JP2001154830A - System and method for managing charged program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for operating the install and charged lock release of plural charged programs. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a charged lock information table for managing whether or not a charged program is officially purchased by a purcharse flag, a related charged program information table for storing related information with a related charged program necessary for the operation of the charged program, a charged program save medium for storing the charged program, an install means for installing the purchased charged program, a charged lock releasing means for turning on the purcharse flag of the installed charged program, a related charged program retrieving means for controlling the install and the ON setting of the purcharse flag, and a charged program operation validation/invalidation decision means for deciding the permission/non- permission of the operation according to the ON/OFF of the purchase flag when the operation of the charged program is started.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a technique for managing a program executed by an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a system and method for managing installation and execution of a program purchased for a fee, and a storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a paid program management system, when a paid program installed from a predetermined medium is executed, execution is permitted only for a program for which a license is correctly set. As a conventional paid program management system of this type, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
A password setting means for setting a password in the system, a correspondence means for associating the password set by the password setting means with a paid product, a password set in the system by the password setting means, and setting by the corresponding means. With the paid product PIN code,
A comparison means enabling execution of the paid product only in the case of a match.

When a paid product is copied, the password in the paid product is also copied. Since the personal identification number unique to each computer system is different, execution of the copied paid product becomes impossible with another computer system. This configuration prevents the use of paid products that have not been officially purchased.

[0004]

However, in the conventional system described above, there are a plurality of paid programs to be installed in the computer system, and the paid programs need to be installed at the same time in order to operate in association with each other. However, there is a problem that a work error may occur in the installation work, such as forgetting to install a necessary paid program. The installation of a plurality of paid programs increases the workload of the operator.

[0005] The reason is that when there are a plurality of paid programs that are related to each other, it is necessary to perform installation and unlocking of the paid programs individually for each paid program for the number of paid programs. That's because.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a system, method, and recording for collectively installing and unlocking a plurality of related paid programs. To provide a medium.

[0007]

A system according to the present invention that achieves the above object is a system that corresponds to a paid program and a related paid program that is required to execute the paid program.
And, when there is no related paid program in the paid program, a storage means for storing the fact, and upon installation of the paid program in the computer, a related paid program corresponding to the paid program is set and registered in the storage means. If it is, install the related paid program together with the paid program,
There is provided control means for unlocking the paid program and the related paid program and making the program executable.

The method according to the present invention stores a correspondence between a paid program and a related paid program required for executing the paid program, and if there is no related paid program in the paid program, the fact is stored. If the related paid program corresponding to the paid program is set and registered in the storage unit when the paid program is installed in the computer, the related paid program is set together with the paid program. Is also installed at the same time, and the paid program and the related paid program are unlocked and set to be executable.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described. In a preferred embodiment of the system according to the present invention, referring to FIG. 1, a pay lock which holds a purchase flag corresponding to an identifier of a paid program and manages whether or not the paid program is officially purchased is provided. An information management table (105), and a related paid program information table (106) storing association information of a paid program (hereinafter referred to as a “related paid program”) that needs to operate simultaneously when the paid program operates. ,
A paid program save medium (110) storing all the paid programs to be installed, and a paid program storage library (12) storing the purchased paid programs.
0), and a paid lock release means (10) for updating the purchased flag of the installed paid program to ON.
2) and a related paid program is searched from the related paid program information table, and if there is a related paid program, the related paid program is also paid program installing means (101) and paid lock release means (10).
2), a related paid program search means (103) for controlling the installation and updating of the purchase flag to the on state, and a state where the purchase flag is in the on state when the paid program starts operation. If so, a paid program operation availability determination means (104) is provided which permits the operation of the paid program and disables the operation of the paid program if the purchase flag is off.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a paid program installation means (101), a paid lock release means (102), a related paid program search means (10)
3), the paid program operation availability determination means (104)
The functions and processes are realized by a program executed by the computer (100).

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention includes a computer system 100 that operates under program control, a paid software save medium 110, and a paid program storage library 120.
Are paid program installation means 101, paid lock release means 102, and related paid program search means 1
03, a paid program operation availability determination means 104, a paid lock information management table 105, and a related paid program information table 106. The paid software save medium 110 is FD (floppy disk), CD-R
In addition to a recording medium such as an OM, a DVD (digital versatile disk), and an MT (magnetic tape), a medium provided in a server device remote from the computer system 100 may be used. It may be a communication medium such as a network.

Each of these means operates as follows.

Charged program installation means 101
Receives a paid program stored in a paid program save medium 110 that stores a paid program to be executed in the computer system 100, installs the purchased paid program in the computer system 100, and executes the paid program. It is stored in the paid program storage library 120 as a possible format, and an identifier uniquely indicating the installed paid program is notified to the paid lock release means 102.

The paid lock release means 102 searches the paid lock information management table 105 for managing whether or not the paid program has been officially purchased, using the identifier of the paid program notified from the paid program installation means 101 as a key, Paid lock information management table 105
, The purchase flag corresponding to the corresponding paid program identifier is updated to ON.

The related paid program search means 102 searches the related paid program information table 106 using the identifier of the paid program as a key, and finds the related paid program, which is another paid program necessary for the operation of the installed paid program. It is checked whether or not there is, and if there is a related paid program, the identifier of the related paid program is taken out, and the paid program installation means 1
01 and the paid lock release means 102 are notified.

Paid program operation availability determination means 104
Refers to the paid lock information management table 105 when the paid program starts execution, and if the purchase flag corresponding to the identifier indicating the paid program is ON, execution is permitted and the purchase flag is turned off ( OFF), execution is not permitted.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of installation of a paid program in one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation of one embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, paid program installation means 1
01, a program stored in the paid program save medium 110 is input, the purchased paid program is stored as an executable format in a paid program storage library 120 connected to the computer system 100, and the paid program is installed. An identifier uniquely indicating the installed paid program is notified to 102 (step A1 in FIG. 2).

Next, the paid lock release means 102 searches the paid lock information management table 105 for an identifier corresponding to the paid program, and sets the purchase flag corresponding to the identifier in the paid lock information management table 105 to OF.
Update from F to ON, related paid program search means 10
3 is notified of an identifier that uniquely represents the paid program (step A2).

The related paid program search means 103 searches the related paid program information table 106 for an identifier that uniquely indicates the notified paid program, and checks whether or not there is a related paid program of the paid program. If there is a paid program, the identifier of the related paid program is extracted from the related paid program information table 106 (step A3).

Further, related paid program search means 103
Notifies the paid program installation means 101 and the paid lock release means 102 of the extracted related paid program identifier if the related paid program exists (YES branch of step A4), while the related paid program exists. If not (NO branch of step A4), the process ends.

[0023] Paid program installation means 101
Stores and installs the related paid program notified from the related paid program search means 103 as an executable format from the paid program save medium 110 to the paid program storage library 120 in the same manner as in the case of the above-mentioned paid program. Step A5).

The paid lock release means 102 performs a paid lock information management table 105 on the related paid program notified from the related paid program search means 103.
, Search for an identifier corresponding to the related paid program, and update the purchase flag corresponding to the identifier from OFF to ON (step A6).

In this way, the purchased paid program and its related paid programs are all installed and the paid lock is released.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a paid program is started on a computer system in one embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, an operation at the time of starting a paid program in one embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, when the paid program is started, the paid program operation availability determination means 104 is notified of the identifier of the started paid program (step B1).

Paid program operation availability determination means 104
Refers to the purchase flag corresponding to the notified identifier from the paid lock information management table 105 (step B2 in FIG. 3).

If the purchase flag of the notified identifier is ON, the execution of the paid program is permitted, and the execution of the paid program is started (step B3).

If the purchase flag of the notified identifier is OFF, the execution of the paid program is not permitted, and the execution of the paid program is stopped (step B4).

Next, the operation and effect of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When a paid program is installed, if there is a related paid program necessary for the operation of the paid program, the related paid program search means 103
Is configured to extract all related paid programs from the related paid program information table 106 and notify the paid program installation means 101 and the paid lock release means 102 of the identifiers of the related paid programs. Related paid programs can be installed at the same time and paid locks can be released.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to a specific example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the paid lock information management table 105 in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, in the paid lock information management table 105, for all the paid programs that can be installed in the computer system 100, identifiers that uniquely represent the paid programs, and corresponding to each paid program,
A purchase flag indicating whether or not the purchase has been made is stored in association with the purchase flag, and the initial value of the purchase flag is set to the OFF state.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the related paid program information table 106 in one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the related paid program information table 106 indicates whether or not there is a related paid program, which is another paid program that needs to be operated simultaneously when each paid program operates. If information and a related paid program exist, a list of identifiers of the paid program is stored.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the paid program Pa is
As a related paid program, programs Pc and P-
d is set and registered, and the paid program P-
Pe is set and registered as a related paid program of d.

In this state, when the paid program installation means 101 is started and an instruction to install the paid program Pa is issued, the paid program installation means 101 causes the paid program saving medium 110 to be installed.
, The paid program Pa is selected, stored as an executable format in the paid program storage library, installed, and the paid lock release means 102 is notified of the identifier Pa.

The paid unlocking means 102 that has received the notification
Refers to the paid lock information management table 105 in FIG. 4, selects the identifier Pa, and updates the purchase flag corresponding to the identifier Pa from OFF to ON. The paid lock release means 102 is a related paid program search means 1.
03 is notified of the identifier Pa. Upon receiving the notification, the related paid program search means 103 refers to the related paid program information table 106 (see FIG. 5) to identify the identifier Pa.
Is extracted, and the related paid programs Pc and Pd corresponding to the identifier Pa are extracted, and the identifiers Pc and Pd are further combined with the paid program installation means 101 and the paid lock release means 102. Notify.

Paid program installation means 101
Is the identifier Pc notified from the related paid program search means 103, as in the case of the paid program Pa.
The paid program having the identifier Pd and the paid program having the identifier Pd are selected from the paid program save medium 110, stored in the paid program storage library 120 as an executable format, and installed.

As in the case of the paid program Pa, the paid lock release means 102 transmits the paid program having the identifier Pc and the paid program having the identifier Pd notified from the related paid program search means 103. The program is selected with reference to the paid lock information management table 105 (FIG. 4), the purchase flags corresponding to the identifiers Pc and Pd are updated from OFF to ON, and the paid lock is released. Means 102 comprises identifiers Pc and P-
d is notified to the related paid program search means 103.

As in the case of the paid program Pa, the related paid program search means 103 refers to the related paid program information table 106 for the identifiers Pc and Pd notified from the paid lock release means 102. To select the identifiers Pc and Pd, and
Is confirmed, and the related paid program Pe corresponding to the identifier Pd is extracted. Then, the related paid program search means 103 notifies the identifier Pe to the paid program installation means 101 and the paid lock release means 102. The paid program installation means 101 and the paid lock release means 102 install the paid program having the identifier Pe and update the purchase flag to ON.

In this way, referring to the related paid program information table 106, until all the related paid programs are installed and the paid lock is released,
These operations are repeated.

FIG. 6 shows the contents of the paid lock information management table 105 at the time when all the above-mentioned processing is completed.

When the paid program is started after the installation and the paid lock release processing are completed, the paid program operation availability determination means 104 is notified of the identifier Pa of the started paid program. The paid program operation availability determination means 104 is a paid lock information management table 1
05, the purchase flag corresponding to the notified identifier Pa is checked.

In this case, the paid lock information management table 1
05, since the purchase flag of the identifier Pa is ON as shown in FIG. 6, the execution of the paid program is permitted,
Execution of the paid program is started.

When the paid program Pa is operated, the paid program Pc, which must be started at the same time,
When the paid program Pe, which needs to be started simultaneously when the paid program Pd and the paid program Pd are operated, is started, the identifiers Pc, Pd and Pe are notified to the paid program operation availability determination means 104.

Charged program operation availability determination means 104
Refers to the purchase flags corresponding to the notified identifiers Pc, Pd, and Pe from the paid lock information management table 105. As shown in FIG. 6, the identifiers Pc, P-
Since all the purchase flags of d and Pe are ON,
The execution of the paid program is permitted, and the paid program P
The execution of -c, Pd, and Pe is also started.

The paid program installation means 101, the paid lock release means 102, the related paid program search means 103, and the paid program operation availability determination means 104, which have been described as one embodiment of the present invention, comprise the computer system 10.
The processing and functions are realized by a program executed by the CPU 0. In this case, the present invention is implemented by installing the program in the computer system 100 via a reading device and an interface from a recording medium on which the program is recorded, loading the executable program into the main storage, and executing the program by the CPU. In addition, as a medium,
Anything that carries the program may be used,
It also includes media for downloading from a server device or the like via a communication medium.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In addition to reducing the work load of installing a plurality of paid programs related to each other, it is possible to perform accurate installation and to avoid the occurrence of a work error such as forgetting to install a required paid program.

The reason is that, in the present invention, when a paid program is installed, all related paid programs related to the program are automatically installed, and the paid lock is released.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of contents of an initial value of a paid lock information management table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a related paid program information table in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the content of a paid lock information management table after installation processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 computer system 101 paid program installation means 102 paid lock release means 103 related paid program search means 104 paid program operation availability determination means 105 paid lock information management table 106 related paid program information table 110 paid program save medium 120 paid program storage library

Claims (8)

[Claims] Claims: 1. Correspondence between a paid program and another paid program required to execute the paid program (referred to as "related paid program"), and if there is no related paid program in the paid program, In the installation of the paid program on the computer, if a related paid program corresponding to the paid program is set and registered in the storage means, the related paid program is also stored together with the paid program. A paid software management system comprising means for installing and unlocking the paid program and the related paid program and setting the program as executable. 2. In the case where another related paid program required for execution of the related paid program is registered in the storage unit, the related paid program and the related paid program are stored. In addition to the above, another related paid program required for execution of the related paid program is also installed, and the other related paid program is unlocked and set to be executable. A paid software management system as described. 3. Correspondence between a paid program and another paid program required to execute the paid program (referred to as "related paid program"), and if there is no related paid program in the paid program, If the related paid program corresponding to the paid program is set and registered in the storage unit when the paid program is installed in the computer, the setting is registered together with the paid program. The paid software management method, wherein the related paid program is installed at the same time, and the paid program and the related paid program are unlocked and set to be executable. 4. A paid lock information management table for managing whether or not a paid program has been purchased as a purchase flag for each paid program, and another paid program which is required to operate simultaneously when the paid program is operated. A related paid program information table storing information of association with the “related paid program”. When the paid program is installed, the paid program of the paid lock information management table is stored in the paid program. Means for updating a corresponding purchase flag; and searching for the presence or absence of a related paid program corresponding to the paid program from the related paid program information table, and if so, installing the related paid program. The related paid program in the paid lock information management table Means for updating a purchase flag corresponding to..., Upon execution of the paid program, determining whether to permit execution of the paid program based on a value of a purchase flag corresponding to the paid program in the paid lock information management table. A software management system, comprising: 5. A paid lock information management table that manages, for each paid program, whether or not a paid program is purchased as a purchase flag, and another paid program that is required to be operated simultaneously when the paid program operates. A related paid program information table that stores information of association with the “related paid program”; and a storage unit comprising: a paid program; First means for installing a program, and when the installation of the paid program is completed, a purchase flag of the paid program in the paid lock information management table is set to an on state to make the paid program operable. Second means, and a related paid program required for the operation of the paid program. Is searched from the related paid program information table, and if there is a related paid program, the first and second means are requested to install the related paid program as well; A third means for controlling a purchase flag corresponding to the related paid program in the paid lock information management table to be set to an ON state; and executing the paid program, referring to the paid lock information management table, Fourth means for controlling execution of the paid program if the purchase flag of the paid program is on, and not permitting execution of the paid program if the purchase flag is off. Characterized paid software management system. 6. In a computer system, a paid program that has not been officially purchased cannot operate.
The paid program is protected by a paid lock in advance, and only the paid program that has been officially purchased is released from the paid lock at the time of installation so that it can be operated. Check whether the paid lock is released or not, if the paid lock is released, judge that it is officially purchased and allow the paid program to operate, if the paid lock is not released, In a paid program management system that prevents unauthorized use of a paid program by judging that it is not officially purchased, each paid program has an identifier that uniquely identifies the paid program, In accordance with the identifier, a purchase flag indicating whether or not the paid program has been officially purchased is set. The initial value of the purchase flag of each paid program is all off, and when the purchased program is purchased, the purchase flag corresponding to the identifier of the paid program is updated to the on state, so that the paid program is officially purchased There is a paid lock information management table that manages whether or not each paid program has a related paid program, which is another paid program that needs to be operated at the same time as the paid program operates. Information and whether the related paid program exists, the associated information is stored as a related paid program information table stored in advance, and a paid program that can be executed by the computer system is stored. And a paid program save medium, The paid program that has been input is loaded into the paid program storage library, and the purchased paid program is installed in the computer system.Paid program installation means, when the paid program installation means finishes installing the paid program, A paid lock release unit that updates the purchase flag of the paid program in the paid lock information management table from an off state to an on state, and makes the paid program operable; and When updating the purchase flag corresponding to from the off state to the on state, the related paid program information table is searched for whether there is a related paid program necessary for the operation of the paid program, and the related paid program is If there,
Notifying the paid program installation means and the paid lock release means that there is a related paid program, and also installing the related paid program and updating the purchase flag to the ON state for the related paid program. Related paid program search means for performing the paid program, referring to the paid lock information management table, if the purchase flag of the paid program is on, permit execution of the paid program,
A paid software management system comprising: a paid program operation availability determination unit that controls not to permit execution of the paid program when the purchase flag is in an off state. 7. A paid lock information management table that manages, for each paid program, whether or not a paid program is purchased as a purchase flag, and another paid program that is required to operate simultaneously when the paid program operates. A related paid program information table that stores information of association with a “related paid program”. When a paid program is installed in the computer, the paid lock information management table A first process for updating a purchase flag corresponding to the paid program; and searching for the presence or absence of a related paid program corresponding to the paid program from the related paid program information table. And install the paid lock information management table. A second process for updating a purchase flag corresponding to the related paid program; and executing the paid program, permitting execution of the paid program based on a purchase flag corresponding to the paid program in the paid lock information management table. And a third process for determining whether or not to execute the first to third processes in a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing the computer to execute the first to third processes. 8. A paid lock information management table for managing whether or not a paid program has been purchased as a purchase flag for each paid program, and another paid program that is required to be operated simultaneously when the paid program operates. A related paid program information table that stores information of association with “related paid programs”; and a computer provided with a storage unit having the following: a paid program is input and loaded into a paid program storage library; A first process of installing the purchased paid program, and when the installation of the paid program is completed, the purchased flag of the paid program in the paid lock information management table is set to an ON state, and the paid program can be operated. Required for the operation of the paid program, The related paid program information table is searched for whether or not there is a related paid program. If the related paid program exists, the related paid program is also installed and the related paid program in the paid lock information management table is searched. A third process of controlling the purchase flag corresponding to the program to be set to the ON state; and executing the paid program, referring to the paid lock information management table, if the purchase flag of the paid program is in the ON state. The computer executes the first to third processes of permitting the execution of the paid program and not allowing the execution of the paid program if the purchase flag is off. Recording medium on which a program for recording is recorded.