Method and system of remote diagnostic, control and information collection using multiple formats and multiple protocols with delegating protocol processor

Abstract

A system, method and program product for diagnosing, controlling and collecting information from devices. Information regarding events of each one of a plurality of target applications executing in an application unit is collected and formatted into one of multiple data formats for transmission through one of multiple communication protocols at the request of each of the target applications, through an interface. The event information for a particular target application is formatted and transmitted according to a combination of a data format and communication protocol requested by the target application. The transmission of data representing the event information is handled in at least two levels of software classes, with at least one abstract software class having a declared virtual function and two or more software classes derived from the at least one abstract class and having definitions of the function for communicating the event information through specified communication protocols. The formatted data is transmitted through, e.g., e-mail or FTP to a predetermined destination or may be saved to local storage, e.g., a local disk. By sharing resources, code duplication is reduced or eliminated.