1. A signal bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-: readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations to analyze trace data, the operations comprising: an operation to divide an unstructured trace record logically into two or more trace entries based on structural information; an operation to apply a query expression comprising a condition and one or more parameters to each entry; an operation to assemble each entry that satisfies the query expression into an abridged trace record; and an operation to present the abridged trace record to the user.