JP2000112734A - Method and device for generating software - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for correcting the entire software even if a data structure is changed by dividing the software between basic fixed software whose data structure is not changed and separately changeable software whose data structure can be changed according to a user. SOLUTION: A data storage managing device 3 is provided with a basic fixed data part 31 and a separately changeable data part 32. When a data structure used in the part 32 is changed, for instance, when a table column is added in a table structure in a relational database, it is necessary to change a separately changeable processing part 24 about the reference and updation of the table. When a column is added to the table, a specific unit is added to the data handling part of a part that handles the data reference and updation of the part 24. The basic fixed data part 31 and a basic fixed processing part 22 are not effected by them because they do not use the changed part, and the part 22 can operate in the same manner as before correction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of creating software capable of changing a data structure which is classified or arranged in a certain format like a structure in a C language or a table of an object-oriented class relational database. And an apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional software creation, when a data structure is changed, the software is also changed.

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional software creation method, when the data structure is changed, the entire software must be corrected, which causes a reduction in software reliability. was there. The software includes software whose data structure does not change for each software user (this is referred to as basic fixed software) and software whose data structure used for each software user can be changed (this is referred to as individually changeable software). However, conventionally, when the data structure is changed, the basic fixed software is also modified. In addition, in the conventional software creation method, as shown in FIG. 3, if a plurality of individually modified software are created, they cannot be modified in common, and are individually modified. Because of the necessity, this also caused a decrease in the reliability of the software.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a software creating method and apparatus which do not require modification of the entire software when the data structure is changed.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software creating method, wherein a data structure is classified or arranged in a fixed format like a structure in C language or a table of a relational database in object orientation. In the software creation method of creating software, the data used in the software processing is divided into basic fixed software whose data structure is not changed by the software user and individually changeable software whose data structure can be changed for each software user By dividing the data structure, only the individually changeable software can be modified even when the data structure is changed due to new addition or the like.

According to this method, data used in software processing is divided into basic fixed software whose data structure is not changed and individually changeable software whose data structure used for each software user can be changed. , There is no need to completely modify the software even if the data structure is changed such as new addition,
Only the individually changeable software can be corrected, and the software can flexibly respond to the data structure change. Further, by not modifying the basic fixed software, the modification does not affect the entire software, and the basic fixed software can operate as before even after the data structure is changed. Simultaneously, the software malfunctions caused by the correction work are reduced to individually changeable software, and the localization makes it easy to solve the malfunctions, thereby maintaining the reliability of the entire software.

[0007] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software creating apparatus.
In a software creation apparatus for creating software having a data structure classified or arranged in a certain format like a structure in a C language or a table of a relational database in an object-oriented manner,
Basic fixed data section for storing information on data structure and contents used by the basic fixed processing section, individually changeable data section for storing information on data structure and contents used by the individually changeable processing section, and input from a keyboard or the like Which of the basic fixed processing unit and the individually changeable processing unit processes the input information input from the apparatus, and an input for outputting the input information to the processing unit if it is known that the processing is to be performed A processing unit, comprising a basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit that mediates for referencing and updating the data of the basic fixed data unit, wherein the individually changeable processing unit, the basic fixed processing unit,
Upon receiving the input information from the input processing unit, the reference / update of the basic fixed data unit is performed, the process using the reference data and the update data is performed, and the individually changeable processing unit receives the input from the input processing unit. When the information is received, the basic fixed data section reference update processing section is used depending on whether the data belongs to the basic fixed data section or the data belonging to the individually changeable data section, or the individual changeable data section is directly used by itself. In the case where the individual changeable data section is used, reference / update of data is performed on the individually changeable data section, processing using these data is performed, and the basic fixed data section is used. When the reference update processing unit is used, the basic fixed data unit is referred to and updated by using the basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit, and these data are updated. And performing processing using.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a software creating apparatus comprising:
An output device for outputting a processing result of the basic fixed processing unit and a processing result of the individually changeable processing unit is further provided.

[0009]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a software creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The software creation device according to this embodiment outputs an input device 1 such as a keyboard, a software processing device 2 that operates under program control, a data storage management device 3 that stores data, and a processing result in the software processing device 2. (For example, a printer or a monitor) 4.

The software processing device 2 includes an input processing unit 2
1, a basic fixed processing unit 22, and a basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit 23 that can be used by other programs.
And an individual changeable processing unit 24. The input processing unit 21 checks which of the basic fixed processing unit 22 and the individually changeable processing unit 24 processes the input information from the input device 1. Then, when it is determined that the processing is to be performed, the input information is output to the processing unit. The basic fixed processing unit 22 refers to and updates the basic fixed data unit 31 of the data storage device 3, and performs processing using reference data and updated data. The basic fixed data section reference update processing section 23 mainly includes an individual changeable processing section 24 in which the basic fixed data section 3 of the data storage device 3 is used.
This is for referencing / updating one data. The individually changeable processing unit 24 refers to and updates the individually changeable data unit 32 of the data storage device 3, and performs processing using reference data and update data. The individually changeable processing unit 24 uses the data of the basic fixed data unit 31 through the basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit 23. The software processing device 2 actually includes a CPU, a read-only memory of a ROM storing a program for operating the CPU, and a memory such as a writable RAM used in the operation of the CPU. Input processing unit 21, basic fixed processing unit 22, basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit 2
3 and the function of the individually changeable processing unit 24.

The data storage management device 3 includes the basic fixed data section 31 and the individually changeable data section 32 described above. As data management of the data storage management device 3, for example, a relational database management system,
There is an object-oriented database management system and the like.
The basic fixed data unit 31 stores information on the data structure and contents used by the basic fixed processing unit 22 of the software processing device 2. The individually changeable data section 32 stores information on the data structure and contents used by the individually changeable processing section 24 of the software processing device 2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, in the software processing device 2, when information for starting data processing is input from the input device 1, the input processing unit 21 processes the input information by either the basic fixed processing unit 22 or the individually changeable processing unit 24. It is checked whether the processing is to be performed, and when it is determined that the processing is to be processed by the basic fixed processing unit 22, the input information is output to the basic fixed processing unit 22.
Upon receiving the input information, the basic fixed processing unit 22 refers to and updates the data in the basic fixed data unit 31 of the data storage device 3, and stores the data in the basic fixed data unit 31 and the data in the individually changeable data unit 32. The processing is performed using.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the individual changeable processing section 24 performs the processing, the input information is output to the individually changeable processing section 24. Individually changeable processing unit 2
4 receives the input information, uses the basic fixed data section reference update processing section 23 depending on the type of data (that is, depending on whether the data belongs to the basic fixed data section 31 or the data belonging to the individually changeable data section 32), or It is determined whether or not to use the individually changeable data section 32 directly. If the individually changeable data section 32 is to be used, the data is referred to / updated with respect to the individually changeable data section 32 and these data are updated. When the basic fixed data part reference update processing unit 23 is used, the basic fixed data part reference update processing unit 23 is used to refer to and update data in the basic fixed data part 31. Then, processing using these data is performed. The result processed by the basic fixed processing unit 22 or the individually changeable processing unit 24 is output from the output device 4.

The above is the basic software structure. The case where the data structure is changed will be described. First, a case where the data structure used in the individually changeable data unit 32 is changed will be described. As an example, consider a case where a column is added to a table in a table structure in a relational database.
In this case, it is necessary to change the individually changeable processing unit 24 for referring to and updating the table. Usually, when the table structure is as shown in FIG. 2A, the corresponding processing unit has a data handling unit corresponding to the column structure of the table. The data handling unit is a unit of data when processing in a program. In this case, for example, even if data is held as a record in a relational database table, it is not always possible to process the record as it is in a program, so it can be used in a program such as a structure or a class or a collection of variables corresponding to the record It is necessary to convert to processing units. In a programming language such as C language or BASIC, a data structure or the like corresponds to a representation of these data handling units.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when the column F is added to the table, it is possible to add f to the data handling unit of the data handling / updating unit in the individually changeable processing unit 24. It is possible. At this time, the basic fixed data part 31
The basic fixed processing unit 22 does not use the changed part, and thus is not affected by the above. Therefore, the basic fixed partial processing unit 22 can operate in the same manner as before the correction.

Next, the same software was used at first,
Consider two pieces of software in which the individually changeable data section 32 (and the individually changeable processing section 24) are individually corrected. In this case, the input processing unit 21, the basic fixed processing unit 22, the basic fixed data unit reference update processing unit 23, and the individually changeable processing unit 24 are considered as one piece of software. Of these, the individually changeable data section 32 is 32 → 32
A, the software changed from 24 to 24A is changed to one software (21, 22, 2).
3, 24A), and the individually changeable data section 32
As a change corresponding to the change from 2 to 32B, the software changed from 24 to 24B is replaced with one software (21,
22, 23, 24B), and both are combined into two software.

At this time, since the basic fixed processing section 22 has not been individually changed, it remains the same processing section. It is assumed that the basic fixed processing unit 22 is replaced with a new version in which a new function is added. That is, processing that could not be done with the first software can be performed, that is, software with new functions added is used instead (to be usable). Usually, the word version up is used. Regarding either software, the basic fixed processing unit 22 does not use the individually changeable processing unit 24 or the individually changeable data unit 32, so that if one can operate, the other can operate. That is,
If multiple changes are made to one software and different versions are made (A → A1, A → A2), change that can be applied to both (both A1 and A2) in one operation They cannot be added and require separate (not common) work to respond to each change. That is, even if it is operable after a change in one version, it is not necessarily operable in another version. However, there is no need to perform a separate task in this embodiment,
The part that can be changed and operated in one operation added to the basic fixed processing part 22 can be operated even if the individual changeable processing part 24 is separately changed. Therefore, the correction work is performed only once, and need not be performed for each piece of software.

On the other hand, it is necessary to keep the output of the basic data section reference update processing section 23 unchanged. This is because the output is used by the individually changeable processing unit 24 which is individually changed. Therefore, the basic fixed data section 31 referred to and updated by the basic data section reference update processing section 23 can be added to the data structure, but cannot be deleted. Regarding addition, since the individual changeable processing unit 24 does not receive such data as an input, it is sufficient that the basic fixed data unit 31 does not output the data even after the modification of the basic fixed data unit 31. In this case, data received as input is lost.

As described above, in the software, a serious problem is that the reliability is reduced when the correction is performed. However, the basic fixed processing unit 22 is not changed and the basic fixed processing unit 2 is not changed.
2 is not affected by the change of the individually changeable processing unit 24, so that the operation stability of the basic fixed processing unit 22 can be maintained at the same level as before the correction. Further, when it is desired to modify the basic fixed processing unit 22 such that a new function is added to the basic fixed processing unit 22 after individually modifying the individually changeable processing units 24 individually (because the individual change is performed), The modification of the common software by replacing the basic fixed processing unit 22 can be performed on different software. In the prior art, software that had been once changed separately could not be modified in common.However, in the present invention, a changeable portion in which a program is changed by an individual user and a basic fixed portion in which no change is made. Since they are divided, common corrections such as addition of functions can be performed by focusing on basic fixed portions that are not individually changed.

In the above embodiment, an example of changing the data structure is the addition of a column in a relational database. However, the present invention is not limited to the addition of a column, and may be applied to any change in a table structure such as a column deletion or a column attribute change. Similarly, it is possible to cope with this by modifying the individually changeable data section reference update function of the individually changeable processing section 24 in the embodiment. Further, the present invention is not limited to a relational database using a table structure, but can be applied to data of any other format or a database management system. In the above embodiment, the output device 4 is not limited to a printer or a monitor, but may be a database.

[0021]

According to the present invention, data used in software processing is divided into basic fixed software whose data structure is not changed and individually changeable software whose data structure used for each software user can be changed. Therefore, even when the data structure is changed such as new addition, it is not necessary to completely modify the software, only the individually changeable software can be modified, and the software can flexibly respond to the data structure change it can. Further, by not modifying the basic fixed software, the modification does not affect the entire software, and the basic fixed software can operate as before even after the data structure is changed. Simultaneously, the software malfunctions caused by the correction work are reduced to individually changeable software, and the localization makes it easy to solve the malfunctions, thereby maintaining the reliability of the entire software.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a software creation device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the software creation device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional software creation method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Software processing device 3 Data storage management device 4 Output device 21 Input processing part 22 Basic fixed processing part 23 Basic fixed data part reference update processing part 24 Individual changeable processing part 31 Basic fixed data part 32 Individual changeable data part

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A software creation method for creating software having a data structure that is classified or arranged in a fixed format like a structure in the C language or a table of an object-oriented relational database, is used in software processing. By dividing the data into basic fixed software whose data structure is not changed by the software user and individually changeable software whose data structure can be changed for each software user,
A software creation method characterized in that only individually changeable software can be modified even when the data structure is changed due to new addition or the like. 2. A basic fixed processing unit is used in a software creation device for creating software having a data structure classified or arranged in a fixed format like a structure in a C language or a table of a relational database in an object orientation. Fixed data section for storing data structure and contents information to be stored, individually changeable data section for storing data structure and contents information used by the individually changeable processing section, and input from an input device such as a keyboard. An input processing unit that checks which of the basic fixed processing unit and the individually changeable processing unit processes the information, and outputs the input information to the processing unit when it is determined that the processing is to be performed; Basic fixed data that mediates for the changeable processing unit to refer to and update the data of the basic fixed data unit A reference update processing unit, wherein the basic fixed processing unit, upon receiving input information from the input processing unit, performs reference / update of the basic fixed data unit, and performs processing using reference data and updated data. Receiving the input information from the input processing unit, the individual changeable processing unit determines whether the data belongs to the basic fixed data unit or the individually changeable data unit. To determine whether to use the individually modifiable data section directly or to use the individually modifiable data section, and when using the individually modifiable data section, refer to and update the data for the individually modifiable data section. When performing the processing using these data and using the basic fixed data section reference update processing section, the basic fixed data section reference update processing section is used to execute the basic fixed data section reference update processing section. Against and performs reference and update the data, the software creation device and performs the processing using these data. 3. The software creating apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an output device that outputs a processing result of the basic fixed processing unit and a processing result of the individually changeable processing unit.