JP2595697B2 - Message processing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Summary] Regarding control of a message output command for requesting a message output from a computer to another computer, a message capable of shortening the time required for the requesting computer to execute the message output command In a system having a second computer for executing a predetermined output process on a message specified by a predetermined command of a first computer for the purpose of an output command control method, a buffer for holding a plurality of the messages, A pointer for indicating the above message and a management unit for processing the buffer and the pointer in synchronization with the output process are provided. In the first computer,
By storing the message specified by the instruction in the buffer, the execution of the instruction is completed, and the second computer executes output processing of the message specified by the pointer, and sends the message to the management unit. It is configured to notify the end of the processing.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a message processing system that executes a message output command for requesting a second computer to output a message from a first computer.

For example, when a publicly known service processing device is used as the second computer, the service processing device is connected to the central processing device as the first computer to execute status monitoring, diagnosis, and other service functions of the central processing device. Processing a message output request by a command executed by the central processing unit,
A process of outputting a message to the operator console under the control is also performed.

[Problems to be solved by conventional technology and invention]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a computer. When a predetermined message output instruction is executed by a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 2, the execution control unit 3 sends an address and a message on the main storage area 4 of the main storage device 12 specified by an operand of the instruction. A message 5 determined by length or the like is transferred from the main storage area 4 to the communication area 6 provided in the main storage device 12, and the service processing device (hereinafter, SVP) 1
The message control unit 8 is notified by a signal line 9.

In SVP1, the message control unit 8 performs an output process of extracting a message from the communication area 6 and outputting the message to a display device 10 such as a CRT display.
The execution control unit 3 notifies the execution control unit 3 of the completion. The execution control unit 3 waits for the notification and starts the control for completing the execution of the previous message output instruction, and outputs a known condition code indicating the state of the instruction execution result. Is set to, for example, 0, which indicates a normal end, and the execution process of the instruction is completed, and the process proceeds to the execution process of the next instruction.

SVP1 is usually built around a relatively small and low-speed processor, so its processing speed is relatively slow, and the above message output processing may take several seconds, but during that time CPU2 waits for its completion. , Can not do other processing. For this purpose, for example, in the two systems constituting the working system and the spare system, the CPU of the working system updates the predetermined area of the shared memory of both systems at regular intervals (for example, within 1 second) by the spare CPU. When the active system is monitored by checking, if the above-mentioned message output instruction is executed in the active system, the shared memory is not updated until the completion thereof, so that it is determined that the system has failed, and system switching occurs. The problem arises.

The present invention provides a message processing apparatus capable of shortening the time required for a message output requesting computer to execute a message output instruction, improving processing efficiency, and preventing unnecessary system switching or the like. Aim for the system.

[Means for solving the problem]

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention.

The figure shows the configuration of the computer, 23 of the CPU 22 is an execution control unit that controls the execution of instructions, 24 is a communication area management unit that processes the message buffer 30 and pointer 31 of the communication area 26 provided in the main storage device 20, and SVP 21. Reference numeral 28 denotes a message control unit that extracts a message from the buffer 30 and performs output processing.

(Operation)

The system includes a SVP21 which is a second computer which executes a predetermined output process for a message 5 held at a storage position on the main storage area 4 specified by a predetermined command of a CPU22 or the like which is a first computer. Etc.

A buffer to hold multiple messages in this system
30 and a pointer to message 6 on buffer 30
31 and the buffer 3 in synchronization with the output processing by the SVP 21.
A communication area management unit 24, which is a management unit that processes 0 and the pointer 31, is provided.

In the CPU 22, when the execution control unit 23 stores the message 5 specified by the instruction in the buffer 30 by the communication area management unit 24, the execution of the instruction is completed, and the SVP 21 outputs the message 6 indicated by the pointer 31. Run
The completion of execution is notified to the communication area management unit 24, and accordingly, the communication area management unit 24 performs processing such as updating the pointer 31.

With this control method, the CPU is not restricted by the execution of the message output instruction for a long time, and therefore, unnecessary system switching does not occur.

〔Example〕

In FIG. 1, when the execution control unit 23 of the CPU 22 controls the execution of the message output instruction, a message in which an address on the main storage area 4 of the main storage device 20 is designated by the operand of the same instruction as in the related art. 5 is instructed to be transferred from the main storage area 4 to the buffer 30 of the communication area 26 provided in the main storage device 20. When this transfer is completed, without waiting for the subsequent message processing,
The condition code is set to 0, and the execution of the message output instruction is completed.

The communication area management unit 24 transfers the message 5 from the main storage area 4 to an empty area of the buffer 30. If the message 5 is the first message, the pointer is set so as to indicate the start address.
31 is set, and the SVP 21 is notified by the signal line 9.

Upon receiving the notification, the message control unit 28 of the SVP 21 extracts the message from the area indicated by the pointer 31,
Thereafter, a message is output to the display device 10 as before, and when the output process is completed, the signal line 11 is sent to the communication area management unit 24.
To notify. Here, the communication area management unit 24
If there is an unprocessed message, the pointer 31 is updated to point to the next message, and the SVP 21 is again
And the message output process is started as described above.

For the above control, the buffer 30 is divided into a required number (for example, 3) of fixed-length (for example, 80 bytes) areas 40 as shown in FIG.
As 41, a message of up to 78 bytes can be stored in each area 40. In the control information 41, for example, the first byte indicates a message valid flag, and the second byte indicates a message length. The message valid flag is used for checking the area in the processing of SVP21.

Also, a current area pointer 42, a message pointer 43, and a message counter 44 are provided, and the initial values are respectively set to 0, and the communication area management unit 24 performs processing as shown in FIG. 3, for example.

That is, the execution control unit executes the message output instruction.
When the instruction is received from 23, the number of messages is identified by the message counter 44 in the processing step 50, and whether or not the buffer 30 has an empty area is identified. If the number of messages <3, the processing area 51 stores the current area pointer in the buffer 30
(The first area is followed by the third area), and the control information is added to the beginning of the area in a processing step 52.
41 is set, the message is transferred from the main storage area to the subsequent area in the processing step 53, the message counter 44 is incremented by 1 in the processing step 54, and the completion of the transfer is notified to the execution control unit 23 in the processing step 55.

In processing step 56, it is determined whether the message pointer 43 is 0. If not 0, the message output processing is being performed in SVP21, so the processing is once ended. However, if it is 0, the message is the first message. The address of the first area of the buffer is set to the start address, the content of the message pointer 43 is set to the pointer 31 in a processing step 58, and the processing is notified to the SVP 21 in the processing step 59 to end the output processing.

If the number of messages is equal to 3 in the processing step 50, there is no room for storing the message, and the processing is notified to the execution control unit 23 in the processing step 60, and the processing ends. In this case, the execution control unit 23 terminates the execution of the message output instruction by setting the condition code to 2, for example, to indicate a busy state, and may take appropriate processing such as waiting for a free space in the program of this instruction. It can be so.

Next, when the message control unit 28 of the SVP 21 finishes the output processing of one message and returns a notification to the communication area management unit 24, it notifies the execution control unit 23 in a processing step 61 and notifies the program of the completion of the message output. After a state in which a predetermined interrupt for notification is generated, in a processing step 62, the message valid flag in the area pointed to by the message pointer 43 is reset to indicate invalid.

In a processing step 63, the message counter 44 is decremented by one, and the number of the resulting messages is identified in a processing step 64. If the number of messages is greater than 0, the message pointer 43 is advanced to the next area in a processing step 65. Proceeding to 58, the pointer 31 is set as described above to notify the SVP to perform output processing.

If the number of messages = 0 in the processing step 64, the current area pointer 42 and the message pointer 43 are also returned to the initial values of 0 in the processing step 66, and the processing ends.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in the control of a message output instruction for requesting a message output from a computer to another computer, the time required for the message output request source computer to be restrained for a request is reduced. Thus, there is a significant industrial effect that the processing efficiency can be improved and unnecessary system switching caused by long-term restraint in the mutual monitoring working / standby system can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a buffer and the like of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process of the present invention, and FIG. is there. In the figure, 1, 21 is an SVP, 2, 22 is a CPU, 3, 23 is an execution control section, 4 is a main storage area, 6, 26 is a communication area, 8, 28 is a message control section, 10 is a display device, 12 , 20 is a main storage unit, 24 is a communication area management unit, 30 is a buffer, 31 is a pointer, 42 is a current area pointer, 43 is a message pointer, 44 is a message counter, and 50 to 66 indicate processing steps.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] When executing a message output command, a means for notifying a message designation specified by the message output command; and receiving a completion notification in response to the notification by the notifying means, to execute the message output command. Means for completing the execution; transmitting a message at a storage location specified by the message specification on the main storage area to a buffer on the main storage area; and transmitting a notification of completion of execution of the message output instruction. Means for setting the storage location of the message in the buffer to a pointer in the main storage area,
A first computer having a communication area management unit having means for transmitting an output request to a computer; and, when receiving the output request, reading a message indicated by the pointer from the buffer, A second computer comprising means for executing a predetermined process for the output request with respect to the message, and a second computer.