JP2006268795A - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid a possible system failure by dynamically memorizing a combination of software components in which a fault may occurs. <P>SOLUTION: Combination information of conflicted software components is memorized in advance, and existence of a conflicted combination is determined by registering on the basis of the memorized combination information when receiving a request for registration of software components (108). When determined that there will be no conflicted combination (110), the registration-requested software components are registered (112). When the software component happens to have trouble later, the registered software component is deleted, and the combination information of the software component is memorized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program that avoid occurrence of problems caused by registering software components.

When installing (registering) a new software component on a computer device, verifying static constraints such as the hardware resources of the computer device and the types of services that can be provided by the computer device, and satisfying the constraints The technology to register is well known. For example, when installing an application, it was determined that a system change due to the installation was detected, changes to the constraint settings defined for the application that was already installed were compared, and a defect (such as a conflict) occurred. In such a case, a system is known that cancels system changes so that installation is not performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also known is an architecture of an information processing system composed of multiple software components that increases system usability and maintainability by minimizing interdependencies between software components. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).
JP 2001-356914 A JP 11-161475 A

  However, as described above, in a system that compares changes to the settings of predefined constraints and does not perform installation when it is determined that a conflict will occur, whether or not the static constraints are satisfied Although it is possible to determine whether or not a malfunction occurs, it cannot be determined whether or not a malfunction occurs due to a combination with other software components, and a failure may occur during operation. is there.

  In addition, even with a technique for minimizing the interdependence between software components, it is not possible to completely avoid conflicts and defects between software components.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can dynamically store combination information of software components in which a failure occurs, and information that can avoid a possible system failure in advance. It is an object to provide a processing device, an information processing method, and a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention stores a storage unit that stores combination information of software components in which a failure occurs, and stores the storage unit when there is a registration request for the software component. A determination means for determining whether or not a failure occurs by registering the software component requested to be registered based on the combination information, and when the determination means determines that the failure does not occur, Registering means for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, and when a malfunction occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration means, the combination information of the software components in which the malfunction has occurred is stored in the storage means Processing means It is.

  The information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention comprises storage means for storing combination information of software components in which a malfunction such as a conflict occurs. Here, the software component is a part of a program having some function.

  The determination unit determines whether or not a failure occurs by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, based on the combination information stored in the storage unit, when there is a registration request for the software component. . This is because, for example, it is determined that a problem occurs when the combination of software components when registering the requested software component matches one of the combinations indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit. Alternatively, even if the combinations are not exactly the same, it may be determined that a problem occurs when the combination is similar to the combination indicated by the stored combination information.

  The registration unit registers the software component requested to be registered when it is determined by the determination unit that no problem occurs.

  Further, the information processing apparatus according to the first invention includes processing means. When a failure occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit, the processing unit stores the combination information of the software component in which the defect has occurred in the storage unit. As a result, in this information processing apparatus, combination information of software components that can be determined that a failure occurs is stored in the storage means. Therefore, when there is a registration request for the software component, the determination means refers to the combination information to determine the failure. It can be determined whether or not.

  As described above, since the information of the combination of software components in which a failure occurs can be dynamically stored, a possible system failure can be avoided in advance. This also reduces the burden on the user when registering software components.

  The information processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is the storage means for storing the combination information of the software components in which the trouble occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the trouble occurs in association with each other, and when there is a registration request for the software component , Based on the information stored in the storage means, a judgment means for judging whether or not to register the software component for which the registration request has been made, and when the judgment means judges that the registration request is to be registered, A registration unit for registering a software component, and when a malfunction occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit, a malfunction occurs in function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. As the function information indicating the function, the software component in which the problem occurred It is configured to include a processing means to be stored in the storage means in association with the cement combination information.

  The information processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention comprises storage means for storing the combination information of software components in which a malfunction such as a conflict occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the malfunction occurs in association with each other.

  When there is a software component registration request, the determination unit determines whether or not to register the software component for which the registration request has been made, based on the information stored in the storage unit. For example, when the combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit, the requested software component is You can also decide to register. At this time, even if the combinations are not exactly the same, it may be determined that registration is not performed in the case of a combination that is similar to the combination indicated by the stored combination information, and it is determined that other combinations are registered. The combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit, and corresponds to the combination. If the function indicated by the function information stored in association with the combination information is a predetermined function, it is determined that the software component for which the registration request has been made is to be registered. Also good.

  The registering unit registers the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined by the determining unit that the software component for which the registration has been requested is registered.

  Further, the information processing apparatus according to the second invention includes processing means. When the malfunction occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration means, the processing means uses the function information indicating the function executed when the malfunction occurs as the function information indicating the function in which the malfunction occurs. Is stored in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components in which the occurrence occurs. As a result, the combination information of the software components that can be determined that a failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit. Therefore, when there is a registration request for the software component, the determination unit stores It can be determined whether or not to register by referring to the information of the means.

  As described above, since it is possible to dynamically store the information on the combination of software components in which a failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs, a possible system failure can be avoided in advance. This also reduces the burden on the user when registering software components.

  When the registration unit registers the software component requested to be registered in the information processing apparatus according to the second invention, a combination of the already registered software component and the software component requested to register is stored in the storage unit. A registration function invalidation unit for invalidating the function indicated by the function information stored in association with the combination information indicating the corresponding combination when the combination information indicated by the combination information stored in the unit corresponds; You can also.

  As a result, by registering the software component, it is possible to invalidate a function that causes a problem, and thus possible system failures can be avoided in advance.

  The information processing apparatus according to the first and second aspects of the present invention further includes a deletion unit that deletes the registered software component when a problem occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit. You can also.

  Further, the information processing apparatus according to the first and second aspects further includes an invalidating means for invalidating the registered software component when a problem occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration means. It can also be provided.

  In this way, by deleting or invalidating the registered software component when a failure occurs, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of the failure and the failure thereafter.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus in which there is a storage means for storing the combination information of software components in which a failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs in association with each other, and when there is a registration request for the software component A determination unit that determines a function that causes a failure by registering a software component that has been requested based on information stored in the storage unit; and a function that is determined to cause a failure by the determination unit And a registration unit for registering the requested software component, and when a malfunction occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit, this is executed when the malfunction occurs Function information indicating the function As is configured to include a processing means for storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components unmoving condition has occurred, a.

  An information processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores, in association with each other, software component combination information in which a malfunction such as a conflict occurs and function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs.

  Based on the information stored in the storage unit, the determination unit determines a function in which a malfunction occurs by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made. For example, when the combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component corresponds to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit, the function stored in association with the combination information Information can be determined to be a function that causes a problem.

  The registering unit invalidates the function determined to be defective by the determining unit and registers the software component requested to be registered. As a result, it is possible to prevent problems caused by registering the software component for which registration has been requested.

  Furthermore, the information processing apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention comprises processing means. When the malfunction occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration means, the processing means uses the function information indicating the function executed when the malfunction occurs as the function information indicating the function in which the malfunction occurs. Is stored in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components in which the occurrence occurs. As a result, the combination information of the software components that can be determined that a failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs are associated with each other and stored in the storage unit. Can determine the function in which the malfunction occurs with reference to the information in the storage means.

  As described above, the information on the combination of software components in which a problem occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the problem occurs are dynamically stored, and the function that causes the problem at the time of registration is invalidated. It can be avoided in advance. This also reduces the burden on the user when registering software components.

  In the first, second, and third information processing apparatuses, when a problem occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit, the function executed when the problem occurs is invalidated. It is also possible to further provide a function disabling means for realizing the function.

  After disabling the function, it is possible to prevent a problem from occurring.

  In the information processing method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when there is a registration request for a software component, the registration request is made based on the combination information stored in the storage means for storing the combination information of the software component in which a failure occurs. A determination step for determining whether or not a failure occurs by registering the registered software component, and a registration step for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined by the determination step that the failure does not occur And a processing step of storing, in the storage means, combination information of software components in which the failure has occurred when a failure occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step.

  Since the information processing method of the fourth invention also operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the first invention, it is possible to dynamically store combination information of software components in which a problem occurs, and to prevent a possible system failure. Can be avoided.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method in a storage unit that stores, in association with a software component registration request, software component combination information in which a failure occurs and function information indicating a function in which the failure occurs in association with each other. Based on the stored information, a determination step for determining whether or not to register the software component for which the registration request has been made, and a software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined to be registered by the determination step. Function information indicating a function in which a malfunction occurs when a malfunction occurs after a registration process for registration and a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered in the registration process As a combination of software components in which the malfunction occurred In association with the information is configured to include a, a process of storing in the storage means.

  Since the information processing method of the fifth invention operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the second invention, information on the combination of software components in which a problem occurs and function information indicating the function in which the problem occurs are dynamically stored. And possible system failures can be avoided in advance.

  The information processing method according to the sixth aspect of the invention is a storage means for storing, in association with software component combination information in which a failure occurs, and function information indicating a function in which the failure occurs in association with a software component registration request. Based on the stored information, a determination step for determining a function that causes a failure by registering the software component that has been requested to register, and invalidating a function that is determined to cause a failure by the determination step A registration process for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, and function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurred when the malfunction occurred after the software component was registered by the registration process As the function information indicating the function in which the malfunction occurs. There has been configured to include a processing step of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software component that occurred, the.

  Since the information processing method of the sixth invention also operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the third invention, information on the combination of software components in which a failure occurs and functional information indicating the function in which the failure occurs are dynamically stored. In addition, since a function that causes a problem at the time of registration is invalidated, a possible system failure can be avoided in advance.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, when a registration request for a software component is received from a computer, the registration request is received based on the combination information stored in the storage means for storing the combination information of the software component in which a failure occurs. A determination step for determining whether or not a failure occurs by registering a software component that has been registered, and a registration for registering the software component that has been requested to be registered when it is determined that the failure does not occur in the determination step And a processing step of storing, in the storage means, combination information of the software components in which the failure has occurred when a failure occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step.

  Since the program of the seventh invention also operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the first invention, it is possible to dynamically store software component combination information in which a problem occurs and avoid possible system failures in advance. can do.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing, in association with a computer, a combination of software components in which a failure occurs and functional information indicating a function in which the failure occurs in association with a computer component registration request. A determination step for determining whether or not to register the requested software component based on the information stored in the information, and a software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined to be registered by the determination step A function that indicates a function that causes a malfunction when a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered by the registration process, and indicates function information that indicates a function that is executed when the malfunction occurs. As information, the software component in which the malfunction occurred In association with bets combination information of a program for executing a processing step of storing in the storage means.

  Since the program of the eighth invention also operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the second invention, information on the combination of software components in which a failure occurs and functional information indicating the function in which the failure occurs are dynamically stored And possible system failures can be avoided in advance.

  According to a ninth aspect of the invention, there is provided a program for storing, in association with a computer, a combination of software components that cause a failure and functional information indicating a function that causes the failure when a computer requests registration of the software component. Based on the information stored in, a determination step for determining a function that causes a failure by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, and a function that is determined to cause a failure by the determination step are invalidated In addition, a registration step for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, and a function that indicates a function that is executed when the failure occurs after the software component is registered by the registration step Functional information that indicates the function that causes the malfunction To a program for executing a process of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components unmoving condition has occurred, a.

  Since the program of the ninth invention operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus of the third invention, the information of the combination of software components in which a failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs are dynamically stored. Since the function that causes a problem at the time of registration is invalidated, a possible system failure can be avoided in advance.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to dynamically store combination information of software components in which a failure occurs, or the combination information and function information indicating a function in which the failure occurs. In addition, an excellent effect is achieved that possible system failures can be avoided in advance.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, information processing apparatuses 10 </ b> A, 10 </ b> B, and 10 </ b> C according to the present embodiment are connected to a personal computer (PC) 14 via a network 16. The information processing apparatuses 10A, 10B, and 10C according to the present embodiment are multifunction devices having various functions such as a copy function, a scan function, and a print function, and receive various data and commands transmitted from the PC 14, It can operate accordingly.

  Next, the configuration of the information processing apparatuses 10A, 10B, and 10C will be described. Since the information processing apparatuses 10A, 10B, and 10C have the same configuration, the information processing apparatuses 10A, 10B, and 10C will be described as the information processing apparatus 10 as a representative. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 10 includes a CPU 22, a ROM 24, a RAM 26, a storage device 28, a processing unit 30, a network interface (I / F) 32, an input device 34, and a display device 36 via a bus 38. They are connected to each other.

  The CPU 22 controls the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 10 by executing a program stored in the ROM 24. The ROM 24 stores a program executed by the CPU 22, setting information of the information processing apparatus 10, and the like. The RAM 26 is a work memory.

  The storage device 28 is composed of a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like. In the storage device 28, information on hardware resources or software resources (hereinafter collectively referred to as resources) of the own device (see FIGS. 3 and 4), and information on combination of software components that conflict (occurrence of failure) (see FIG. 3). 5) is stored.

  In this embodiment, in order to add a new extended function to the information processing apparatus 10, when the user tries to register a new software component with the information processing apparatus 10, the software component is already stored. Whether or not a conflict occurs with the software component registered in the information processing apparatus 10 is determined from the combination information stored in the storage device 28, and when it is determined that no conflict occurs, the software component is registered. At the same time, when a failure occurs immediately after registration, a combination of software component combination information at the time of the failure is stored in the storage device 28 as combination information that causes a conflict.

  Here, the software component means a program part having some function. Each software component has a specific function, but basically it is not used alone, and an extended function additionally added to the basic function of the information processing apparatus 10 is combined with another program. It is a part to realize. In the present embodiment, the software component includes authentication information that proves that the software component is not an illegal one but a certain part of the program for realizing the extended function, and the software component. The information of resources necessary for the operation is added.

  In addition, a conflict means that a system failure occurs when a plurality of software components use the same hardware resource.

  The storage device 28 sequentially stores records (logs) of processes executed by the information processing device 10 by the CPU 22. Thereby, it is possible to take an appropriate response when a failure occurs.

  Here, the storage device 28 is configured by a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like, but is not limited thereto, and may be a storage medium such as a removable MO (magneto-optical disk).

  The processing unit 30 includes a scanner unit (image input terminal: IIT) that reads an image of a document and a printing unit (image output terminal: IOT) that prints using a printing material. The CPU 22 controls the copy function and scan. Various functions such as a function and a print function are executed.

  The network I / F 32 is connected to the network 16 and transmits / receives various data to / from other devices connected to the network 16.

  The input device 34 includes operation switches, operation buttons, and the like, and commands and information input by the user operating the input device 34 are transmitted to the CPU 22 via the bus 38.

  The display device 36 is a GUI (graphical user interface) configured from a liquid crystal display, for example. Various information, messages, and the like are displayed on the display device 36.

  Here, the resource information and the software component combination information stored in the storage device 28 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a table storing information of resources implemented in the information processing apparatus 10. Resource information (hereinafter, resource information) includes resource type information 50 and processing capability information 52.

  The resource type information 50 is information indicating the type of resource implemented in the information processing apparatus 10. In FIG. 3, the resource type information 50 indicates that the information processing apparatus 10 is equipped with various resources such as IIT, IOT, GUI, and HDD. The processing capability information 52 is information on the processing capability of each resource indicated in the resource type information 50. For example, in IIT, scanning speed, resolution, color scanning at the time of document scanning is possible, or monochrome scanning is performed. Information such as whether or not it is possible is stored as processing capacity information. The resource information can also be described and stored in a hierarchical structure in XML format as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a table storing combination information of conflicting software components (where trouble occurs). Here, the ID 54 of the software component registered in the device in advance, the ID 56 of the software component deleted because of a conflict between the software components registered in advance, and the reference to the resource information of the deleted software component Information 58 (file name of a file in which resource information is described) is stored.

  The ID 54 and ID 56 are assigned to identify each software component in the information processing apparatus 10. In the present embodiment, different IDs are assigned to software components having different resource information necessary for operation. That is, here, an ID is assigned to identify resource information of each software component.

  Hereinafter, processing performed in the information processing apparatus 10 when the user tries to register a new software component in the information processing apparatus 10 from the PC 14 via the network 16 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of a processing routine that is started and executed by the CPU 22 when the information processing apparatus 10 receives a software component registration request from the PC 14. The registration request includes a registration command and a software component.

  In step 100, the authentication information included in the software component requested to be registered is confirmed. In step 102, it is determined whether or not the authentication information is valid. If it is determined that the authentication information is not valid, the process proceeds to step 114 where the registration-requested software component is not registered, a message indicating that registration is not possible is displayed on the display device 36, and the PC 14 is displayed. Display information for displaying a message indicating that registration is impossible is transmitted. When the PC 14 receives the display information, the PC 14 displays a message indicating that registration is not possible based on the display information.

  If it is determined in step 102 that the authentication information is valid, the process proceeds to step 104.

  In step 104, resources in the information processing apparatus 10 are investigated. Specifically, the resource information of the own device stored in the storage device 28 is read.

  In step 106, it is determined whether or not resources necessary for the operation of the software component requested to be registered are installed in the own apparatus. As described above, the software component includes an XML file in which resource information necessary for the operation of the software component is described as shown in FIG. The CPU 22 analyzes this file and compares the resource information of the software component with the read resource information of the information processing apparatus 10. By comparing, for example, when the IIT is included in the resources necessary for the operation of the software component requested to be registered, it is determined whether the IIT is installed in the information processing apparatus 10 or further installed. It is possible to determine whether or not the resolution of the IIT satisfying the resolution required for the operation of the software component requested to be registered. As a result of the comparison, when the resource information of the information processing apparatus 10 does not satisfy the resource information of the software component for which registration has been requested, it is determined that registration is not possible, the process proceeds to step 114, and the same processing as described above is performed. .

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the resource information of the information processing apparatus 10 satisfies the resource information of the software component requested to be registered, the process proceeds to step 108 and the combination information table stored in the storage device 28 is searched. Then, it is determined whether or not a conflict occurs between the software component requested to be registered and the already registered software component.

  In the present embodiment, the combination of the software component currently registered in the information processing apparatus 10 and the software component requested to be registered corresponds to one of the combinations indicated by the combination information included in this table. Otherwise, it is determined that no conflict occurs even if the software component requested to be registered is registered, and it is determined that a conflict occurs if any of the software components is registered. More specifically, with reference to FIG. 5, the ID combination of the currently registered component corresponds to one of the combinations indicated by the combination information recorded in the ID 54 of FIG. 5, and the corresponding ID 54 If the resource information of ID 56 (resource information described in the file indicated by the reference information 58) stored in association with is the same as the resource information of the software component requested to register, a conflict occurs. to decide.

  If it is determined in step 110 that a conflict will occur, the process proceeds to step 114 and the same processing as described above is performed. If it is determined in step 110 that no conflict occurs, the process proceeds to step 112 and the software component requested to be registered is registered. Specifically, the software component program is installed, an ID for identifying the software component is generated and assigned, and a new file name is assigned to the file describing the resource information of the software component. The data is stored in a predetermined storage area of the storage device 28.

  Next, a flow of a processing routine executed by the CPU 22 when a failure occurs will be described with reference to FIG. This processing routine program is started when the information processing apparatus 10 is restarted after a failure occurs.

  In step 200, the log stored in the storage device 28 is confirmed.

  In step 202, it is determined whether or not the failure has occurred immediately after registering the software component from the log. For example, the elapsed time from the registration to the occurrence of the failure is counted, and if the elapsed time is within a predetermined threshold, it can be determined that the failure has occurred immediately after the software component is registered. If it is determined in step 202 that it is not immediately after registration, the process proceeds to step 210, where normal failure processing, for example, display of an error message, verification of whether the device has been damaged due to the failure, and repair of the damage Etc.

  If it is determined in step 202 that the failure has occurred immediately after registration of the software component, it is determined that a conflict has occurred between the software component registered immediately before the failure and another software component. In step 204, the information on the combination of the software components currently registered in the information processing apparatus 10 is added to the table of the combination information on the software components in which the conflict occurs and stored in the storage device 28. To do. Referring to the table shown in FIG. 5 as an example, ID 54 records the IDs of other software components registered in advance in addition to the software components registered immediately before the failure, and ID 56 registers immediately before the failure. The software component ID is recorded, and the file name of the file describing the resource information of the software component registered immediately before the failure is recorded as the reference information 58. This file name is the same as the file name of the resource information file stored in the storage device 28 during the registration process in step 112 described above.

  In step 206, the software component registered immediately before the failure occurs is deleted. Thereafter, conflicts caused by this combination can be avoided.

  In step 208, a warning message (here, a message indicating that the registered software component has been deleted and the reason for the deletion) is displayed on the display device 36, and display information for displaying a similar warning message on the PC 14 is displayed. Send. Upon receiving the display information, the PC 14 displays a warning message on a display or the like based on the display information.

  As described above, the combination information of the software components that conflict (occurs in trouble) is stored in the storage device 28, and when there is a registration request for the software components, the combination information stored in the storage device 28 is used. Therefore, by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, it is determined whether or not a conflict occurs, and when it is determined that no conflict will occur, the software component for which the registration request has been made is registered. Possible obstacles can be avoided in advance. Further, when a failure occurs after the software component is registered, the registered software component is deleted, and the combination information of the software component in which the failure has occurred is stored in the storage device 28 as the combination information of the conflicting software component. Therefore, it is possible to store information on combinations in which conflicts occur dynamically, and avoid possible failures beforehand.

  In addition, this makes it possible to automatically determine the possibility of conflict and register and delete the software component, thereby reducing the burden on the user when registering the software component.

  In the embodiment described above, the combination of the software component requested to be registered and the already registered software component corresponds to one of the combinations indicated by the combination information stored in the storage device 28. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the resource information of the software component requested to be registered is stored in association with the ID 54 of the already registered software component. Even when the resource information is similar to the resource information of the ID 56, it may be determined that a conflict occurs. This also has the same effect as the above embodiment. Further, it may be determined that a conflict occurs not only when the resource information is similar but also when the combination itself is similar.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the information processing apparatus 10 receives a registration request for a software component from the PC 14 via the network 16 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An interface for connecting the removable storage means and reading data from the storage means is provided, a registration request is input from the input device 34, and the program and resource information of the software component are input from the storage means connected to the interface. Can also be entered.

  In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which a registered software component is deleted and combination information is stored in the storage device 28 when a failure occurs after registration of the software component. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If a failure occurs a plurality of times after component registration, the registered software component may be deleted, and the combination information may be stored in the storage device 28. There are various causes of failures that occur in information processing devices, but failures that occur due to conflicts between software components are recurrent, so if a failure occurs only once, a failure that occurs due to a conflict. It may be difficult to determine whether or not. Therefore, if the registered software component is deleted and the combination information of the software component in which the failure has occurred is stored in the storage device 28 when the failure has occurred a plurality of times, the failure caused by the conflict can be ensured. It can be avoided. Also, it is not necessary to delete the registered software components unnecessarily.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a software component is deleted when a malfunction occurs after registration of the software component has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is executed when, for example, a malfunction occurs. The function may be disabled. Here, “invalidation” is to set the function so as not to operate. In many combinations of software components, problems occur only when specific functions are executed. In such a case, if the specific function is disabled and not executed, it is possible to prevent a problem from occurring.

  Further, when a failure occurs after registration of the software component, the registered software component may be invalidated instead of deleting the software component. The same effect as described above can be obtained by invalidation.

  In the above embodiment, if the failure occurs immediately after registration of the software component (the elapsed time from the registration to the occurrence of the failure is measured and the elapsed time is within a predetermined threshold), the software component However, the deletion process and the storage process of the combination information may be performed after the software component registration, and are not particularly limited.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the combination information of the software components in which the conflict occurs (the failure occurs) is stored in the storage device 28, but the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs is associated with the combination information. You may make it memorize | store. The function indicated by the function information is a function that causes a problem when executed in a combination of software components stored in association with the function information.

  When function information is stored in association with each other in this way, for example, after a software component is registered, when a malfunction occurs when a certain function is executed, the executed function is the software component in which the malfunction occurred. Since it can be a function that causes a problem in the combination, the function information indicating this function may be stored in the storage device 28 in association with the information of the combination.

  Based on the information stored in the storage device 28, it is possible to determine whether or not to register the software component requested to be registered. For example, when the combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage device 28, the requested software component is registered. The combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage device 28, and the combination If the function indicated by the function information stored in association with the combination information is a predetermined function, the software component for which the registration request has been made is Determined to register Rukoto can also.

  The predetermined function may be a function that does not hinder the operation of the apparatus even if the function is disabled, or a function that is not particularly important. If such a function is set in the apparatus in advance, the combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component corresponds to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage device 28. Even so, it can be determined that the function is registered when the function corresponds to the function indicated by the function information stored in the storage device 28.

  Even if it is determined and registered in this way, if a problem occurs after registration, the registered software component may be deleted or the software component may be deleted as in the above embodiment. It is also possible to further provide a function of invalidating the registered software component and invalidate the registered software component when a problem occurs. Further, the function executed when a problem occurs may be invalidated.

  In the above description, it is determined whether or not to register the software component requested to be registered based on the information stored in the storage device 28. However, for example, the following processing can be performed. The software component requested to be registered is registered even if it corresponds to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage device 28 by registration if the resource constraint is satisfied. However, at the time of registration, the function indicated by the function information stored in association with the corresponding combination information is invalidated. In this way, the occurrence of a problem can be prevented by invalidating the function that causes the problem when registering the software component.

  In addition, when a problem occurs after registration, the occurrence of the problem can be prevented by invalidating the function executed when the problem occurs.

  In the above-described embodiment, the multifunction device has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the multifunction device and may be any information processing apparatus that can register software components.

It is the figure which showed the state with which the some information processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment and the personal computer were connected via the network. It is a block diagram of information processing apparatus. It is an example of the table which memorize | stored the information of the resource mounted in information processing apparatus. This is an example when resource information of an information processing apparatus or resource information of a software component is described in a hierarchical structure in XML format. It is an example of the table which memorize | stored the combination information of the conflicting software component. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the processing routine started and performed by CPU, when the registration request of a software component is received. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the processing routine performed by CPU when a failure generate | occur | produces.

Explanation of symbols

10A, 10B, 10C Information processing device 22 CPU
24 ROM
26 RAM
28 Storage Device 32 Network I / F
34 Input device 36 Display device

Claims (15)

Storage means for storing combination information of software components in which a defect occurs;
Judging means for judging whether or not a malfunction occurs by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, based on the combination information stored in the storage means, when there is a registration request for the software component; ,
A registration means for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined by the determination means that a problem does not occur;
Processing means for storing, in the storage means, combination information of software components in which the trouble occurs when a trouble occurs after the software component is registered by the registration means;
An information processing apparatus including: Storage means for storing the software component combination information in which the defect occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the defect occurs in association with each other;
A determination unit that determines whether or not to register the software component that has been requested based on the information stored in the storage unit when there is a registration request for the software component;
A registration means for registering the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined to be registered by the determination means;
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered by the registration unit, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, using function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. Processing means for storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components,
An information processing apparatus including:   The determination means has received a registration request when a combination of a software component that has already been registered and the software component that has requested registration does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage means The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein it is determined to register a software component.   In the case where the combination of the already registered software component and the requested software component does not correspond to the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit, and the determination unit corresponds to the combination Even in the case where the function indicated by the function information stored in association with the combination information is a predetermined function, it is determined that the software component for which the registration request has been made is registered. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.   When the registration unit registers the software component for which the registration request has been made, the combination indicated by the combination information stored in the storage unit is a combination of the already registered software component and the software component for which the registration request has been made 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a function invalidating unit at the time of registration that invalidates a function indicated by the function information stored in association with the combination information indicating the corresponding combination.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that deletes the registered software component when a failure occurs after the registration of the software component by the registration unit. .   The information according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising invalidating means for invalidating the registered software component when a failure occurs after the software component is registered by the registration means. Processing equipment. Storage means for storing the software component combination information in which the defect occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the defect occurs in association with each other;
A determination unit that determines a function in which a malfunction occurs by registering the software component for which the registration request has been made, based on information stored in the storage unit when there is a registration request for the software component;
A registration unit that invalidates the function determined by the determination unit to cause a problem and registers the software component that has been requested to be registered;
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered by the registration unit, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, using function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. Processing means for storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components,
An information processing apparatus including:   6. A function disabling unit for disabling a function executed when a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered by the registration unit. Item 9. The information processing device according to any one of items 8 to 9. When there is a registration request for a software component, the problem can be solved by registering the requested software component based on the combination information stored in the storage means for storing the combination information of the software component in which the defect occurs. A determination step for determining whether or not it occurs,
A registration step of registering the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined by the determination step that no malfunction occurs;
A processing step of storing, in the storage means, combination information of software components in which the failure has occurred when a failure occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step;
An information processing method including: When there is a registration request for a software component, the registration is performed based on information stored in a storage unit that stores the combination information of the software component in which the failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs in association with each other. A determination process for determining whether or not to register the requested software component;
A registration step of registering the software component for which the registration request was made when it is determined to be registered by the determination step;
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, using function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. A processing step of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components performed,
An information processing method including: When there is a registration request for a software component, the registration is performed based on information stored in a storage unit that stores the combination information of the software component in which the failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs in association with each other. A determination process for determining a function in which a malfunction occurs by registering a requested software component;
A registration step of invalidating the function determined to cause a failure by the determination step and registering the software component for which the registration request has been made,
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, using function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. A processing step of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components performed,
An information processing method including: On the computer,
When there is a registration request for a software component, the problem can be solved by registering the requested software component based on the combination information stored in the storage means for storing the combination information of the software component in which the defect occurs. A determination step for determining whether or not it occurs,
A registration step of registering the software component for which the registration request has been made when it is determined by the determination step that no malfunction occurs;
A processing step of storing, in the storage means, combination information of software components in which the failure has occurred when a failure occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step;
A program that executes On the computer,
When there is a registration request for a software component, the registration is performed based on information stored in a storage unit that stores the combination information of the software component in which the failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs in association with each other. A determination process for determining whether or not to register the requested software component;
A registration step of registering the software component for which the registration request was made when it is determined to be registered by the determination step;
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered in the registration step, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, using function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. A processing step of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components performed,
A program that executes On the computer,
When there is a registration request for a software component, the registration is performed based on information stored in a storage unit that stores the combination information of the software component in which the failure occurs and the function information indicating the function in which the failure occurs in association with each other. A determination process for determining a function in which a malfunction occurs by registering a requested software component;
A registration step of invalidating the function determined to cause a failure by the determination step and registering the software component that has been requested to be registered;
When a malfunction occurs after the software component is registered in the registration process, the malfunction occurs as function information indicating a function in which the malfunction occurs, with function information indicating a function executed when the malfunction occurs. A processing step of storing in the storage means in association with the combination information of the software components performed,
A program that executes

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