Assist program for operating a debug program in conjunction with a user program

Claim 1

In a data processing system which contains an assist program for enabling operation of a debug program with a user program, said debug program requiring program parameters and file data from said user program in order to operate in conjunction therewith, said assist program performing a method which comprises the steps of: displaying a menu of debug functions that are performable in conjunction with said user program, said displayed debug functions in said menu including timing an entire program, timing a subroutine in a program, timing a do-loop, computation of relative program segment execution times, and computing frequency of execution of statements or do-loops; automatically responding to a user's selection of a displayed debug function by extracting from said user program, parameters required for the operation of said debug function in conjunction with said user program, and placing said parameters in a format usable by said debug program; and employing said parameters to construct input files for said debug program which include a command list required for said debug program to perform a displayed debug function in conjunction with said user program, and further define which program sequences within said user program are to be acted upon by said debug function; and causing execution of said debug function by employing said command list to operate upon said indicated program sequences of said user program.