Once a PBASIC script has been tokenised and loaded into a processor, can it be read back?
ridgerunner
Posts: 4
At work, we have been using the Basic STAMP processor based OWL2 module from EME Systems (https://emesystems.com/owl2pe/documentation.html).
To edit and load (tokenize) the scripts, we use the DEBUG Terminal from Parallax.
However, the guy who developed our system left the company over a decade ago. To use the scripts, all we needed to do was to change a few values. Because it worked and we were usually working on other new things, no-one really bothered to learn how to programme it properly unitl now - I have a side project to get a 4G modem working with it.
However, our current "problem" is that a couple of folk from our company left and started their own business in direct competition to us. OK, fair enough. We suspect that they have taken every piece of information, both commercial (such as sales contacts and contract info) and technical - they know how all our systems work.
Just recently, they have offered one of our customers a better data delivery sales contract. Again, fair enough. But, when we offered to buy back the dataloggers, they said that they needed them, as the other company can use them to send data to their dataservice.
As far as I am aware, we have never been able to read a script from a processor.
So, this would mean that unless the guy has learned BASIC Stamp in less than a year and written a new set of scripts (plus start the business and build the upstairs to his house and help raise two small kids) and reverse engineered how we connect a PC to the datalogger (this, again, was specific to our company), then he is using our scripts, with just the destination server addresses changed to their own.
So, my question is, as above: If I connected our OWL2 proessor board to my PC with the Parallax BASIC STamp editor, is there any way I can read a script that has been loaded into the processor?
Comments
If by "script" you mean source code, the answer is no. The BASIC Stamp has a very small memory and the tokens are only as big as needed for the instructions. This made the BASIC Stamp very difficult to decompile, which is why there were a lot of work-alikes, but no real clones.
PBASIC is not difficult and this seems the most likely scenario.
I found this old web page that gives you an idea of BASIC Stamp instruction encoding
-- http://www.leapsecond.com/cache/stamp-decode.html
Thank you. That is the information needed.
Now I can concentrate on my project of getting a 4 G modem to work with it
But that's another post, some day...
If your modem will accept AT commands, you should be able to do it. Ages ago I made a little commercial product for Flowtronex PSI that used a stock BS2 processor with a little "ice cube" phone modem that allowed me to send custom message to a user's pager (this was just before cell phones took off).
Yes, it is a serial modem and the manufacturer assures me that it is a drop in replacement for the old one we used to use. However, it isn't quite...
I will most likely make the nessecary screams for help as an when I get my teeth into it
A current link to that product is owl2pe, or OWL2pe_tech_manual.pdf .
It is true what Jon says that it is very difficult to decompile the Stamp tokenized code. It is possible to read back the raw tokens from the eeprom, but very very difficult to figure out where you might make the changes that you need. You can send me a private message on the chance that I have notes about your system, but that is a long shot.
Hello Tracy! I will send you a PM.
We can consider this thread closed. Thanks for the comments.