Advanced Typing for the Kieker Instrumentation Languages

Abstract

The observation of software systems is a complicated task due to the heterogeneity of technologies and programming languages involved. In Kieker , we address this heterogeneity with two domain-specific languages (DSLs) which allow to define event types and monitoring probes independent from specific languages. The DSLs allow to extend event types individually and to adapt probes accordingly. In monitoring, different event types are used together to observe a specific property, like call traces. In case additional attributes, like message size, must be observed, multiple types must be extended simultaneously. This is cumbersome for large sets of types and an error prone task. In case of missed types or wrongly initialized attributes, the errors may harm analysis results. We address these challenges with a new type extension mechanism and semantic constraints for attributes.