The DSDS is a useful tool to the maintainer. It provides a new graphical dimension to the already powerful textual interface of the Surgeon's Assistant. The visualization of the slices on variables gives the maintainer a good idea of how data elements in the program affect each other.
Figure 3 shows a run of the DSDS on the program wc, whose source is shown in Figure 4. From the figure, one can easily see that the slices on variables nc, nl, and nw, all contain the slice of variable c, and that the slice of variable inword also contains the slice of variable c. This information allows the maintainer to make decisions about what to change. For example, the maintainer who wishes to change the slice of variable nc may decide against it, if he does not wish to affect the slice of variable c.
Copyright © 1994, 1995 Keith B. Gallagher, Bradley M. Kuhn, Dennis J. Smith.
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