Recovery and reconstruction

During the Recovery and Reconstruction phase, you typically begin with a program in object or executable format. Using the Disassembler, and by providing suitable control statements, you can create an assembler language source program with as much structure and symbolic labeling as you like.

Figure 1. Toolkit Feature: Recovery and Reconstruction Phase

┌───────────┐     ┌──────────────┐   ┌───────────┐        Recovered
│Lost source│     │              │   │ Assembler │        Assembler
│(object or ├──┬─→┤ Disassembler ├──→┤ Language  ├─→─┬──→ Language
│executable)│  │  │              │   │ Source    │   │    Source Code
└───────────┘  │  └──────────────┘   └───────────┘   │
               ↑                                     ↓
               │    ┌────────────────────┐      ┌────┴────┐
               │    │ Inspect assembly,  │      │         │
               └─←──┤ create appropriate ├←─────┤  HLASM  │
                    │ control statements │      │         │
                    └────────────────────┘      └─────────┘

Repeat the disassembly/analysis/description/assembly cycle until you obtain satisfactory assembler language source code.

The initial steps do not require reassembly of the generated assembler language source, as appropriate control statements are enerally easy to determine from the Disassembler listing. As the recovered program approaches its final form, you should assemble it with HLASM to ensure the validity of your new source program.