JP2001325107A - Method for updating information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information updating method capable of shortening communication time in the case of updating information to be updated in a terminal in accordance with updating step information acquired by communication. SOLUTION: The terminal 1 is PPP connected to a server 2, acquires a version management table and disconnects the PPP connection. Communication time can be shorted by performing version comparing processing in a non- communication state between the terminal 1 and the server 2, so that a communication rate also can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information updating method for updating information to be updated of a terminal in accordance with update stage information relating to an update stage obtained by communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent improvement in communication speed in data communication, floppy (registered trademark) disks and CD-Rs have been developed.
An information updating method of updating information such as a program performed via a recording medium such as an OM by using information downloaded via a communication line with a server is employed.

FIG. 5A is a sequence diagram showing a method for upgrading an application program by such communication. Here, the terminal 1 has an application program, while the server 2 supplies the upgraded application program to the terminal 1 to upgrade the version.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a "version management table" for managing the program configuration of the application program and its version information. As shown in the figure, the version management table associates, for example, a management number, which is a serial number, with the name of each program constituting the application program, and is stored in both the terminal 1 and the server 2. The program name usually includes version information indicating the version.

[0005] In FIG. 5 (a), the terminal 1 first
It connects to the server 2 by P (Point to Point Protocol). The terminal 1 requests the name of the program, that is, the version information by designating the management number, and
Searches the version management table and returns the program name including the version information, and the terminal 1 acquires this. The terminal 1 compares the version information of the old program stored in the terminal 1 with the version information of the new program. If there is a difference in the version information, the server 2 requests the server 2 to download a new program, and downloads the latest program from the server 2. Then, the communication with the server 2 by the PPP is disconnected.

[0006] In this way, the terminal 1 upgrades the application program to the latest version by communicating with the server 2.

[0007] In the conventional information updating method, not only the above-described application program but also all kinds of information are to be gradually updated in the terminal (referred to as information to be updated). Also, a method is adopted in which update stage information, such as version information, relating to an update stage is acquired from a server by communication, a comparison process is performed, and the information to be updated is updated according to the comparison result.

[0008]

However, in the conventional information updating method, the comparison process of the update stage information is performed when the terminal and the server are in a communication state.
There has been a problem that the communication time becomes longer, and as a result, the communication fee rises.

In view of the above, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to update terminal update target information in accordance with update stage information relating to an update stage obtained by communication. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information updating method capable of reducing the communication time of the information.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, an information updating method according to a first aspect of the present invention is directed to an information updating method in which a terminal having update target information to be updated in a stepwise manner has When the terminal has the second update stage information indicating the stage at which the server has updated the update target information of the terminal, The second communication with the server
In the information updating method for updating the update target information based on a result of the comparison by obtaining the update stage information of the first update stage information and comparing the first update stage information with the first update stage information, The comparison with the second update stage information is performed when the terminal and the server are in a non-communication state.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the comparison between the first update stage information and the second update stage information is performed when the terminal and the server are in a non-communication state. The communication time is shortened.

The information updating method according to claim 2 of the present invention is the information updating method according to claim 1, wherein the information to be updated is a program executed on the terminal, and The update stage information of No. 2 is information indicating the version of the program.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the communication time when the terminal program is upgraded by communication is shortened.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information updating method according to the first aspect, wherein the information for updating the information to be updated is compressed and transmitted to the terminal. It is characterized by.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, communication time is reduced by compressing information for updating the update target information and transmitting the compressed information to the terminal.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information updating method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing a schematic processing flow in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
The detailed description is omitted by attaching the same reference numerals to those already described in the above. In the figure, the application program is represented by an abbreviation "AP".

The terminal 1 includes a CPU, a RAM, a storage device and the like (both not shown), loads a processing program stored in the storage device into the RAM, and reads and executes the program to execute the following processing. I do.

The terminal 1 first connects to the server 2 by PPP. The terminal 1 requests the version management table itself, not the program name, and acquires the latest version of the version management table from the server 2. Here, the terminal 1 disconnects the communication with the server 2 and compares the version management table held in the terminal 1 with the acquired latest version management table.

After the comparison processing, the server 2 is connected to the server 1 by PPP, requests the server 2 to download the latest application program, and downloads the latest application program from the server 2. Then, the communication with the server 2 is disconnected, and the compressed application program is decompressed. This is because the communication time increases in proportion to the size of the application program, and therefore, in the present embodiment, the communication time is reduced by compressing the application program.

Next, a specific process in the terminal 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a judgment processing flag used in the judgment processing in the terminal 1.

The determination processing flag specifically refers to a "version upgrade necessity flag" and a "version comparison necessity flag". It is set to "No" and becomes a subsequent judgment factor.

By the way, the application program is divided into a "start process" executed immediately after the start and a "main process" called from the "start process".

FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing the flow of the "version management table acquisition process" executed in the "main process". The “version management table acquisition process” starts by determining whether there is a connection request with the server 2 generated from various programs constituting the application program.

That is, in step S11, the server 2
It is determined whether or not there is a connection request. Here, when it is determined that there is no connection request (NO), the process returns to step S11 and the determination is performed again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that there is a connection request (YES), a PPP connection with the server 2 is made in step S13, and the latest version management table is obtained from the server 2 in step S15. At this time, the old version management table is retained without being deleted. Hereinafter, the acquired latest version management table is referred to as a “new version management table”, and the old version management table for the terminal is referred to as an “old version management table”.

In this embodiment, the "version comparison necessity flag" is set to "necessary" in step S17 instead of immediately comparing the old version management table with the new version management table. Then, the process returns to step S11 to perform the next determination.

That is, the terminal 1 always obtains the latest version management table when connecting to the server 2. Therefore, the latest version information can be quickly acquired even in an application program that is frequently upgraded.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart showing the flow of the "version comparison process" executed in the "main process". This "version comparison process"
The process is started by determining whether or not the communication is being performed with the server.

That is, in step S21, the server 2
It is determined whether or not communication is in progress. Here, when it is determined that communication is being performed with the server 2 (YES), the process returns to step S21 to perform the next determination.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S21 that communication with the server 2 is not being performed (NO), the process proceeds to step S23.
Then, referring to the “version comparison necessity flag”, it is determined whether or not version comparison is necessary. Here, when the “version comparison necessity flag” is set to “no” (NO), there is no need to perform version comparison,
The process returns to step S21.

On the other hand, when the "version comparison necessity flag" is set to "necessary" in step S23 (YE
S) proceeds to step S25 to compare program names corresponding to the same management number in the new version management table and the old version management table. That is, a comparison process of the program version information is performed.

Then, in a step S27, it is determined whether or not the version has been upgraded. That is, if the program names corresponding to the same management number are different, it is determined that the program has been upgraded, while if they are the same, it is determined that the version has not been upgraded. Here, when it is determined that there is no version upgrade (NO), the process returns to step S21 to make a determination.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S27 that the version has been upgraded (YES), the process proceeds to step S29.
Go to, and set the "version upgrade necessity flag" to
Set to. Subsequently, in step S31, the "version comparison necessity flag" is set to "no".

As described above, in the “main processing”,
In addition to the processing related to the actual work, a version management table is always acquired at the time of communication with the server 2, and the version comparison is performed at the time of non-communication. Then, the actual version upgrade is performed in the “activation process”.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the "startup process". In step S41 immediately after the activation, it is determined whether or not the application program needs to be upgraded with reference to the “version upgrade necessity flag”. Specifically, when the "version upgrade necessity flag" is "necessary", it is determined that the version upgrade is necessary, while when it is "no", it is determined that the version upgrade is unnecessary.

Here, no version upgrade is required (NO)
When the determination is made, the process proceeds to step S51, where the "main process" is immediately executed, and a process or the like relating to the business can be performed.

On the other hand, version upgrade is required (YES)
If it is determined that the connection is established, the connection with the server 2 is established by PPP in step S43, and the application program is downloaded in step S45. The application program at this time is obtained by compressing the individual programs and storing them in a single file or several files. Then, in step S47 after the download, the communication with the server 2 by PPP is disconnected.

Then, in step S49 after the communication is disconnected, the application program is decompressed.
In step S51, "main processing" is started.
At this time, the main processing program or the program called by the main processing is the latest one downloaded and decompressed earlier, so that the terminal 1 can perform processing by the upgraded application program.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the information updating method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the comparison processing of the update stage information is performed when the terminal and the server are in a non-communication state. Therefore, the communication time can be reduced, and as a result, the communication fee can be reduced. During the comparison processing of the update stage information, the communication line with the server can be used for other purposes.

Further, since the application program is compressed and transmitted to the terminal, the communication time can be reduced by such processing, and as a result, the communication charge can be further reduced.

By shortening the communication time, it is possible to reduce the risk of virus invasion, thereby preventing a reduction in communication security.

Although the application program has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention is of course applicable to all types of update target information that is updated stepwise in the terminal.

The processing program executed in the terminal of this embodiment is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium to make it portable, and the recording medium is set in another terminal to read and execute the processing program. By doing so, the same effect as in the present embodiment can be obtained in any terminal.

[0046]

As described above, according to the information updating method of the present invention, the comparison of the update stage information is performed when the terminal and the server are in a non-communication state.
The communication time can be shortened, and as a result, communication costs can be reduced, and communication security can be ensured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram illustrating a schematic processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a determination processing flag used for determination processing in a terminal 1.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart showing a flow of “version management table acquisition processing”;
(B) is a flowchart showing the flow of the “version comparison process”.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of “activation processing”.

FIG. 5A is a sequence diagram illustrating a conventional method of upgrading an application program, and FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a “version management table” for managing version information. .

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 terminal 2 server

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 13/00 530 G06F 9/06 610Q

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A terminal having information to be updated in a stepwise manner includes first update stage information indicating which update stage the update target information is in, while the server updates the terminal. When the terminal has second update stage information indicating a stage when the target information is updated, the terminal acquires the second update stage information through communication with the server, and obtains the first update stage information and And updating the update target information based on the result of the comparison. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: comparing the first update stage information with the second update stage information between the terminal and the server. An information updating method, which is performed when communication is not in progress. 2. The update target information is a program executed by the terminal, and the first and second update stage information are each information indicating a version of the program. Information update method. 3. The information updating method according to claim 1, wherein information for updating the update target information is compressed and transmitted to the terminal.