And though that attitude doesn't make developers' jobs any easier, some information systems executives feel the same way. As a result, minor problems with applications may not be reported at all. But new software can help capture information about how systems are being used when they crash and when they don't. Developers can use the log to identify immediate workarounds for problems by spotting a sequence of keystrokes or mouse clicks that trigger a problem, then replaying the log within a debugger to track down and correct bugs, he said. Hewlett-Packard Co. Pure Software, Inc. in Sunnyvale,Calif., began shipping PureVision, a similar product for Sun workstations, in September.
Prices are high for the logging software.
Developers can also use the log information to identify which software features are used and how, analysts said. Mass. But for the moment, that kind of information is available only for Unix. Still lacking is a good system for tracking user actions on PCs under Windows. Windows 3.1 and NT include a utility called Dr. Watson to log the system's state in case of a crash. But few PCs have the resources to spare to log what is going on without dragging down system performance, analysts said.