Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
  • G06F11/30—Monitoring
  • G06F11/3065—Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in reporting the monitored data
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
  • G06F11/30—Monitoring
  • G06F11/3003—Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored
  • G06F11/3017—Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored where the computing system is implementing multitasking
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F11/00—Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring
  • G06F11/30—Monitoring
  • G06F11/34—Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation ; Recording or statistical evaluation of user activity, e.g. usability assessment
  • G06F11/3466—Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring

Definitions

• the invention relates to an operating method for a data processing system, in particular starting programs on the basis of system changes.
• time-dependent monitoring and work processes that automatically process, e.g. perform a data backup at night.
• Examples of this are the component 'cron', e.g. in the X / OPEN Portability Guide, Vol.l, Amsterdam 1987, ISBN 0-444- 70174-5.
• a time can be specified here at which a command is to be started.
• a query is usually activated by the time control, which in turn then analyzes whether the events have occurred. Since this process and the queries are relatively complex, an interval which is longer in relation to the temporal resolution of the cron timer, usually one second, is used. All the more so since the known 'cron' component only allows the enumeration of times. However, this is not a quick reaction to changes in the system.
• the object of the invention is therefore to provide a method in which a specific one is also carried out at short time intervals Change in the overall system leads to a process that reacts to it.
• a background process similar to the 'cron' process is provided, which, however, is now not or not primarily time-controlled, but rather monitors a list of names for resources.
• these are preferably registry entries, the actual values of which are either read out and stored at the start or taken from a file or a section of the registry reserved for this purpose at the start.
• a file is used according to the usual procedure.
• the invention uses a process that is started when the system is started and is only ended when the system is switched off.
• the setup and handling of such processes also referred to as 'daemon', is to be carried out specifically for the operating system, but is otherwise generally known (e.g. /etc/init.d in POSIX, AUTOEXEC.BAT in DOS, autostart program group in Windows).
• This process uses a number of parameters that are stored in one or more files (POSIX) or in the registry (Windows), which is read in at the start of the process.
• One of these parameters defines the cycle time with which the subsequent steps for the other parameters are carried out.
• the first column shows the type of query, which can preferably be abbreviated by the first letter.
• the resource is identified in the second column, the syntax of the description depending on the type of query.
• the third column shows the process to be started; this specification corresponds to the usual in the respective operating system and can contain parameters.
• the fourth column notes whether or which process has already started or when and how the previous process was ended. This column is important if the type contains an absolute query, for example for the existence of an entry in the registry. This entry is deleted by the called process. Until the end of the process, another be started, which can be achieved by an entry in this fourth column.
• a comparison value is noted in the fifth column.
• the current time is compared with the one given in the second column and the process is started in the third if they are identical. Further details can be found in the well-known 'cron' process in POSIX.
• the existence of a file with a name given in the second column is checked and the process specified in the third column is executed if it exists.
• the process number of a started process is noted in the fourth column; its use is described below.
• a file attribute of the file specified in the second column is determined.
• the triggering attribute here a read-only attribute ('read only', RO), is specified in the fifth column; if this attribute is set, the process is carried out in the third column.
• an entry is searched for in a system database, which is specified in the second column.
• a system database is provided in the Windows95 and WindowsNT operating systems.
• the entry in the second column is only abbreviated because it is quite long. If the entry exists, the process is started in the third column. Here too, measures against a double start may be necessary, as described below.
• the date of the last modification of a file is determined and with the date in the fifth Column compared. If there is a change, the new date is entered in the fifth column and the process specified in the third column is started.
• the started process should delete the value in order not to be reactivated immediately. If the file is found during the existence check, the flag for starting the process is set to active. If it is determined in the next interval that the file no longer exists, the flag is automatically reset. The started process therefore does not require a function to reset the flag. Nevertheless, if the process is started asynchronously and not waited for completion as a dynamic subroutine, an entry such as the process number must be provided in the fourth column. If the condition according to the first two columns applies, a check is carried out to determine whether the process noted in the fourth column is still active. If so, nothing is done. If no, the process is started again and its process number is entered. This assumes that the normal termination of a started asynchronous process is reported and used to close the entry in the fourth column Clear. Alternatively, the process number can be deleted instead of a restart if the process can no longer be found.
• the time interval for monitoring e.g. five seconds can be specified in the first line or as a parameter when starting the process.
• the 'registry' is preferably also used for the parameters, which are always backed up by the operating system and kept up-to-date over system breaks. Changes can be made via the registry editor if the background process systematically writes changed values to the registry and monitors them regularly for changes.
• a development of the invention addresses the problem that the query of the status of an item of equipment depends on means of moving very quickly and efficiently or very slowly. A quick query could be much more common than a slow one.
• a first measure for this is to specify the query interval globally only as a standard value and to optionally provide an entry for the desired sampling interval for each entry in the list of the equipment to be monitored.
• An improvement is achieved if the time for the determination of the equipment is determined each time and instead of a fixed interval, e.g. in seconds, a factor versus execution time is given. For example, if it is ten thousand and the execution time of a query is thirty milliseconds, the interval is set to three hundred seconds or five minutes. If the execution time increases due to the increased load on the system, the polling interval also increases, so that the system load is not increased by the polls.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Quality & Reliability (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computing Systems (AREA)
• Mathematical Physics (AREA)
• Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)
• Control By Computers (AREA)
• Debugging And Monitoring (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Citations (3)

• 1998
  • 1998-06-30 JP JP2000509033A patent/JP2001515241A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-06-30 EP EP98942463A patent/EP1010073A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-06-30 BR BR9812015-8A patent/BR9812015A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-06-30 CN CN 98808708 patent/CN1269029A/zh active Pending
  • 1998-06-30 WO PCT/DE1998/001801 patent/WO1999012096A1/de not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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