US 7,454,746 B2Granted

Function call translation

AssigneeThe MathWorks, Inc.

InventorsJohn T. Micco, William M. McKeeman, Brett Baker, Michael Karr

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Abstract

Methods and apparatus for using description information about a function to translate a call to the function in a first language into a call to a corresponding function in a second language. The methods include create description information from a definition of a function associated with a first language that enables translation of a call to the function in the first language into a call to a corresponding function in a second language without requiring processing of the definition of the function. In one aspect, the methods include providing a description file of items, each item including description information about a function associated with a first language, and using the file of description items to translate a first program file from the first language into a second language.

Claims25

Dependent claims

In a computing device, a method comprising:

providing a first function in a first programming language in a library file;
deriving a definition of the first function;
creating description information about the first function using the definition of the first function;
translating the first function in the first programming language into a corresponding function in a second programming language using the definition of the first function;
generating a function library containing the corresponding function in the second programming language;
creating description file from the library file, the description file including the description information about the first function in the library file, the description information enabling translation of a call to the first function in the first programming language into a call to a corresponding function in the second programming language while avoiding accessing the first function in the first programming language for the translation;
storing the function library and the description file;
translating a first file in the first programming language to a corresponding file in the second programming language, the first file comprising one or more calls to the first function, the translating comprising:
accessing the description information about the first function for each of the one or more calls to the first function;
using the description information to create each of the one more calls to the corresponding function in the second programming language while avoiding accessing the first function;
and
including the corresponding function in the second programming language from the function library as part of the corresponding file in the second programming language.

9 more elements

In a computing device, a method comprising:

providing a library file including functions defined by a first programming language;
creating a function library, the function library including one or more functions defined by a second programming language, each function in the function library being a translated version of a function in the library file;
creating a description file from the library file, the description file including description information about each function in the library file, the description information enabling translation of a call to the function in the first programming language into a call to a corresponding function in the second programming language while avoiding accessing the function in the first programming language for each translation;
storing the function library and the description file;
and
translating a program file from the first programming language into the second programming language using the description file and the function library to produce a translated file, the program file in the first programming language comprising one or more calls to a selected function among the functions in the library file, the translating comprising:
retrieving the description information for the selected function from the library file,
examining the description information for the selected function to determine a corresponding function in the second programming language that is in the function library,
translating each call to the selected function in the first programming language into a call to the corresponding function in the second programming language in the translated file;
and
including the corresponding function in the second programming language from the function library as part of the translated file.

8 more elements

A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for creating a data file, the product comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

obtain a first function in a first programming language in a library file;
derive a definition of the first function;
create description information about the first function using the definition of the first function;
translate the first function in the first programming language into a corresponding function in a second programming language using the definition of the first function;
generate a function library containing the corresponding function in the second programming language;
create a description file from the library file, the description including the description information about the first function in the library file, the description information enabling translation of a call to the first function in the first programming language into a call to a corresponding function in the second programming language while avoiding accessing the first function in the first programming language for the translation;
store the function library and file description;
translate a first file in the first programming language to a corresponding file in the second programming language, the first file comprising one or more calls to the first function, said translating causing the processor to:
access the description information about the first function for each of the one or more calls to the first function;
use the description information to create a call to the corresponding function in the second programming language while avoiding accessing the first function;
and
include the corresponding function in the second programming language from the function library as part of the corresponding file in the second programming language.

9 more elements

A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for translating function calls, the product comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

provide a library file including functions defined by a first programming language;
create a function library, the function library including one or more functions defined by a second programming language, each function in the function library being a translated version of a function in the library file;
create the description file from the library file, the description file including description information about each function in the library file, the description information enabling translation of a call to the function in the first programming language into a call to a corresponding function in the second programming language in a manner that avoids accessing the function in the first programming language for each translation;
store the function library and the description file in a storage;
and
translate a program file from the first programming language into the second programming language using the description file and the function library to produce a translated file, the program file in the first programming language comprising one or more calls to a selected function among the functions in the library file, the translating causing the processor to:
retrieve the description information for the selected function from the library file,
examine the description information for the selected function to determine a corresponding function in the second programming language that is in the function library,
translate each call to the selected function in the first programming language into a call to the corresponding function in the second programming language in the translated file;
and
including the corresponding function in the second programming language from the function library as part of the translated file.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.