JPH0331931A - Electronic computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evade a device from going into a stop condition, and simultaneously, to decrease the load of a user by providing a means to read in a program to be set beforehand when a designation from an operator is not executed for a definite time related to the read-in of a computer control program from an external storage device. CONSTITUTION:A read-in mechanism 13 transfers the computer control program from an external storage device 12 to an internal storage device 11 and reads the computer control program in the internal storage device 11. A timer 14 is used by the read-in mechanism 13 and measures a passing time between two time points indicated by the read-in mechanism 13. When the designation by the operator is actually executed at a time to designate the computer control program to be read in by the operator, it is made effective, but when no designation is executed and a definite time to be set beforehand passes, the fact that the computer control program to be set beforehand is designated is considered. Thus, the device can be evaded from going into the stop condition, and simultaneously, the load of the user can be decreased.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electronic computer equipped with an external storage device.
Concerning the expansion of the loading mechanism for computer control programs.

[Prior Art] In a conventional personal computer, the procedure for reading a computer control program from an external storage device was as follows. In other words, if the external storage device and computer control program to be loaded are specified in advance, they will be loaded, but if no such designation has been made, the external storage devices will be checked in order, or the computer control program will be checked by the operator. It requested the specification of the control program and waited for input.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such conventional technology, when it is necessary to instruct which computer control program to load, the operator must actually instruct the operator to perform the following operation. There was an inconvenience that the device would stop operating unless it was given.

As a result, the operator has to be present with the device until the computer control program is loaded into the device, which is a burden. Furthermore, in order to avoid these inconveniences, if a computer control program to be loaded is specified, the settings cannot be changed until the computer control program is loaded once, which is inconvenient.

The present invention provides means for loading a preset computer control program when there is no instruction from an operator for a certain period of time regarding loading of a computer control program from an external storage device, so that the device is brought to a halt state. To avoid this, and at the same time, to provide a device which can realize automatic loading of a computer control program and can also load a computer control program other than the settings when necessary, thereby reducing the burden on the user.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a plurality of computer control programs, an external storage device that stores a program for reading the computer control programs, and an internal storage device that stores the contents of the external storage device. , a clock device for measuring elapsed time; and one program among the plurality of computer control programs is manually or automatically transferred from the external storage device to the internal storage device. It is characterized by having a reading mechanism for transferring the information to the computer.

[Function] In the present invention, if the operator actually specifies the computer control program to be read, it becomes valid, but if no designation is made and the computer control program is set in advance. If a certain period of time has elapsed, it is assumed that the preset computer control program has been specified.

This mechanism allows the user to load other computer control programs when necessary, while automatically loading a preset computer control program when this is not necessary.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic computer to which the present invention is applied. Reference numeral 13 denotes a reading mechanism, which transfers the computer control program from the external storage device 12 to the internal storage device 11 and reads the computer control program into the internal storage device 11. The timing device 14 is used by the reading mechanism to measure the elapsed time between two points indicated by the reading mechanism. The external storage device 12 is composed of a magnetic floppy disk, a magnetic hard disk, a RAM, a ROM, a magnetic bubble, an optical disk, and the like. Internal storage device 11
is a writeable and readable RAM, etc., which is built into the main body of the computer.

The clock device is realized by a dedicated device such as a clock IC or by counting the number of pulses of a system clock.

Next, the operation when the device configured as described above reads the operating system (hereinafter referred to as O8) from the external storage device will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 2. In the following explanation, it is assumed that the present invention is applied to reading O8 from a device having one each of a floppy disk drive (hereinafter referred to as FDD) and a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) as external storage devices. ing. Furthermore, the computer assumed here has a battery-backed nonvolatile memory (hereinafter referred to as a memory switch), which is used to store various setting information such as device configuration.

Step 21 is a determination as to whether or not HDD priority is specified. The determination of the HDDi destination depends on whether a specific bit of the memory switch is set to 1 or not. Operation of reading O8 from FDD if HDDi destination is specified 22.28
Do not do this.

If the HDDfi destination is not specified, access the floppy disk controller, check whether a disk is inserted in the FDD, and if there is a disk, determine whether O8 can be read (22). For example, read O8 from FDD (28>).

If it is not possible to read O8 from the FDD, the operation starts reading O8 from the HDD. First, HD
Use the memory switch to determine whether D priority is specified (23), and if e destination is specified, it will be set to automatic startup, check whether O8 exists, and if so, read it (27) . For information about automatic startup,
It is stored in a specific location within the HDD, and consists of a flag indicating whether automatic startup is set or not, and information regarding the location within the HDD of the O8 set to automatic startup. Here, if you specify the HDD fi destination and specify an automatic startup O8, you cannot change the settings unless you load that O8 twice, so if you need to load another O8, even if it is an exception, normally do not make this setting.

If there is no O8 set for automatic startup or if the HDD destination has not been specified, the menu screen will be displayed (24) and the operator will wait for input to specify the O8 to be read (24). 25). If a valid specification is made, the corresponding O8 is read (27).

Meanwhile, the device measures the elapsed time t while displaying the menu and issuing input requests to the operator. To measure elapsed time,
This is done by a timing device that measures the elapsed time from the moment the menu is displayed and an input request is made to the operator. This t and a certain time T are compared. Information regarding T is set in advance and stored in a specific location within the HDD. If t>T, the system stops waiting for input from the operator, assumes that the O8 set for automatic startup has been specified (26), and reads the corresponding O8 (27). Therefore, the device does not stop while waiting for input.The information regarding O8 that is automatically read after a certain period of time is the same as the automatic startup setting information, so it has almost the same function as automatic startup. If the user specifies O8 at the same time it is provided, it will be read, which eliminates the inconvenience caused by setting automatic startup.

In the above explanation, FDD and H
Although we have assumed a device that is equipped with one DD and has read priority determined in the order of FDD and HDD, the present invention does not depend on the type and number of external storage devices and the priority order among them. It's self-evident. Furthermore, it is clear that the method does not depend on the information used to determine the i-destination in the HDD or the method of storing information regarding the program to be read preferentially.

As another example, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a reading mechanism for O8 to read its own body part. This O8 when reading the main body part,
It has a mechanism that allows you to select which of two different O8 environments to load. Conventionally, at this stage, the device would issue a selection request and stop until an input is received, but by applying the present invention to this part, it is possible to set O8 to be read if the operator does not make an input for a certain period of time. This eliminates the need for the operator to directly give instructions to the device, reducing the burden on the operator. This operation will be explained below with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

First, the O8 loader is read by the initial reading mechanism (hereinafter referred to as loader) of the device, and control is transferred to it. The O8 loader displays a menu and displays the O3 of the two environments.
(hereinafter referred to as O81 and O82), the operator is requested to specify which one to read (31). Then, the device monitors the operator's input (32), and if a valid specification is made, ○Determine whether S1 or 032 is specified (34) and read the corresponding O8 body part (3
5, 36).

Meanwhile, the device measures the elapsed time t while displaying the menu and issuing input requests to the operator. To measure elapsed time,
This is done by a timing device that measures the elapsed time from the moment the menu is displayed and an input request is made to the operator. This t and a certain time T are compared. If t>T (33), it will stop waiting for the input from the operator and will read the data with priority in advance (03 (34)).
) is read (35, 36).

In this way, when the present invention is applied not only to the loader of the device but also to the loader of the O8, there is no situation where the device stops until the operator makes an input, and the burden on the operator can be reduced. . Further, in this example, the present invention was used to select O8 in two different environments, but it is clear that the present invention can be similarly applied even in the case of three or more environments.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention described above, the inconvenience of the user having to always specify the computer control program to be loaded in the operation of loading a plurality of computer control programs from an external storage device is eliminated, and the user can easily use the computer control program. This has the effect of reducing the burden on people.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of an electronic computer based on the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of the present invention when reading O8. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the apparatus of the present invention when reading the main body portion of O8. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Internal storage device External storage device Reading mechanism Clock device HDD priority determination procedure FDD determination procedure HDD priority and automatic startup area determination procedure Menu display procedure Operator selection determination procedure Progress Time judgment procedure Applicable program loading procedure FDD loading procedure and above

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A plurality of computer control programs; an external storage device that stores a program for reading the computer control programs; an internal storage device that stores the contents of the external storage device; and a timer that measures elapsed time. a reading mechanism that manually or automatically transfers one of the plurality of computer control programs from the external storage device to the internal storage device under the operation of the timing device; An electronic computer characterized by: