Discovering high-level language data structures from assembler code

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10223085-B2
Application number	US-201715581292-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2017
Priority date	Apr 28, 2017
Publication date	Mar 5, 2019
Grant date	Mar 5, 2019

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for transforming implicit data structures expressed by assembler code into high-level language structures includes analyzing a section of assembler code to identify a plurality of data items. The computer-implemented method further includes storing the plurality of data items in a plurality of groups. The computer-implemented method further includes modifying one or more groups in the plurality of groups based, at least in part, on a pair of adjacent groups having a non-identical overlap. The computer-implemented method further includes creating an overlap list for each group. The computer-implemented method further includes generating data modeling language for the section based, at least in part, on each overlap list. A corresponding computer system and computer program product are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer program product for transforming implicit data structures expressed by assembler code into high-level language structures, the computer program product comprising one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising instructions to:
analyze a section of assembler code to identify a plurality of data items, wherein the section of assembler code has a beginning and an end;
store the plurality of data items in a plurality of groups, wherein:
the plurality of groups corresponds to the section of assembler code; and
the plurality of data items is stored based, at least in part, on:
their offset from a start of a group in the section; and
an order in which the data items are added to the section;

modify one or more groups in the plurality of groups based, at least in part, on a pair of adjacent groups having a non-identical overlap, wherein the instructions to modify the one or more groups in the plurality of groups further include instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups based, at least in part, on: (i) a number of data items included in the pair of adjacent groups, and (ii) an offset position of each data item in the pair of adjacent groups;
create an overlap list for each group, wherein the overlap list identifies those other groups in the plurality of groups that overlap with the group; and
generate data modeling language for the section based, at least in part, on each overlap list.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups include instructions to:
split two data items stored in a first group of the pair of adjacent groups into two groups, such that:
a first sub-group contains data items of the first group up to a split point, and
a second sub-group contains data items of the first group after the split point.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups include instructions to:
pad a second group in the pair of adjacent groups to match a size of a first group in the pair of adjacent groups.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein two groups are determined to overlap if a data item in each group shares a common offset position in the section.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to generate the data modeling language for the section is further based, at least in part, on instructions to determine a degree of overlap between two groups.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the data modeling language defines hierarchical data model elements in the assembler code.

7. A computer system for transforming implicit data structures expressed by assembler code into high-level language structures, the computer system comprising:
one or more computer processors;
one or more computer readable storage media; and
computer program instructions;
the computer program instructions being stored on the one or more computer readable storage media for execution by the one or more computer processors; and
the computer program instructions comprising instructions to:
analyze a section of assembler code to identify a plurality of data items,

wherein the section of assembler code has a beginning and an end;
store the plurality of data items in a plurality of groups, wherein:
the plurality of groups corresponds to the section of assembler code; and
the plurality of data items is stored based, at least in part, on:
their offset from a start of a group in the section; and
an order in which the data items are added to the section;

modify one or more groups in the plurality of groups based, at least in part, on a pair of adjacent groups having a non-identical overlap, wherein the instructions to modify the one or more groups in the plurality of groups further include instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups based, at least in part, on: (i) a number of data items included in the pair of adjacent groups, and (ii) an offset position of each data item in the pair of adjacent groups;
create an overlap list for each group, wherein the overlap list identifies those other groups in the plurality of groups that overlap with the group; and
generate data modeling language for the section based, at least in part, on each overlap list.

8. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups include instructions to:
split two data items stored in a first group of the pair of adjacent groups into two groups, such that:
a first sub-group contains data items of the first group up to a split point, and
a second sub-group contains data items of the first group after the split point.

9. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to perform at least one of splitting or padding the pair of adjacent groups include instructions to:
pad a second group in the pair of adjacent groups to match a size of a first group in the pair of adjacent groups.

10. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein two groups are determined to overlap if a data item in each group shares a common offset position in the section.

11. The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to generate the data modeling language for the section are further based, at least in part, on instructions to determine a degree of overlap between two groups.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Cebula Richard

Classifications

• G06F8/75

  Structural analysis for program understanding · CPC title

• G06F16/9027

  Trees · CPC title

• G06F8/41 Primary

  Compilation · CPC title

• G06F9/342

  Extension of operand address space · CPC title

• G06F8/53 Primary

  Decompilation; Disassembly · CPC title