System, method, and program for automatic error detection while utilizing a software state machine for carrying out the process flow of a software program

摘要

A system, method, and program utilizes a software state machine for carrying out the processes and functions of a program. The components of a program, e.g., the process flow, functions, dialogs, etc., are implemented using various states. A value of a state variable indicates a corresponding state. A method checks for a current value of the state variable. Any given function within any given state, or input received from a user, such as through “next” or “previous” buttons on a dialog box, can return a value for the state variable. When the method determines a new value of the state variable, an object corresponding to the state indicated by the new value is brought up and enabled. A program utilizing a software state machine is easily customized by merely adding or deleting states or by changing a value of the state variable returned for a given function within a state or for any given input received. However, if during development or customization of the program, the programmer inadvertently specifies a value of a state incorrectly, thereby having it reference a nonexistent state, the program my enter an infinite loop. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, an error detector is added to the method that checks for the current value of the state variable in order to detect such a programming error. The programming error is detected by determining whether one of the states successively repeats beyond a given threshold limit.