Computer system and method for verifying functional equivalence

• US 20060041873A1
• Filed: 08/19/2004
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chandrasekaran, Balachander, Lambert, James, Pandarinathan, Vinod, Chellappan, VanniaRajan, Livingston, Richard B.
• Application Number:
  US10/922,076
• Publication Number:
  US 20060041873A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/141
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

A computer system and method are provided for the verification of functional equivalence between at least two source codes residing on at least one computer. A comparison is carried out between a source code and a modified version of the source code. The comparison is performed to determine the functional equivalence between the two source codes. The functional equivalence is determined on the basis of type, scope and linkage of identifiers of the source codes. The identifiers are extracted from the assembly codes of the source codes.

Claims

1. A method for verifying functional equivalence of source codes, comprising:

providing a source code;

modifying the source code to produce a modified source code; and

verifying the functional equivalence between the source code and the modified source code.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said verifying comprises comparing type, scope and linkage of identifiers of the source code and the modified source code.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence between the source code and the modified source code comprises:

generating assembly codes for the source code and the modified source code;

parsing the assembly codes for obtaining identifiers within the source code and the modified source code;

extracting relationships between the corresponding identifiers in the generated assembly codes, the relationships being extracted on the basis of type, scope and linkage of the identifiers; and

comparing the assembly codes on the basis of the extracted relationships.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the generating the assembly codes includes identifying the assembly code structure for a computer in which the source codes reside.

5. The method of claim 3, additionally comprising storing identifiers in a hash table.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the source code and the modified source code reside in different computers.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence comprises reporting functional equality if there is a change in offset arising due to difference in the number of unused identifiers associated with the source code and the modified source file.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence comprises reporting functional inequality if at least one global symbol is absent in either the source code or the modified source code.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence comprises reporting functional inequality if at least one requisite static symbol is absent in either the source code or the modified source code.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence comprises reporting functional inequality if at least one requisite static function is absent in either the source code or the modified source code.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying the functional equivalence comprises reporting functional inequality if at least one macro defined in the source code is redefined in the modified source code.

12. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising reporting reasons for functional inequality between the source code and the modified source code.

13. The method of claim 11 additionally comprising reporting comparison results for functions in the source code that were checked for functional equivalence.

14. The method of claim 11 additionally comprising reporting comparison results in the form of functions that failed a comparison.

15. The method of claim 11 additionally comprising reporting comparison result of a file within the source code, the file being specified by a user.

16. A method for verifying the functional equivalence between a source code and a modified source code in a computer, comprising

identifying the assembly code structure for the computer;

generating assembly codes for the source code and the modified source code based on the assembly code structure for the computer;

parsing the assembly codes for obtaining identifiers in the source code and the modified source code;

extracting relationships between corresponding identifiers in the assembly codes, the relationships being extracted on the basis of type, scope and linkage of the identifiers;

comparing the assembly codes for the functional equivalence on the basis of the extracted relationships; and

reporting the reasons for functional inequality between the source code and the modified source code.

17. A system for verifying functional equivalence between at least two source codes residing in at least one computer, comprising:

at least one CPU templates for identifying the assembly code structure for the computer on which the source codes reside;

a generator for generating an assembly code for each of the source codes based on the identified assembly code structure;

a parser for parsing the assembly codes for each of the source codes for obtaining identifiers in the source codes;

an extractor for extracting relationships between corresponding identifiers in the assembly codes, the relationships being extracted on the basis of type, scope and linkage of the identifiers; and

a comparator for comparing the assembly codes on the basis of the extracted relationships.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a reporter for reporting differences between the source codes based on the comparison between the assembly codes.

19. A system for verifying functional equivalence between at least two source codes in a computer, comprising:

a processor;

a machine-readable medium stored in the computer, the machine-readable medium capable of performing the steps of;

modifying a source code to produce a modified source code; and

verifying the functional equivalence between the source code and the modified source code.

20. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions for:

modifying a source code to produce a modified source code; and

verifying the functional equivalence between the source code and the modified source code.

21. A method for verifying functional equivalence of a system comprising:

providing a system;

modifying the system to produce a modified system; and

verifying if the modified system is a functional equivalence of the system.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said system is selected from a group consisting of a hardware system, a software system, and a mathematical function.

23. A computer assembly for verifying functional equivalence of systems comprising:

means for modifying a system to produce a modified system; and

means for verifying if the modified system is a functional equivalence of the system.