System and method for model based session management

1. A computer-implemented method of recording a session, the method comprising:

obtaining a plurality of screenshots of a respective plurality of screens displayed by an application when the application is executed, each of the screenshots including a set of pixel values representing a screen produced by the application wherein a first and a second interactions with at least one screen included in the plurality of screens cause the application to respectively present a first screen and a second screen, the first and second screens including different pixel values;

obtaining first transition information related to a transition from the at least one screen to the first screen, the first transition information comprising a reference to the screenshot of the at least one screen, a reference to the screenshot of the first screen, and information describing the first interaction;

obtaining second transition information related to a transition from the at least one screen to the second screen, the second transition information comprising a reference to the screenshot of the at least one screen, a reference to the screenshot of the second screen, and information describing the second interaction;

including the plurality of screenshots and the first and second transition information in a model;

receiving a set of screenshots and events related to a set of screens included in a session, the session including a set of interactions with the application; and

for each of at least two received screen shots:

relating the received screenshot to a screenshot included in the model,

determining a difference between the received screenshot and the screenshot included in the model, and

producing a recorded session by recording the difference and a reference to the screenshot included in the model.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising graphically displaying a difference between a first and second recorded sessions based on relating the first recorded session to the second recorded session.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving a set of screenshots and events related to a session; and

determining a difference between the session and the recorded session by relating the set of screenshots and events to information in the recorded session.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising generating an event based on relating data in the model to at least one of: a received screenshot and a received event.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising replaying a session by automatically interacting with the application based on information stored in the recorded session.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

providing a graphical view of at least of a portion of a session based on one or more screenshots included in the model; and

modifying the recorded session based on the input received from a user.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

relating at least one session to the model to identify screens included in the model and not included in the at least one session; and

calculating a coverage indicator for the at least one session based on the identified screens.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

obtaining a set of recorded sessions generated based on the model;

modifying the model to produce an updated model;

relating the updated model to the set of recorded sessions; and

determining, for each recorded session in the set, whether the recorded session is affected by the modification of the model.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising modifying the model to produce an updated model based on at least one of: a received screenshot and a received event.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

obtaining first and second models of a respective first and second applications;

receiving a set of screenshots and events related to a set of screens included in a session, the session including a set of interactions with the first and second applications; and

for at least two received screenshots:

relating the first received screenshot to a screenshot included in the first model, and relating the second received screenshot to a screenshot included in the second model to determine a respective first and second differences, and

producing a recorded session by recording the first and second differences and a respective first and second references to respective first and second screenshots respectively included in the first and second models.

11. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

associating an element in a model with a selection parameter;

receiving a plurality of parameters related to an event, the event related to the element; and

recording the event by recording a subset of the plurality of parameters, the subset selected based on the selection parameter.

12. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving a screenshot related to an interaction with the application;

determining a difference between the screenshot and a screenshot included in the recorded session; and

updating the recorded session based on the difference.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the model is an interactive model and wherein the method comprises generating a recorded session by interacting with the model.

14. An article comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon instructions, that when executed on a computer, cause the computer to:

obtain a plurality of screenshots of a respective plurality of screens displayed by an application when the application is executed, each of the screenshots including a set of pixel values representing a screen produced by the application wherein a first and a second interactions with at least one screen included in the plurality of screens cause the application to respectively present a first screen and a second screen, the first and second screens including different pixel values;

obtain first transition information related to a transition from the at least one screen to the first screen the first transition information comprising a reference to the screenshot of the at least one screen, a reference to the screenshot of the first screen, and information describing the first interaction;

obtain second transition information related to a transition from the at least one screen to the second screen, the second transition information comprising a reference to the screenshot of the at least one screen, a reference to the screenshot of the second screen, and information describing the second interaction;

include the plurality of screenshots and the first and second transition information in a model;

receive a set of screenshots and events related to a set of screens included in a session, the session including a set of interactions with the application; and

for each of at least two received screen shots:

relate the received screenshot to a screenshot included in the model,

determine a difference between the received screenshot and the screenshot included in the model, and

produce a recorded session by recording the difference and a reference to the screenshot included in the model.

15. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed further result in graphically displaying a difference between a first and second recorded sessions based on relating the first recorded session to the second recorded session.

16. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed further result in replaying a session by automatically interacting with the application based on information stored in the recorded session.

17. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed further result in:

relating at least one session to the model to identify screens included in the model and not included in the at least one session; and

calculating a coverage indicator for the at least one session based on the identified screens.

18. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed further result in:

obtaining a set of recorded sessions generated based on the model;

modifying the model to produce an updated model;

relating the updated model to the set of recorded sessions; and

determining, for each recorded session in the set, whether the recorded session is affected by the modification of the model.

19. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions when executed further result in modifying the model to produce an updated model based on at least one of: a received screenshot and a received event.

20. The article of claim 14 , wherein the model is an interactive model and wherein the instructions when executed further result in generating a recorded session by interacting with the model.