Automatic gopher program generator

A method for creating a gopher program comprising the steps of:

• compiling a type library with debug information to produce a type library binary image;
• feeding the type library binary image to a debugger;
• parsing an input command file, the input command file having literal text and a pre-defined instruction;
• identifying the pre-defined instruction and a corresponding function in the debugger;
• calling the corresponding function to retrieve a field size from the type library binary image and a field position from the type library binary image to calculate a field value of a field in a compound data type;
• producing a gopher program including the literal text and the field value substituted in place of the pre-defined instruction.

A gopher program generator comprising:

• a type library including a plurality of data types, the data types including primitive data types and compound data types;
• an input command file;
• a script;
• and,
• a debugger having a set of functions, each of the functions corresponding to each of the pre-defined instructions;
• wherein the script is constructed and arranged to:
• compile the type library with debug information to produce a type library binary image;
• feed the type library binary image to the debugger;
• parse the input command file, the input command file having literal text and a pre-defined instruction from the set of pre-defined instructions;
• identify the pre-defined instruction and the corresponding function;
• call the corresponding function to retrieve a field size from the type program binary image and a field position from the type library binary image to calculate a field value of a field in one of the data types;
• producing a gopher program including the literal text and the field value substituted in place of the pre-defined instruction.

An automatic gopher program generating system comprising:

• a processor;
• and,
• a data storage device operably connected to the processor, the data storage device including a program executable by the processor to:
• compile a type library with debug information to produce a type library binary image, the type library including a plurality of data types;
• feed the type library binary image to a debugger;
• parse an input command file, the input command file having literal text and a pre-defined instruction;
• identify the pre-defined instruction and a corresponding function in the debugger;
• call the corresponding function to retrieve a field size from the type program binary image and a field position from the type library binary image to calculate a field value of a field in one of the data types;
• substitute the field value for the pre-defined instruction in the input command file;
• producing a gopher program including the literal text and the field value in place of the pre-defined instruction.

A computer readable medium, having stored thereon, computer executable process steps operative to control a computer, to generate a gopher program, the process steps comprising:

• compiling a type library with debug information to produce a type library binary image, the type library including a plurality of data types;
• feeding the type library binary image to a debugger;
• parsing an input command file, the input command file having literal text and a pre-defined instruction;
• identifying the pre-defined instruction and a corresponding function in the debugger;
• calling the corresponding function to retrieve a field size from the type library binary image and a field position from the type library binary image to calculate a field value of a field in one of the data types;
• substituting the field value for the pre-defined instruction in the input command file;
• producing a gopher program including the literal text and the field value in place of the pre-defined instruction.

A method for automatically generating a gopher program, comprising:

• invoking a debugger;
• loading a type library into the debugger, the type library containing information regarding each data type required to retrieve desired state information from a target computing environment;
• reading each line in a command file, the command file including literal text and one or more predefined instructions, and, in each line:
• upon encountering literal text, copying the literal text to a gopher program output,
• upon encountering a predefined instruction:
• calling a corresponding function in the debugger, the debugger returning a numerical offset value based upon information in the type library, and
• copying the offset value to the gopher program output in place of the predefined instruction in the command file.

A method for automatically generating a gopher program, comprising:

• invoking a debugger;
• loading a type library into the debugger, the type library containing information regarding a plurality of data types used in a program;
• reading each line in a command file, the command file including literal text and one or more predefined instructions, and, in each line:
• upon encountering a predefined instruction:
• calling a corresponding function in the debugger, the debugger returning a numerical offset value based upon information in the type library, and
• copying each line of the command file to a gopher program output, with each predefined instruction replaced with its corresponding offset value.