Static analysis of PostScript code

Author

Horspool, R. Nigel ; Vitek, Jan

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Sci., Victoria Univ., BC, Canada

fYear

1992

fDate

20-23 Apr 1992

Firstpage

14

Lastpage

23

Abstract

It is pointed out that stack-based languages, such as PostScript, present a major challenge to static analysis techniques because of their almost unlimited polymorphism. A regular expression notation that is used to represent allowed combinations of types on the stack at different points in a PostScript program is introduced. An abstract interpretation algorithm can then be used to perform static-type analysis. The analysis has applications in detecting probable errors in the PostScript code or, ultimately, in permitting full or partial compilation of portions of code

Keywords

page description languages; system monitoring; PostScript; abstract interpretation algorithm; partial compilation; probable errors; regular expression notation; stack-based languages; static analysis techniques; static-type analysis; unlimited polymorphism; Algorithm design and analysis; Command languages; Computer languages; Computer science; Graphics; Page description languages; Performance analysis; Rendering (computer graphics); Trademarks;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Computer Languages, 1992., Proceedings of the 1992 International Conference on

Conference_Location

Oakland, CA

Print_ISBN

0-8186-2585-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICCL.1992.185464

Filename

185464