From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: ** X-Spam-Status: No, score=2.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,HEADER_SPAM, INVALID_DATE,MISSING_FROM,MSGID_SHORT,REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Xref: utzoo comp.lang.ada:2453 comp.software-eng:1741 comp.compilers:571 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!think!husc6!spdcc!ima!compilers-sender Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.software-eng,comp.compilers Subject: Debugging and source analysis tool for Ada Keywords: Static analysis, data flow, control flow, views Message-ID: <4137@ima.ima.isc.com> Date: 5 Jul 89 16:54:20 GMT Sender: compilers-sender@ima.ima.isc.com Reply-To: harvard!husc6!array!len (Leonard Vanek) Organization: Array Systems Computing, Toronto, CANADA List-Id: DATAFLOW and STATIC ANALYSIS TOOL for ADA (EDSA) At Array Systems Computing we have just completed developing a prototype of a static debugger for Ada. Among the features of this tool are: - the ability to display various properly formatted but restricted VIEWS of source code (i.e. eliding uninteresting code in order to allow the logic to stand out more clearly), - the ability to BROWSE programs following the control flow or data flow rather than the linear syntax of the code, - maintenance of SEARCH HISTORY to facilitate automatic BACKTRACKING when a search in a particular direction fails to find what the user is looking for. The Expert Dataflow and Static Analysis tool (EDSA) operates on uninstrumented source code. It requires neither execution nor compilation of the code to be examined. Although the EDSA parser does give some diagnostics, EDSA assumes that the program has already been successfully compiled. You would use EDSA to find a bug in a program's logic or to look for unforeseen ramifications of a proposed change, not to fix syntax or semantic errors that would be found by a compiler. Admittedly such a tool is more useful for poorly structured code than for the kind of code that the design of Ada is meant to encourage. However, it can still be useful for analyzing structured code. Furthermore, it is unfortunately a fact of life that not all Ada programs are properly structured. We are currently looking for Alpha test sites to try out EDSA and provide us with some feedback on its design and implementation. EDSA runs on either vanilla Unix systems (Sun for sure, but probably all others because it makes no use of machine or system dependent features other than termcap) or MS-DOS machines. It makes no use of bitmap graphics or windows, so it works on most terminals. On MS-DOS machines it will support a mouse -- specifically the Logitec Mouse. The Sun version does not use the mouse. If you are interested in becoming an Alpha tester, please contact me at the address shown below. Describe your environment (e.g. hardware, OS, size and complexity of subject programs) and how EDSA might be useful to you. Please do not ask for a trial copy of EDSA unless you intend to try it out immediately. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Leonard Vanek UUCP: ... uunet!attcan!lsuc!array!len Array Systems Computing Inc. or ... utzoo!dciem!array!len 5000 Dufferin St. Suite 200 or lsuc!array!len@ai.toronto.edu Downsview, Ont. M3H 5T5 Phone: (416) 736-0900 Canada FAX: (416) 736-4715 -- Send compilers articles to compilers@ima.isc.com or, perhaps, Levine@YALE.EDU Plausible paths are { decvax | harvard | yale | bbn}!ima Please send responses to the originator of the message -- I cannot forward mail accidentally sent back to compilers. Meta-mail to ima!compilers-request