I lost the Source Code

[onalethata]

I had a C progam that was designed for us by a consultant. We had a source code and an executable. The source code was temporarily placed in temp fodler (/tmp) of a Unix box. The source code was lost when the Unix box was restarted. I was told that there is not way it can be recovered. I have some changes that i want to do but because I only have the executable, It is a problem. The consultant who did the code is late.... no one has the source code. Is there a way I can convert the executable to a source code?? Or any help I can get??

[Salem]

> The source code was temporarily placed in temp fodler (/tmp) of a Unix box
So where did it come from? It didn't spontaneously appear there, it must have been copied from somewhere else.

Eg.
From: Consultant
To: you
Subject: code
Find attached a TAR file with the source code.

So check your email archives.

Or maybe even a CD, or a thumb drive, or an FTP site or your mail hosting ISP or ....

> Is there a way I can convert the executable to a source code?
It's usually quicker to rewrite it from scratch, unless you're also interested in legacy preserving bugs in the old version.
Whilst you can decompile code, the result isn't anything you would want to maintain. It CERTAINLY won't look like the original code.


> I was told that there is not way it can be recovered.
Well that depends on how much time has elapsed since the reboot, and the amount of use of the machine. If you've only just done this, there is a reasonable chance that the data is still on the disk (data sectors will only be overwritten when next allocated for storage).
Reboot, mount the disk read-only and make a clone copy of the disk.
But the longer you leave this option, the less likely you will find your files with a disk sector search.


Linux Ext2fs Undeletion mini-HOWTO

[VirtualAce]

Um...some type of SCM that you back up each night might be in order. If you have it I cannot believe you did not submit the project the instant you downloaded it. But as Salem has suggested I'm sure the consultant has some type of SCM and if you paid for the code then just ask them to re-send it.

[onalethata]

Thanks gys,

The consultant came and retrieved if from his gmail account. We did not have it saved on any media. He was an individual consultant, no partners/co-workers. Like I said, he passed away last year and there is no how we can find his files.

This unix box is used as a test box. We only edit the script, compile and ftp the compiled file to production. Unfortunately, we do not back-up any data/info contained in this box.

I will very much want to try the last option given by Salem. I am not much familiar with Unix OS. How best can I do this Reboot and cloning??

Once again, thanks for your help.

[VirtualAce]

We did not have it saved on any media.

Then I guess this is one painful lesson you won't soon forget.

[laserlight]

I will very much want to try the last option given by Salem. I am not much familiar with Unix OS. How best can I do this Reboot and cloning??

Salem also provided a link.

[onalethata]

Sorry, I found the link after posting the reply. Will go through the doceument.

Thank All,

[EVOEx]

> I was told that there is not way it can be recovered.
Well that depends on how much time has elapsed since the reboot, and the amount of use of the machine. If you've only just done this, there is a reasonable chance that the data is still on the disk (data sectors will only be overwritten when next allocated for storage).
Reboot, mount the disk read-only and make a clone copy of the disk.
But the longer you leave this option, the less likely you will find your files with a disk sector search.


Linux Ext2fs Undeletion mini-HOWTO

Hmmm it depends also on how /tmp is mounted. I believe that usually or at least sometimes it's stored in memory rather than disk. Not always though. If it was stored in memory, it's completely gone.
Try "mount" on the server and copy the line that has /tmp, if any. If none, then you might be able to recover it.

[dennis714]

I can try to help you to reverse engineer what you have.
CONUS.INFO

[VirtualAce]

Closed.

Please don't bump old threads.