From Cobol to OMT: A reengineering workbench based on semantic networks
Jean Bézivín, Y. Lennon, C. Nguyen Huu Nhon · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1995
Reverse engineering is the process of transforming a software application from one representation level to a more abstract one. This process may be automated only if the semantic distance between source and target abstraction level is limited. We describe, in this paper, a two-phase reverse engineering process. Our goal is to study the progressive transformation of a Cobol 85 application into an OMT-like notation although we are well aware that this will not be achieved easily and that it constitutes a long-term objective. This paper reports on the specific representation technique used, a particular kind of formal notation based on semantic networks and frame languages. This core notation called sNets is being used to integrate data from various sources or views, at different stages of formalization (informal, semiformal, formal), or expressed in various notations (data-flows, flow-charts, transition systems, SADT diagrams, Petri nets, etc.). As a result, we now see the information automatically extracted from an application as a skeleton, to which is progressively attached other related data and this constitutes the basic framework for this ongoing project, which first steps will be presented here.