JP2000227884A - Download control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a download control system with which plural programs can be simultaneously downloaded and efficient loading is enabled without requiring a mass storage device for a device on the side of providing a program. SOLUTION: A first processor 30 is provided with a program file storage means 302 for storing a program file, for which a load program is made correspondent to a load destination ID code, a program file reading means 301 for reading the program file and a transfer means 303 for transferring the read program file. A second processor is provided with a receiving means 201 for receiving the program file, an extracting means 202 for extracting a load program addressed to the present device from the received program file and a download means 204 for downloading the extracted load program.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a download control system for downloading a program from a first processing device to a second processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A program to be downloaded is a CD.
-A processing device without a CD-ROM drive, which is often supplied from a relatively large-capacity storage medium such as a ROM, must obtain a program to be downloaded via a communication line. In addition, when a plurality of processing apparatuses download their own programs via a communication line, if a wrong program is downloaded, this may cause runaway or malfunction. Therefore, when downloading a program via a communication line, the operator needs to be very careful to ensure that only a predetermined program is downloaded to each processing device.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-305409, when a program is downloaded from a first processing device to a second processing device, the first processing device downloads the program. The download destination is specified for each target program.

[0004]

The above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. (1) If the first processing device incorrectly associates the download target program with the download destination, the wrong program will be downloaded. (2) In the first processing device, since the program to be downloaded must be associated with the download destination and only the program corresponding to the download destination must be downloaded to the download destination, a unique and complicated process for that is executed. And a general-purpose processing device cannot be used. (3) Since the download destination device is uniquely associated with the download target program, a plurality of programs cannot be downloaded simultaneously to one device. (4) Even if the program provided to each device to be loaded is a similar program that is partially the same, since each program must be stored in the complete form and transferred separately, the host device must It requires a large-capacity storage device and has low loading efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to use a general-purpose machine as a first processing device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a download control system which can download a plurality of programs at the same time, and in which the program providing side does not require a large-capacity storage device and enables efficient loading.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a download control system for downloading a predetermined program from a first processing device to a second processing device. There is a feature in taking the.

(1) A second processing device includes a receiving unit for receiving a program file including a plurality of programs, and an extracting unit for selectively extracting a load program assigned to the own device from the received program file. Download means for downloading the extracted load program.

According to the above feature (1), each second processing device can selectively download all of the load programs addressed to itself from a plurality of load programs included in the program file.

(2) The program file transferred from the first processing device includes a load program divided into a plurality of load program pieces, and the second processing device synthesizes at least a part of each load program piece. Including a synthesis means that performs

According to the above feature (2), if a plurality of types of load programs can be constructed by appropriately combining any of the plurality of load program pieces, each load program forms a part of the program. Since it can be shared as a load program piece, the first processing device does not need to hold a plurality of types of load programs in a complete state, and does not need to transfer them in a complete state.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of a download control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, a first processing device 30 converts a plurality of second processing devices 20 (20A, 20B, 20C...). A predetermined program is downloaded to.

The first processing device 30 comprises a program file storage means 302 for storing at least one load program in a program file associated with a load destination ID code for specifying the load destination, and the program file storage means. A program file reading means 301 for reading a program file from the memory 302 and a transfer means 303 for transferring the read program file using an appropriate communication protocol such as IEEE1284 or TCP / IP. The program file storage means 302 can store a plurality of different program files. In this case, the program file reading means 301 selectively reads only a predetermined program file and supplies it to the transfer means 303.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the first processing device 30 only needs to read and transfer a program file stored in advance, and does not require complicated and unique processing operations. Can be replaced by a machine.

Here, the structure of the program file transferred from the first processing device 30 to the second processing device 10 and a method of generating the program file will be described. FIG. 9 shows the first processing device 3 which generates the program file in advance and
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a main part of the file generation device 10 that provides the file generation unit 0 to the file generation unit 10;

The file generating device 10 stores a plurality of load programs (LP) in a program storage unit 101.
An input / output terminal 102 for inputting a program ID code as identification information for specifying a load program and a load destination ID code as identification information for specifying a second processing device to be loaded; Information detecting means 107 for detecting a load program, a program selecting means 103 for selecting a load program from the program storage means 101 based on a program ID code for specifying a load program, and at least one selected load program. Load destination I that specifies the load destination
Program file generating means 104 for generating a program file in association with the D code; license information adding means 105 for adding license information to a load program requiring a license contract; output means 106 for outputting the generated program file And

The program storage means 101 stores a plurality of load program pieces 3 (a), 3 () together with a complete load program that can be executed independently, such as load programs (LP) 1, 2,. Load programs divided and stored in b1) and 3 (b2) are also stored. This load program is either a combination of the program pieces 3 (a) and 3 (b1) or a combination of the program pieces 3 (a) and 3 (b2) depending on the second processing device to be loaded. Programs 3a and 3b.

Such load programs 3a, 3b
Is used when a load program is provided to a plurality of load destinations having the same basic configuration and slightly different specifications depending on the presence or absence of an optional function. For example, if the second processing apparatuses 20A and 20B are printer apparatuses having the same basic specifications but different sorter functions, a common program piece 3 (a) includes a part for controlling the parts related to the basic specifications of each apparatus. An algorithm is registered, and a unique control algorithm is registered in each of the program pieces 3 (b1) and 3 (b2) according to the presence or absence of the sorter function.

Then, each of the second processing units 20A, 20B
When each of the load programs 3a and 3b is downloaded, three load program pieces 3 (a), 3 (b1),
A program file including (b2) is generated in advance by the file generation device 10 and provided to the first processing device 30. The first processing device 30 includes three load program pieces 3 (a),
The second processing device 20A reads out and sends out a program file including 3 (b1) and 3 (b2), and the second processing device 20A executes the program pieces 3 (a),
3 (b1), and the second processing unit 20B takes in the program pieces 3 (a) and 3 (b2). This allows
Since the first processing device 30 does not need to hold the common program piece 3 (1) redundantly, the storage area can be effectively used and the amount of transfer data can be reduced.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the file generating apparatus 10 described above. Step S11,
At 12, a program ID code for specifying the load program and a load destination ID code for specifying the load destination of the load program are input from the input / output terminal 102 by the operator. In step S13,
The load program corresponding to the input program ID code is selectively read from the program storage unit 101 by the program selection unit 103.

When the same load program is to be downloaded to a plurality of load destinations, all the load destination ID codes of each load destination are inputted. Also, the load program 3a divided into a plurality of load program pieces
[Load program fragment 3 (a) + load program fragment 3 (b
1)], it is not necessary for the operator to individually specify each of the load program pieces 3 (a) and 3 (b1). If the operator inputs the program ID code corresponding to the load program 3a, 3 (a) and 3 (b1) are specified at the same time. Similarly, when the load program 3b [load program piece 3 (a) + load program piece 3 (b2)] is designated, if the program ID code corresponding to the load program 3b is inputted, the load program piece 3
(a) and 3 (b2) are specified at the same time.

In step S14, it is determined whether there is another program to be downloaded. If there is another program, the process returns to step S11 to repeat the above-described processing. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, a program file is generated by the program file generating means 104 based on the load program selected so far and its load destination.

If the download of each load program is to be permitted only to the device for which a license contract has been concluded, in step S16, the license information adding means 105 transmits the information to that effect to the load program of each load program. It is added to the header, etc.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 are diagrams schematically showing the structure of a program file generated by the file generation device 10 as described above and thereafter provided to the first processing device 30 and stored. is there.

FIG. 3 shows a load program (LP) at the beginning.
1 program ID code and second processing device 20A
, And then the program ID code of the load program 2 and the second processing device 2
The figure shows the structure of a program file generated when a load destination ID code of 0B is input, and further a program ID code of the load program 4 and a load destination ID code of the second processing device 20C are input.

FIG. 4 shows the program ID code of the load program 1 and the second processing units 20A and 20C.
4 shows the structure of a program file generated when the load destination ID code is input, and then the program ID code of the load program 2 and the load destination ID code of the second processing device 20B are input. Thus, the same load program 1 can be simultaneously downloaded to a plurality of devices 20A and 20B by one transfer operation.

FIG. 5 shows that the program ID code of the load program 3a and the load destination ID code of the second processing unit 20A are input first, and then the load program 3a is loaded.
b program ID code and second processing device 20B
3 shows the structure of a program file generated when the load destination ID code is input. In the example of FIG. 5, the load programs 3 (a) and 3 (b) are stored in the second processing device 20A.
1) is downloaded, and the load programs 3 (a) and 3 (b2) are downloaded to the second processing device 20B.

Returning to FIG. 1, the second processing device 20 is assigned to its own device from the file receiving means 201 for receiving the program file transferred from the first processing device 30 and the received program file. Extracting means 202 for selectively extracting a load program corresponding to a load destination ID code matching the device ID code; synthesizing means 205 for synthesizing the extracted load program pieces to reproduce the load program; and extracting from the program file Determining means 206 for determining the validity of the loaded program and the load program fragment, and a license for determining whether or not each load program has a license contract with its own device based on the license information registered in the program file. The judgment means 207 and the extracted program And a download unit 204 to download the ram memory means 203.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second processing unit 20 described above. Second processing device 20
Then, in step S21, the file receiving unit 201
Receives the program file and completes the reception in step S22. In step S23, the extraction unit 202 extracts and temporarily stores the load program associated with the load destination ID code corresponding to the device ID of the own device. .

When a program or data is pasted on a memory, a sum check range exceeding a storage range of a program or the like is previously set to “0” data so that no error occurs during a sum check after pasting. Pre-processing called so-called “zero-filling” is required after filling and pasting. As a result, the amount of data transferred from the first processing device 30 also increases by the amount of the filled "0". Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the temporary storage area 202a on the extracting means 202 to which the extracted load program is pasted is filled with "0" in advance to form a zero-fill area. By attaching the program, the zero padding process in the first processing device 30 is eliminated.

If a load program associated with the load destination ID code that matches the device ID of the own device cannot be extracted, and this is detected in step S24, the process proceeds to step S29, and the process proceeds to step S29. Is executed and the process is terminated.

If there is a load program and a load program piece associated with each other, in step S25, a transfer error determination (sum check) is performed on the extracted load program and the like by the determination unit 206, and a transfer error is recognized. If a transfer error is detected, the process proceeds to step S29. If no transfer error is found, the process proceeds to step S26. As described above, in the present embodiment, validity can be selectively determined only for a program addressed to the own device or a program piece necessary for the own device, so that useless determination processing is unnecessary.

In step S26, it is determined whether or not the extracted load program needs to be synthesized. If a plurality of load program pieces have been extracted, step S27 is executed.
Then, the respective load program pieces are combined by the combining means 205 to construct one load program. In step S28, the load program extracted as described above is downloaded to the program storage unit 203 by the download unit 204.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the second processing device 20 can selectively download all of the load programs addressed to itself from the plurality of load programs included in the program file. ,
A plurality of programs addressed to the own device can be downloaded simultaneously by one download operation.

Further, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of load programs 3a, 3b can be constructed by appropriately combining the plurality of load program pieces 3 (a), 3 (b1), 3 (b1). By doing, each load program 3a,
3b can share the load program piece 3 (a). Therefore, the first processing device 30 does not need to hold a plurality of types of load programs in an intact state. This prevents not only duplicate storage of the programs, but also eliminates the need to repeatedly transfer the overlapping portions, thereby reducing the transfer time. Shortening is possible.

In the embodiment described above, as described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Although it has been described that the program destined for the own device is extracted (step S23) after all the programs are received in 21 and 22, the receiving operation (step S21a) and the extracting operation (step S21a) are performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. Step S22b) may be performed substantially in parallel, and the extraction operation may proceed while discarding programs other than those destined for the own device.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the following effects are achieved. (1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the second processing device reads a plurality of load programs included in the program file
Since all of the load programs addressed to the own device can be selectively downloaded, a plurality of programs addressed to the own device can be simultaneously downloaded by one download operation. Moreover, the first processing device only needs to transfer the same program file to a plurality of second processing devices that require different load programs. Can be used. (2) According to the invention of claim 2, a plurality of types of load programs can be constructed by appropriately combining any of the plurality of load program pieces.
Since each load program can share a part of the program as a load program piece, the first processing device does not need to duplicately store the common portion of the program and does not need to repeatedly transfer the duplicated portion. (3) According to the invention of claim 3, the same program can be simultaneously downloaded to a plurality of devices by one transfer operation. (4) According to the invention of claim 4, the validity can be selectively determined only for the load program addressed to the own device.
Useless determination processing becomes unnecessary. (5) According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the validity can be selectively determined only for the load program piece necessary for the own device, so that unnecessary determination processing is unnecessary. (6) According to the invention of claim 6, since it is not necessary to fill the sum check range beyond the storage range of the program to be downloaded with the data of "0" in advance and then paste it, the amount of data to be downloaded can be reduced. Can be. (7) According to the invention of claim 7, it is possible to prevent a program without a license contract from being illegally downloaded.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a download control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the file generation device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram (part 1) schematically showing the structure of a program file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram (part 2) schematically showing the structure of a program file.

FIG. 5 is a diagram (part 3) schematically showing the structure of a program file.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a second processing device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method of attaching an extracted program.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating another operation example of the second processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a file generation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: file generation means, 20: second processing device, 30
... First processing device, 101 ... Program storage means, 10
2 ... I / O terminal, 103 ... Program selection means, 104
... program file generating means, 105 ... license information adding means, 106 ... transfer means, 107 ... identification information detecting means, 201 ... file receiving means, 202 ... extracting means,
203: program storage means, 204: download means, 205: synthesis means, 206: determination means, 207: license determination means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shunichi Ota 3-1-1 Honcho, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama WAT SU Building West Building 4F Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Kuramoto 3-1-1 Honcho, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama No. 1 WAT SU Building West Building 4F Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Tetsuya Toi 3-1-1 Honcho, Iwatsuki-shi, Saitama Prefecture WAT SU Building West Building 4F Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. In-house F-term (reference) 5B076 BB06 CA01 5B089 GA11 GA21 GB02 JA32 JB07 KA04 KA08 KA17 KB06 KB13 KC27 KC34 KE02 KE03 MD08

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A download control system for downloading a predetermined program from a first processing device to a second processing device, wherein the first processing device is configured such that at least one load program has a unique program for specifying a load destination of the program. Transferring the program file associated with the load destination identification information, the second processing device receives the program file, and receives the program file from the received program file based on the load destination identification information. A download control system comprising: an extraction unit for selectively extracting a load program assigned to a program; and a download unit for downloading the extracted load program. 2. The program file transferred from the first processing device includes a load program divided into a plurality of load program pieces, and the second processing device stores at least a part of each load program piece. 2. The download control system according to claim 1, further comprising a synthesizing unit for synthesizing and reproducing the load program. 3. The program file transferred from the first processing device includes a load program associated with a plurality of load destination identification information, and the load program is downloaded to a plurality of second processing devices. The download control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. The download control according to claim 1, wherein the second processing device includes a determination unit that determines the validity of the load program extracted from the program file. system. 5. The download control system according to claim 4, wherein said determining means determines the validity of a load program fragment extracted from said program file. 6. The extraction means includes a temporary storage area for temporarily attaching a load program extracted from the program file, and after filling the temporary storage area with zeros in advance, attaches the extracted load program. The download control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: 7. The first processing device adds information related to a license contract to each load program, and the extraction unit refers to the information related to the license contract, and does not extract a load program having no license contract with its own device. The download control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: