Application trace for distributed systems environment

1 . A method for collecting application trace data in a heterogeneous computer system comprising at least one server and at least one remote computer system, the method comprising:

activating a trace function at the server in response to a request from a first remote computer system;

receiving information representing user preferences for collecting trace data for debugging an application communicating between the server and a second remote computer system;

collecting, with the trace function, trace data related to execution of the application based on the user preference information; and

storing the collected trace data at the server in a standard format for web browsers.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second remote computer systems are the same system.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

converting the collected trace data to the standard format for web browsers prior to storing.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the received user preference information includes storage information indicating whether to stored the trace data to a database at the server or to a memory buffer.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

storing the collected trace data at the server in a memory buffer, if the user indicates a preference for storing in the memory buffer and

committing the trace data in the memory buffer to the database;

otherwise, storing the collected trace data at the server to a database.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user preferences are received from a second computer system different than the remote computer system.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user preferences include at least one of a start date, a start time, a trace period, an initial system, an initial user, an initial action, a type of information, a type of application, and whether the trace for at least one of the applications is activated or deactivated.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first or second remote computer systems is a non-SAP system.

9 . A system comprising:

a processor; and

a first memory, wherein the processor and the memory are configured to perform a method comprising:

activating a trace function at the server in response to a request from a first remote computer system,

receiving information representing user preferences for collecting trace data for debugging an application communicating between the server and the remote computer system,

collecting, via the trace function, trace data related to execution of the application based on the user preference information, and

a second memory for storing the collected trace data in a standard format for web browsers.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the data storage device is a database or a memory buffer.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the received user preference information includes storage information indicating whether to stored the trace data to a database at the server or to a memory buffer.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the user preferences include at least one of a start date, a start time, a trace period, an initial system, an initial user, an initial action, a type of information, a type of application, and whether the trace for at least one of the applications is activated or deactivated.

13 . An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving at the server information representing user preferences for collecting trace data for debugging an application communicating between the server and the remote computer system;

means for collecting trace data related to execution of the application based on the user preference information; and

means for storing the collected trace data at the server in a standard format for web browsers.