Object data models to support source code queries: implementing SCA within REFINE

Abstract

The REFINE object base is being used widely for code analysis and reverse engineering. From the perspective of program querying and interactive program analysis however, REFINE-like object bases offer only general-purpose programming languages in which users must code their program queries. In contrast, Source Code Algebra (SCA) is an object algebra designed to serve as an applicative source code query language. We are currently implementing an SCA-based query processor within the REFINE environment. This paper provides insights into some object data model features which are currently absent in the REFINE framework, and argues that their incorporation will enable certain source code queries to be handled more efficiently. We also argue that the inclusion of these features will greatly simplify the implementation of the SCA query processor.<>