# e-Knife: Erlang slicing with the Expression Dependence Graph
You can find more details and contact information at the project's [homepage](https://kaz.dsic.upv.es/e-knife/).
This project consists of three modules:
* e-Knife: the frontend for the EDG, which implements the necessary tools to slice Erlang programs.
* EDG: the generic library that implements the graph and slicing techniques.
* Miscellaneous: various shared utilities.
## Build
Requirements: Java ≥ 11, Erlang/OTP 24, Maven and Make.
Just run `make release` to generate the zipped release `e-knife-VERSION.zip`.
You'll also find it unzipped in the `dist` folder, ready to be run.
## Run
Requirements: Java ≥ 11 and Erlang/OTP 24
The release version contains a jar file and a folder (`ebin`) with additional resources.
It is important to keep them in the same directory.
You'll probably want to generate slices, so you should run e-Knife. Run it without args
to obtain a list and explanation of arguments.
```
java -jar path/to/eknife.jar
```
For example, to slice `test.erl` with the slicing criterion `5, Res` and save the slice
to `test-sliced.erl`, you can use the following command:
```
java -jar path/to/eknife.jar -i test.erl -l 5 -v Res -o test-sliced.erl
```
### View the sliced graph
To produce a graph, you must specify the optional argument `-G`.
In non-trivial programs, the graph can be too complicated to be useful.
You can either:
1. Customize the arcs that are printed. To do so, modify the variables at the
beginning of the `DotFactory` class in the `EDG` module, and then
[rebuild the project](#build).
2. Output the graph to a dot file, and then manually delete unwanted arcs and/or
use an interactive graphviz viewer, such as [XDot][xdot].
[xdot]: https://github.com/jrfonseca/xdot.py
## Import into an IDE
In most Java IDEs you'll find an option to import an existing Maven project, and
thus load the project structure and settings from the `pom.xml` files.
Otherwise, you can treat each folder (EDG, e-Knife and Miscellanea) as a
separate module, with the following dependencies:
* e-Knife requires EDG and Miscellanea.
* EDG requires Miscellanea.
* Miscellanea has no dependencies.
You'll need to run `make beams` to compile the necessary Erlang files before running the program.
## License
This project is licensed under GNU Affero Public License (Version 3.0), with the exception of the
`jinterface` files, placed under `e-Knife/src/com/ericsson`, which are the property of Ericsson AB
and are licensed under the Apache License (Version 2.0).
You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero Public License along with this program.
If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses.
## Troubleshooting
### I can't use/install Erlang/OTP 24
Part of the process requires some communication with an Erlang process. To
that end, the `jinterface` library must match the version of Erlang installed
in your machine. If your installation of Erlang is not OTP 24, you should replace
the bundled `jinterface` library with the one from your Erlang installation.
Before running `make`, replace the package `com.ericsson.otp.erlang` from
`e-Knife/src` with the one from your Erlang distribution,
at `lib/jinterface-VERSION/java_src`.
Your Erlang distribution will most likely be installed at `/usr/lib/erlang`,
`/usr/local/lib/erlang`, `~/.local/lib/erlang` or `/usr/local/Cellar/erlang/VERSION/lib/erlang`.
As an example:
```bash
pkg="com/ericsson/otp/erlang"
rm -rf e-Knife/src/$pkg
mv /usr/lib/erlang/lib/jinterface-1.12/java_src/$pkg e-Knife/src/$pkg
```
Finally, [rebuild the project](#build).
### UnsupportedClassVersionError: eknife/EKnife has been compiled by a more recent version of the Java Runtime
e-Knife requires at least Java 11. Your version may be lower. You can check it
by running `java -version`. To install a more modern version, check the instructions
below, according to your operating system.
Linux
Search your package manager for a JDK (typically `openjdk`) with at least version 11.
If you don't know how to search or install packages, you can check [pkgs.org][pkgs-jdk].
macOS
Follow [this guide][java-install-macos].
Windows
Download and install the Microsoft build (.msi) from [their site][w10-java-download].
Linux
Install the package `erlang` with the package manager included in your system.
If you don't know how to install packages, you can check [pkgs.org][pkgs-erlang].
macOS
Use your favourite package manager:
* Homebrew: `brew install erlang`
* MacPorts: `port install erlang`
Windows
You can download the Erlang/OTP installer from [Erlang Solutions][erlang-solutions].