A rule-based tool for reverse engineering from source code to graphical models

Abstract

This paper presents a rule-based tool MG (Model Generator) for reverse engineering from source code to graphical models. For a given graphical model formalism, generation rules describe how to translate each primitive element (e.g., an if statement) of a programming language into a piece of a diagram in the graphical model and how to assemble the produced pieces of diagrams and generate diagrams from them. MG can produce software specification in different models by changing the generation rules. This feature enables maintainers to obtain the information they need by specifying rules for generating it. MG is also independent of programming languages. It is used to generate four models and links between them from COBOL source code, where each model represents a coherent aspect of the source code such as control flow and functional structure.<>