JPS60101641A - Control system of overlay module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the processing speed and to attain the effective use of a memory by checking an overlay module control table when a program is started to load a module reserved for residence to a main memory and informing an address in a call instruction mode. CONSTITUTION:An operator calls a procedure 9 of a disk device 4 and feeds a command for execution through a keyboard of a display device 3. Then a control program 8 received the command is developed on a main memory 1 for execution. The name of the module group designated by a command which defines the resident overlay module group of the procedure 9 is stored to a system area on the memory 1. This area is assured until the end of a program unless it is changed with the same command. When the processing is started, overlay modules MA and MB having high using frequencies are made resident together with a main program MP. Thereafter the processing speed is improved with effective use of a memory just by loading overlay modules MC and MD.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention provides an overlay module that makes frequently used overlay modules resident among overlay modules that are called and executed from a main program as needed. This relates to a module management method.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining how to combine modules using the linkage editor, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the system configuration.
Figure S shows the state of program execution; Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a conventional overlay module management system;

1 is a main memory, 2 is a CPU (central processing unit), 3 is a display device, 4 is a disk device, 5 is a module group, 6
is linkage editor, 7 is module, MA, MB,
MC and MD are overlay modules, MP is main module.
Show the program.

In FIG. 1, a disk device which is an external storage device! 4. Main program MP and overlay module MA
, MB, MC, MD, etc. are stored. When these main program MP and overlay module groups are combined using the linkage editor 6, the module group 5 becomes one module 7, as shown in FIG. 2, and is loaded into the main memory all at once. or when the linkage editor 6 is not used, they are individually loaded into main memory and executed.

FIG. 3 shows the execution status of the program. In FIG. 3, overlay modules MA and MB have been loaded into main memory J, and main program M P
d, branches to overlay module MA, executes processing, returns to main program MP, and then branches again from main program MP to overlay module MB.

It shows how the process returns to the main program MP after executing the process. In this way, the main program MP
multiple overlay modules MA, MB, f'
Conventionally, when processes such as vlc, MLI, etc. are called alternately and executed repeatedly, a method of managing several overlay modules has been adopted.

Figure 4 shows three representative methods.

In FIG. 4, overlay module MA.

The caller of MB, Me, and MD is the module at the base point of the arrow shown in the method of ■.For example, in the case of MA → MB (■), the overlay module M A l)
E The calling relationship of this module, which indicates that the overlay module MB is being called, is the same in the methods ■ and ■. or.

The usage status of the main memory changes over time from ■ to ■.

In the conventional method (2), which indicates that the module with the arrow is loaded from the disk device at each point in time, the necessary overlay module is loaded each time, and therefore time is spent to reload it. ,
The overall processing speed was sometimes very slow. On the other hand, as methods for improving the processing speed of a program with an overlay structure, there are methods (1) and (2). Among these methods, method (■) uses a linkage editor to connect frequently used overlay modules to the main program before execution of processing, reducing the number of overlays during execution. The overlay module that becomes necessary is loaded therein, and from then on, the overlay module is made resident so that reloading is not necessary. Therefore, in method (2), if each overlay module is loaded once the first time it is needed, the next loading becomes unnecessary.9. Although it has the advantage of improving processing speed, it has the problem of increasing memory size because once it is used, everything, including overlay modules that are not used regularly, becomes resident. In addition, the method (■) does not require loading during execution, so high-speed processing is possible, but it is necessary to perform linkage editing in advance, and for this purpose, it is necessary to write a program that allows linkage editing. In addition to this, the memory size also increases. Method (2) has the advantage that it does not require preparation such as linkage editing as in method (2), and the memory size may be small.

As mentioned above, it is necessary to load the necessary overlay modules each time, which poses a problem of slowing down the processing speed.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention is based on the above consideration.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an overlay module management method that reduces the number of overlay module loading processes to improve processing speed and makes effective use of memory.

[Structure of the invention]

To this end, the overlay module management method of the present invention is an overlay module that manages a plurality of overlay modules that are stored in an external storage device, called from the main program, loaded into the main storage device, and executed.
This module management method includes an overlay module management table and overlay module management means in which an overlay module name, a starting address on the main memory to be loaded, a size, and a flag are registered.

The overlay module management means, when the overlay module name designated as one of the plurality of overlay modules with high frequency of use and the resident reservation flag are set in the overlay module management table, when the program is started, Checks the overlay module management table and loads the overlay module that is reserved to reside from the external storage device to the main storage device, and also sets the start address, size, resident flag, and valid flag in the overlay module management table. However, when an overlay module call instruction is issued from the main program, the overlay module management table is checked and if the corresponding overlay module does not exist, it is loaded. The resident flag must not be set when an instruction is issued to notify the main program of the entry point address of the corresponding overlay module without loading it, and to erase the overlay module information from the main program. [Embodiments of the Invention] The following is one embodiment of the present invention. will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an overview of processing in a system to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating areas of main memory;
FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the overlay module management table and the main memory, and FIG. 9 is a diagram explaining the processing by the control program when requesting an overlay. FIG. 1O is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a disk device when data is passed through a linkage editor, and FIG. 1F is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a disk device when an overlay module is made resident.

In the present invention, the following control language is prepared.

/PROC /LOAD Overlay module name1.・・・・・・
-n7 EXEC main module name Here, PROC indicates the beginning of a procedure (control word @), and LOAD defines a group of overlay modules to be made resident. EXEC loads a main module (main program) and a group of resident overlay modules onto main memory, and passes control to the main module.

In Figure 5, l is the main memory and 3 is the display device%.
4 is a disk device, and 8 is a control program.

9 indicates a procedure (control language). procedure 9 is 1
It is usually stored in an auxiliary storage device, for example, the disk device 4. Then, when the operator calls this procedure 9 and inputs a command (instruction) to execute it from the keyboard provided in the display device 3, the control program 8 that receives the command is loaded onto the main memory 1 and executed.

In the procedure 9, the name of the specified module group is stored in the system area on the main memory 1 by a command (LOAD command) that defines a group of overlay modules to be made resident. This area is.

Unless updated by the same command, this is guaranteed until the corresponding program ends. FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of the system area of the main memory 1 and the load area of each module.

Next, FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the present invention in which overlay modules MA and MB are made resident as frequently used modules. In FIG.

■ to ■ are the same as those in FIG. 4 previously explained as a conventional example, and the program execution status is also the same as the example shown in FIG. Frequently used overlay modules MA and MB are made resident along with the main program MP. After that, the seventh
As shown in the figure, it is only necessary to load the overlay modules MC and MD at points K, ■, and ■.
, the overlay module MA at high speed at points ■ and ■
and MB can be used. Therefore, as compared with the prior art example shown in FIG. 4 described above, K.

The processing speed can be improved more than the methods shown in FIG. The 8th section shows the relationship between the overlay module management table used in the present invention and the main memory.
It is a diagram.

In FIG. 8, the overlay module name in the overlay module management table TB indicates what is being loaded into main memory 1, and the start address and size indicate which address in main memory 1 and how much size will be used. Indicates whether the Further, the flag indicates whether the overlay module is valid/invalid, resident or non-resident, and so on. Note that when a resident overlay module is reserved by a procedure at the start of processing, a flag indicating the resident overlay module name and resident reservation is set in the overlay module management table TB.

Next, the process flow of how the overlay module is managed by the system (control program) will be explained.

■ When a resident overlay module is specified by a procedure, the system (control program) sets the resident overlay module name and resident reservation flag in the overlay module management table when interpreting the procedure.

■ When the program is started, the system loads the main program from the external storage device into the main memory, checks the overlay module management table, reserves the overlay module for residence, and stores the overlay module in the main memory. Perform processing. At this time, it is resident fc/] - the start address and size of the valley module.

Set the resident flag and valid flag in the overlay module management table.

■ Control is transferred to the main program and processing begins.

■ When an overlay module is required.

The main program issues instructions that request the system to load overlay modules. the system,
Check the overlay module management table, and if the corresponding overlay module does not exist, load it, and if the corresponding overlay module exists (and is valid), do not load it, and its entrance Notify the point address.

■ Branch from the main program to the overlay module's entry point address and perform the necessary processing.

- When control is returned to the main program from the overlay module, the main program issues an instruction to erase the overlay module's information from the overlay module management table. The system erases the above information and loads a new overlay module.

Make it manageable. 71c, and the information on overlay modules whose resident flags are set will be summarized here.

■Repeat the processes from ■ to ■ until all processes are completed.

■ Processing completed.

As explained above, the resident overlay module is loaded onto the main memory together with the main module by the control program before the control program (system) hands over the control right to the main module (main program) K. It does not need to be reloaded thereafter and can be used by simple means of knowing the entry point address from the overlay module management table. In this way the program can control the program at any time during its execution.

You can request an overlay. This overlay request is made by simply specifying the module name, and if the specified module is made resident, control is immediately passed to that module. The 9th section shows the flow of the process.
3 is a diagram illustrating the process (2) described above. When a program being executed no longer requires an overlay module, it can request the control program to erase the overlay module from the main memory. However, when this request is issued to a resident overlay module, the overlay module is not erased from the main memory 1, but the overlay module is erased only at the end of the program. Therefore, processing speed can be improved by selecting frequently used oats (ray modules) and making them resident, and infrequently used oats (ray modules are used without making them resident).

Memory can be used effectively.

Comparing the case of going through the linkage editor and the case of making the overlay module resident by the system, when going through the linkage editor, different programs may contain the same module as shown in Figure 10. could be. In this case, the total size of the programs occupying the disk device becomes large, and it is impossible to share the same module. On the other hand, if the overlay module is made resident by the system, the overlay module can be used as a component in multiple programs.
Figure 11 shows the storage state of 10 grams in the disk device.
bl indicates the memory state when program l is executed;
Figures (cl) indicate the memory state when program 2 is executed, and as is clear from these figures, overlay modules A and B are used in multiple programs, programs 1 and 2.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11 (al), it is not necessary to have the same module redundantly. In such cases, in the conventional method, processing speed was a problem, but in the present invention, the overlay module that is frequently used is The solution is to specify it arbitrarily and make it resident.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention,
No software overhead required for reloading
■Residing overlay modules can be specified arbitrarily. ■Multiple modules can be combined and edited at runtime without going through a linkage editor. The following effects can be obtained, and processing speed can be improved and memory can be used more effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the system configuration, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining how to combine modules using the linkage editor, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the system configuration.
The figure shows the program execution status, and Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the conventional overlay module management method%
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an overview of processing in a system to which the present invention is applied; FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating areas of main memory;
FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the overlay module management table and the main memory, and FIG. 9 is a diagram explaining the processing by the control program when requesting an overlay. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the disk unit when passing through the linkage editor,
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a disk device in the case where an overlay module is made resident. l...Main memory, 2...CPU (central processing unit), 3
... Display device, 4... Disk device, 5.
...Module group, 6...Linkage editor, 7.
...Module, 8...Control program, 9...Control language (procedure), MA, MB, MC and MD...
Overlay module %MP...Main program. TB: Overlay module management table. Patent Applicant Usatsuk Electronics Industry Co., Ltd. Representative Patent Attorney Yotsubu Kyotani (1 other person) Ritsu tI Masaru ('J-tn4・tuz-AN, \, -! 1 dent! 4. / Gu 10 1 Ka 111 Figure (IL)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim] An overlay module management method for managing a plurality of overlay modules that are stored in an external storage device, called from a main program, loaded into the main storage capacity, and executed. Overlay module name, start address in main memory to be loaded, size, and flags are set.
The overlay module management means includes a module management table and an overlay module management means, and the overlay module management means stores an overlay module name designated as a frequently used one among the plurality of overlay modules and a resident reservation flag in the overlay module. When set in the module management table, when the program is started, the overlay module management table is checked and the overlay module that is reserved to reside is loaded from the external storage device to the main storage device, and the overlay module management table is also loaded. When the start address, size, resident flag, and valid flag are set, and an overlay module call instruction is issued from the main program, the above overlay module management table is checked and if there is no corresponding overlay module, is an instruction to load the corresponding overlay module, notify the main 10 program of the entry point address of the corresponding overlay module without loading it, and erase the information of the automatic overlay module from the main program. The overlay module is characterized in that the overlay module is configured to perform a process of erasing the information of the corresponding overlay module from the overlay module management table based on the fact that the resident flag is not set when the overlay module is issued. Module management method.