Patent ID: 7979850

Claim:
A method comprising: identifying a first trace format of a first trace data received from a first trace data provider and associated with a first programming engine that is associated with first trace activities at a first computer system, wherein the first trace format is compatible with a common trace data format, wherein identifying the first trace format includes detecting first correlation objects assigned by the first programming engine to first trace entities associated with the first trace activities to determine whether one or more of the first trace entities are compatible or incompatible with the common trace data format; identifying a second trace format of a second trace data received from a second trace data provider and associated with a second programming engine that is associated with second trace activities at a second computer system, wherein the second trace format is incompatible with the common trace data format, wherein identifying the second trace format includes detecting second correlation objects assigned by the second programming engine to second trace entities associated with the second trace activities to determine whether one or more of the second trace entities are compatible or incompatible with the common trace data format, wherein the second trace data and the second programming engine are incompatible with and independent of the first trace data and the first programming engine, respectively, wherein the common trace data format comprises a trace format that is designated as the common trace data format, the trace format including a common performance trace (CPT) format, wherein the (CPT) format includes a common interface model (CIM)-compliant format and provides the common trace data format defining a type of data that is needed to analyze performance; and modifying the second trace data by converting the second trace format to the common trace data format, wherein modifying includes converting one or more incompatible second trace entities of the second trace format into one or more compatible common trace entities, removing one or more incompatible second trace entities, or adding one or more compatible common trace entities to the second trace entities.