A Framework for File Flow Analysis

As modern software systems today are becoming more complex, so is the process of building those systems. Developers can waste many hours trying to build software only to have it fail during the process. By analyzing the effects that build scripts have on a system's file structure it is possible to determine if a build script could execute successfully without errors. Looking at the elemental functions of a file structure, such as creating, removing and copying files, it is possible to analyze these functions to construct preconditions and postconditions for a system. We have developed a universal grammar that other build script languages can be reduced to express these elemental functions. Using these preconditions and postconditions generated by our framework we can show what an ideal file structure may look like before and after a build script is executed. By using the results produced by our framework it is possible to ensure successful execution, code transplantation, identify dependency issues and warn against potential errors.