The Tracer
The Tracer is a prototype tool for scenario-based trace visualization and exploration.
It embodies a dynamic technique for analyzing, visualizing, and exploring the execution traces of reactive systems. The two inputs are a designer's inter-object scenario-based behavioral model, visually described using a set of live sequence charts (LSC), and an execution trace of the system. The Tracer allows one to visualize, navigate through, and explore, the activation and progress of the scenarios as they "come to life" during execution. Thus, a concrete system's runtime is recorded and viewed through abstractions provided by behavioral models used for its design, tying the visualization and exploration of system execution traces to model-driven engineering. The Tracer supports both event-based and real-time-based tracing, and uses details-on-demand mechanisms, multi-scaling grids, and gradient coloring methods. Novel model exploration techniques include semantic-based navigation, filtering, and trace comparison.
The Tracer's gallery features screen captures from several case study applications.
References
- The Tracer's Gantt views are implemented using the open source jaret timebars.
- Maoz and Harel: On tracing reactive systems. Software and Systems Modeling (SoSyM), 2010.
- Maoz: Using Model-Based Traces as Runtime Models. IEEE Computer 42(10): 28-36 (2009)
- Maoz: Model-Based Traces. MoDELS Workshops 2008: 109-119
