US 8,806,430 B1Granted

Renaming instances of an entity in a coding environment

AssigneeThe MathWorks, Inc.

InventorsJoseph Bienkowski, John Booker, Srinath Avadhanula, Vijay Raghavan

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments provide computer-implemented methods, computer-readable media, and systems for changing the identifier associated with an entity, such as a variable or function, in a portion of code. During editing, a reference may be maintained that identifies the location of each instance of the entity in the code. When the identifier associated with one instance of the entity is changed, the change in the identifier may be propagated throughout the code to change each instance of the identifier in the code. The identifier may be changed without interrupting the workflow of the user and without the need to change to a separate refactoring mode. In some embodiments, a syntactical analysis may be performed and some or all instances of the identifier may be changed based on one or more rules.

Claims28

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method comprising:

accessing code using a processor of a computer, the code:
provided in a coding environment, the coding environment supporting an editing mode, and
including:
a first instance of an entity, the first instance of the entity having a first instance identifier, and
a second instance of the entity, the second instance of the entity having a second instance identifier;
monitoring, using the processor, the first instance of the entity and the second instance of the entity during the editing mode, the monitoring comprising:
building an abstract syntax tree,
representing the first instance of the entity as a first token in the abstract syntax tree, and
representing the second instance of the entity as a second token in the abstract syntax tree;
detecting a modified first instance identifier, the modified first instance identifier based on a change in the first instance identifier in the code;
and
automatically changing, using the processor, the second instance identifier to match the modified first instance identifier, the automatically changing comprising:
traversing the abstract syntax tree to locate the second token representing the second instance of the entity, and
changing the second instance identifier of the second instance of the entity based on locating the second token in the abstract syntax tree.

11 more elements

A computer-implemented method comprising:

accessing code using a processor of a computer, the code:
provided in a coding environment, and
including:
a first instance of an entity, the first instance of the entity having a first instance identifier, and
a second instance of an entity, the second instance of the entity having a second instance identifier;
providing a set of rules, the set of rules comprising:
a first rule for:
identifying a context related to a change in the first instance identifier, and
prompting a change to the second instance identifier based on the change in the first instance identifier when the context is satisfied;
monitoring, using the processor, the first instance of the entity and the second instance of the entity while in an editing mode of the coding environment, the monitoring comprising:
accessing an abstract syntax tree,
tokenizing the first instance of the entity when the first instance of the entity is created to generate a first token in the abstract syntax tree,
tokenizing the second instance of the entity when the second instance of the entity is created to generate a second token in the abstract syntax tree, and
maintaining the first token and the second token in a memory while the code is being edited;
detecting a modified first instance identifier in the code, the modified first instance identifier based on a change associated with the first instance identifier;
locating the second token in the memory, the locating comprising:
traversing the abstract syntax tree to locate the second token representing the second instance of the entity;
determining a context in which the first instance identifier is changed;
comparing the determined context to the first rule;
and
changing, based on the comparing, the second instance identifier based on the locating of the second token in the abstract syntax tree.

18 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable medium holding instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
provide code, the code:
provided in a coding environment, and
including:
a first instance of an entity, the first instance of the entity having a first instance identifier, and
a second instance of an entity, the second instance of the entity having a second instance identifier;
monitor the first instance of the entity and the second instance of the entity while in an editing mode of the coding environment, the monitoring comprising:
accessing an abstract syntax tree,
representing the first instance of the entity as a first token in the abstract syntax tree, and
representing the second instance of the entity as a second token in the abstract syntax tree;
and
detecting a modified first instance identifier, the modified first instance identifier being based on a change associated with the first instance identifier;
and
automatically change the second instance identifier to match the modified first instance identifier, the automatically changing performed in response to the detecting, the automatically changing comprising:
traversing the abstract syntax tree to locate the second token representing the second instance of the entity, and
changing the second instance identifier based on locating the second token in the abstract syntax tree.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.