A Tool for the Maintenance of C++ Programs

This paper describes a tool that helps programmers understand object-oriented software systems written in C++, a language that is expected to gain widespread use in industry. This task is accomplished by providing information about the set of classes and files comprising the system and the relationships among them. The tool described enables its users to easily browse through the system based on the relations among its classes, files and even identifiers. In addition, the flexible use of global text styles enhances the readability of the source code. The second part of the paper describes some details about the implementation of the tool. In particular, problems are mentioned that arise when performing static analysis of C++ programs. This analysis is necessary for obtaining information needed about the program system. The primary goal of developing the tool has been to support software maintenance, but its use is in no way limited to that process.