JP2645065B2 - Information download system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to an information download system in a system in which a host computer and a plurality of terminals are connected.

(Prior Art) In such a conventional system, terminal software and table data are managed by a system administrator, and a new version of a program is provided when needed by an operator. A method of downloading from a keyboard input device or the like, or a method of downloading a necessary part by bringing a floppy disk or the like has been adopted.

This method has a problem that an operator intervenes, which places a heavy load on the operator and causes an operation error or the like.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, according to the conventional information download system, the operator downloads the data using a keyboard input device or the like or brings a floppy disk or the like to download necessary parts. Therefore, there is a problem that the load on the operator is large and an operation error or the like is apt to occur.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the conventional information download system. The purpose of the present invention is to enable automatic download of information and download an appropriate version of information to a terminal. It is to provide an information download system that can be used.

[Configuration of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) An information download system according to the present invention includes a host computer which holds information version data of information to be downloaded to a terminal, and a host computer which downloads information from the host computer. A terminal that stores information and performs processing operations based on the information. The host computer and the terminal are connected by a line, and the host computer and the terminal communicate with each other via the line. A communication control unit for controlling is provided, and the terminal is provided with version data transmission control means for transmitting version data of information stored in the terminal at a predetermined time to the host computer,
The host computer receives the transmission of the version data by the version data transmission control unit, compares the version data of the information held by the host computer with the version data, and requests a change in the buffer capacity on the terminal side when they do not match. Information transmission control means for requesting restoration of the buffer capacity on the terminal side when the transmission of the information is completed, and the version data transmission control means includes: It is characterized in that the buffer capacity is changed according to the request for the change in the buffer capacity, and the buffer capacity is restored according to the request for the restoration of the buffer capacity.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the terminal sends out version data via the communication control unit and the line at a predetermined time.
The host computer receives the version data via the communication control unit, and it is determined whether the version information that should be downloaded to the terminal has been downloaded. If necessary, the information is downloaded from the host computer. Will be.

Then, upon downloading the information, after requesting a change in the buffer capacity on the terminal side, the information held in the own device is transmitted, and when the transmission of the information is completed, a process for requesting the restoration of the buffer capacity on the terminal side is performed. In the terminal, the buffer capacity is changed according to the request for changing the buffer capacity, and the buffer capacity is restored according to the request for restoring the buffer capacity, thereby securing the necessary buffer capacity.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 shows a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer, 3 denotes a terminal device, and 4 denotes a line connecting the host computer 1 and the terminal device 3. The host computer 1 and the terminal device 3 are connected to magnetic disk devices 2 and 5 (which are abbreviated as disks in the figure) as auxiliary storage devices, respectively. The host computer 1 and the terminal device 3 of this system have a configuration in which a CPU and a main memory are provided, and a communication control unit (11, 31) is connected to the CPU and the main memory. The terminal device 3 has a keyboard input device and a CRT display device.

This system functions as the configuration shown in FIG. 1 as far as the downloading of the program (information) is concerned. In this case, each means indicates a function executed by the CPU based on the program in the main memory. The host computer 1 includes a register 12 in which version data of a program to be downloaded to the terminal device 3 is stored, and an information transmission control unit 13. The terminal device 3 is provided with version data transmission control means 33 for transmitting version data at the time of startup or other necessity, and a register 32 storing the version data.

In the information download system configured as described above, an operation when a program is downloaded is described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. By turning on the power, etc.
The initial program loader is executed, the version data transmission control means 33 reads out the version data from the register 32, activates the communication control section 31, and transmits the version data to the host via the version data line 4 together with the T-iD (terminal identification information) request data. It is sent to the computer 1 (). When the information transmission control means 13 of the host computer 1 receives the T-iD request data via the line 4 and the communication control unit 11, it causes the communication control unit 11 to transmit the T-iD (). Further, the information transmission control means 13 compares the transmitted version data with the version data held in the register 12, and when they do not match, transmits buffer change request data. (). Upon receiving this, the version data transmission control means 33 switches from a buffer having a normally used capacity to a buffer having a large capacity for receiving a program. When this switching is completed, the version data transmission control means 33 transmits READY (). The information transmission control means 13 having received the READY detects that the reception preparation on the side of the terminal device 3 has been completed, extracts the program of the first block from among the programs in the magnetic disk device 2, and transmits the program. (). After receiving this program, the version data transmission control means 33 stores the program in the buffer, stores it in the magnetic disk device 5 as an auxiliary storage device, and transmits READY again (). Thereafter, the program of the second block, the third block,... Is transmitted, and the program of the last block is transmitted (). Further, the version data transmission control means 33
When ADY is returned (), the information sending control means 13
Sends a buffer change request () to return the buffer capacity in the terminal device 3 to the normal state. As the buffer capacity is reduced, the version data transmission control means 33 of the terminal device 3 writes the new version data into the magnetic disk device 5 and the register 32, and further transmits READY (). Information sending control means 13 which has received this READY
Sends an IPL (Initial Program Loader) request (). As a result, in the terminal device 3, as in the case of turning on the power, the initial program loader is started, and the version data transmission control unit 33 transmits the T-iD request data and the version data ().
However, in this case, since the result of the comparison of the version data by the information transmission control means 13 is likely to be a match, the program is not transmitted, a procedure for terminating the communication is executed, and the terminal device 3 thereafter downloads the data. The processing operation using the programmed program is performed. Of course, if they do not match, the corresponding version of the program is downloaded.

FIG. 4 shows a general format of data used in the above communication. Here, the additional information differs depending on the type of data, and may not be added. Also,
The size of the entire data is indefinite and varies depending on the length of the data of the copy. The data types and their meanings are as shown in the following table. In this system, necessary data is appropriately selected from the data types and transmitted.

In this embodiment, the downloading of the program is described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to the downloading of all information such as data. The transmission of the version data may be performed not only at the time of activation from the terminal device side but also at the time of a request from the host computer side.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, at a predetermined time, version data is sent to the host computer, and if the version does not match the version of the information held in the host computer, the version data is held in the host computer. Information is automatically downloaded without the intervention of an observer.
The information to be downloaded to the terminal held in the host computer is matched with the information held by the terminal, so that the terminal operates using the appropriate version of information.

Then, upon downloading the information, after requesting a change in the buffer capacity on the terminal side, the information held in the own device is transmitted, and when the transmission of the information is completed, a process for requesting the restoration of the buffer capacity on the terminal side is performed. In the terminal, the buffer capacity is changed in accordance with the request for the buffer capacity change, and the processing for restoring the buffer capacity is performed in accordance with the request for the buffer capacity recovery. Reserve it,
There is an effect that it is possible to appropriately load information by increasing the buffer capacity at the time of downloading.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the system of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication procedure showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. The figure shows the format of data transmitted in one embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host computer 2, 5 ... Magnetic disk device 3 ... Terminal device 4, ... Line 11, 31 ... Communication control unit, 12, 32 ... Register 13 ... Information transmission control means 33 ... Version data Transmission control means

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A host computer storing information to be downloaded to a terminal and version data of the information, a terminal storing information downloaded from the host computer, and performing a processing exercise based on the information. The host computer and the terminal are connected by a line, and the host computer and the terminal are provided with a communication control unit for controlling communication via the line. Version data sending control means for sending version data of information stored in the own device to the host computer; receiving the version data by the version data sending control means in the host computer; Compares the version data of the information held by Information transmission control means for requesting the terminal side to restore the buffer capacity on the terminal side by transmitting the information held in the own apparatus which has requested the change of the buffer capacity on the terminal side and completing the transmission of the information. An information download system, wherein the version data transmission control means changes the buffer capacity according to the request for changing the buffer capacity, and restores the buffer capacity according to the request for restoring the buffer capacity.