This section describes how gmStudio performs translations and also introduces the concepts involved with "tuning the translation" configuration to produce .NET codes that conform to your specific technical requirements.
The translation process is automatic and runs by default every time you click the [Upgrade] button. The discussion here is to help you understand a little about what happens behind the scenes so you will be comfortable customizing and improving the translation process.
In gmStudio, the translation of each migration task proceeds in 3 steps:
Inside the gmBasic process, the transformation of a source codebase to a target codebase proceeds in 8 steps as directed by the actual translation script and all files that specify the migration configuration:
Every step in the transformation process can be directed in various ways by modifying the translator configuration. The primary means of modifying the translator configuration is through Translation Scripts.
A crucial feature of gmStudio is flexibility: the details of the translation process can be controlled by the user. Taking advantage of this flexibility allows migration teams to reduce and eliminate manual effort that would otherwise be needed to finish the work of a large migration. The process of improving the translation process is referred to as "Translation Tuning" and it is done in an iterative fashion by making incremental changes to the translation rules and settings and then comparing the results of each successive generation of the .NET code. During translation tuning, the features of gmStudio you will use the most are translating, snapshotting/comparing, and searching the codes and configuration to incrementally analyze migration problems and implement their solutions.
The translation process is started when you select [Run Translation] from the migration Task Context Menu.
The actual translation script, the translation log, and the target code are all saved in the workspace\log folder which is also the working directory for gmBasic. gmBasic also creates a semantic model (.VBI) file that contains detailed information about the symbols and operations performed by the source code. All of these files remain in the working directory for future review and analysis.