Arrangement for monitoring a progress of a message flowing through a distributed multiprocess system

Abstract

An arrangement in a distributed multi-process system enables centralized monitoring of selected messages that pass through the distributed multi-process system, regardless of the message path or the results of the operations performed on the message by any of the associated processes. An event source process, configured for generating a message corresponding to an occurrence of an event, selectively sets a tracing bit in the message and outputs the message for reception by a destination consumer process. The source process also outputs a first trace message specifying that the source process has output the message. The system also includes an event distribution system having a plurality of distributed filter processes, each configured for selectively passing the message based on a corresponding filter condition. Each filter process also generates a corresponding tracing message indicating the operation performed on the message, in response detecting that the tracing bit is set. The tracing messages are sent to a centralized logging process, configured for collecting the trace messages for monitoring of the progress of the message. Hence, the path of the message throughout the multiple processes in the distributed multi-process system can be readily determined by a consumer process accessing the centralized logging process.