How to reconstruct type and data structure in disassembled C/C++ program?

Question

I have made a binary executable file disassembled using disassembler like IDA Pro. Now, I plan to recognize type and data structure information as much as possible. Is there any resource reference or ideas to help me finish the task?

Thank you!~

EDIT:

Thanks very much for tips below. Besides type and data structure information, any ideas about class object recognition?

Answer 1

The already mentioned Reversing: Secrets of Reverse engineering by Eldad Eilam has some nice descriptions of how various control flow and data structures look in the assembly. However, since you specifically mention classes, I would like to plug my article on Visual C++ implementation. A lot of it applies to other compilers as well.

BTW, I would recommend starting with small functions/classes and identifying them in the binary. If you are using Visual C++ and compile your code with debug info (Debug build or /Zi on command line), IDA (at least recent versions) will detect and offer to load the PDB symbols. That will make identification of your code easier.

Answer 2

This is practically impossible; adequate information simply does not exist in the file after compilation.

You need to walk through the disassembly by hand at run-time and try to decipher the numbers yourself.