A survey of trace exploration tools and techniques

ABSTRACT

The analysis of large execution traces is almost impossible without efficient tool support. Lately, there has been an increase in the number of tools for analyzing traces generated from object-oriented systems. This interest has been driven by the fact that polymorphism and dynamic binding pose serious limitations to static analysis. However, most of the techniques supported by existing tools are found in the context of very specific visualization schemes, which makes them hard to reuse. It is also very common to have two different tools implement the same techniques using different terminology. This appears to result from the absence of a common framework for trace analysis approaches. This paper presents the state of the art in the area of trace analysis. We do this by analyzing the techniques that are supported by eight trace exploration tools. We also discuss their advantages and limitations and how they can be improved.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
          Subjects: Testing tools (e.g., data generators, coverage testing)

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
          Subjects: Tracing
      D.2.7 Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement
          Subjects: Restructuring, reverse engineering, and reengineering