JP2845169B2 - External storage device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external storage device,
In particular, the present invention relates to an external storage device using a portable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of external storage device is generally used for the purpose of shortening the search time of a portable storage medium.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus provided with an external storage device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-119776. In this conventional example, the MPU
Reference numeral 111 denotes a circuit unit that controls the entire apparatus according to a program stored in the main memory 112. The main memory 112 is a storage unit for storing a media management table and a group of keywords for managing the magneto-optical disk, in addition to the program for the MPU 111. The hard disk 113 stores a keyword group overflowing from the main memory 112, a program, and user data. Magneto-optical disk drive (OMD) 11
Reference numeral 5 denotes an apparatus for appropriately loading a magneto-optical disk and inputting / outputting data.

[0004] The magneto-optical disk stores management information, a keyword group, and a data group. The management information includes a media unique number, a media name, a keyword registration flag, and a keyword registration date. The keyword registration flag indicates whether the keyword of the magneto-optical disk has been captured in the information processing apparatus main body. CPU when a magneto-optical disk is loaded in OMD115
111 causes the OMD 115 to read the management information of the magneto-optical disk and transfer it to the main memory 112. The keyword registration flag in the management information is checked, and if the registration is final, a media management table on the main memory 112 is created, and the keyword group of the magneto-optical disk is transferred to the main memory 112 via the OMD 115. If the keyword registration flag has been registered, the media management table and the keyword group on the main memory 112 are searched.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional external storage device, when data is additionally written on a magnetic tape, file information must be read from the magnetic tape in order to search for a file. Reading from this magnetic medium generally takes a lot of time. This tendency is remarkable when the storage medium is a magnetic tape. When searching for a file, file information or management information must be read from the magnetic storage medium. Therefore, when searching across multiple storage media, insert /
You have to search while repeating the discharge. In particular, in an information processing apparatus which does not have a storage medium auto-loading mechanism as found in a filing apparatus, it is necessary to replace the storage medium by hand, and there is a problem that operability and search efficiency are significantly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an external storage device using a storage medium having a low transfer speed, in which operability and search efficiency are improved.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an external storage device in which a predetermined bar code including file information is written on an exterior portion having a nonvolatile memory therein. A portable storage medium of a sequential access type, a controller that controls reading and writing of predetermined data from and to the portable storage medium, a code reading unit that reads a bar code, and a management unit that manages the read code data. By managing file information of data recorded on a portable storage medium via a barcode, automatic management from outside by code reading means and manual management by visual inspection are facilitated. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an external storage device comprising:
A portable storage medium having a predetermined OCR character written on an exterior part, a controller for controlling reading and writing of predetermined data from and to the portable storage medium, and OCR character reading means for reading the OCR character; By managing data recorded on the medium via OCR characters,
It is characterized by facilitating manual management by visual observation as well as automatic management from the outside by CR character reading means.

[0009]

Therefore, according to the external storage device of the first aspect of the present invention, a predetermined barcode is written on a sequential access type portable storage medium, and a controller for controlling reading / writing from / to the portable storage medium is provided. And a code reading means for reading the data. Therefore, by associating the barcode with the file information on the portable storage medium, it is possible to perform automatic management from outside without accessing the memory, and to facilitate manual management by visual observation.

According to the storage device of the second aspect,
A predetermined OCR character is written on the portable storage medium. The portable storage medium includes a controller for controlling reading and writing to the portable storage medium, and an OCR character reading unit for reading the OCR character. Therefore, by associating the OCR characters with the file information on the portable storage medium, automatic management and manual management can be performed without accessing the memory.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an external storage device according to the present invention; 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the external storage device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of an external storage device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing apparatus to which the external storage device of the embodiment is applied. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third embodiment.

In the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.
The external storage device 1 to which any one of the third embodiments is applied includes:
The CPU 2, the main memory 3, the hard disk 4, and the disk controller 5 are connected via the bus 6.

The external storage device 1 is a device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Three embodiments are described in detail below.
The CPU 2 is a central control unit that controls the operation of the information processing device. The CPU 2 is a circuit unit that controls the entire apparatus according to a program stored in the main memory 3. The main memory 3 is constituted by a RAM, and holds a management table for managing the external storage device 1 in addition to the control program of the CPU 2. Hard disk 4
This is a storage device for storing sub-programs and user data. The three types of storage units, the main memory 3, the hard disk 4, and the external storage device 1 generally store data in the order of higher or lower access frequency based on their respective characteristics.

(First Embodiment) An external storage device 1 according to a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a controller 11, a magnetic tape 12, and a barcode reader 14. A predetermined bar code 13 is formed on the surface of the magnetic tape 12. This barcode 13 is
It is constituted by printing directly on the case constituting the magnetic tape 12, or by sticking a bar-coded paper.

The controller 11 is a component for controlling the execution of reading and writing of file information on the magnetic tape 12 and the execution of reading of the barcode 13 via the barcode reader 14. These executions are performed via the bus 6 via C
This is performed based on the command and control of PU2.

The magnetic tape 12 is a general one using a magnetic tape as a storage medium for file data. A bar code 13 is formed on the magnetic tape 12. The set position of the barcode 13 on the magnetic tape 12 is a readable position in relation to the barcode reader 14.

The bar code reader 14 is a magnetic tape 12
This is a mechanism section for reading the barcode 13 provided in the. The bar code reader 14 is provided at a predetermined portion of the external storage device where the magnetic tape 12 is inserted.
The bar code 13 for each magnetic tape 12 is read at the time of insertion.

In the information processing apparatus to which the external storage device 1 composed of the above components is connected, the main memory 3
Holds the file management table. Using this file management table, the barcode 13 read by the barcode reader 14 is associated with the file information read from the magnetic tape 12 via the controller 11.

In the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.
At the time of insertion, the barcode reader 14 reads the barcode 13 printed on the surface of the magnetic tape 12 and searches the file management table on the main memory 3 for the corresponding code. If there is no corresponding code, an area on the main memory 3 is reserved for adding to the file management table.

When writing data to the magnetic tape 12,
When the file information retrieved from the file management table does not match the file information read from the magnetic tape 12, the file information in the file management table is updated when the data is read. If there is no corresponding code in the file management table, file information is added to the file management table when writing data to the magnetic tape 12 and reading data.

When searching for a file on the magnetic tape 12, file information corresponding to the code searched in the file management table is read from the main memory 3. If there is no corresponding code in the file management table, the file information is read from the magnetic tape 12 and added to the file management table at the same time.

When the power of the information processing apparatus is turned off, the file management table on the main memory 3 is transferred to the hard disk 4, and when the power is turned on, the file management table is transferred from the hard disk 4 to the main memory 3.

In the first embodiment, a magnetic tape is identified by a bar code printed on the surface of the magnetic tape, and file information on the magnetic tape is managed in a main memory.
Therefore, when searching for a magnetic tape that has been used once, it is not necessary to read out data for management from the magnetic tape, and the search time is substantially unnecessary.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory 15 is provided in the external storage device 1. The nonvolatile memory 15 holds a file management table, and the controller 11 manages the file management table.

The second embodiment has the effect of not consuming the resources of the main memory 3 and the hard disk 4 in addition to the effects of the first embodiment. Therefore, the present invention can be effectively applied to an information processing apparatus having no hard disk 4.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the external storage device 1 uses a portable storage medium 16 having a recognition code 17 of OCR characters printed on the surface. The OCR reader 18 is provided at a portion where the storage medium 16 is inserted, and reads the OCR character code 17 when the storage medium 16 is inserted. In the file search, in addition to reading out the file information on the inserted storage medium 16 from the file management table on the main memory 3 in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments, the file search can be performed without the storage medium 16 being inserted. It has a function of reading all file information in the management table. Therefore, the recognition code of the storage medium storing the desired file can be specified, and the operator can specify the desired storage medium because the recognition code is an OCR character. In the third embodiment, an OCR character recognition code 17 and an OCR reader 1 are used.
8 can be realized by providing a bar code, a recognition code using characters corresponding to the bar code, and a bar code reader.

In the third embodiment, since management is performed using OCR characters, recognition and identification by a person is facilitated. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the first and second embodiments, when searching for a file over a plurality of storage media, it is not necessary to repeat insertion and ejection of the storage media, and operability can be further improved. In addition, the above effects can be obtained by utilizing simple recognition by OCR characters and applying to a floppy disk or the like having a shorter read time.

Although the above embodiment is one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0029]

As is clear from the above description, in the external storage device of the present invention, a predetermined barcode is written on a portable storage medium, and the barcode is read on the portable storage medium by reading the barcode. Can be managed in association with the file information. According to this management, it is possible to perform a search without reading out the file information on the storage medium by identifying the storage medium with the barcode. Therefore, the search time can be significantly reduced. In addition, visual management is facilitated, and when searching for files across a plurality of portable storage media, there is no need to repeatedly insert and eject storage media. Therefore, operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus including an external storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional information processing apparatus including an external storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 External storage device 2 CPU 3 Main memory 4 Hard disk 5 Disk controller 6 Bus 11 Controller 12 Magnetic tape 13 Barcode 14 Barcode reader 15 Nonvolatile semiconductor memory 16 Portable storage medium 17 OCR character code 18 OCR reader

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sequential access type portable storage medium in which a predetermined barcode including file information is written on an exterior part in which a non-volatile memory is installed, and reading / writing of predetermined data from / to the portable storage medium is controlled. A controller that reads the bar code, and a managing unit that manages the read code data. The bar code manages file information of data recorded on the portable storage medium. An external storage device characterized by facilitating manual management by visual observation as well as automatic management from outside by the code reading means by performing the operation through a computer. 2. A portable storage medium having a predetermined OCR character written on an exterior part, a controller for controlling reading / writing of predetermined data from / to the portable storage medium, and an OCR character reading means for reading the OCR character. By managing the data recorded on the portable storage medium via the OCR characters, automatic management from the outside by the OCR character reading means and manual management by visual inspection are facilitated. External storage device.