JP2000207251A - Device and method for reporting computer operation state - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a computer operation state reporting device which can notify a person who even does not have computer knowledge of the abnormality of the computer by matching object data to be monitored with respect to the record contents of a read-in operation record file and outputting the result, and actuating an annunciator according to the output. SOLUTION: When this computer operation state reporting device 10 is used, an automatic monitor program 22 is started and a monitor picture is displayed on a display unit 141. In this state, the automatic monitor program 22 continues to monitor the computer 12 and starts reporting programs 28 as many as how many times abnormality occurs, when finding abnormalities. A reporting program 28 is displayed on the display device 14 and sends a relay signal to a relay device 32. On receiving the relay signal, the relay device 32 switches from a normally 'OFF' state to an 'ON' state. Then a current flows to an electric circuit 40 to notify operator of the abnormality through the illumination of an illuminator 36 and/or the alarming of an alarm 38.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a monitoring method for automatically monitoring a computer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recent computers often have a function of accumulating operation records in a file format. It is useful to operate the computer to refer to the operation record and check for the occurrence of an abnormality. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a computer operator outputs and refers to the recorded contents of an operation record file by operating the computer when necessary.

[0003]

The operation record file of the computer cannot be referred to unless the operator consciously operates the computer. Therefore, every time the operator tries to confirm whether or not an abnormality has occurred, the operator has to interrupt the other work and operate the computer. Also, in order to understand the contents recorded in the operation record file, sufficient knowledge of the computer and knowledge of the programs running on the computer are required. When the user is absent, there is a problem that it is not possible to determine whether or not the computer is abnormal even though the operation record exists in the computer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a computer operating status notifying device capable of easily notifying a person who has no specialized knowledge of a computer abnormality, a computer monitoring method using such a computer operating status notifying device, and a computer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system including an operation status notifying device for notifying an operation error of a computer.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a computer operating status notifying device according to the present invention is a computer operating status notifying device for outputting an operating record in the form of a file. Means for reading a file, a condition file storing predetermined monitoring target data, a matching result output means for comparing the recorded content of the read operation record file with the monitoring target data and outputting a result,
It is characterized by having an annunciator activated based on the output of the matching result output means.

Further, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that a display device for displaying a message based on the output of the comparison result output means is provided.

Further, a computer monitoring method of the present invention is characterized in that a computer is monitored using the above-mentioned computer operation status notifying device.

Further, a computer system according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a computer and the above-mentioned computer operation status notifying device for notifying an operation abnormality of the computer.

[0009] Here, the "operating status" refers to a running computer and the status of a program running on the computer. For example, the fact that the storage capacity of the storage device has decreased or that an error has occurred as a result of executing the program is an example of the “operation status”.

[0010] "Data" refers to information stored so as to be referred to. For example, information readablely stored in a memory of a computer is an example of “data”.

A "record" is an integrated management of data on a plurality of predetermined items (fields) for one item.

A "file" is a set of records.
It is stored in a storage device such as a memory or a magnetic disk.

"Output" refers to the output of an electric signal or the like to an alarm.

"Display device" refers to a device for displaying an image, such as a display or a monitor.

The "notification device" refers to an alarm device such as a buzzer or a siren for notifying an abnormality or the like using sound, or an illuminator such as a lamp or a rotating light for notifying an abnormality or the like using light. Normal display devices such as a display and a monitor connected to the computer are not included in the alarm.

A "message" refers to a text that informs an operator of the content of an abnormality or the like that has occurred in a computer.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, a description will be given of a computer operating status notifying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer operating status notification device 10 includes a computer 12, various input / output devices connected to the computer 12, a relay device, and an electric circuit including a lighting device and / or an alarm device.

The computer 12 includes a keyboard and an input device 14 such as a mouse for the operator to input data and the like, a display device 16 for outputting a message, a printing device 18 such as a printer, and a floppy (registered trademark). ) Storage device 2 having a storage medium such as a disk or a hard disk
0 is connected. The storage device 20 reads programs and data stored in the storage medium, and writes data and the like to the storage medium. The automatic monitoring program 22, the notification program 28, and the monitored time 44 are stored in the memory of the computer 12 or in the storage device 20. The operation record file 24 and the condition file 26 are also stored on the memory or in the storage device 20. The computer 12 has a transmission port 30 for transmitting a relay signal, and the transmission port 30 and the relay device 32 are connected by a transmission cable 42. The relay device 32 is connected to the power supply 34 and the illuminator 36 and / or the alarm device 38, and forms an electric circuit 40.

Basically, all the components are installed in the vicinity of the computer 12. However, when it is desired to operate the computer remotely, the electric circuit 40 may be installed in a central control room or the like remote from the computer. Good. Such a configuration is possible by extending the transmission cable 42 or using wireless communication.

Hereinafter, the file format of this embodiment will be described.

The format of the operation record file 24 is determined by the computer environment. For example, a format as shown in FIG. 2 is defined. In this embodiment, the operation record file 24 is a text file, and the position where the data of each item is recorded is predetermined.

"No." is an item for recording the number of an operation record.

"Date" is an item for recording the date of occurrence of the operation record.

"Time" is an item for recording the hour, minute, and second of the occurrence of the operation record.

In the following description, for convenience, a combination of the values of "date" and "time" is called an occurrence time.

The "type" is an item for recording the type of operation record, and takes a value such as "error" or "warning".

"Source" is the target of the operation record.
This item records the name of a process (program) on the computer 12.

"User" is an item for recording the name of the user who executed the "source" process.

"Details" is an item for recording details of the operation record.

The computer 12 automatically adds operation records to the operation record file 24 one record at a time.

An example of the format of the condition file 26 is as shown in FIG.

In the first record, a "standby time" described later is stored in units of minutes.

In the second and subsequent records, a “monitoring target item” and a “monitoring target character string” for that item are stored. In this embodiment, "monitoring target item" is stored on the left side of the "=" symbol, and "monitoring target character string" is stored on the right side,
It is a format for recording one notification condition. Further, after delimiting by the symbol ",", the notification condition can be further set. The symbol “,” means that the notification conditions are linked with each other in the sense of “and”. As described above, when the notification conditions are linked by the “,” symbol, the notification is performed only when all the notification conditions stored in the record are satisfied.

For example, the second record of the condition file 26 shown in FIG.
If "obsc" is included and "warning" is included in the value of "type", it means that notification is performed.

In this embodiment, the "standby time" is stored in the condition file 26. However, another file may be provided and stored therein, or may be recorded in the automatic monitoring program 24. It may be realized in the form.

By storing the notification conditions as a condition file in advance, the notification conditions can be freely added, changed, or deleted. For example, when a new program is to be run on the computer 12, it is not necessary to modify the automatic monitoring program 24, but only to add a new notification condition for the program.

The function of the computer operating status notifying device 10 will be described below.

When using the operation status notification device 10 of the computer, the automatic monitoring program 22 is started, and a monitoring screen shown in FIG. In this state, the automatic monitoring program 22 continues to monitor the computer 12 until the "end" button in the monitoring screen is pressed, and when an abnormality is found, the notification program 28 is activated by the number of occurrences of the abnormality. The notification program 28 displays a message screen on the display device 14 and transmits a relay signal to the relay device 32. By receiving the relay signal, the relay device 32 switches from the normally “disconnected” state to the “closed” state. Then, an electric current flows through the electric circuit 40, and the abnormality is notified to the operator by turning on the illuminator 36 and / or alarming the alarm 38.

Hereinafter, each processing will be described in detail. First, the processing performed by the automatic monitoring program 22 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

In step 100, the condition file 26 is read, and data of "standby time" is read from the first record, and "monitored item" and "monitored character string" are read from the second and subsequent records. When all the records in the file have been read, the process proceeds to step 102.

In step 102, a sufficiently small value LV is set as an initial value of the "monitored time" used in the program. As an LV, for example, 1900 1
For example, 00:00:00 on the first day of the month may be considered.

In step 104, it is determined whether the "end" button on the monitoring screen has been pressed by that time.
Specifically, an item that takes a certain value when the “end” button is pressed may be prepared, and the value of the item may be checked.
If the "end" button is pressed, the automatic monitoring program 22 is ended. If the “end” button has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step 106.

In step 106, the operation record file 2
4 of the record whose occurrence time is newer than the value of the "monitored time" stored in the monitored time 44,
Read the oldest record as a monitored record.
By doing so, it is possible to avoid reading the monitored record again and increase the processing speed.

In step 108, it is determined whether the record to be monitored has been read from the operation record file 24 in step 106. If the record can be read, the process proceeds to step 112 and the monitoring of the monitoring target record is continued. If the record cannot be read, that is, if all records in the operation record file 24 have been monitored, the process proceeds to step 110. Step 1
At 10, standby is performed only during the set “standby time”.
After the elapse of the standby time, the process proceeds to step 104. Providing the standby time in this way prevents the automatic monitoring program 22 from applying unnecessary load to the computer.
The standby time may be determined based on the frequency at which the computer 12 writes to the operation record file 24 and the characteristics of the program running on the computer 12, but if it is too short, an extra load is applied, and if it is too long, the load is rapid. It is preferable to set the time to about 3 to 6 minutes, since it is impossible to take appropriate measures. For example, if the standby time is set to 5 minutes, the automatic monitoring program 22 reads the operation record file 24 every 5 minutes.

In step 112, the value of the "monitored time" of the monitored time 44 is overwritten with the occurrence time of the record to be monitored.

In step 114, the contents of the monitored record and the condition record read in step 100 are collated. That is, it is checked whether or not each notification condition stored in each condition record is satisfied for each monitoring target item of the monitoring target record. For example,
If the monitored string of "Source" is "jobsc" and "Bjobsc" is recorded in "Source" of the monitored record, the string of "jobsc" is included in the string of "Bjobsc" , "Source" are determined to satisfy the notification condition.

In step 116, based on the result of step 114, it is determined whether or not there is a condition record satisfying all notification conditions. If there is a condition record that satisfies all notification conditions, the process proceeds to step 118, and a message is created. Otherwise, return to step 104.

In step 118, the value recorded in the “details” of the monitoring target record is directly used as the “message”
And create a message. In this embodiment,
Although the value of "detail" was used as the value of "message",
A message file for associating a notification condition with a message may be provided separately, and a message may be created based on the storage.

In step 120, the notification program 28
And sends the created “message” to the notification program 28. After this processing, step 1
Return to 04.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
Processing performed by the notification program 28 according to the present embodiment will be described.

At step 140, the value of the "message" transmitted from the automatic monitoring program 22 at the time of startup is shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the display device 14 as a message screen exemplified in FIG. By displaying the message in this manner, the operator can know what kind of abnormality has occurred.

In step 142, a relay signal is transmitted to the relay device 32 through the transmission port 30 and the transmission cable 42.

In step 144, the process waits until the "OK" button on the message screen is pressed. When the “OK” button is pressed, the process proceeds to step 146.

In step 146, the relay signal transmitted in step 142 is turned off. Subsequently, the notification program 28 is terminated.

In some cases, a plurality of notification programs 28 operate simultaneously. That is, a plurality of message screens may be displayed on the display device 14 at the same time.

Next, the function of the electric circuit 40 will be described.

The electric circuit 40 includes a relay device 32, a power supply 3
4. It is composed of an illuminator 36 and / or an alarm 38. The relay device 32 is normally in a “disconnected” state, and no electric current flows through the electric circuit 40. However, when the relay signal is transmitted from the transmission port 30 to the relay device 32 by the process of step 142 in the notification program 28, the relay device 32 is in the “contact” state, and the electric current flows through the electric circuit 40. By this action, the illuminator 3
6 and / or the alarm 38 is activated to notify the operator of the abnormality.

When the operator presses an “OK” button in the message screen displayed on the display device 14 while the illuminator 36 and / or the alarm 38 is operating, a step in the notification program 28 is performed. The relay signal disappears by the processing of 146. This allows the relay device 32
Returns to the "OFF" state, and no current flows in the electric circuit 40, so that the illuminator 36 and / or the alarm 38 are stopped.

If the lighting device 36 or the alarm device 38 employs a device having a time-varying lighting or alarm state, such as a rotating lamp, which is easy to draw the attention of a person at the time of lighting or alarm, the operator can use another device. Even while working, it is possible to immediately know that an abnormality has occurred in the computer 12 simply by being near the alarm. In addition, even an operator without specialized knowledge can understand only that an abnormality has occurred. Further, the notification target is not limited to a specific individual but to all persons in the vicinity, so that even if one person does not notice the notification, another person can notice it. Therefore, the risk that the notification is overlooked is reduced.

Further, by extending the transmission cable 42, extending the electric wire itself constituting the electric circuit 40, or using a means such as wireless communication, a plurality of computers 12 installed at distant locations can be connected. It will be possible to monitor at one place at the same time.

[0061]

In this embodiment, the current time is set to 20:00:00 on August 12, 1996, the data shown in FIG. 2 is recorded in the operation record file 24, and the data shown in FIG. Is stored, an operation example of the above embodiment is shown.

Referring to the condition file 26, there is a condition record that satisfies all the notification conditions.
3 records (in this case, "source = jobsc,
All notification conditions are satisfied for the condition record of type = error).

Accordingly, the automatic monitoring program 22 of the present invention
Simply reads the No. 1 record and the No. 2 record, and then stores the occurrence time in the “monitored time”. On the other hand, for the record of No. 3, after reading, not only the occurrence time is stored in the “monitored time”, but also a message is created from the “detailed” value of the record of No. 3, and the notification program 28 is started. Let it.

The notification program 28 causes the created message to be displayed as a message screen on a display device, and transmits a relay signal to the relay device 32. Then, the relay device 32 changes from the "disconnected" state to the "connected" state, a current flows through the electric circuit 40, and the illuminator 36 and / or the alarm 38 operate to notify the operator of the abnormality. is there. When "OK" on the message screen is selected by the operator, the notification program 28 deletes the relay signal. Then, the relay device 32 returns to the “disconnected” state, and no current flows through the electric circuit 40, so that the illuminator 36 and / or the alarm 38 stop.

Thereafter, the automatic monitoring program 22 refers to the value of the "standby time", that is, the operation record file 24 every five minutes, and the occurrence time is newer than the time stored in the new record, that is, the "monitored time". If a record is found, it is determined whether there is a condition record that satisfies all the notification conditions.

When "end" is selected on the automatic monitoring screen, the automatic monitoring program 22 ends.

[0067]

As described above, the apparatus and method for reporting the operation status of a computer according to the present invention reads the operation record file of the computer and activates the alarm when predetermined monitoring target data is found. Therefore, even an operator without specialized knowledge can monitor whether or not the computer is abnormal.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the message is output based on the result of the comparison between the recorded contents of the read operation record file and the character string to be monitored. not only,
An excellent effect that the operator can know what kind of abnormality has occurred without operating the computer can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a computer operation status notification device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation record file.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a condition file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a monitoring screen.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of an automatic monitoring program 22;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a notification program 28;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a message screen.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A computer operation status notification device for outputting an operation record in a file format, comprising: means for reading an operation record file; a condition file storing predetermined monitoring target data; Operation status notification device, comprising: a verification result output unit that verifies the recorded content of the data with the monitoring target data and outputs a result, and an alarm that is activated based on an output of the verification result output unit. . 2. The computer operating status notification device according to claim 1, further comprising a display device for displaying a message based on an output of said verification result output means. 3. A computer monitoring method, comprising: monitoring a computer by using the computer operation status notification device according to claim 1. 4. A computer system comprising: a computer; and a computer operation status notification device according to claim 1 or 2, which reports an operation abnormality of the computer.