OREO: A tool-supported approach for offline run-time monitoring and fault–error–failure chain localization

The ever-increasing complexity of modern software architectures has exacerbated the need for advanced software tools able to track software execution traces to improve software reliability. In this paper, we present OREO, a tool for offline and run-time monitoring and fault localization. The tool implements a novel method enabling to trace software executions to discover the run-time status, dependencies, and interactions among software components. OREO is based on a timeline extractor, i.e., an abstraction of component lifecycles and their interactions. The timeline extractor enables the tool to perform a runtime health state examination of the software under analysis. The profiler is then used to analyze the error propagation originated during the running states among software components. In so doing, the possible fault–error–failure chains are identified. To showcase the capabilities of OREO and its flexibility, we report the execution of the tool on three software projects of different nature, sizes, and architectures. The analysis results in the localization of fault–error–failure chains and safe components of the three software projects. A discussion of the versatility, scalability, and applicability of the proposed tool to a rich variety of application contexts is provided.