FR3028971A1 - METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR UPDATING AN APPLICATION - Google Patents

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a method, a system and a computer program product for the feasibility and creation of upgrade report. In one embodiment of the invention, an application upgrade report feasibility and creation method includes generating in memory of a computer system a deployment characterization of a custom instance of a computer program designated to receive an upgrade. The method also includes comparing the deployment characterization with a selection of known deployment characterizations of different custom instances of the computer program, each of the characterizations having an association with an upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade. The method further includes identifying a concordant characterization among the known characterizations for the generated deployment characterization. Finally, the method includes displaying a report on a computer system display including an upgrade feasibility predictor corresponding to the matching characterization among the known characterizations.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to software updates and more particularly to the updating of custom instances of a computer program. Description of the Related Art The life cycle of software begins with the development of a computer program and the testing and subsequent deployment of the computer program to one or more end users. Once deployed, the lifecycle continues with updates (or upgrades) and periodic enhancements, and repair of defects discovered in the computer program. For fixed-form individual computer programs at deployment time and installed in a uniform platform type, applying upgrades and enhancements to the deployed application can be as simple as providing copies of a single file or set of files to different end users for installation instead of an existing file or set of files, or alternatively, to fix an existing file or set of files. The ease of applying upgrades and enhancements, however, varies with the potential of different types of platforms hosting the deployed computer program. In this respect, with the advent of various computer platforms including those hosting a Windows (TM) type operating system, a Mac (TM) OS operating system or a Linux type operating system, the files or set of files for a deployed application differ. Therefore, as a prerequisite for performing an upgrade of a platform-specific deployment of a computer program, first of all the specific platform must be identified so that the correct set of files can be be provided as an upgrade to an existing deployment on the specific platform. Nevertheless, the process of performing an upgrade may be further complicated by the different types of home computer components upon which the deployed application depends, such as different database management systems, web servers, and Similar. As is the case for different host operating platforms, however, providing the correct file or set of files to upgrade a deployed application may simply require a determination of the specific type of platform and the the identity of the specific types of components on which the deployed application depends. 3028971 2 The process of performing an upgrade to a computer program may nevertheless become more complex by several orders of magnitude when considering the possibility that the end user may have made custom changes to the program code under -jacent computer program deployed. In an era of free computing, it has become commonplace. As such, indiscriminately upgrading a custom deployment of an IT program can often "end" deployment, resulting in costly upgrade recovery. Of course, an advanced upgrade test on a variety of custom deployments may help to reduce the likelihood of an upgrade failure, as well as solid documentation describing the potential impact of the application of the upgrade. the upgrade. Yet, even with caution and vigilance, the process of upgrading a custom deployment of a computer program is very risky. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention address shortcomings in the art of computer program upgrading and provide a new and unobvious method, system, and computer program product. for feasibility and creation of upgrade report. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for determining the feasibility of upgrading a computer program and creating an upgrade report includes generating in memory a computer system of the present invention. a deployment characterization of a custom instance of the computer program to be upgraded. The method also includes comparing the deployment characterization with a selection of known deployment characterizations of different custom instances of the computer program, each of the characterizations having an association with a upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade. The method further further comprises identifying a concordant characterization among the known characterizations for the generated deployment characterization. Finally, the method includes displaying a report on a computer system display including an upgrade feasibility predictor corresponding to the matching characterization among the known characterizations. In this regard, the predictor of upgrade feasibility may include an indicator such as "recommended", "not recommended", or "recommended with caution". In one aspect of the embodiment, the deployment characterization includes an inventory of included components as part of the custom instance of the computer program. In another aspect of the embodiment, the deployment characterization includes an inventory of components upon which the computer program instance depends. In yet another aspect of the embodiment, the deployment characterization includes an inventory of components that have been modified from a default component s format. Finally, in yet another aspect of the embodiment, a hyperlinked reference to participatory production documentation regarding particular upgrade issues for deployment characterization occurring during an upgrade attempt is included in the report. In another embodiment of the invention, an application deployment data processing system is configured for feasibility and creation of application upgrade report. The system includes a host computer system that includes at least one computer with a memory and at least one processor. The system also includes a data store coupled to the host computer system and a custom instance of a computer program including one or more components stored in the data store. Finally, the system includes an upgrade feasibility module running in the memory of the host computer system. The module includes program code enabled upon execution by the at least one processor to generate in the memory a deployment characterization of the custom instance of the computer program designated to receive an upgrade, to compare the characterization of the program. deploying with a selection of known deployment characterizations of different custom instances of the computer program stored in the datastore, each of the characterizations having an association with an upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade, to identify a concordant characterization among the characterizations known for the generated deployment characterization and, to display a report on a host computer system display including an upgrade feasibility predictor corresponding to the matching characterization among the known characterizations. Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and will become apparent in part from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. Aspects of the invention will be realized and obtained by means of the elements and combinations indicated in particular in the appended claims. It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are given only by way of example and explanation and do not limit the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. The embodiments illustrated herein are currently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, in which: FIG. 1 is an illustration in pictures of a process of feasibility and creation application upgrade report; Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of an application deployment data processing system configured for feasibility and application upgrade report creation; and Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of feasibility and application upgrade report creation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the invention relate to determining the feasibility of upgrading a computer program and creating an upgrade report. According to one embodiment of the invention, a custom instance of a computer program may be analyzed to produce a deployment characterization. The analysis may include an inventory of components included as part of the custom instance of the computer program, an inventory of components on which the computer program instance depends, and an inventory of components that have been modified from a format default components. Subsequently, the deployment characterization can be compared to known characterizations, with each known characterization associated with an upgrade feasibility predictor for an upgrade to be applied to the computer program, as recommended, not recommended, or cautiously recommended. . Finally, a report can be generated indicating the upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade. Optionally, a hyperlinked reference to participatory production documentation regarding specific upgrade issues for deployment characterization occurring during an upgrade attempt may be displayed in the report. As an additional illustration, FIG. 1 shows in images a process for determining the feasibility and creating an upgrade report of a computer program. As shown in FIG. 1, an end user 110 can guide the upgrade feasibility logic 170 to assess the feasibility of upgrading a custom application instance 120 that includes one or more components 130A, for example. for example, separate compartmentalized logical components, object files, source code files, or resource files, to name just a few examples. The upgrade feasibility logic 170 may generate a deployment characterization 140 s from any of a component inventory 130A, an inventory of the components 130A that differ from a default format of the 130A components (e.g. any custom components among the components 130A), or any 130B components on which the custom application instance 120 depends, such as a database management system, a web server or a particular application server, to name only three examples. The upgrade feasibility logic 170 below can compare the generated characterization 140 to pre-stored known characterizations 150, each with a corresponding predictor of the success probability of upgrading an application instance demonstrating a characterization. generated similar or identical. Once the upgrade feasibility logic 170 has identified one or more of the known characterizations 150 as concordant with the generated characterization 140, the upgrade feasibility logic 170 can retrieve each predictor associated with an identified characterization among the Characterizations 150. The upgrade feasibility logic 170 may in turn incorporate each retrieved predictor 160 into a feasibility report of performing the upgrade and the report may be displayed to the end user 110. The process described in connection with Figure 1 may be implemented in an application deployment data processing system. In further illustration, Figure 2 schematically shows an application deployment data processing system configured for feasibility and application upgrade report creation. The system may include a host computer system 210 that may include one or more computing devices, each with a memory and at least one processor. The host computer system 210 may include a data store 220 of different components 230 forming a custom instance of an application 30 deployed in the host computer system 210. The host computer system 210 may further be communicatively coupled to an end user 240. on a computer communications network from which the host computer system 210 may receive a directive to report on the feasibility of upgrading a custom form of an application instance.

The host computer system 210 may also include a characterization table 280 that includes different known characterizations of custom shapes respectively different from the instance of the application. Each different known characterization may also include a predictor of upgrade feasibility, for example "recommended", "not recommended", or "recommended with caution". Each predictor can be statically assigned by an administrator, or the predictor can be dynamically assigned based on data provided following the attempt to upgrade a custom form of the application instance. In the latter case, after each attempt to upgrade a custom instance of the application having a particular generated characterization, an entry in the characterization table 280 may be updated to indicate the result of the attempt to set. at the level. Since the generated characterization does not exist in the characterization table 280, a new entry may be created in the characterization table 280 with a predictor corresponding to the result of the upgrade attempt. It should be noted that an upgrade feasibility module 300 may be included and may execute in the memory of the host computer system 210. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the physical computing device of the host computer system 210 wherein the custom instance of the application executes may differ from the physical computing device of the host computer system 210 in which the upgrade feasibility module 300 executes and in which the characterization table 280 is stored. The upgrade feasibility module 300 includes program code which, when executed in the memory of the host computer system 210, is enabled to respond to the end user directive 240 to generate a deployment characterization for the components 230 of the custom instance of the application. The program code of the upgrade feasibility module 300 is also enabled to compare the generated characterization with the known characterizations of the characterization table 280. Subsequently, the program code of the upgrade feasibility module 300 is activated. to generate a report 260 with one or more predictors associated with corresponding matching known characterizations.

It should be noted that, optionally, one or more participatory production documents 270 may be located on a computer communications network 250 which relates to the corresponding matching known characterizations. The documents 270 may include, for example, end-user reports on the successes and failures of upgrading an instance of, the application having a matched feature, traps, tips, recommendations, and the like. Subsequently, one or more hyperlinks to the localized documents 270 may be inserted into the report 260 which, in turn, may be returned to the end user 240 on the computer communications network 250. As a further illustration of the operation of the upgrade feasibility module, Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process of feasibility and creation of application upgrade report. Beginning at box 305, a target custom instance of an application can be chosen for an upgrade. Then, in box 310, an inventory of the respective components forming the custom instance of the application can be retrieved. Similarly, in box 315, an inventory of Io components on which depends the custom instance of the application can be retrieved. Subsequently, in box 320, the inventory may be written to a characterization data structure in memory and optionally persisted in a file. In box 325, the components forming the customized instance of the application that have been modified can be identified. For example, the source code of each of the 15 components can be compared to source code to search for default formats of the same component. Alternatively, a checksum or hash value can be calculated for each of the components and compared to a checksum or hash value of a corresponding default format of the same component. Next, in box 330, a list of components that have been modified from the default format of the same component can be written in the characterization. In box 335, the characterization generated in boxes 310 to 330 can be compared with one or more previously known known characterizations. In decision box 340, it is possible to determine whether a first characterization of known characterizations matches a threshold with the generated characterization. If so, in block 345, an associated predictor can be retrieved from the known concordant characterization and inserted into a report. Subsequently, in decision box 350, it is possible to determine whether additional known characterizations remain to be compared to the generated characterization. If this is not the case, in block 355, one or more documents associated with the matching known characterizations can be retrieved and in box 360, hyperlink references to each of the documents can be inserted into the report. Finally, in box 365, the report can be returned to the end user. It should be noted that the report itself can be used for many purposes. In its basic form, the report may simply form a consulting tool for use by an upgrade administrator to properly ascertain the administrator's expectations as to the likely nature of the upgrading process. the custom 3028971 instance of the application. In a more complex form, the report can be provided to a rules engine that can allow an administrator to perform the upgrade subject to favorable predictors. In the latter situation, the rules engine may require authorization from a second administrator to upgrade a custom form of the instance of the application where the predictors are not favorable. In yet another situation, the ability to upgrade the custom form of the application instance may be blocked where the predictors are not favorable. The present invention may be integrated into a system, method, computer program product or any combination thereof. The computer program product may include one or more computer readable storage media having computer readable program instructions for causing a processor to realize aspects of the present invention. The computer readable storage medium may be a hardware device that can store and store instructions for use by an instruction executing device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, driver or any appropriate combination of the foregoing.

A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium includes the following: a laptop diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a read-only memory erasable and programmable (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory compact disc (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a USB key, a floppy disk, a mechanically coded device such as punch cards or relief structures in a throat where instructions are recorded, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, should not be construed as transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other electromagnetic waves propagating freely, electromagnetic waves propagating through a guide waveforms or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through an optical fiber cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a cable. The computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing / processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or into an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example , the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and / or a wireless network. The network may include copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and / or front end servers. A network card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and routes the computer readable program instructions to be stored in a computer readable storage medium. within the respective computing / processing device. The computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, specific instructions of an embodiment of the present invention. machine, microcode, firmware instructions, status establishment data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object-oriented programming language or a conventional procedural programming language. The computer readable program instructions can run completely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone package, partly on the user's computer, and part on a remote computer or totally on the computer or remote server, In the last scenario, the remote computer 20 can be connected to the user's computer via any type of network, including a network Local (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), or the connection can be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). In some embodiments, an electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, user programmable gate array (FPGA), or programmable logic network (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions in accordance with the present invention. utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions for customizing the electronic circuitry, in order to realize aspects of the present invention. Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flow chart illustrations and / or functional diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that each box of flowchart and / or block diagram illustrations, and combinations of boxes in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus for producing a machine, so that the instructions, which execute via the computer processor or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or one or more functional schema boxes. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium which may instruct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and / or other devices to operate in a particular manner, so that the medium computer-readable storage device having stored instructions includes an article of manufacture including instructions that implement aspects of the function / act specified in the box (es) of the flowchart and / or block diagram. The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded on a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to bring a series of operational steps to be performed on a computer, other programmable apparatus or other device. to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions that run on the computer, another programmable device, or other device implement the functions / acts specified in the box (es) of the flowchart and / or functional scheme. The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of other possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each box in the flowchart or functional diagrams may represent a module, segment or part of instructions, which includes one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function (s). In some implementation variants, the functions noted in the box may occur in another order than that noted in the figures. For example, two boxes shown one after the other may actually be executed substantially simultaneously, or the boxes may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved. It should also be noted that each box of the functional diagrams and / or the flowchart illustration, and combinations of boxes in the functional diagrams and / or the flowchart illustration, may be implemented by systems based on specialized hardware. perform the specified functions or 3028971 11 acts or perform combinations of specialized hardware and computer instructions. Finally, the terminology used herein is intended to describe particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "one", "one" and "the" are meant to include plural forms, unless the context otherwise indicates. It will also be understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "including", when used in this specification, specify the presence of peculiarities, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. The structures, materials, corresponding acts, and equivalents of any means or elements plus function in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements such as claimed specifically. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment has been chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as appropriate for the particular use envisaged. Having thus described the invention of the present application in detail and with reference to its embodiments, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims as follows.

Claims (18)

REVENDICATIONS1. A method of determining the feasibility of upgrading a computer program and creating an upgrade report, the method comprising: generating in memory a computer system of a deployment characterization of a computer program custom instance of the computer program to be upgraded; comparing the deployment characterization with a selection of known deployment characterizations of different custom instances of the computer program, each of the characterizations having an association with an upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade; identifying a matching characteristic from known features for generated deployment characterization; and, displaying a report on a computer system display including a predictor of upgrade feasibility corresponding to the matching characterization among the known characterizations. The method of claim 1, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of included components as part of the custom instance of the computer program. The method of claim 1, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of components upon which the computer program instance depends. 25 The method of claim 1, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of the components that have been modified from a default format of the components. The method of claim 1, wherein the predictor of upgrade feasibility comprises an indicator selected from the group consisting of recommended, not recommended, and recommended with caution. The method of claim 1, wherein a hyperlinked reference to participatory production documentation relating to particular upgrade issues for deployment characterization occurring during an upgrade attempt is included in the report. An application deployment data processing system configured to determine the feasibility of an upgrade of a computer program and to create an upgrade report of a computer program, the system comprising: a system host computer comprising at least one computer with a memory and at least one processor; a database coupled to the host computer system; A personalized instance of a computer program comprising a plurality of components stored in the database; and, an upgrade feasibility module running in the memory of the host computer system, the module comprising program code activated during execution by the at least one processor to generate in the memory a deployment characterization the custom instance of the computer program designated to receive an upgrade, to compare the deployment characterization with a selection of known deployment characteristics of different custom instances of the computer program stored in the data store, each of the characterizations having an association with an upgrade feasibility predictor for upgrading, to identify a matching characterization among the known characterizations for the generated deployment characterization and to display a report on a host computer system display including a feasibility predictor of to n iveau corresponding to the concordant characterization among the known characterizations. 25 The system of claim 7, wherein the deployment characterization includes an inventory of components included as part of the custom instance of the computer program. The system of claim 7, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of other components upon which the computer program instance depends. The system of claim 7, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of components that have been modified from a default format of the components. 3028971 14 The system of claim 7, wherein the predictor of upgrade feasibility comprises an indicator selected from the group consisting of recommended, not recommended, and recommended with caution. The system of claim 7, wherein a hyperlinked reference to participatory production documentation regarding specific upgrade issues for the deployment characterization occurring during an upgrade attempt is included in the report. 10 13. Computer program product for determining the feasibility of upgrading a computer program and creating an upgrade report, the computer program being stored in a computer-readable storage medium and having program instructions capable of performed by a device to cause the device to perform a method comprising: generating by a device in memory of a computer system a characterization of deployment of a custom instance of a computer program designated to receive a Upgrade ; comparing the device of the deployment characterization with a selection of known deployment characterizations of different custom instances of the computer program, each of the characterizations having an association with an upgrade feasibility predictor for the upgrade; the identification by the device of a concordant characterization among the known characterizations for the generated deployment characterization; and displaying by the device a report on a computer system display including a leveling feasibility predictor corresponding to the matching characterization among the known characterizations. 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of components included as part of the custom instance of the computer program. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of components upon which the computer program instance is dependent. 3028971 15 The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the deployment characterization comprises an inventory of components that have been modified from a default format of the components. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the upgrade feasibility predictor comprises an indicator selected from the group consisting of recommended, not recommended, and recommended with caution. ro The computer program product of claim 13, wherein a hyperlinked reference to participatory production documentation regarding specific upgrade issues for the deployment characterization occurring during an upgrade attempt is included in the report. .