JP2008204090A - Server device and service provision method via network - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to link the respective execution environments of a Web system and a legacy program without causing additional operation such as program correction as much as possible, and to service-provide a result acquired by the execution of the legacy program. <P>SOLUTION: This server device is configured to execute the task of a Web server for receiving a service request from a terminal via a network (S11), and for transmitting service provision information corresponding to the request via the network to the terminal (S16); the task of a specific arithmetic program (legacy program) prepared by FORTRAN or the like; and the task of a CGI program for performing processing to generate input information prepared in language different from that to be used for the task of the specific arithmetic program based on the service request received by the task of the Web server, and to write it in a shared memory 12 (S23), and processing to generate service provision information from the arithmetic result information of the task of the specific arithmetic processing, and to transfer it to the task of the Web server (S26). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a server device and a service providing method for providing a service through a network.

In recent years, as a system for providing a service from a server device to a terminal device through a network, a system for providing a service using WWW (World Wide Web) technology (hereinafter referred to as a Web system) has been widely used.
In a server device in such a Web system, a predetermined transmission unit transmits a predetermined amount from a terminal device via a network based on a communication protocol such as HTTP or FTP based on the TCP / IP protocol by the calculation means (CPU). Processing for receiving a service request and service providing information corresponding to the service request as distribution information (content) expressed in HTML or JavaScript (registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., the same applies hereinafter) to the terminal device Each of the processes to be transmitted is executed according to the Web server program. Here, when providing (transmitting) a homepage prepared in advance as service provision information, it can be handled only by executing a Web server program. In this case, by executing the Web server program, the location of the data is accessed according to the location information (URL, etc.) indicating the location of the data specified in the service request, and the data such as the home page existing there is serviced. It is sent to the terminal as provided information.

  Further, when the distribution information corresponding to the request is generated and provided each time, for example, as an information retrieval service, information corresponding to the service request is obtained based on the service request received by the execution of the Web server program. Information necessary for the processing is generated and delivered to a device or program (hereinafter referred to as request response processing means) for executing the processing (database search processing, etc.) for the processing, and the processing result obtained by the request response processing means By executing the process of generating service provision information based on the information, a relay program for relaying the Web server program and the request response processing means is required. In general, such a relay program is realized as a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program created in a program language such as Perl or PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor). Also, it has the function of a Web server program and the function of a CGI program (relay program), and was created in a program language such as C, C ++, Java (registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., the same shall apply hereinafter), There are so-called application servers and the like.

On the other hand, core business support programs, science and technology calculation programs, etc. are executed by general-purpose computers and supercomputers, etc. for a long time. A system that provides scientific and technical calculation services such as A program executed in such an old system (hereinafter referred to as a legacy program) is generally executed in a multi-user / multi-task OS environment. However, in most modern network systems such as FORTRAN, COBOL, or PL1, etc. There are many programs that are not used and are created in a programming language (hereinafter referred to as a legacy language) that is not suitable for use, and many of them are large-scale or have complicated processing contents. Therefore, it takes a lot of work to reconstruct such legacy programs in the mainstream programming languages (Java, C, C ++, etc.).
On the other hand, if the execution environment for such legacy programs is linked to the currently popular network systems such as the Internet and Intranet, and services can be provided by executing legacy programs over the network, existing assets can be used effectively. It is.
Conventionally, for example, in Patent Document 1, an execution machine of a program (solver) for a technical simulation (stress analysis, vibration analysis, etc.) and a user terminal are connected via the Internet and an intermediary computer. A system that enables a solver is shown.
JP 2003-150888 A

However, legacy languages such as FORTRAN used for legacy programs have weak functions related to variable I / O (Input / Output). For example, information can be input only through a punch card, a keyboard, or a file, and information can be output only by printing out or outputting to a file. Furthermore, many computers that execute legacy programs use a single task OS or a time-shared multitask OS, and are not suitable for parallel processing.
For this reason, when the execution environment of a legacy program created in a legacy language is directly linked to a Web system that can be accessed at the same time from the terminal side, the I / O-related processing load on the legacy program side during simultaneous access is reduced. There was a problem that it was not possible to respond quickly (service provision). Furthermore, there is a problem that a large amount of man-hours is required for modifying (adding) an I / O related program in a legacy program.
In addition, it is impractical as a service provision through a Web system to limit the number of service requests (transactions) that can be simultaneously processed (parallel processing) to reduce I / O related loads.
Patent Document 1 describes how to connect a machine that executes a legacy program (solver) with weak I / O functions and an intermediary computer so that the weakness of the I / O function does not become a problem. There is no disclosure or suggestion about.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to create a network based on the currently popular WWW technology without generating additional work such as modification of an existing program as much as possible. A server device capable of transmitting a processing result obtained by executing a legacy program as provided information through a network by linking a Web system as a system and an execution environment of an existing legacy program created in a legacy language such as FORTRAN And providing a service providing method through a network.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention receives a predetermined service request from one or more terminals through a network such as the Internet or an intranet, and transmits service provision information corresponding to the service request to each terminal through the network. Applied to a server device having communication means for performing specific arithmetic processing (for example, structural analysis processing, fluid analysis processing, etc.) based on predetermined input information in a program language such as FORTRAN, COBOL, or PL1. A specific arithmetic processing means to be executed according to a specific arithmetic program that is a created program; a process for generating the input information used by the specific arithmetic processing means based on the service request received through the communication means; The specific arithmetic processing obtained by the arithmetic processing means Each of the processes for generating the service provision information based on the result information is a relay program (a CGI function included in a CGI program or an application server program) that is a program created in a program language different from the specific calculation program. Relay processing means to be executed according to the corresponding portion, etc., and shared storage means having a shared storage area that is accessed from both the specific arithmetic processing means and the relay processing means, and the relay processing means Writing the input information into the shared storage area, reading the input information from the shared storage area by the specific arithmetic processing means, executing the specific arithmetic process, and storing the result information of the specific arithmetic process in the shared storage Write to the means, and from the shared storage area by the relay processing means It reads the result information of the constant of the processing, in which it generates the service providing information is configured to hand over to the communication unit.

With such a configuration, when the specific operation program created in the legacy language exists, the shared storage means (shared program) and the relay program that is often created in a language based on WWW technology. As a result of being able to link via a memory), it is possible to configure a server device that can transmit a processing result obtained by executing the specific arithmetic program as provided information through a network.
Moreover, each of the specific calculation processing means for executing the specific calculation program and the relay processing means for executing the relay program directly accesses the shared storage means when exchanging information between them. Just do it. For this reason, the relay program and the specific calculation program can be linked to the existing specific calculation program without generating additional work such as correction as much as possible.
Note that what can be understood as the communication means is a combination of a communication device such as a TCP / IP compatible network interface card and a means for executing the Web server program (CPU or the like for realizing the Web server function). Can be considered.

Further, the present invention may be understood as a method of providing a service through a network using the server device.
That is, a service provision through a network by a server device having a communication means for receiving a predetermined service request from one or a plurality of terminals through the network and transmitting service provision information corresponding to the service request to the terminal through the network. In the method, when the server device includes the specific arithmetic processing means, the relay processing means, and the shared storage means, the input information is input to the shared storage area by the relay processing means. And reading the input information from the shared storage area by the specific calculation processing means, executing the specific calculation processing and writing the result information of the specific calculation processing to the shared storage means, Read the result information of the specific arithmetic processing from the shared storage area by the relay processing means Together with the steps of passing this by generating the service providing information to the communication means, which is assumed as a service providing method through a network with.
This also provides the same effects as described for the server device.

According to the present invention, when the specific operation program (legacy program) created in a legacy language such as FORTRAN exists, it is often created in a language such as Perl or Java based on this and the WWW technology. As a result of being able to link the relay program via the shared storage means (shared memory), a server device that can transmit the processing result obtained by executing the specific arithmetic program as provided information through a network is configured. Can do.
Moreover, each of the specific calculation processing means for executing the specific calculation program and the relay processing means for executing the relay program directly accesses the shared storage means when exchanging information between them. Therefore, it is possible to link both the above-mentioned specific programs without generating additional work such as correction as much as possible.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings so that the present invention can be understood. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a service providing system A including the server X according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the server X and the terminal 2 configuring the service providing system A. FIG. 3 and FIG. 3 are flowcharts showing the procedure of service providing processing by the server X.

First, a schematic configuration of the service providing system A according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the server X and the terminal 2 constituting the service providing system A will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
The service providing system A is a service providing system that links a network system (Web system) based on the WWW technology and an execution environment of a specific arithmetic program that is an existing legacy program created in a legacy language such as FORTRAN. The processing result obtained by executing the specific arithmetic program is transmitted from the server X constituting the server 2 to the terminal 2 as service provision information through the network 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the service providing system A has a server X and a terminal 2 connected to a network 1 such as the Internet or an intranet, and these are configured to be able to communicate with each other through the network 1.
The server X receives a predetermined service request from one or a plurality of terminals 2 through the network 1, and sends information corresponding to the service request (hereinafter referred to as service provision information) to the terminal 2 that has made the service request through the network 1. An information processing apparatus (computer) for providing a service to be transmitted.
The terminal 2 transmits a service request to the server X via the Internet 1 and receives a service providing information returned in response to the request, such as a personal computer or a mobile terminal (mobile phone, PDA, etc.) It is an information terminal.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the server X includes a calculation unit 11, a shared memory 12, an operation display unit 13, a communication control unit 14, a fixed storage unit 15, and the like.
The calculation unit 11 is a calculation means including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and executes various programs described later in parallel under a multiuser / multitask OS environment.
The operation display unit 13 includes display means such as a CRT display (not shown) and input means such as a keyboard and a mouse, and performs operation input processing and display processing of various information in the server X such as data registration operation. It is a man-machine interface.
The communication control unit 14 performs communication control based on TCP / IP with the terminal 2 via the Internet 1 and a LAN or public line (not shown) for connecting to the Internet 1.
The fixed storage unit 15 is a storage device such as a hard disk, and stores various programs executed by the calculation unit 11 and various data referred to or recorded when the programs are executed.
In the present embodiment, Web server program p1, CGI program p2 and specific arithmetic processing program p3 are stored in advance as programs executed by arithmetic unit 11. Functions realized by executing these programs will be described later. In addition, template data d1 referred to when the CGI program p2 is executed is also stored in advance.
The specific calculation processing program p3 is a program for executing specific calculation processing (hereinafter referred to as specific calculation processing) such as structural analysis processing and fluid analysis processing based on predetermined input information.
The shared memory 12 is a storage means constituted by a RAM or the like, and when each of the CGI program p2 and the specific arithmetic processing program p3 is executed in a multitask by the arithmetic unit 11, the shared memory 12 starts from either of these tasks. Is a storage means having a shared memory area (shared storage area) to be accessed. As will be described later, the calculation unit 11 that executes each of the CGI program p2 and the specific calculation processing program p3 to configure each task is an example of the relay processing unit and the specific calculation processing unit.

On the other hand, the terminal 2 is an information terminal such as a general personal computer or PDA, and is composed of a CRT display, a keyboard and a mouse (not shown), or a liquid crystal panel and a sheet key as shown in FIG. Connected to the Internet 1 and the operation display unit 21, the data control unit 22 including an MPU (not shown), a main memory, and peripheral devices thereof, the data storage unit 23 such as a hard disk and a nonvolatile RAM, and the like. And a communication control unit 24 that performs data communication via a LAN or a public line (not shown).
In the data storage unit 23, various data requests to the server X and the service providing information (contents configured by data such as HTML and JavaScript) received from the server X are displayed and output to the operation display unit 21. A program such as a web browser is installed. These programs are expanded in the main memory of the data control unit 22 as necessary, and are executed by the data control unit 22.
In addition to the above, the terminal 2 has another configuration similar to that of a general personal computer, PDA, or the like, but since it is well known, the description thereof is omitted here.

Next, each program and functions realized by its execution will be described.
The specific arithmetic processing program p3 is a program created in a legacy programming language such as FORTRAN, COBOL, or PL1 for specific arithmetic processing based on predetermined input information. This is a legacy program for causing the arithmetic unit 11 to execute arithmetic processing related to scientific processing such as arithmetic processing related to structural analysis calculation and fluid analysis calculation. Here, the arithmetic unit 11 that executes the specific arithmetic processing program p3 constitutes an example of the specific arithmetic processing means.
For example, when the specific arithmetic processing program p3 is a program for performing structural analysis calculation, the input information includes the material of the structure to be analyzed, information on the shape / dimension, information on the size of mesh division in each part, and the like. Information on the position, direction, and magnitude of the load, information on the part (designated part) for which the displacement caused by the load is to be obtained, etc. The results of the calculation process include information on the displacement or plasticity status of the designated part, Stress information for each mesh of each part based on the shape / dimension information and the mesh division size information given as the input information.

The web server program p1 is a program for causing the arithmetic unit 11 (computer) that executes the web server program to function as a so-called web server. That is, processing for receiving a predetermined service request transmitted from the terminal 2 via the network 1 through the communication control unit 14 based on the TCP / IP protocol and a communication protocol such as HTTP or FTP constituting the upper layer. , And a process for transmitting the service providing information corresponding to the service request to the terminal 2 through the communication control unit 14 and the network 1. The Web server program p1 is created in a program language such as C language or Java, for example. The calculation unit 11 that executes the Web server program p1 and the communication control unit 14 constitute an example of communication means.
In addition, the service providing information is transmitted to the terminal 2 as content configured by a combination of data expressed in a script language such as HTML or JavaScript and image data.

The CGI program p2 is a program for forming a task (or process) that relays information exchange between the task (or process) of the Web server program p1 and the task (or process) of the specific arithmetic processing program p3. is there.
More specifically, when the calculation unit 11 executes the CGI program p2, first, the service request received through the task of the Web server program p1 is acquired by inter-task communication or the like, and based on this service request A process of generating the input information used in a task of the specific arithmetic processing program p3 (an example of the specific arithmetic processing means) and a process of writing the input information to the shared storage area of the shared memory 12 are executed (described later) S23 of FIG.
Further, the result information of the specific arithmetic processing (structural analysis processing, etc.) obtained by the task of the specific arithmetic processing program p3 is read from the shared storage area of the shared memory 12, and the result information of the read arithmetic processing is included. Based on this, a process of generating the service providing information provided to the terminal 2 by the Web server program p1 is executed (S26 in FIG. 3 described later).
The CGI program p2 is created in a program language different from the specific arithmetic processing program p3, for example, Perl or C language which is a program language having high affinity with the Web server program p1 based on the WWW technology. Yes.
Here, the calculation unit 11 that executes the CGI program p2 constitutes an example of a relay processing unit.

Next, the procedure of the service providing process to the terminal 2 by the server X will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.
Here, the arithmetic unit 11 executes each of the Web server program p1, the CGI program p2, and the specific arithmetic processing program p3 in a multitask (or multiprocess) manner as follows. Hereinafter, each execution task is referred to as a Web server task, a CGI task, and a specific calculation processing task. Further, S11, S12,... Shown below represent identification codes of processing procedures (steps) performed by the calculation unit 11 by executing each program.
First, in the Web server task, reception processing is executed until a predetermined service request transmitted from one or a plurality of terminals 2 through the network 1 is received via the communication control unit 14 (S11, S12). ).
The service request includes, for example, information including URL information indicating the location of the CGI program p2 and information regarding the input information to be given to the specific arithmetic processing program p3 according to a predetermined format, such as HTTP or FTP. Etc. are transmitted by a protocol such as
When the service request is received in the Web server task, the service request is delivered to the CGI task, for example, by inter-task communication (S13).

On the other hand, in the CGI task, the acquisition process is executed until the service request delivered from the Web server task is acquired (S21, S22).
When a service request is acquired from the Web server task in the CGI task, the input information to be given to the specific arithmetic processing task is generated based on the service request, and the generated input information is stored in the shared memory 12. It is written in the shared storage area (S23).
The input information generation process includes, for example, a process of simply extracting the input information included in the service request or organizing the extracted information into a predetermined format, or the input included in the service request. Based on information related to information, a process for obtaining the input information by executing a so-called preprocessor (program) that generates shape information, mesh division information, etc. of the structure as the input information to the structure analysis process, etc. Conceivable.

In the specific arithmetic processing task, the reading process is executed until new input information is written in the shared storage area of the shared memory 12 by the CGI task (S31, S32).
Then, when it is confirmed that the input information newly written in the shared memory 12 can be read from the CGI task in the specific arithmetic processing task, the specific arithmetic processing such as the structural analysis processing based on the input information is performed. It is executed (S33).
Here, in the specific arithmetic processing task, when reading of the input information is completed, initialization processing of the area in the shared memory 12 where the reading is performed, or reading indicating that the reading is completed for the area A process of writing completion information to a predetermined area in the shared memory 12 is performed. Thereby, in steps S31 and S32 of the specific arithmetic processing task, it is determined whether or not the input information writing area in the shared memory 12 is in an initialized state, or the presence or absence of the read completion information corresponding to the area. Thus, it can be determined whether or not new input information has been written by the CGI task.
Similarly, in the CGI task, an area where new input information can be written can be determined. In the case where the read completion information is used, in the CGI task, when the input information has been written, the corresponding read completion information may be deleted or initialized.
Further, when the specific calculation processing is completed, the result information of the specific calculation processing (hereinafter referred to as specific calculation result information) is written in the shared storage area of the shared memory 12 (S34).
In this specific arithmetic processing task, the processes of steps S31 to S34 described above are repeated.

On the other hand, in the CGI task, after the input information is written to the shared memory 12 (S23), new specific calculation result information is written to the shared storage area of the shared memory 12 by the specific calculation processing task. Until that time, the reading process is executed (S24, S25).
In the CGI task, when it is confirmed that the specific calculation result information newly written in the shared memory 12 can be read from the specific calculation processing task, the service request from the terminal 2 is based on the information. The service provision information corresponding to the request is generated and delivered to the Web server task by inter-task communication or the like (S26).
Here, in the CGI task, when the reading of the specific calculation result information is completed, as in the case of the input information (S31) described above, the initialization process of the area in the shared memory 12 where the reading is performed, Alternatively, a process of writing read completion information indicating that reading has been completed for the area to a predetermined area in the shared memory 12 is performed. When the read completion information is used, as described above for the input information, in the specific calculation processing task, when the specific calculation result information has been written, the corresponding read completion information is deleted or initialized. Just do.
In addition, as the generation processing of the service providing information, for example, the template data d1 previously configured by script language data such as HTML or JavaScript, image data, or the like is read from the fixed storage unit 15, and the template data d1 It can be considered that the service providing information (content) that can be displayed by the Web browser of the terminal 2 is generated by embedding the specific calculation result information at a predetermined position.
In this CGI task, the processes of steps S21 to S26 described above are repeated.

On the other hand, in the Web server task, after the delivery of the service request to the CGI task described above (S13), the acquisition process is executed until new service providing information is acquired from the CGI task (S14, S15).
When the service provision information is acquired from the CGI task in the Web server task, the address information of the transmission source (terminal 2) included in the service request received in step S11 is included in the service provision information. The service providing information with the destination information added is sent to the network 1 through the communication control unit 14 (S16). As a result, the service providing information is transmitted (returned) to the terminal 2 that has transmitted the service request through the network 1.

As described above, according to the server X, when the specific operation processing program p3 (legacy program) created in a legacy language such as FORTRAN exists, Perl, Java, etc. based on this and the WWW technology are present. As a result of linking the CGI program p2 (relay program), which is often created in a language, via the shared memory 12 (shared storage means), processing results obtained by executing the specific arithmetic processing program p3 ( A system for transmitting the specific calculation result information) to the terminal 2 as provided information through the network 1 can be configured.
In addition, each of the task of the specific arithmetic processing program p3 (an example of the specific arithmetic processing means) and the task of the CGI program (an example of the relay processing means) is directly performed when exchanging information between them. It only accesses the shared memory 12. For this reason, the existing specific arithmetic processing program p3 created in the legacy language having a weak I / O function is linked with the Web server program p1 and the CGI program 2 without generating additional work such as correction as much as possible. It can be used effectively.

By the way, the Web server task is configured so that the processes in steps S11 and S12 and the subsequent processes in steps S13 to S16 are executed in a relationship between a parent task and a child task. , S12 are repeated, and each time the service request is received, a child task that performs the processes of steps S13 to S16 is started for each service request. Accordingly, when a plurality of service requests are generated (received) almost simultaneously, a plurality of child tasks (S13 to S16) corresponding to each service request are activated.
Further, in response thereto, the CGI task and the specific calculation processing task are activated for each service request.
As a result, it is possible to respond to the service requests that occur almost simultaneously.
In the embodiment described above, an example in which each of the Web server program p1, the CGI program p2, and the specific arithmetic processing program p3 is executed by multitask processing of one arithmetic unit 11 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which different arithmetic means (CPU and its peripheral devices (that is, a computer in a broad sense)) are provided for each program, a configuration in which different arithmetic means are provided only for some programs, and the like are also conceivable.

  The present invention can be used for a server device that provides a service through a network.

The schematic block diagram of the service provision system A which uses the server X which concerns on embodiment of this invention as a component. The block diagram showing the schematic structure of the server X and the terminal 2 which comprise the service provision system A. The flowchart showing the procedure of the service provision process by the server X.

Explanation of symbols

A ... Service providing system X ... Server (server device)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network 2 ... Terminal 11 ... Operation part 12 ... Shared memory (shared storage means)
13 ... Operation display unit 14 ... Communication control unit 15 ... Fixed storage unit p1 ... Web server program p2 ... CGI program p3 ... Specific calculation processing program S11, S12, ... Processing procedure (step)

Claims (3)

A server apparatus comprising a communication unit that receives a predetermined service request from one or more terminals through a network and transmits service provision information corresponding to the service request to the terminal through the network,
Specific arithmetic processing means for executing specific arithmetic processing based on predetermined input information according to a specific arithmetic program which is a program created in a predetermined program language;
Based on the service request received through the communication means, the processing for generating the input information used for the specific arithmetic processing means, and the result information of the specific arithmetic processing obtained by the specific arithmetic processing means Relay processing means for executing each processing for generating service provision information in accordance with a relay program that is a program created in a program language different from the specific operation program;
A shared storage means having a shared storage area accessed from both the specific arithmetic processing means and the relay processing means,
Writing the input information into the shared storage area by the relay processing means;
Reading the input information from the shared storage area by the specific arithmetic processing means, executing the specific arithmetic processing and writing the result information of the specific arithmetic processing to the shared storage means,
The server apparatus, wherein the relay processing means reads out the result information of the specific arithmetic processing from the shared storage area, generates the service provision information, and delivers it to the communication means.   The server device according to claim 1, wherein the specific operation program is created in a program language of FORTRAN, COBOL, PL1, and FORCE. A service providing method through a network by a server device including a communication unit that receives a predetermined service request from one or a plurality of terminals through the network and transmits service providing information corresponding to the service request to the terminal through the network. There,
The server device is
Specific arithmetic processing means for executing specific arithmetic processing based on predetermined input information according to a specific arithmetic program which is a program created in a predetermined program language;
Based on the service request received through the communication means, the processing for generating the input information used for the specific arithmetic processing means, and the result information of the specific arithmetic processing obtained by the specific arithmetic processing means Relay processing means for executing each processing for generating service provision information in accordance with a relay program that is a program created in a program language different from the specific operation program;
A shared storage means having a shared storage area accessed from both the specific arithmetic processing means and the relay processing means,
Writing the input information into the shared storage area by the relay processing means;
Reading the input information from the shared storage area by the specific arithmetic processing means, executing the specific arithmetic processing and writing the result information of the specific arithmetic processing in the shared storage means;
Reading the result information of the specific arithmetic processing from the shared storage area by the relay processing means, generating the service provision information and delivering it to the communication means;
A service providing method through a network, characterized by comprising:

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