$Id: r4wOverview.htm 320 2007-09-10 22:23:07Z nwilde $

Overview

RECON4 / TraceGraph 4

Software Engineers frequently need to work with code written by others, for example when enhancing or fixing an existing program, when attempting to use an unfamiliar class library, or when integrating several software products to produce a new system. Working with other people's code is difficult, since the documentation rarely tells you everything you need to know. Debuggers can be useful, but are difficult to use on large systems unless you have a starting point; it takes too long to step through all the code to find the problem.

TraceGraph 4 instead lets the Software Engineer work with traces of execution from the program. By comparing traces from different tests you can quickly locate the code that needs to be enhanced or repaired. The usual process involves:

Instrumenting the source code for a Software Engineer's program (which we call the target program). This may be done using an instrumentor tool or sometimes the Software Engineer may also insert instrumentation statements by hand. When the target program is compiled and executed with test data, each instrumentation statement triggers a trace event.
Running the program with different sets of test data and generating trace records for analysis.
Analyzing the trace records using TraceGraph 4 to locate code that needs to be studied.

TraceGraph 4 Screen Shot

To use TraceGraph 4 you will probably want to get an instrumentor for your target program's language. Otherwise, all you need to use TraceGraph 4 is a recent version of the Java Runtime for your operating system.

The download jar file includes source code and you are welcome to modify the tools to fit your needs. We ask only that credit be given to UWF in any documentation or publications.

Email suggestions or questions to:
Norman Wilde