Computer language translation system and method of converting procedural computer language software to object-oriented computer language software

• US 7,240,338 B1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Issued: 07/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Peraton, Inc.
• Original Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc. (ITT, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mollick, Alan D., Bell, Edward A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Tuan A
• Application Number:
  US10/446,725
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• Field of Search: 717116-124, 717147-149, 717/157, 717/159, 719/331, 718/102, 718/107
• US Class Current: 717/137
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/51 Source to source

Abstract

Common data structures associated with procedurally-oriented software, such as Fortran COMMON blocks, are translated into object-oriented (OO) classes. Procedurally-oriented software modules are reduced in complexity by extracting an appropriate number of sub-modules from the original source code so that the original module and each extracted module is below a predetermined complexity level, if possible. The original module and extracted modules are assigned to an object-oriented class based upon a measure of each modules'"'"' association to the respective class'"'"' data members, where the assigned modules are then translated into object-oriented methods. This approach greatly reduces overall system development time and costs by automatically generating maintainable object-oriented code based upon translated procedurally-oriented source code. Man-hours are further saved by automatically documenting the newly generated object-oriented classes and by automatically generating test suite files for use in verifying and troubleshooting the automatically generated object-oriented classes.

Claims

1. A method of translating software developed in a procedural computer language to a target object-oriented computer language, wherein said procedural computer language includes a plurality of modules and blocks of global data, said method comprising:

(a) identifying and processing said plurality of modules within said procedural language software for assignment to object-oriented classes;

(b) identifying said blocks of global data within said procedural language software, said global data in each said block of global data being accessible by one or more of said modules;

(c) defining a plurality of object-oriented classes each from a corresponding identified block of global data;

(d) identifying and recording the number of reference instances by which the plurality of modules accesses said identified blocks of global data and using the recorded information to iteratively assign the plurality of modules obtained from step (a) to the plurality of object-oriented classes defined in step (c) by;

(d.1) retrieving each defined object-oriented class and each of said modules;

(d.2) determining for each defined object-oriented class a count of the quantity of references by a retrieved module to class members of that class;

(d.3) assigning the retrieved module to the defined object-oriented class associated with a count representing the maximum quantity of said references;

(d.4) assigning a retrieved module unassigned in step (d.3) to either a newly defined object-oriented class or a defined object-oriented class that corresponds to a previously assigned module, wherein the previously assigned module is associated with the unassigned module;

(d.5) repeating the determining and assigning steps for each retrieved module; and

(d.6) for each object-oriented class, selectively setting class data members to either public or private in accordance with access of those class data members by the assigned modules; and

(e) translating said procedural language to said target object-oriented language using the resulting object-oriented classes obtained in step (d) and producing an object-oriented version of said procedural language software for a target operating environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further includes:

(a.1) restructuring procedural language constructs for consistency with said object-oriented computer language.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further includes:

(a.1) examining each identified module to decompose that module into a plurality of modules in accordance with a module complexity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein step (a.1) further includes:

(a.1.1) decomposing a module with a complexity that exceeds a predefined complexity level into a plurality of decomposed modules wherein the complexity of each of said plurality of decomposed modules is less than the predefined complexity level.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d.4) further includes:

(d.4.1) assigning the unassigned module to a class to which another module that references said unassigned module is assigned.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d.3) further includes:

(d.3.1) assigning modules called by said retrieved module to a class prior to assigning said retrieved module to a class.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) further includes:

(e.1) translating a module to said object-oriented computer language based upon a stored parameter associated with the module; and

(e.2) translating a class based upon a stored parameter associated with the class.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) further includes:

(e.1) generating an object-oriented class containing an assigned module.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein step (e.1) further includes:

(e.1.1) generating documentation that describes the generated object-oriented class.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein step (e.1) further includes:

(e.1.1) generating test scripts used to test the generated object-oriented class.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the procedural computer language is Fortran and the target object-oriented computer language is C++.

12. A computer-implemented system for translating software developed in a procedural computer language to a target object-oriented computer language, wherein said procedural computer language includes a plurality of modules and blocks of global data, said system comprising:

a processor to receive said procedural computer language and to translate said procedural computer language to said target object-oriented computer language, said processor including;

a controller module to identify and process said plurality of modules within said procedural language software for assignment to object-oriented classes;

a block module to identify said blocks of global data within said procedural language software and to define a plurality of object-oriented classes each from a corresponding identified block of global data, wherein said global data in each said block of global data is accessible by one or more of said modules;

a solution module to identify and record the number of reference instances by which the plurality of modules accesses said identified blocks of global data and to use the recorded information to iteratively assign the plurality of identified modules to the plurality of defined object-oriented classes by;

(a) retrieving each defined object-oriented class and each of said modules;

(b) determining for each defined object-oriented class a count of the quantity of references by a retrieved module to class members of that class;

(c) assigning the retrieved module to the defined object-oriented class associated with a count representing the maximum quantity of said references;

(d) assigning a retrieved module unassigned in (c) to either a newly defined object-oriented class or a defined object-oriented class corresponding to a previously assigned module, wherein the previously assigned module is associated with the unassigned module;

(e) repeating said determining and assigning for each retrieved module; and

(f) for each object-oriented class, selectively setting class data members to either public or private in accordance with access of those class data members by the assigned modules; and

a translation module to translate said procedural language to said target object-oriented language using the resulting object-oriented classes obtained by the solution module and produce an object-oriented version of said procedural language software for a target operating environment.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller module includes:

a restructure module to restructure procedural language constructs for consistency with said object-oriented computer language.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller module includes:

a complexity reduction module to examine each identified module to decompose that module into a plurality of modules in accordance with a module complexity.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the complexity reduction module includes:

a decomposition module to decompose a module with a complexity that exceeds a predefined complexity level into a plurality of decomposed modules wherein the complexity of each of said plurality of decomposed modules is less than the predefined complexity level.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the solution module includes:

a class assignment module to assign the unassigned module to a class to which another module that references said unassigned module is assigned.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the solution module includes:

an assignment module to assign modules called by said retrieved module to a class prior to assigning said retrieved module to a class.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the translation module includes:

a directives module to translate a module to said object-oriented computer language based upon a stored parameter associated with the module; and

a class directives module to translate a class based upon a stored parameter associated with the class.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the translation module includes:

a generator module to generate an object-oriented class containing an assigned module.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the generator module includes:

a document generator module to generate documentation that describes the generated object-oriented class.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the generator module includes:

a test script generator module to generate test scripts used to test the generated object-oriented class.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the procedural computer language is Fortran and the target object-oriented computer language is C++.

23. A program product apparatus including a computer storage medium with computer program logic recorded thereon for translating software developed in a procedural computer language to a target object-oriented computer language, wherein said procedural computer language includes a plurality of modules and blocks of global data, said program product apparatus comprising:

a controller module to identify and process said plurality of modules within said procedural language software for assignment to object-oriented classes;

a block module to identify said blocks of global data within said procedural language software and to define a plurality of object-oriented classes each from a corresponding identified block of global data, wherein said global data in each said block of global data is accessible by one or more of said modules;

a solution module to identify and record the number of reference instances by which the plurality of modules accesses said identified blocks of global data and to use the recorded information to iteratively assign the plurality of identified modules to the plurality of defined object-oriented classes by;

(a) retrieving each defined object-oriented class and each of said modules;

(b) determining for each defined object-oriented class a count of the quantity of references by a retrieved module to class members of that class;

(c) assigning the retrieved module to the defined object-oriented class associated with a count representing the maximum quantity of said references;

(d) assigning a retrieved module unassigned in (c) to either a newly defined object-oriented class or a defined object-oriented class corresponding to a previously assigned module, wherein the previously assigned module is associated with the unassigned module;

(e) repeating said determining and assigning for each retrieved module; and

(f) for each object-oriented class, selectively setting class data members to either public or private in accordance with access of those class data members by the assigned modules; and

a translation module to translate said procedural language to said target object-oriented language using the resulting object-oriented classes obtained by the solution module and produce an object-oriented version of said procedural language software for a target operating environment.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller module includes:

a restructure module to restructure procedural language constructs for consistency with said object-oriented computer language.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller module includes:

a complexity reduction module to examine each identified module to decompose that module into a plurality of modules in accordance with a module complexity.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the complexity reduction module includes:

a decomposition module to decompose a module with a complexity that exceeds a predefined complexity level into a plurality of decomposed modules wherein the complexity of each of said plurality of decomposed modules is less than the predefined complexity level.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the solution module includes:

a class assignment module to assign the unassigned module to a class to which another module that references said unassigned module is assigned.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the solution module includes:

an assignment module to assign modules called by said retrieved module to a class prior to assigning said retrieved module to a class.

29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the translation module includes:

a directives module to translate a module to said object-oriented computer language based upon a stored parameter associated with the module; and

a class directives module to translate a class based upon a stored parameter associated with the class.

30. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the translation module includes:

a generator module to generate an object-oriented class containing an assigned module.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the generator module includes:

a document generator module to generate documentation that describes the generated object-oriented class.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the generator module includes:

a test script generator module to generate test scripts used to test the generated object-oriented class.

33. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the procedural computer language is Fortran and the target object-oriented computer language is C++.