Granted Patent B2

US 9,645,869 · App. 12/958,001 · Granted May 9, 2017

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. A method of using exception information for binary code, the method comprising:

compiling an original source code into an intermediate code assembly;

generating binary code from the intermediate code assembly;

executing the binary code;

monitoring, by the operating system, the execution of the binary code;

when an exception has occurred, creating, by the binary code, an exception object containing information related to the exception, the information including a code reference identifying a function name and a string representation of a call stack at the time the exception was thrown, wherein a frame of the call stack identifies a line number for a function;

notifying an exception detection component of the exception object;

upon notification of the exception object, examining, by the exception detection component, the call stack frame to determine which component will handle the exception;

sending the exception object to a context provider;

accessing, by the context provider, the intermediate code assembly to retrieve intermediate code fragments based on the function name and the line number associated with the exception object;

passing the retrieved intermediate code fragments to a reflector component;

converting the intermediate code fragments, by the reflector component, to a source code approximation of the original source code, the source code approximation being in a source code format different from the original source code;

writing, by the reflector component, the source code approximation, an exception type for the exception, an Internet Protocol (IP) address for a computer executing the binary code, stack trace information for the stack, a date and a time when the exception was raised, and function names associated with the line numbers of the exception object to a code fragment log for subsequent analysis;

transferring the code fragment log to a remote system; and

performing, by a software engineer at the remote system, subsequent analysis using the source code approximation to locate the actual source code associated with the intermediate code fragments.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein accessing further includes accessing an assembly including code implemented according to a “.NET” framework.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein converting further includes implementing a process of reflection to retrieve information about various classes, methods, and properties included in a particular assembly.

4. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the code fragment log can be used by a software engineer to ascertain what gave rise to the exception.

5. A computer executing:

(i) binary code programed to:

execute after being generated from an intermediate code assembly, the intermediate code assembly being a compiled version of an original source code, and

when an exception has occurred, create an exception object containing information related to the exception, the information including a code reference identifying a function name and a string representation of a call stack at the time the exception was thrown, wherein a frame of the call stack identifies a line number for a function;

(ii) an operating system programmed to:

monitor the execution of the binary code; and

provide notification about the exception object to an exception detection component;

(iii) the exception detection component programmed to:

upon notification of the exception object, examine the call stack frame to determine which component will handle the exception;

sending the exception object to a context provider;

(iv) the context provider programmed to:

access the intermediate code assembly to retrieve intermediate code fragments based on the function name and the line number associated with the exception object;

pass the retrieved intermediate code fragments to a reflector component;

(v) the reflector component programmed to:

convert the intermediate code fragments to a source code approximation of the original source code, the source code approximation being in a source code format different from the original source code;

write the source code approximation, an exception type for the exception, an Internet Protocol (IP) address for the computer, stack trace information for the stack, a date and a time when the exception was raised, and function name associated with the line numbers of the exception object to a code fragment log for subsequent analysis;

(vi) further instructions programmed to:

transfer the code fragment loci to a remote system; and

perform, by a software engineer at the remote system, subsequent analysis using the source code approximation to locate the actual source code associated with the intermediate code fragments.

6. A computer system comprising a computer according to claim 5 , and the remote system coupled to the computer.

Assignments (10)