JP2010250451A - Tool management method, tool management program, and tool provision center to be used for tool management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To distribute an upgraded tool in a tool management system to an appropriate user. <P>SOLUTION: The tool provision part 31 of a tool provision center 3 registers association information of an improvement request received from a tool management server 1 and use type in a tool provision DB30, and when receiving the input of a changed tool and the change point, a change point management part 32 receives association information of the input change point and the improvement request registered in the tool provision DB 30, and registers it in a tool provision DB 30, and the tool provision DB 31 specifies the use type as the transmission origin of the improvement request corresponding to the change point of the changed tool by referring to the tool provision DB 30, and distributes the tool management server 1 of the use type as the distribution destination of the changed tool. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a tool management method, a tool management program, and a tool providing center used in a tool management system.

Software for embedded devices tends to be designed by a combination of tools suitable for the development process according to the characteristics of the embedded devices. Therefore, designers need to become familiar with tools provided by various vendors.
Patent Document 1 discloses an HMI (Human Machine Interface) development support device that integrates and manages information of a plurality of tools in a resource management database and enables cooperation between tools while maintaining the diversity of tools. Yes.

On the other hand, unlike a PC tool, it is difficult to upgrade a tool for an embedded device design tool easily.
In the software update distribution system of Patent Document 2, an update service node that performs intermediate management of update information from a software provider is provided, and a method that can adjust the update of a PC group connected to the update service node is disclosed.

JP 2008-40943 A JP 2005-259114 A

  Tool upgrades are not always up to date. An upgrade of a tool due to a change not related to the user's request is an unwelcome upgrade because it may adversely affect the functionality and efficiency of the tool as a side effect. Therefore, it is necessary to upgrade the version according to the user's request.

In the configuration described in Patent Document 1, when it is used as a design tool for embedded devices in various fields (home appliances, car navigation systems, mobile phones, etc.), customization for a specific field continues to be performed, or a major measure that is not welcomed There was a need to upgrade.
Although the technology described in Patent Document 2 enables adjustment of version upgrade in units of update service nodes, tool provision management in the update service node must be controlled on the user side.

  Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and distribute tool upgrades in the tool management system to appropriate users.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a tool PC for executing a tool, a tool providing center for distributing a tool, a tool distributed from the tool providing center, and providing the received tool to the tool PC. A tool management method by a tool management system configured to include a tool management server,
The tool management server has a tool management DB, a tool information update unit, a resource management DB, and a tool management unit,
When the tool management unit receives an improvement request for a tool from the tool PC, the tool management unit registers it in the tool management DB in association with the usage type of the tool PC,
The tool information update unit transmits the correspondence information between the improvement request registered in the tool management DB and the usage type to the tool providing center,
The tool providing center has a tool providing DB, a tool providing unit, and a change management unit.
The tool providing unit registers correspondence information between the received improvement request and usage type in the tool providing DB,
When the change point management unit receives input of the changed tool and the change point, the change point management unit receives correspondence information between the input change point and the improvement request registered in the tool providing DB, and Register in the tool supply DB,
The tool providing unit refers to the tool providing DB, identifies the usage type that is the source of the improvement request corresponding to the changed point of the changed tool, and the tool information update unit of the usage type is changed. The tool is distributed as a tool distribution destination.
Other means will be described later.

  According to the present invention, the upgrade of the tool in the tool management system can be distributed to an appropriate user.

It is a block diagram which shows the tool management system regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detail of the tool management DB and tool provision DB regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the user management table regarding one Embodiment of this invention, a use classification management table, and a tool setting management table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the operation history management table regarding one Embodiment of this invention, an improvement request management table, a tool management table, and a filter management table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the request management table regarding one Embodiment of this invention, and a change point management table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the request | requirement-change corresponding | compatible table and version-use type corresponding | compatible table regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the version-change point corresponding | compatible table and provision tool management table regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the provision plan process of the tool in the tool management system regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the tool management system regarding one Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen figure which shows the tool information update screen which the tool information update part regarding one Embodiment of this invention displays and updates. It is a screen figure which shows the filter edit screen and tool information acquisition screen which the tool information update part regarding one Embodiment of this invention displays and updates. It is a screen figure which shows the tool provision screen and provision plan registration screen which the tool provision part regarding one Embodiment of this invention displays and updates. It is a screen figure which shows the change management screen and "request / change link setting screen" which the change management part regarding one Embodiment of this invention displays and updates.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a tool management system. The tool managed by the tool management system is, for example, a design tool for embedded devices, such as Eclipse of Java (registered trademark).
The tool management system is configured such that the tool management server 1 and the tool PC 2 are connected by a narrow communication line 4 and the tool management server 1 and the tool providing center 3 are connected by a wide communication line 5.
The tool management server 1 and the tool PC 2 are installed in, for example, a tool user company, and are connected by an in-company LAN (Local Area Network) as the narrow area communication line 4.
The tool providing center 3 is installed in a tool vendor company. The wide area communication line 5 is configured as an Internet line, for example.
The tool management server 1, the tool PC 2, and the tool providing center 3 are each a central control unit configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a storage unit used when performing arithmetic processing of the central control unit. The computer includes a memory and a network interface for connecting to each communication line.

  The tool management server 1 includes a tool management DB (database) 10, a tool information update unit 11, a resource management DB 12, and a tool management unit 13.

The tool information update unit 11 exchanges information in the tool management DB 10 and information in the tool provision DB 30 with respect to the tool provision unit 31. The tool information update unit 11 includes a tool status extraction unit 111, a tool information acquisition unit 112, and a tool virtual execution unit 113.
The tool status extraction unit 111 extracts the tool status from the tool management DB 10 and transmits it to the tool providing unit 31.
The tool information acquisition unit 112 acquires tool version information, a tool installer, and the like from the tool providing center 3.
The tool virtual execution unit 113 virtually executes the acquired tool installer on the tool management server 1 to check the operation after the version upgrade.

  The resource management DB 12 includes, for example, project management data 121, component management data 122, image management data 123, layout management data 124, and character string management data 125 as data processing targets of tools operating on the tool PC 2. Information equivalent to that shown in Patent Document 1 is managed.

  The tool management unit 13 aggregates information related to improvement requests from the tool PC 2 using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and manages the information in the tool management DB 10. The information related to the improvement request is, for example, a user's tool setting, an improvement request, and an operation history.

The tool PC 2 is a PC in which a tool is installed by executing a tool installer. A tool that operates on the tool PC 2 includes a layout editor 22 and a resource editor 23.
The layout editing unit 221 of the layout editor 22 is an editor for allowing a user to edit remote data (layout management data 124).
The resource editing unit 231 of the resource editor 23 is an editor for allowing the user to edit remote data (project management data 121, parts management data 122, image management data 123, and character string management data 125).

Further, in order to notify each editor of the tool PC 2 of “information related to improvement request” to the tool management unit 13, a tool setting unit 211, an improvement request input unit 212, and an operation history registration are provided as the tool common unit 21. Part 213 is incorporated.
The tool setting unit 211 acquires the tool setting of each user in each incorporated editor from a setting file and notifies the tool management unit 13 of the tool setting.
The improvement request input unit 212 receives the input of the improvement request of each user in each incorporated editor and notifies the tool management unit 13 of the input.
The operation history registration unit 213 records the operation history of each user in each incorporated editor as a log, acquires the log, and notifies the tool management unit 13 of the log.

  The tool providing center 3 includes a tool providing DB 30, a tool providing unit 31, and a change point management unit 32.

The tool providing unit 31 includes a tool status analysis unit 311, a provision plan registration unit 312, and a tool information distribution unit 313.
The tool status analysis unit 311 analyzes the information received from the tool management server 1 and registers it in the tool provision DB 30.
The provision plan registration unit 312 links the improvement request from the user managed by the tool provision DB 30 and the tool change point, and sets a tool provision plan according to the usage type of the tool management server 1.
The tool information distribution unit 313 distributes the tool to the tool management server 1 by using a file download mechanism in a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) format that is a general Web server mechanism.

The change point management unit 32 includes a change point registration unit 321 and a change point selection unit 322 as a change point management system.
The change point registration unit 321 registers the change point (change contents, change target, date, etc.) in the tool provision DB 30.
The change point selection unit 322 associates the change point registered by the change point registration unit 321 with the version of the tool.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing details of the tool management DB 10 and the tool provision DB 30.
The tool management DB 10 includes a user management table 100, a usage type management table 101, a tool setting management table 102, an operation history management table 103, an improvement request management table 104, a tool management table 105, and a filter management table 106. , Store.
The tool provision DB 30 includes a request management table 301, a change point management table 302, a request-change point correspondence table 303, a version-use type correspondence table 304, a version-change point correspondence table 305, and a provided tool management table 306. And store.
The improvement request for the tool managed by the improvement request management table 104 is transmitted to and stored in the request management table 301. A tool program (installer) including a change corresponding to the improvement request managed by the provided tool management table 306 is transmitted to and stored in the tool management table 105.

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing configurations of the user management table 100, the usage type management table 101, and the tool setting management table 102.

  The user management table 100 holds a user ID 1001, a name 1002, a mail address 1003, and a user group ID 1004 as user information for using the tool on the tool PC 2. Thereby, when the user needs to be inquired with respect to the improvement request, the inquiry can be easily made by mail.

The usage type management table 101 holds a user group ID 1011, a usage type 1012, and an automatic download 1013 as feature information of the tool management server 1.
The user group ID 1011 corresponds to the user group ID 1004 of the user management table 100.
The usage type 1012 can be determined freely on the tool management server 1 side, but the same name is given to groups having similar development targets in advance so that the tool provision center 3 can easily plan the provision of tools. It is desirable to assign. For example, by providing a product category such as a car navigation system or a mobile phone, a tool provision plan for each product category can be realized.
When the automatic download 1013 is valid, all the latest tools from the tool providing center 3 are automatically downloaded. On the other hand, when it is invalid as in this example, it is possible to select whether to download on the tool management server 1.

The tool setting management table 102 holds a user ID 1021, a tool 1022, a version 1023, and a tool setting 1024 as tool setting information used by the user on the tool PC 2.
The tool setting 1024 can change the standard setting for each usage type 1012. In this example, USER1 uses a version 1.0 layout editor and the tool settings remain standard. USER2 uses the resource editor and layout editor of version 1.1 and changes the setting of the resource editor to custom A.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing configurations of the operation history management table 103, the improvement request management table 104, the tool management table 105, and the filter management table 106.

The operation history management table 103 holds an operation history ID 1031, a user ID 1032, a date and time 1033, an operation 1034, a target 1035, and a tool 1036 used as the operation history of the tool PC 2.
The operation history ID 1031 is assigned a serial number each time an operation history is transmitted from the tool PC 2.
The user ID 1032 is a tool user.
Date and time 1033 is the date and time when the operation history occurred.
In the operation 1034, the operation content of the tool is recorded, and particularly when the improvement request input unit 212 is used, the improvement request registration is recorded.
An object 1035 is an object of the operation 1034, and the layout editor 22 can be a screen, and the resource editor 23 can be a resource such as a character string or a font. In the case of improvement request registration, an improvement request ID 1041 described later is recorded.
Use tool 1036 is the name of the tool.

The improvement request management table 104 includes an improvement request ID 1041, an operation history ID 1042, a request content 1043, and a transmission date 1044.
The improvement request ID 1041 is assigned with a serial number each time an improvement request is transmitted by the improvement request input unit 212.
The operation history ID 1042 holds an operation history ID 1031 corresponding to the improvement request.
The request content 1043 holds the request content input by the improvement request input unit 212.
The transmission date and time 1044 holds the date and time when the request is transmitted to the tool providing center 3. When the transmission date and time 1044 is empty, it indicates that the request transmission to the tool providing center 3 has not been performed.

The tool management table 105 includes a version 1051, a release date 1052, and a tool 1053.
The tool 1053 stores an installer (or a link to the installer) of a program that is an entity of the tool provided from the tool providing center 3. When the tool 1053 is empty, it indicates that the tool can be provided but has not been downloaded.

The filter management table 106 includes a filter ID 1061, a filter condition 1062, a detection count 1063, and a false detection count 1064.
The filter ID 1061 is assigned with a serial number each time a condition is added by filter editing.
In this example, the filter condition 1062 is a simple character string, and an improvement request including this character string prompts confirmation at the time of transmission because there is a possibility of information leakage. Here, the filter condition 1062 can use a regular expression or a more advanced filter conditional expression instead of a simple character string, and does not limit the present embodiment.
The number of detections 1063 is the number of times a character string is hit by the filter condition.
The number of erroneous detections 1064 is the number of times information is transmitted from the tool information updating unit 11 to the tool providing center 3 in spite of hitting the filter condition. Using these statistical information, the administrator of the tool management server 1 can appropriately review the filter conditions.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing configurations of the request management table 301 and the change point management table 302.

The request management table 301 includes a request ID 3011, a usage type 3012, a request date and time 3013, a request 3014, an operation target 3015, an operation tool 3016, a version 3017, and a tool setting 3018.
The request ID 3011 is an ID assigned with a serial number.
Information after the request ID 3011 in the request management table 301 corresponds to information extracted by the tool management server 1 from the tool management DB 10 and transmitted to the tool providing center 3.

The change point management table 302 includes a change point ID 3021, change contents 3022, a change target 3023, a target version 3024, and a date and time 3025.
The value of each column constituting the change point management table 302 is managed by the change point management unit 32, and is used by the software developer to manage the change points of the software, as in a general change point management tool.
For example, the target version 3024 is a version to which the change content 3022 is reflected, that is, a version that corresponds to before the change content 3022 is applied.

  FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the request-change point correspondence table 303 and the version-use type correspondence table 304.

The request-change point correspondence table 303 includes a request-change point correspondence ID 3031, a request ID 3032, a change point ID 3033, and a date 3034.
The request-change point correspondence ID 3031 is assigned with a serial number when the request and the change point are associated with each other.
The combination of the request ID 3022 and the change point ID 3033 is a correspondence between the request ID 3022 indicating the improvement request input by the tool user in the improvement request input unit 212 and the change point ID 3033 indicating the change point of the software input by the software developer. Indicates.
Date and time 3034 is the date and time when the association is performed.

The version-use type correspondence table 304 includes a version-use type correspondence ID 3041, a version 3042, and a use type 3043.
The version-use type correspondence ID 3041 is assigned with a serial number when the version and the use type are associated with each other. By the combination of the version 3042 and the usage type 3043, the person in charge of providing the tool providing center 3 can manage the tool provision plan for each usage type.

  FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing configurations of the version-changed point correspondence table 305 and the provided tool management table 306.

The version-change point correspondence table 305 includes a version-change point correspondence ID 3051, a version 3052, and a change point ID 3053.
The version-change point correspondence ID 3051 is assigned with a serial number when the version and the change point are associated with each other.
The version 3052 indicates a version after the change point indicated by the change point ID 3053 is reflected. That is, the software developer determines which version of the software change is to be released based on the combination of the version 3052 and the change point ID 3053.

The provided tool management table 306 includes a version 3061, a release date 3062, a tool 3063, and a provided status 3064.
The tool 3063 holds a tool installer in a binary format.
Even if the software developer has registered the tool 3063, the provision status 3064 is “not yet” if the provision to the tool management server 1 is not permitted, and “already” if the provision is permitted.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a tool provision plan process in the tool management system.
The two users of the tool PC 2 shown in FIG. 8 are classified in advance into various usage types (car navigation system, digital home appliance, etc.). Each user of the tool PC 2 registers requests R1, R2 and R3 for the tool from the tool PC 2 to the tool management server 1.
The tool management server 1 transmits these requests R1, R2, and R3 to the tool providing center 3.
The tool providing center 3 accepts registration of change points C1, C2, and C3 indicating reflection information to the tool for each of the received requests R1, R2, and R3. For example, in FIG. 8, the change point C1 corresponding to the request R1 is connected by an arrow.
Further, the tool providing center 3 accepts registration of information as to which version each change point C1, C2, C3 is to be included. For example, in FIG. 8, the version “1.4” including the change point C1 is included in a dotted rectangle.
Then, the tool providing center 3 specifies a tool provision plan for distributing to which user each version of the tool is distributed from the correspondence relationship between the request, the change point, and the version. For example, by reversing the correspondence relationship of request R1 → change point C1 → version “1.4” from the user usage type “car navigation”, the provision destination of version “1.4” is the request source It is specified as a user of usage type “car navigation”.
Thereby, the user of the usage type “digital home appliance” who has not transmitted the request R1 does not need to receive the unnecessary version upgrade “1.4”.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the tool management system.

  As S <b> 11, the tool common unit 21 of the tool PC 2 causes the tool management unit 13 of the tool management server 1 to register “information on improvement request” in the tool management DB 10.

As S 12, the tool status extraction unit 111 of the tool management server 1 selects “tool status” from “information related to improvement request” registered in the tool management DB 10, and transmits it to the tool providing unit 31 of the tool providing center 3. And register it in the tool provision DB 30.
Here, the tool information update unit 11 sets a filter for suppressing transmission of confidential information to the tool providing center 3 via the filter editing screen 115 shown in FIG.
Then, the tool information update unit 11 displays a list of “tool status” in which the filter setting is reflected and selects a “tool status” to be transmitted to the user via the tool information update screen 114 shown in FIG. Let The tool management server 1 transmits the selected “tool status” to the tool providing center 3.

As S <b> 13, the tool status analysis unit 311 of the tool providing center 3 registers the received “tool status” in the request management table 301.
As S14, the change point management unit 32 of the tool providing center 3 associates the request information with the change points.
Specifically, the change point registration unit 321 causes the vendor staff to edit the list of change points via the change point management screen 323 shown in FIG. The change point selection unit 322 associates the request information in the “tool status” with the change point reflecting the request information via the “request and change point link setting screen 324” illustrated in FIG. Accept information.

As S15, the provision plan registration unit 312 of the tool provision center 3 associates the changed points with the tools of each version.
Therefore, the provision plan registration unit 312 first associates the request management table 301 with the change point management table 302 in the request-change point correspondence table 303 based on the received correspondence information.
Next, the provision plan registration unit 312 accepts input of each version of the tool (installer) via the provision plan registration screen 315 illustrated in FIG. 12B, and changes in S <b> 14 and the tool that has accepted the input. Corresponds to the version.
Then, the provision plan registration unit 312 causes the user to confirm the provision target for each version of the tool that has received the input via the tool provision screen 314 illustrated in FIG.

As S16, the tool information distribution unit 313 of the tool providing center 3 distributes the tool to the tool management server 1 by using a file download mechanism in the URL format which is a general Web server mechanism.
In S17, the tool information acquisition unit 112 of the tool management server 1 registers the tool distributed in S16 in the tool management DB 10, and instructs installation on the tool PC 2.
Here, the tool information acquisition unit 112 determines whether or not to automatically download the installer of the tool via the tool information acquisition screen 116 shown in FIG. The tool is executed by the tool virtual execution unit 113 in response to a virtual execution instruction input via the tool.
As S18, the tool PC 2 installs and executes the tool reflecting the improvement request transmitted in S11.

FIG. 10 is a screen diagram showing a tool information update screen 114 displayed and updated by the tool information update unit 11. The tool information update screen 114 includes management information 1141, a tool information update list 1142, an information transmission button 1143, a return button 1144, and a filter edit screen portion 1145 (filter edit screen start button).
In the management information 1141, values read from the user group ID 1011 and the usage type 1012 of the usage type management table 101 are set.
The tool information update list 1142 is configured by associating a transmission check column 11421, transmission information 11422, and non-transmission information 11423.

The transmission check column 11421 is information indicating whether or not the corresponding transmission information 11422 is to be transmitted, and is “ON (transmit)” when it is painted. The initial value of the transmission check column 11421 is set to “off (white)” when the corresponding transmission information 11422 corresponds to the filter condition 1062 of the filter management table 106, and “on (black)” when it does not correspond.
Each time the initial value “off (white)” is set, the detection count 1063 in the filter management table 106 is incremented by one. Further, the record corresponding to the filter condition 1062 is displayed with the portion corresponding to the filter condition 1062 in the character string of the transmission information 11422 highlighted (for example, bold text, underline, color change, etc.). In this way, by setting whether transmission information 11422 can be transmitted based on filter condition 1062, transmission of transmission information 11422 corresponding to filter condition 1062 (that is, containing confidential information) is suppressed in advance. be able to.

The transmission information 11422 is configured by associating “request”, “request date and time”, “operation target”, “operation tool”, “version”, and “tool setting”.
“Request” is an extraction result of a record with an empty transmission date 1044 in the improvement request management table 104, and is the request content 1043 of the record.
“Request date and time” is the date and time 1033 of the record in the operation history management table 103 that matches the operation history ID 1042 in the improvement request management table 104 corresponding to “request”.
“Operation target” is a record target 1035 in the operation history management table 103 to which “request date and time” belongs.
The “operation tool” is a record use tool 1036 in the operation history management table 103 to which “request date and time” belongs.
“Version” is a version 1023 of a record in the tool setting management table 102 that matches the user ID 1032 in the operation history management table 103 to which “request date and time” belongs.
“Tool setting” is a tool setting 1024 of a record in the tool setting management table 102 to which “version” belongs.

  In the non-transmission information 11423, the user ID 1032 of the “operation history tuple” in the operation history management table 103 is set. Further, when the “inquiry” button is pressed, a name 1002 and a mail address 1003 corresponding to the user ID 1032 are extracted from the user management table 100, and an inquiry mail form for the user is created based on the extracted user information. Start up the mailer for the other window.

When the information transmission button 1143 is pressed, the transmission information 11422 in which the transmission check 11421 is turned on is transmitted to the tool providing center 3. Then, when information that meets the filter condition is transmitted, the number of false detections 1064 in the filter management table 106 is increased.
When the return button 1144 is pressed, the screen returns to the original screen and ends.
When pressed, the filter editing screen unit 1145 activates the filter editing screen 115 in another window.

FIG. 11A is a screen diagram showing a filter editing screen 115 displayed and updated by the tool information update unit 11.
The filter editing screen 115 includes usage type information 1151, a filter information table 1152, a registration button 1153, and a return button 1154.
The usage type information 1151 is the same as the management information 1141 on the tool information update screen 114.
The filter information table 1152 displays information of the filter management table 106 and accepts editing work from the user via the “add” button, the “delete” button, and the “search” button.
When the registration button 1153 is pressed, the editing content of the filter editing screen 115 is confirmed and written to the filter management table 106, and then the tool information update screen 114 is returned.
When the return button 1154 is pressed, the editing contents of the filter editing screen 115 are canceled and the tool information update screen 114 is returned.

  FIG. 11B is a screen diagram showing a tool information acquisition screen 116 displayed and updated by the tool status extraction unit 111. The tool information acquisition screen 116 includes usage type information 1161, a tool information list 1162, an automatic download check box 1163, and a return button 1164.

The usage type information 1161 is information read from the usage type management table 101.
The tool information list 1162 includes a version 11621, a release date 11622, a change point 11623, an operation check 11624, and an installer download 11625.

A version 11621, a release date 11622, and a change point 11623 are tool update results displayed on the tool provision screen 314 of the tool provision center 3, and are read from the tool management table 105.
The tool update result is reflected in the tool management table 105 as follows. First, the user group ID 1011 and the usage type 1012 are read from the usage type management table 101, and a tool update information request using these pieces of information as arguments is transmitted to the tool providing unit 31. Then, the tool update information request result is received from the tool providing unit 31 and the result is added to the tool management table 105.
When the “content confirmation button” of the change point 11623 is pressed, the change contents of the corresponding version are displayed in another window.

In the operation confirmation 11624, when the virtual execution button is pressed, the virtual execution of the tool in the corresponding version is started by opening a separate window by the tool virtual execution unit 113.
If the installer download 11625 is “done”, the installer of the tool has already been downloaded. On the other hand, if “not yet”, the “download button” is pressed to start the installer download process, and the installer file is registered in the tool 1053 of the tool management table 105.

If the automatic download check box 1163 is turned on, the installer is downloaded from the download destination URL included in the result of the tool update information request even if the “download button” is not pressed, and the tool management table 105 The installer file is registered in the tool 1053. When the automatic download check box 1163 is changed, the automatic download 1013 of the usage type management table 101 is changed.
When the return button 1164 is pressed, the tool information acquisition screen 116 is closed.

FIG. 12A is a screen diagram illustrating a tool provision screen 314 that is displayed and updated by the tool provision unit 31. The tool provision screen 314 includes a tool provision list 3141 and a return button 3142.
When the return button 3142 is pressed, the tool providing screen 314 is closed.

The tool provision list 3141 includes a version 31411, a release (scheduled) date 31411, a provision target 31413, a provision status 31414, an improvement request 31415, and a change point 31416.
A version 31411 indicates the version 3042 of the version-use type correspondence table 304.
The release (scheduled) date 31612 indicates the release date 3062 of the provided tool management table 306 corresponding to the version 31411.
In the provision target 31413, the usage type 3043 of the version-use type correspondence table 304 corresponding to the version 31411 is set.
The provision status 31414 is the contents of the provision status 3064 of the provision tool management table 306. In other words, the provision status 31414 is information indicating whether or not a tool has been provided to the provision target 31413, “completed” indicates that the tool has already been provided, and “not yet” indicates that a registration button is displayed. The When the “Register button” is pressed, the provision plan registration screen 315 is activated.
When the “content confirmation button” is pressed, an improvement request 31415 is extracted from the request management table 301 regarding an already provided tool and displayed in a separate window.
The change point 31416 activates the change point management screen 323 when the “content confirmation button” is pressed.

  FIG. 12B is a screen diagram showing a provision plan registration screen 315 displayed and updated by the tool provision unit 31. In this figure, when the usage type is car navigation system, the version will be increased from 1.1 to 1.4. Therefore, as the provision plan, the change contents related to the versions 1.2 and 1.3 will also be changed. 3152 is displayed. In order to distinguish the latest version 1.4 from other versions, display distinction such as color coding may be performed.

The provision plan registration screen 315 includes provision plan information 3151, a change content list 3152, an installer file setting 3153, a provision button 3154, and a return button 3155.
The provision plan information 3151 displays the contents of the caller's tool provision list 3141.

  The change content list 3152 is a record retrieved from the change point management table 302 as follows. First, the usage type 3043 of the version-use type correspondence table 304 corresponding to the version 31411 is acquired. Next, the previous version 3042 for each usage type is extracted from the version-use type correspondence table 304, and one after the oldest version (eg, "1.1") of the extracted version 3042 is extracted. (For example, “1.2”) is calculated. Then, the change point ID 3053 is specified from the version-change point correspondence table 305 using a version after the calculated version (for example, “1.2” or later) as a search key. Further, the change point management table 302 is searched using the specified change point ID 3053 as a search key, and the resulting record is displayed in the change content list 3152.

Further, when the “content confirmation button” in the improvement request in the change content list 3152 is pressed, a request corresponding to the change content selected from the request-change point correspondence table 303 is searched and displayed in a list in another window.
The installer file setting 3153 registers a setting file in the tool 3063 of the provided tool management table 306 when a file name is set.
When the provision button 3154 is pressed, the provision status 3064 of the provision tool management table 306 is changed to “Done”.
When the return button 3155 is pressed, the tool providing screen 314 of the caller is restored.

FIG. 13A is a screen diagram showing a change point management screen 323 displayed and updated by the change point management unit 32. The change point management screen 323 includes a target version 3231, a change content list 3232, and a return button 3233.
The target version 3231 is the version 31411 in the tool providing screen 314 of the caller.
The change content list 3232 displays the record of the change point management table 302 corresponding to the target version 3231 and can be edited as shown below.
When the “add button” in the change content list 3232 is pressed, the change point management table 302 is searched to display change point candidates, and the selected change point is added to the version-change point correspondence table 305.
When the “delete button” in the change content list 3232 is pressed, the corresponding change point is deleted from the version-change point correspondence table 305.
When the “setting button” of “response request setting” in the change content list 3232 is pressed, the “request and change point link setting screen 324” is activated.
When the return button 3233 is pressed, the tool providing screen 314 of the caller is restored.

FIG. 13B is a screen diagram showing a “request and change link setting screen 324” displayed and updated by the change management unit 32. The “request / change point link setting screen 324” includes change point information 3241, a request list 3242, and a return button 3243.
The change point information 3241 is information displayed on the caller's change point management screen 323. The change version information 3241 displays the target version, the change content, and the change target.
The request list 3242 is composed of a list of request information corresponding to the change point information 3241 and a link check for determining whether to associate with the change point.
Each time “link check” in the request list 3242 is pressed, it is inverted between on (black) and off (white). When the link check is turned on, a record that associates the caller's change content list 3232 and the request list 3242 with the request-change point correspondence table 303 is added to the request-change point correspondence table 303. When the link check is turned off, the record added when the link check is turned on is deleted from the request-change point correspondence table 303.
When the return button 3233 is pressed, the caller change point management screen 323 is restored.

In the embodiment described above, the operation characteristics of the tool in each field of the embedded device are extracted, the situation is analyzed, and the tool is provided at a timing required by the user by reflecting it in the tool upgrade plan.
A tool management server 1 is provided to aggregate the operation characteristics of the tools. The tool management server 1 includes a resource management DB 12 disclosed in Patent Document 1, and manages tool design information, holds information related to tool management in the tool management DB 10, and provides information to the tool providing center 3.
The tool provision center 3 manages tool change points and links the provided information to the change points, so that each tool information for each embedded device field (hereinafter referred to as “use type”) Create a release plan. Thereby, in the tool management server 1, by setting the usage type, not all the tools provided by the tool providing center 3 can be stored, but only the version of the tool corresponding to the usage type can be downloaded. .
As a result, even if the user does not control the update service node every time the tool is upgraded, the design can be updated according to the improvement request in each field. In particular, regarding design tools for embedded devices that are likely to be used in various fields such as car navigation systems, mobile phones, and digital home appliances, the user desires by creating a tool provision plan that appropriately responds to user requests. It becomes possible to avoid version upgrades at non-timing.

In addition, even in the situation where multiple versions are operating simultaneously, the software developer of the tool can receive the user's improvement request in association with the version and manage it in association with the change point, so software development It helps to close the gap between requesters and users.
In addition, by providing a mechanism to check in advance when the user's request contains inappropriate language related to information leakage, the improvement request can be registered with peace of mind for both the user and the tool administrator. It becomes possible.
Furthermore, the function of virtually executing the tool on the tool management server 1 can check the operation of the new version before installing the tool, so it is necessary to determine whether to upgrade the version before deploying to the user. Can do. When the resource management DB 12 is in the tool management server 1 as in the present embodiment, it is possible to make a determination using information designed by the user, so that the probability that an error will occur is reduced.

1 Tool management server 2 PC for tools
3 Tool provision center 4 Narrow area communication line 5 Wide area communication line 10 Tool management DB
11 Tool information update part 12 Resource management DB
13 Tool management part 21 Tool common part 22 Layout editor 23 Resource editor 30 Tool offer DB
31 Tool provision unit 32 Change point management unit 100 User management table 101 Usage type management table 102 Tool setting management table 103 Operation history management table 104 Improvement request management table 105 Tool management table 106 Filter management table 111 Tool status extraction unit 112 Tool information acquisition Part 113 Tool virtual execution part 114 Tool information update screen 115 Filter edit screen 116 Tool information acquisition screen 121 Project management data 122 Parts management data 123 Image management data 124 Layout management data 125 Character string management data 211 Tool setting part 212 Improvement request input part 213 Operation history registration unit 221 Layout editing unit 231 Resource editing unit 301 Request management table 302 Change point management table 303 Request-change point pair Response table 304 version-use type correspondence table 305 version-change point correspondence table 306 provided tool management table 311 tool status analysis unit 312 provision plan registration unit 313 tool information distribution unit 314 tool provision screen 315 provision plan registration screen 321 change point registration unit 322 Change point selection unit 323 Change point management screen 324 Link setting screen

Claims (8)

Tool configured to include a tool PC for executing the tool, a tool providing center for distributing the tool, and a tool management server for receiving the tool distributed from the tool providing center and providing the tool to the tool PC. A tool management method by a management system,
The tool management server has a tool management DB, a tool information update unit, a resource management DB, and a tool management unit,
When the tool management unit receives an improvement request for a tool from the tool PC, the tool management unit registers it in the tool management DB in association with the usage type of the tool PC,
The tool information update unit transmits correspondence information between an improvement request and a usage type registered in the tool management DB to the tool providing center,
The tool providing center includes a tool providing DB, a tool providing unit, and a change management unit.
The tool providing unit registers correspondence information between the received improvement request and usage type in the tool providing DB,
When the change point management unit receives an input of the changed tool and the change point, the change point management unit receives correspondence information between the input change point and the improvement request registered in the tool providing DB, and Register in the tool supply DB,
The tool providing unit refers to the tool providing DB, identifies a usage type that is a transmission source of an improvement request corresponding to the changed point of the changed tool, and changes the tool information update unit of the usage type. A tool management method characterized by distributing as a tool distribution destination. When the tool management unit of the tool management server receives the setting information of the tool together with the improvement request for the tool from the tool PC, the tool management unit registers the tool management DB in association with the usage type of the tool PC,
In addition to the improvement request registered in the tool management DB and the usage type, the tool information update unit of the tool management server transmits correspondence information with setting information to the tool providing unit,
The tool management method according to claim 1, wherein the tool providing unit of the tool providing center registers correspondence information between the received improvement request, usage type, and setting information in the tool providing DB. When the tool management unit of the tool management server receives the tool operation history from the tool PC together with the improvement request for the tool, the tool management unit registers the tool management DB in association with the usage type of the tool PC,
The tool information updating unit of the tool management server transmits correspondence information with an operation history in addition to an improvement request registered in the tool management DB and a usage type to the tool providing unit,
The tool management method according to claim 1, wherein the tool providing unit of the tool providing center registers correspondence information of the received improvement request, usage type, and operation history in the tool providing DB. The tool information update unit of the tool management server sends a predetermined filter condition to the tool management when transmitting the correspondence information between the improvement request and the usage type registered in the tool management DB to the tool providing unit. The tool management according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein correspondence information between the improvement request and the usage type that is read from a DB and matches a predetermined filter condition is excluded from transmission targets. Method. The tool information updating unit of the tool management server receives the tool distributed from the tool providing unit, and executes the received tool on the tool management server before causing the tool PC to execute the received tool. The tool management method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The tool information updating unit of the tool management server receives the tool distributed from the tool providing unit according to the reception availability information after receiving the reception availability information. The tool management method according to claim 5.   A tool management program for causing each device of the tool management system to execute the tool management method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Tool configured to include a tool PC for executing the tool, a tool providing center for distributing the tool, and a tool management server for receiving the tool distributed from the tool providing center and providing the tool to the tool PC. The tool providing center used in the management system,
The tool providing center includes a tool providing DB, a tool providing unit, and a change management unit.
The tool providing unit registers correspondence information between the improvement request received from the tool management server and the usage type in the tool providing DB,
When the change point management unit receives an input of the changed tool and the change point, the change point management unit receives correspondence information between the input change point and the improvement request registered in the tool providing DB, and Register in the tool supply DB,
The tool providing unit refers to the tool providing DB, identifies the usage type that is the source of the improvement request corresponding to the changed point of the changed tool, and has changed the tool management server of the usage type. A tool provision center characterized by delivering as a tool delivery destination.

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