file 21
(step S60). Steps S58 to S60 correspond to the information
trace process at step S23 illustrated in FIG. 3, that is to
say, the second information trace process.
[0033] When the communication middleware 10 has
20 determined at above-described step S54 that no
communication request has been received or the
communication middleware 10 has carried out step S60, the
communication middleware 10 checks whether a timing of the
information trace process to execute has been reached or
25 not (step S61). When a time period which has elapsed since
it has been determined at step S51 that the activation
request has been received has reached an integer multiple
of the predetermined fixed time period, the communication
middleware 10 determines that the timing of the information
30 trace process to execute has been reached.
[0034] If the timing of the information trace process to
execute has been reached (step S61: Yes), the communication
middleware 10 obtains the environmental information (step
17
S62) and updates the environmental information log file 21
(step S63). Steps S62 and S63 correspond to the
information trace process at steps S25 and S26 illustrated
in FIG. 3.
[0035] When the communication 5 middleware 10 has
determined that the timing of the information trace process
to execute has not been reached (Step S61: No) or the
communication middleware 10 has carried out step S63, the
communication middleware 10 checks whether a termination
10 request has been received or not (step S64).
[0036] If there is no reception of the termination
request (step S64: No), communication middleware 10 makes a
transition to step S54. If the termination request has
been received (step S64: Yes), the communication middleware
15 10 obtains the environmental information (step S65) and
updates the environmental information log file 21 (step
S66). Steps S65 and S66 correspond to the information
trace process at step S28 illustrated in FIG. 3. After the
communication middleware 10 carries out step S66, a
20 transition is made to step S51.
[0037] The communication middleware 10 performs the
above operations for the plurality of applications 40. In
other words, after each reception of an activation request
from the application 40, the communication middleware 10
25 operates pursuant to FIGS. 3 and 4 for the application 40
which has sent the activation request. For example, the
communication middleware 10 executes the first information
trace process upon receiving an activation request from the
application A. Until a termination request is received
30 from the application A, the communication middleware 10
executes the second information trace process when
communication has thereafter failed, and also executes the
first information trace process after every elapse of the
18
fixed time period. When the communication middleware 10
has received an activation request from the application B
after having received the activation request from the
application A but before receiving the termination request,
the communication middleware 10 5 executes the first
information trace process. The communication middleware 10
executes the second information trace process when
communication between the application B and the external
device 200 has thereafter failed, and also executes the
10 first information trace process after every elapse of the
fixed time period since the reception of the activation
request from the application B. The communication
middleware 10 may either create the environmental
information log file 21 and the communication log file 22
15 for each application individually or create only one
environmental information log file 21 and only one
communication log file 22. If only one environmental
information log file 21 and only one communication log file
22 are created, that is to say, when results of the first
20 and second information trace processes executed for each
application are written to the one environmental
information log file and the one communication log file,
the communication middleware 10 also writes information
about the application, such as a name, to the files.
25 [0038] In the above-described second information trace
process, the information that is written to the
environmental information log file 21 may be varied
according to a reason for a failure of communication. This
is because if there is a different reason why communication
30 has failed, different information is necessary for
identifying a cause of the failure. For example, for a
hardware problem such that communication has failed because
a signal transmitted from the external device 200 which is
19
a communication partner has not reached within the
predetermined time period, the communication middleware 10
obtains, from the OS 30, information including a status of
the main memory, a status of a communication port, and a
status of a communication driver. For 5 a software problem
such that communication has failed because a correct
communication procedure is not performed, information
including a status of the main memory and a running task is
obtained from the OS 30. In this way, log file size can be
10 prevented from increasing more than necessary.
[0039] As illustrated by FIGS. 3 and 4, the operation of
the communication middleware 10 is performed such that the
information trace process is executed after every elapse of
the fixed time period since the operation has started with
15 the reception of the activation request from the
application 40, which means that the information trace
process is repeated at regular intervals regardless of
whether there is communication to perform or not. However,
the interval between the information trace processes to
20 execute may be varied over time.
[0040] For example, as FIG. 5 illustrates, the interval
between the first information trace processes to execute
repetitively may become shorter over time since the
communication middleware 10 has been activated by reception
25 of an activation request. It is to be noted that in FIG. 5,
the information trace process is described as “trace
process”. The same applies to FIG. 6. In a system that
uses the communication middleware, following activation of
the communication middleware 10, the system is generally
30 stable for a period of time with less need for execution of
the trace process for logging because the application 40
and the communication middleware 10 have not operated
before the activation. Therefore, the trace process is not
20
executed before a fixed time period elapses following the
activation, and after the elapse of the fixed time period,
the interval between the first information trace processes
to execute is gradually decreased. In this way, log file
capacity can be prevented from increasing 5 while information
which is possibly linked to a defect can be retained in a
log file.
[0041] In another example illustrated by FIG. 6, the
interval between the first information trace processes that
10 the communication middleware 10 executes repetitively after
being activated by reception of an activation request, may
be varied not over time but according to the number of
times of communication processing to perform. In other
words, the communication middleware 10 executes the first
15 information trace process after each time the communication
processing is performed N times with a value of N gradually
varied to become smaller. In this case, in a system in
which communication from the application 40 is performed
only upon a request caused by user operation and not at
20 regular intervals, log file capacity can be prevented from
increasing while information which is possibly linked to a
defect can be retained in a log file.
[0042] As described above, the communication middleware
according to the present embodiment executes the first
25 information trace process when the first predetermined
condition has been satisfied, and executes the second
information trace process when the second predetermined
condition has been satisfied. When an activation request
has been received from the application, when a termination
30 request has been received from the application, or when the
time period T has elapsed following the previous execution
of the first information trace process, the communication
middleware determines that the first condition has been
21
satisfied. In the first information trace process, the
environmental information is obtained from the OS and is
written to the environmental information log file by the
communication middleware. The communication middleware
also determines that the second 5 condition has been
satisfied when communication with the external device has
failed. In the second information trace process, the
communication log information is retrieved from the buffer
area and is written to the communication log file by the
10 communication middleware, and the environmental information
is obtained from the OS and is written to the environmental
information log file by the communication middleware. A
value of the above time period T may be varied by the
communication middleware to become smaller after each
15 execution of the first information trace process. The
communication middleware may determine that the first
condition has been satisfied when communication with the
external device has been performed as many times as the
predetermined count N after the previous execution of the
20 first information trace process. The value of the count N
here may be varied by the communication middleware to
become smaller after each execution of the first
information trace process. The communication middleware
according to the present embodiment retains by storing in
25 the log file not only the environmental information at the
time of the failure of communication but also the
environmental information before the failure of
communication, so that a cause can be identified even when
the communication failure is caused under influence of, for
30 example, a status of use of the main memory and/or an
operational status of another application.
[0043] The above configuration illustrated in the
embodiment is illustrative of contents of the present
22
invention, can be combined with other techniques that are
publicly known and can be partly omitted or changed without
departing from the gist of the present invention.
Reference 5 Signs List
[0044] 10 communication middleware; 11 trace
processing unit; 12 communication processing unit; 20
storage unit; 21 environmental information log file; 22
communication log file; 30 operating system (OS); 40
10 application; 100 electronic computer; 200 external device.
23
We Claim :
1. An information processing device that is implemented
when an electronic computer executes middleware, the
information processing device comprising:
a communication processing 5 unit to perform
communication with an external device according to an
instruction from application software installed on the
electronic computer; and
a trace processing unit to execute a first information
10 trace process when a first condition that is predetermined
is satisfied and to execute a second information trace
process when a second condition that is predetermined is
satisfied, the first information trace process including
obtaining, from an operating system installed on the
15 electronic computer, environmental information that is
information about an operating environment of the
application software and writing the environmental
information to an environmental information log file, the
second information trace process including writing, to a
20 communication log file, information indicating a procedure
of communication that the communication processing unit
performs with the external device, obtaining the
environmental information from the operating system, and
writing the environmental information to an environmental
25 information log file.
2. The information processing device according to claim 1,
wherein
the environmental information is information
30 indicating an operating state of the operating system.
3. The information processing device according to claim 1
or 2, wherein
24
the environmental information includes information
indicating a status of use of main memory.
4. The information processing device according to any one
of claims 5 1 to 3, wherein
the trace processing unit determines that the first
condition is satisfied when an activation request is
received from the application software.
10 5. The information processing device according to any one
of claims 1 to 4, wherein
the trace processing unit determines that the first
condition is satisfied when a termination request is
received from the application software.
15
6. The information processing device according to any one
of claims 1 to 5, wherein
the trace processing unit determines that the first
condition is satisfied when a predetermined time period has
20 elapsed since previous execution of the first information
trace process.
7. The information processing device according to claim 6,
wherein
25 the predetermined time period is varied by the trace
processing unit to become shorter after each execution of
the first information trace process.
8. The information processing device according to any one
30 of claims 1 to 5, wherein
the trace processing unit determines that the first
condition is satisfied when communication is performed as
many times as a predetermined count after previous
25
execution of the first information trace process.
9. The information processing device according to claim 8,
wherein
the predetermined count is varied 5 by the trace
processing unit to become lower after each execution of the
first information trace process.
10. The information processing device according to any one
10 of claims 1 to 9, wherein
the trace processing unit determines that the second
condition is satisfied when communication between the
communication processing unit and the external device fails.
15 11. The information processing device according to claim
10, wherein
a detail of the environmental information that is
obtained from the operating system in the second
information trace process is varied by the trace processing
20 unit according to a reason why communication between the
communication processing unit and the external device fails.
12. Middleware that is installed on an electronic computer
together with an operating system and application software
25 to communicate with an external device, and executes:
a communication processing step of performing
communication with the external device according to an
instruction from the application software;
a first information trace step of executing a first
30 information trace process when a first condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the first information trace
process including obtaining, from the operating system,
environmental information that is information about an
26
operating environment of the application software and
writing the environmental information to an environmental
information log file; and
a second information trace step of executing a second
information trace process when a second 5 condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the second information trace
process including writing, to a communication log file,
information indicating a procedure of communication with
the external device, obtaining the environmental
10 information from the operating system, and writing the
environmental information to an environmental information
log file.
13. The middleware according to claim 12, wherein
15 when an activation request is received from the
application software, the middleware determines that the
first condition is satisfied.
14. The middleware according to claim 12 or 13, wherein
20 when a termination request is received from the
application software, the middleware determines that the
first condition is satisfied.
15. The middleware according to any one of claims 12 to 14,
25 wherein
when communication with the external device fails in
the communication processing step, the middleware
determines that the second condition is satisfied.
30 16. An information processing method to be carried out by
an information processing device that executes an operating
system and application software, the information processing
method comprising:
27
a communication processing step of performing
communication with an external device according to an
instruction from the application software;
a first information trace step of executing a first
information trace process when a first 5 condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the first information trace
process including obtaining, from the operating system,
environmental information that is information about an
operating environment of the application software and
10 writing the environmental information to an environmental
information log file; and
a second information trace step of executing a second
information trace process when a second condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the second information trace
15 process including writing, to a communication log file,
information indicating a procedure of communication with
the external device, obtaining the environmental
information from the operating system, and writing the
environmental information to an environmental information
20 log file.
17. The information processing method according to claim
16, wherein
when an activation request is received from the
25 application software, it is determined that the first
condition is satisfied.
18. The information processing method according to claim
16 or 17, wherein
30 when a termination request is received from the
application software, it is determined that the first
condition is satisfied.
28
19. The information processing method according to any one
of claims 16 to 18, wherein
when communication with the external device fails in
the communication processing step, it is determined that
the second condition 5 is satisfied.
20. A program that causes a computer to execute:
a communication processing step of performing
communication with an external device according to an
10 instruction from application software;
a first information trace step of executing a first
information trace process when a first condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the first information trace
process including obtaining, from an operating system,
15 environmental information that is information about an
operating environment of the application software and
writing the environmental information to an environmental
information log file; and
a second information trace step of executing a second
20 information trace process when a second condition that is
predetermined is satisfied, the second information trace
process including writing, to a communication log file,
information indicating a procedure of communication with
the external device, obtaining the environmental
25 information from the operating system, and writing the
environmental information to an environmental information
log file.
21. The program according to claim 20, wherein
30 when an activation request is received from the
application software a first information trace step, it is
determined that the first condition is satisfied.
22. The program according to claim 20 or 21, wherein
when a termination request
application software
condition is satisfied