Patent ID: 8104022
Filing Date: 2012-01-24
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An automated method for historical analysis of a memory state, comprising: tracking all memory write accesses by an application under test; recording a directed graph having values in a plurality of memory locations, such values being derived from values previously stored in at least one of, (i) the same memory location, and (ii) another memory location, each memory location being updated by a computer operation occurring at a verifiable time; displaying a portion of the graph that led to the update of a user-specified memory location by the application under test; and traversing backward from any node located on the directed graph via an arc utilized to follow the path of events that led to the content of the memory location represented by that node at the time represented by that node, displaying the arc so that one end of the displayed arc ends at the node representing the user-specified first memory location and the other end of the displayed arc ends at another node representing a second memory location whose value was utilized during the computation of the value presently stored in the user-specified memory location; wherein the node representing the second memory location is expandable to reveal information about how data was acquired and redistributed from the second memory location to the first memory location; wherein when each memory location is updated a core data structure is allocated and utilized to represent the update, wherein the core data structure includes (i) the memory address being updated, (ii) an instruction pointer for the code that is updating that address, (iii) a pointer to a previous memory update structure representing a precursor to this update, (iiii) a second pointer to a previous update structure in case the update involves two values previously stored in memory, (iv) a time stamp, and (v) a link to the structure representing the update that has occurred immediately prior to this update in time.