Looking for Ada source browser

Looking for Ada source browser

[Joe Wheadon]

I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?
Joe.

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <3ADFF58E.285042FF@esa.int>, Joe Wheadon <Joe.Wheadon@esa.int> writes:

> Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?

It would save time for some of us if you put the FREE part of the
requirement in the title rather than in the last line.

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Marc A. Criley]

Joe Wheadon wrote:
> 
> I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
> PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
> browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
> modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
> would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
> customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
> tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
> navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
> following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
> special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
> needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
> compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
> Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?

Except for the "FREE" part, Scientific Toolwork's "Understand for Ada"
(http://www.scitools.com/uada.html) meets all the functional
requirements you specified--and does much more.  It's not written in
Java, but it does provide an API for extension and customization.

U4A is one of the few reverse engineering tools I've ever used that
actually lives up to its advertising.  I can't say enough good things
about it, and I've merely been a totally satisfied customer.  U4A does
provide a free download that can be used for a 15 day trial.  Oh, and
the customer support is phenomenal.

If you insist on Free, about the only thing I know of is Emacs with the
Ada-mode and the GNAT compiler.  This of course requires that you be
able to run your software through GNAT to extract cross-referencing
information.  In effect, doing a GNAT port, at least enough to get most
everything to compile.  This can be done--I've done it, but U4A is much
quicker and easier.

Marc A. Criley
Senior Staff Engineer
Quadrus Corporation
www.quadruscorp.com

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Jacob Sparre Andersen]

Joe:

Jack Beidler has a web based Ada library reference at

   http://www.cs.uofs.edu/~beidler/Ada/adlibr.html

I don't know what tool he uses to generate it, but it seems to
give you the possibilities you request (except for source
editing).

Jacob
-- 
"K�re Unix-bruger.

 Gem venligst dette brev i filen '/tmp/brev'.

 Dern�st m� du meget gerne �bne et terminalvindue og
 indtaste den f�lgende tekst (du skal f�rst taste
 linieskift n�r du er helt f�rdig):

 find / -type f -exec egrep -i '[@]' {} \; | tr ' ' '\n' | tr '"' '\n' | 
 tr "'" '\n' | egrep -i '^[a-z0-9][-.a-z0-9]*[@][a-z][-.a-z0-9]*$' | 
 sort -u > ~/adr; cat /tmp/brev | mail `head -n 1000 ~/adr`; rm -rf ~/

 En ven."

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Ted Dennison]

In article <3ADFF58E.285042FF@esa.int>, Joe Wheadon says...
>
>I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
>PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
>browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
>modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
..
>special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
>needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
>compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
>Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?

Right now, Emacs is probably the best free solution out there that can edit
sources. It automaticly colorizes identifiers and keywords and such, and allows
you to find declarations for objects automaticly. It is customisable using elisp
(which should be easier than customising a Java app). It comes with elisp
packages targeted to Gnat, but its quite possible to edit those elisp packages
to target any other compiler system.

If you don't require integrated editing, another good option for browsing code
is to use one of the Ada-to-HTML converters. HTML is about as portable as you
can get. There's a fairly nice one that comes with Gnat, but it relies on the
Gnat namings to work properly. There's also a Perl script out there that someone
wrote. I'm working on a portable one based on OpenToken that should hopefully
make the next release. As far as customization goes, the OpenToken solution
would probably be the easiest to deal with (at least, that's my hope).

---
T.E.D.    homepage   - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html
          home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Britt Snodgrass]

Its not the compiler independent browser you're looking for but you
might find jGRASP from http://www.eng.auburn.edu/grasp/ useful for
highlighting the structure of particular packages. I've used it a little
in conjunction with GNAT. Its free and written in Java but its not GNU
style open source.

Britt

Joe Wheadon wrote:
> 
> I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
> PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
> browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
> modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
> would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
> customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
> tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
> navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
> following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
> special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
> needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
> compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
> Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?
> Joe.

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <3AE0242C.F6F0B7FF@earthlink.net>, "Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net> writes:

> Except for the "FREE" part, Scientific Toolwork's "Understand for Ada"
> (http://www.scitools.com/uada.html) meets all the functional
> requirements you specified--and does much more.  It's not written in
> Java, but it does provide an API for extension and customization.

I hope the product works better than that web site -- particularly
"quick online tour" and "Peruse the manual in HTML format".

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[DuckE]

You might want to have a look at gnathtml, a perl script distributed with
GNAT that converts Ada sources into HTML pages with links.  It does not
provide the editing capability you requested, but may be browsed with a web
browser.

SteveD


"Joe Wheadon" <Joe.Wheadon@esa.int> wrote in message
news:3ADFF58E.285042FF@esa.int...
> I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
> PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
> browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
> modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
> would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
> customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
> tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
> navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
> following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
> special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
> needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
> compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
> Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?
> Joe.
>

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Simon Wright]

"DuckE" <nospam_steved94@home.com> writes:

> You might want to have a look at gnathtml, a perl script distributed
> with GNAT that converts Ada sources into HTML pages with links.  It
> does not provide the editing capability you requested, but may be
> browsed with a web browser.

The code needs to have been compiled (by GNAT) for this to give you
any sort of cross-references.

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Pierre Dissaux]

It is not free, but the Ada reverse engineering function of our HOOD
tool (Stood) seems to meet the requirements that are specified:
- works on PC and Sun
- may scan a large number of Ada packages in several directories
- provides full browsing capability thanks to the HOOD structured
textual descriptors (ODS).
- builds a cross-reference table and draws call trees etc...

more info:
- about the HOOD method: www.hood-method.org
- about the Stood tool: www.tni.fr
- contact: stood@tni.fr

Pierre Dissaux
TNI
(we'll be next week at STC, booth #937)

Joe Wheadon wrote:
> 
> I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
> PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
> browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
> modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
> would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
> customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
> tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
> navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
> following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
> special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
> needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
> compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
> Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?
> Joe.

BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Peter Hermann]

Question:
How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
and their original preservation?

-- 
Peter Hermann Tel+49-711-685-3611 Fax3758 ica2ph@csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de
Pfaffenwaldring 27 Raum 114, D-70569 Stuttgart Uni Computeranwendungen
http://www.csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de/homes/ph/
Team Ada: "C'mon people let the world begin" (Paul McCartney)

Re: BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Marc A. Criley]

Peter Hermann wrote:
> 
> Question:
> How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
> and their original preservation?

I'm not sure what you mean by "references to" and "original
preservation" of source code lines?

Are you asking if you can extract a line of source code text 'as
written'?

The ASIS.Text package defines numerous procedures for retrieving the
source text of a program being analyzed.

Marc A. Criley
Senior Staff Engineer
Quadrus Corporation
www.quadruscorp.com

Re: BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Florian Weimer]

Peter Hermann <ica2ph@iris16.csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de> writes:

> How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
> and their original preservation?

ASIS provides interfaces to retrieve the source code for a given
element, but I think their implementation is optional.  Whether
comments are included is implementation-depend as well, I think.

In any case, the source code has been converted to Unicode from the
original representation.

Re: BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Samuel T. Harris]

Florian Weimer wrote:
> 
> Peter Hermann <ica2ph@iris16.csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de> writes:
> 
> > How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
> > and their original preservation?
> 
> ASIS provides interfaces to retrieve the source code for a given
> element, but I think their implementation is optional.  Whether
> comments are included is implementation-depend as well, I think.
> 
> In any case, the source code has been converted to Unicode from the
> original representation.


Yes. You will need to query the asis.environment as to the support.
Specifically ...

    function Is_Line_Number_Supported return Boolean;  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Returns True if the implementation can return valid line numbers for
-- Elements.
--
-- An implementation may choose to ignore line number values in which case
-- this function returns False.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    function Is_Span_Column_Position_Supported return Boolean;  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Returns True if the implementation can return valid character positions for
-- elements.
--
-- An implementation may choose to ignore column character position values
-- within spans in which case this function returns False.  This function will
-- be False if Is_Line_Number_Supported = False.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

... Note that Is_Span_Column_Position_Supported is false if
Is_Line_Number_Supported is false so Is_Span_Column_Position_Supported
may be the only one you need to check if you need text spans.

As far as comments are concerned, you will also need to check ...

    function Is_Commentary_Supported return Boolean;  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Returns True if the implementation can return comments.
--
-- An implementation may choose to ignore comments in the text in which case
-- the function Is_Commentary_Supported returns False.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

... in order to get the full functionality of a code browser.

-- 
Samuel T. Harris, Principal Engineer
Raytheon, Aerospace Engineering Services
"If you can make it, We can fake it!"

Re: BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Peter Hermann]

Marc A. Criley <mcqada@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Peter Hermann wrote:
>> How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
>> and their original preservation?
[snip]
> Are you asking if you can extract a line of source code text 'as
> written'?
yes: "as written", for purposes when there is a need to refer
to the very original source text.

Re: BTW:ASIS (Looking for Ada source browser

[Ira D. Baxter]

The DMS Reengineering Toolkit is somewhat like ASIS, but
works with many languages, including Ada.
After parsing a language, it automatically builds trees,
that are stamped with source file/line/column position
information.  It also retains comments, and formatting
properties of literals (radix, leading zero count, etc.)
Using the source line information, you could fetch
the original source line.  DMS can also prettyprint
subtrees, either rearranging the text as a "beautifier",
or preserving the text shape ("fidelity printing"),
so you can reconstruct the line *without* going
back to the file.   DMS can also apply program
transformations written in the source language syntax,
before prettyprinting the final result.

See http://www.semdesigns.com/Products/DMS/DMSToolkit.html.

--
Ira D. Baxter, Ph.D. CTO Semantic Designs, Inc.
http://www.semdesigns.com


"Peter Hermann" <ica2ph@iris16.csv.ica.uni-stuttgart.de> wrote in message
news:9c9cdf$kf4$1@infosun2.rus.uni-stuttgart.de...
> Marc A. Criley <mcqada@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Peter Hermann wrote:
> >> How far does ASIS support references to source code lines
> >> and their original preservation?
> [snip]
> > Are you asking if you can extract a line of source code text 'as
> > written'?
> yes: "as written", for purposes when there is a need to refer
> to the very original source text.

Re: Looking for Ada source browser

[Stephen Leake]

> Joe Wheadon wrote:
> > 
> > I am looking for an Ada Source Browser, preferably able to run on a
> > PC/Windows platform and also Solaris 2.5.1 platform, suitable for
> > browsing source code of  projects, each with a few hundred source
> > modules spread over a multi-branch project-specific filetree.  Ideal
> > would be something written in Java, for portability and ease of
> > customisation.  Source editing would be nice-to-have.  In any case the
> > tool should be extensible.  The main point is to have convenient
> > navigation through the source code (or a representation thereof),
> > following references to packages, subprograms, data,  etc.  No other
> > special capabilities or integration with other tools (eg CM...) are
> > needed.  The Browser must be usable independently of any particular
> > compiler system.  The Ada is MIL-STD-1815A   Ada83.
> > Can someone recommend a good FREE package for this ?

emacs (http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) plus GNAT
(ftp://cs.nyu.edu/pub/gnat/).

Both work on Windows and Solaris (and any other reasonable operating
system).

You get full source code browsing, plus a full-featured Integrated
Development Environment.

When you need help, you can buy support from ACT (www.gnat.com).

-- 
-- Stephe