US5124989A — Method of debugging a computer program

Claim 1

Independent Claim 111 words

A method of locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer; (b) executing a debug command on a line in said program (c) storing said debug command as a record on a debug history tape; (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a debug history tape of said debug commands and said line numbers; (e) executing said stored debug commands by running said debug history tape on said program; and (f) outputting a visual display to a user indicating the line in said program being executed by said debug commands as they are executed a second time.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 111 words

A method of locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer; (b) executing a debug command on a line in said program (c) storing said debug command as a record on a debug history tape; (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) a plurality of times to create a debug history tape of said debug commands and said line numbers; (e) executing said stored debug commands by running said debug history tape on said program; and (f) outputting a visual display to a user indicating the line in said program being executed by said debug commands as they are executed a second time.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 68 words

The method according to claim 1 wherein said debug command is an execution debug command of the type that causes execution of a line in the program and further including the step of: storing the line number of said program that is reached in said program after said execution debug command is executed, said line number being stored in a history point record on said debug history tape.

Claim 4

Independent Claim 46 words

The method according to claim further including the steps of: (a) setting an ending pointer on a debug history record; and (b) executing said stored debug commands by running said debug history tape on said program from said debug history tape's beginning to said ending pointer.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method according to claim 3 wherein each record includes at least one byte indicating the total number of bytes in said record.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 64 words

The method according to claim 2, further including the steps of: (a) comparing said line number arrived at in the execution of said stored debug command with the line number arrived at in a prior execution of said same debug command; and (b) outputting a visual indication to a user if the subsequent line number is not the same as the prior line number.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 43 words

The method according to claim 3 wherein said ending pointer is moved from one record in said history tape to a second record in said history tape by stepping it forward or backward along said tape one history point record at a step.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method according to claim 6 wherein said ending pointer steps from one debug command to a different debug command by examining the number of bytes in a debug record and moving that many bytes along the debug history tape to arrive at the beginning byte of a debug history point.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method according to claim 1, further including: modifying said program to alter its execution; and executing said stored debug commands on said modified program by running said debug history tape on said program.

Claim 10

Independent Claim 209 words

A method of recording debug steps to aid a user in locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer, said software program having numbered lines and an inadvertent error in one of said lines; (b) executing said program until said error halts proper execution; (c) executing a debug command on a line in said program; (d) storing said debug command as a record in a debug history tape; (e) storing the line number in said program that is reached after said debug command is executed, said line number being in a history point record in said tape; (f) repeating steps (b)-(e) a plurality of times to create a debug history tape having said records; (g) setting an ending pointer in said debug history record corresponding to the general region in said program containing said error; (h) executing said stored debug commands on said program by running said commands stored in said debug history record on said program from said beginning pointer to said ending pointer; (i) locating said error in said program; (j) modifying said program in an attempt to correct said error; and (k) executing said program after modifying said program to determine if said error has been eliminated.

Claim 11

Independent Claim 209 words

A method of recording debug steps to aid a user in locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer, said software program having numbered lines and an inadvertent error in one of said lines; (b) executing said program until said error halts proper execution; (c) executing a debug command on a line in said program; (d) storing said debug command as a record in a debug history tape; (e) storing the line number in said program that is reached after said debug command is executed, said line number being in a history point record in said tape; (f) repeating steps (b)-(e) a plurality of times to create a debug history tape having said records; (g) setting an ending pointer in said debug history record corresponding to the general region in said program containing said error; (h) executing said stored debug commands on said program by running said commands stored in said debug history record on said program from said beginning pointer to said ending pointer; (i) locating said error in said program; (j) modifying said program in an attempt to correct said error; and (k) executing said program after modifying said program to determine if said error has been eliminated.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 59 words

The method according to claim 9, further including the steps of: (a) comparing a line number reached following execution of a debug command from said tape with the line number reached following the execution of said same debug command when first executed on said program; and (b) outputting an alarm signal if said line numbers are not the same.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method according to claim 9 wherein each of said history records includes an indication of the type of record.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method according to claim 11 wherein each of said records includes as a last byte an indication of the total number of bytes in said record.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 52 words

The method according to claim 9, further including: (a) moving said ending pointer to a different point in said history record; and (b) executing said stored debug commands on said program by running said commands stored in said debug history record on said program from said tape's beginning to said ending pointer.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method according to claim 9, further including: displaying as an output to the user the line being executed in said program by said debug command simultaneously with executing said debug command.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 86 words

The method according to claim 9, further including: (a) storing said inputs provided by said user in a user tape; and (b) reading said inputs from said user tape when executing said stored debug commands on said program so that the user does not need to provide said inputs during subsequent execution of said program by said debug history tape; and (c) requesting data inputs from a user when executing a debug command on said program, said data inputs being used to execute a program step.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 47 words

The method according to claim 9, further including: adding or deleting a line from said program to change the number for subsequent lines in said program; and changing the line number in said tape to correspond to the same line in said program having a new number.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 111 words

A method of locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer; (b) executing a plurality of debug commands on said program; (c) storing said plurality of debug commands to generate a debug history tape; (d) outputting as a display to said user a program line being executed by each of said debug commands as they are executed; (f) executing said stored debug commands a second time by running said debug history record on said program; and (g) outputting as a display to said user a program line being executed by each of said debug commands as they are executed a second time.

Claim 20

Independent Claim 111 words

A method of locating and correcting errors in a software program, comprising: (a) inputting a software program into a computer; (b) executing a plurality of debug commands on said program; (c) storing said plurality of debug commands to generate a debug history tape; (d) outputting as a display to said user a program line being executed by each of said debug commands as they are executed; (f) executing said stored debug commands a second time by running said debug history record on said program; and (g) outputting as a display to said user a program line being executed by each of said debug commands as they are executed a second time.

Claim 21

Independent Claim 105 words

An apparatus for executing debug commands from a debug tape memory, comprising: a microprocessor means for executing program lines of a software program and debug commands; a program memory means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for storing executable program lines; a debug tape memory means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for storing debug commands executable on said program lines, said electrical coupling permitting said microprocessor to execute said stored debug commands on said program lines; and an output means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for indicating to a user when said debug command from said memory is executed on said program line.

Claim 22

Independent Claim 105 words

An apparatus for executing debug commands from a debug tape memory, comprising: a microprocessor means for executing program lines of a software program and debug commands; a program memory means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for storing executable program lines; a debug tape memory means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for storing debug commands executable on said program lines, said electrical coupling permitting said microprocessor to execute said stored debug commands on said program lines; and an output means electrically coupled to said microprocessor means for indicating to a user when said debug command from said memory is executed on said program line.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 33 words

The apparatus according to claim 18, further including a user input memory means that is addressable by said microprocessor means for storing values input by a user for use in said program lines.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1995-06-23	1995-12-23	1996-06-23	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1999-06-23	1999-12-23	2000-06-23	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2003-06-23	2003-12-23	2004-06-23	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Method of debugging a computer program

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