Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
Classification: Confidential Thanks for the correction -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Mike Schwab Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 3:33 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you trust the sender, Don’t click links or open attachments as it may be a Phishing email, which can steal your Information and compromise your Computer.] There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 8:30 PM Allan Staller <0387911dea17-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > > Classification: Confidential > > ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) > > -Original Message- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On > Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353 > Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January > 2022 and beyond - Issues] > > [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you > trust the sender, Don’t click links or open attachments as it may be a > Phishing email, which can steal your Information and compromise your > Computer.] > > I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in > language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am > unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible > COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the > assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for > obvious reasons. > > In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I > have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler > code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you > understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more > "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical > conversion can provide for you. > > TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in > the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to > get it right. > > If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least > business-level documentation available describing the original intended > function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice > left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. > > Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can > succeed. > > Peter > > > -Original Message- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On > Behalf Of Warren Brown > Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues > > Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to > analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to > analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. > Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren > -- > > > > This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the > addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If > the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized > representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have > received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail > and delete the message and any attachments from your system. > > > -- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send > email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ::DISCLAIMER:: > > The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and > intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not > guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, > corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses > in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred > errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or > its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely > those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of > HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, &
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
> ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) Robert Heinlein, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Seymour J Metz Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 2:15 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] No, but he did coin "Think of it as evolution in action." From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Allan Staller <0387911dea17-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 4:30 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] Classification: Confidential ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353 Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you trust the sender, Don't click links or open attachments as it may be a Phishing email, which can steal your Information and compromise your Computer.] I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ::DISCLAIMER:: The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and / or publication of this message without the prior written consent of authorized representative of HCL is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete it and notify the sender immediately. Before opening any email and/or attachments, please c
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
No, but he did coin "Think of it as evolution in action." From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Allan Staller <0387911dea17-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 4:30 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] Classification: Confidential ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353 Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you trust the sender, Don’t click links or open attachments as it may be a Phishing email, which can steal your Information and compromise your Computer.] I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ::DISCLAIMER:: The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and / or publication of this message without the prior written consent of authorized representative of HCL is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete it and notify the sender immediately. Before opening any email and/or attachments, please check them for viruses and other defects. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instruc
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
Mea culpa, I did leave out the extra "A". TANSTAAFL it is. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Allan Staller Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 4:30 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353 Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch - The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 8:30 PM Allan Staller <0387911dea17-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > > Classification: Confidential > > ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) > > -Original Message- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of > Farley, Peter x23353 > Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and > beyond - Issues] > > [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you trust the > sender, Don’t click links or open attachments as it may be a Phishing email, > which can steal your Information and compromise your Computer.] > > I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in > language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am > unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible > COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the > assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for > obvious reasons. > > In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I > have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler > code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you > understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more > "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical > conversion can provide for you. > > TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in > the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to > get it right. > > If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least > business-level documentation available describing the original intended > function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice > left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. > > Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can > succeed. > > Peter > > > -Original Message- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of > Warren Brown > Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues > > Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to > assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for > re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, > Thanks, Warren > -- > > > > This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the > addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If > the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized > representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have > received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail > and delete the message and any attachments from your system. > > > -- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to > lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ::DISCLAIMER:: > > The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and > intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not > guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, > corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses > in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred > errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or > its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely > those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of > HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, > disclosure, modification, distribution and / or publication of this message > without the prior written consent of authorized representative of HCL is > strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete > it and notify the sender immediately. Before opening any email and/or > attachments, please check them for viruses and other defects. > > > -- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / sign
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
Classification: Confidential ITYM TANSTAAFL, as originally coined by Larry Niven(?) -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Farley, Peter x23353 Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 11:33 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] [CAUTION: This Email is from outside the Organization. Unless you trust the sender, Don’t click links or open attachments as it may be a Phishing email, which can steal your Information and compromise your Computer.] I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ::DISCLAIMER:: The contents of this e-mail and any attachment(s) are confidential and intended for the named recipient(s) only. E-mail transmission is not guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or may contain viruses in transmission. The e mail and its contents (with or without referred errors) shall therefore not attach any liability on the originator or HCL or its affiliates. Views or opinions, if any, presented in this email are solely those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of HCL or its affiliates. Any form of reproduction, dissemination, copying, disclosure, modification, distribution and / or publication of this message without the prior written consent of authorized representative of HCL is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please delete it and notify the sender immediately. Before opening any email and/or attachments, please check them for viruses and other defects. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
All the conversions I did were for companies in France. The first one was to convert SAS/C to IBM/C as the SAS stopped supporting their C compiler. There were a number of SAS/C functions that I had to create going to IBM/C. Some I wrote in C. The others I wrote in assembler. It really helped that I had fairly deep z/OS internals. I also knew the C language very well. I had already used SAS/C and IBM/C. The other conversions were from assembler to COBOL. In most cases, I had to understand the program before grinding out COBOL code. When you are dealing with addresses and DSECTs, it gets tricky porting that to COBOL using POINTERs. In most cases, it was difficult work. If you aren't an expert in assembler and/or don't know COBOL well, you are asking for trouble. Regards, Pierre -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
I wrote a progran to translate assembler between two very different architectures, and that has the same issues. The translation can not fill in missing documentation or generate meaningful names, it only retain the names and comments in the original code. Even with good flow analysis the translation will generally be unable to discern intent. Sometimes the translation will be correct but unmaintainable. From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Farley, Peter x23353 <031df298a9da-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:33 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues] I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
Perhaps IBM can 'make their own' GPT-3 and let it loose on all zOS assembler source. Then, if it does something helpful, we'll know (via IBM). - KB ‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐ On Monday, November 1st, 2021 at 10:03 PM, Farley, Peter x23353 <031df298a9da-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in > language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am > unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL > code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the > assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for > obvious reasons. > > In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I > have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler > code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you > understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more > "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical > conversion can provide for you. > > TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the > effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get > it right. > > If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least > business-level documentation available describing the original intended > function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice > left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. > > Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can > succeed. > > Peter > > -Original Message- > > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU On Behalf Of > Warren Brown > > Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM > > To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU > > Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues > > Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to > assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for > re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, > Thanks, > > Warren > - > > This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the > addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If > the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized > representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any > dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have > received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail > and delete the message and any attachments from your system. > > > - > > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > > send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
Re: Assembler analysis [was: RE: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues]
I am aware of only one product (commercial) that claims to be of any help in language conversion for assembler code, but there may be more of which I am unaware. In the one case I am aware of, the results were truly horrible COBOL code that didn't even come close to performing the same function as the assembler from which it was converted. I will not name the product for obvious reasons. In my experience of performing this exact task more than once in my career, I have found that the best route to success is deep reading of the assembler code until you understand the function, input, and output criteria. Once you understand what it is supposed to accomplish, rewriting it manually in a more "modern" language is far more likely to succeed than any mechanical conversion can provide for you. TANSTAFL -- There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. You have to put in the effort to understand the original code or you are probably not going to get it right. If you are lucky there is some kind of programmer-level or at least business-level documentation available describing the original intended function along with its expected inputs and outputs. If not, the only choice left is just reading and understanding the code on your own. Good luck. It can be quite a hard task, but if you put in the effort you can succeed. Peter -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Warren Brown Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 12:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: Serverpac installs January 2022 and beyond - Issues Hey experts; I am back with mainframes. I have a new position to analyze to assembly language program. Is their any programs to analyze ASM programs for re-write them to a more modern language. Perhaps their are tools to help me, Thanks, Warren -- This message and any attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message and any attachments from your system. -- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
