Gain insights into diagnostic techniques and anomaly detection with over 200 trace and log analysis patterns, applicable across various software environments, operating systems, and platforms.

General trace and log analysis patterns allow the application of uniform diagnostics and anomaly detection across diverse software environments. It includes troubleshooting, debugging, describing, and explaining problems and incidents on various operating systems and platforms. It is also helpful in recording network traces, malware, general data, narratives, and text and image analysis (space-like narratology). This course, organized as a pattern language dictionary and cross-referenced with classification, explains and teaches more than 200 traces and log analysis patterns.

A Guide to Learning Software Trace and Log Analysis Patterns

# Ruptured trace
Recently we analyzed a few logs that ended with a specialized [activity region](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/region-theatre-adjoint-thread-blackout-braid-group) from a subsystem that sets operational parameters. The problem description stated that the system became unresponsive after changing parameters in a certain sequence. Usually, for this system, when we stop logging (even after setting parameters), we end up with messages from some [background components](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/foreground-characteristic-cotrace-critical-event). This occurs because some time passes between the setting of the parameters and the time that elapses till the operator stops logging request.

However, in the problem case, we see that the message flow stops right in the middle of the parameter setting activity.

So, we decided to check for crashes or hangs, and, indeed, it was found that the system was experiencing system crashes. We also got memory dumps for analysis where we found top module from a third-party vendor related to parameter setting activity.

We can note an analogy here between normal thread stack traces from threads that are waiting for most of the time and spiking thread stack trace caught in the middle of some function.

We call this pattern **ruptured trace** after a ruptured computation.

Note that if it is possible to restart the system and resume the same
tracing, we may get an instance of [blackout](https://www.educative.io/courses/guide-learning-software-trace-log-analysis-patterns/region-theatre-adjoint-thread-blackout-braid-group) analysis pattern.

This lesson introduces the following analysis patterns: ruptured trace, strand of activity, thread of activity, time delta, timeout, and weave of activity.

Getting Started

Activity

Block and Data

Error and Large Scale

Message 1

Message 2

Trace as a Whole

Trace Set

Vocabulary, Memory, Code and Text

Conclusion

Index

Ruptured, Strand, Thread, Time Delta, Timeout, Weave

Ruptured trace