Hewlett-packard Company

Gary A Coutant

Joseph A Coha

Richard R Rupp

A compiler-linker software system translates a source code file into a machine executable code file. The compiler converts source code files to corresponding object code files. The linker converts the object code files to machine executable code files and tables required for execution. For each procedure, the linker derives one or more tables and one of the tables is a line number table. The line number table identifies the offset of a block of machine executable codes in the procedure with their corresponding source code line number. The construction of the line number table at link-time, not at compile-time, enables all changes to the sequences of machine executable codes and addresses to be accommodated without requiring supplemental processing of the line number table. The line number table includes a first entry showing the offset from the start address of the machine executable codes to the first machine executable code generated by the first source code line, a second entry showing the line number of the first source code line, and subsequent pairs of entries. One entry of a pair is the numeric difference between succeeding source code line numbers. The other is the difference between the offsets of the machine executable codes generated by the corresponding succeeding source code lines.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Gary A Coutant