Recover perl source from PerlApp executable

rcordoni has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Recently I lost the perl source to some complicated scripts I wrote. I have a backup but it doesn't include several months of sporadic changes and bug fixes that would take me a long time to rewrite. Now there are indications that further changes are required and I am looking for a way to get back my source as quickly as possible without forcing users through a rewrite/test/fix cycle. I also have the working perlapp compiled executables that were compiled with perlapp 7.x (I think 7.3 but not completely sure). I found on Perl Monks a sample script that would retrieve the perl source from a perlapp executable written by Excors for perlapp 5.3. Does anybody know how to bring this script up to date to work with perlapp 7.3? Ray Cordoni

Comment on Recover perl source from PerlApp executable

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Re: Recover perl source from PerlApp executable by GrandFather (Saint) on Dec 12, 2008 at 00:46 UTC
Replies to Help recovering some source code from activestate perlapp 5.3.0, decompile perlapp 4.1, Decompile PerlApp and PerlApp decompile? may be of help. A common theme is "how can we be sure you are decompiling your own code" so the answers are generally somewhat circumspect. Perl's payment curve coincides with its learning curve.	[reply]
Re^2: Recover perl source from PerlApp executable by rcordoni (Initiate) on Dec 17, 2008 at 01:42 UTC
Thank you for the links. I found these already and they are helpfull if my PerlApp was 5.3. As to how anyone can be sure that the code is mine, it has embedded in the executable the comment "Author: Ray Cordoni" as well as my Company name. The code is quite worthless to anybody or anything but the project it was designed for - being mostly a complicated merging of directory data from diverse sources. It seems that some answers suggest that Activestate will not help. I will test that theory by submitting a support request to Activestate. Thanks again	[reply]
Re: Recover perl source from PerlApp executable by planetscape (Chancellor) on Dec 12, 2008 at 19:31 UTC
Going forward, think Revision control... (Personally, I really like TortoiseSVN. Thanks, GrandFather!) You may also wish to have a look at the thread: My preferred version control system is.... HTH, planetscape	[reply]