JP6197611B2 - Installation control program, recording medium, and installation control method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an installation control method and an installation control program executed by an information processing apparatus for controlling installation of a plurality of application software, and a recording medium on which the installation control program is recorded.

  As a program for installing multiple application software (hereinafter referred to as “apps”) together on a PC, an installer (application installer) for installing the application individually for each application and the multiple application installers are sequentially installed. There is an installation package having an installer (integrated installer) for sequentially installing a plurality of applications by executing the application. In general, such an installation package is often stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM and provided to a user.

  When the installation package is provided on, for example, a CD-ROM, when the CD-ROM is inserted into a PC, the integrated installer is activated, and the integrated installer sequentially executes each application by sequentially executing a plurality of application installers. Let's install.

  In recent years, with the spread of networks, a form in which a PC is connected to the Internet and used is becoming common. On the other hand, as an integrated installer, before starting each application installer, the server is inquired about the latest version, and if there is an updated version of the application installer that is updated (updated) from the contents of the CD-ROM, this is installed on the server. An integrated installer with an update confirmation function that downloads and installs from is known.

  According to the integrated installer having the update confirmation function, the latest application installer can be downloaded and installed even if the application installer in the CD-ROM is an old version. However, the more application installers to be downloaded and the larger the amount of data, the longer the time required for downloading. Therefore, the time required to complete installation by multiple app installers (including the download time) ) Will be longer.

  As a technique for reducing the time required for sequentially downloading and installing a plurality of programs from a server, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for executing download and installation in parallel. According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, for example, when two programs A and B are downloaded from a server and installed, the program A is downloaded first, and then the program A is installed in parallel. The program B is also downloaded, and when the installation of the program A and the download of the program B are completed, the program B is installed. Therefore, compared to the method of downloading and installing each program A and B one by one, the time required for completing the installation as a whole can be shortened as a result of the parallel execution period of the two programs being installed and downloaded. It becomes.

JP 2011-238154 A

  However, it is difficult to sufficiently shorten the time required to complete the installation of multiple applications by the integrated installer by simply executing download and installation in parallel. For example, when two application installers have been updated and the technique described in Patent Document 1 is applied, the download of one of the application installers is executed first, while the installation process is performed during that time. Absent. If the download of one application installer is completed, then the installation by one application installer and the download of the other application installer are performed in parallel. However, if the download of the other application installer continues even after the installation by one application installer is completed, the installation by the other application installer is not started until the download is completed.

  In other words, depending on the presence or absence of updates in multiple application installers, the amount of application installer data to be downloaded, the data transfer speed of the communication line connecting the PC and the server, etc. There may be many periods when installation is not performed (waiting for download completion). Therefore, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to effectively shorten the time required to complete the installation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when installing a plurality of programs in an integrated manner, if there is an updated program, it can be updated while updating it to the updated new program as much as possible. The purpose is to effectively suppress an increase in the time required to complete the installation regardless of the number of programs, the amount of data, and the state of the communication line used for downloading.

  The present invention made in order to solve the above-described problem is an installation that can be executed by a control unit in an information processing apparatus including a control unit that executes processing according to a program and a communication unit that performs data communication with a server. It is a control program. This installation control program processes each application software by causing the control unit to execute an application installer, which is a program prepared for each application software and stored in a specific storage unit in order to install a plurality of application softwares. This is a program for installing the apparatus.

  Specifically, the installation control program of the present invention causes the control unit to execute the update presence / absence confirmation process, the normal execution process, the download process, the post-update execution process, and the first non-update execution process. It is a program.

  The update presence / absence confirmation process is a process for inquiring of the server whether or not an update program updated from the contents stored in the storage unit is present in the server.

  The normal execution process is a process in which an update unnecessary application installer, which is an application installer that has been determined that the update program does not exist on the server by the update presence confirmation process, is executed in a specific execution order.

  The download process is a process of downloading the update program from the server according to a specific download procedure in parallel with the normal execution process for the updateable application installer that is the application installer that has been determined to be on the server by the update presence check process. It is.

  The post-update execution process is the updateable application installer corresponding to the update program using the update program if there is an update program that has been downloaded when all the update-free application installers are executed by the normal execution process. Each time the updateable app installer is executed, it is checked whether there is another update program that has been downloaded, and if there is another update program, This is a process for executing an updatable application installer corresponding to the update program.

  In the first non-update execution process, in the post-update execution process, when there is no update program that has been downloaded when all the update unnecessary application installers are executed by the normal execution process, and the execution of the updatable application installer is completed When there is no other update program that has been downloaded, the update program selected according to the first selection condition among the update programs that have not been downloaded is excluded from the download target and stored in the storage unit. This is a process for executing a running application installer.

  The installation control program of the present invention causes the application installer to be executed sequentially and sequentially, i.e., so that no blank time occurs when the application installer is not executed even though all the application installers to be executed have not been executed yet. Priority is given to. Then, while giving priority to continuously executing the application installer in this manner, the update program is downloaded as much as possible while the application installer is being executed.

  Therefore, while downloading the update program (and executing the application installer using it) as much as possible, it can be executed in the same amount of time as when the application installer stored in the storage unit is executed as it is It becomes possible to complete execution of the target application installer.

  Note that the updateable application installer is executed using the update program, for example, new application software updated by executing the update program downloaded while starting the updateable application installer stored in the storage unit. Installed in the storage unit, the updateable application installer stored in the storage unit is executed to install the pre-update application software, and then the update program is executed to update to the new application software. As a result of using the downloaded update program, such as installing new application software by running the downloaded update program without using the updateable app installer Including any execution form, such as in a state that a new application software that new has been installed.

  The present invention is realized in various forms such as a recording medium on which the installation control program is recorded, an information processing apparatus that executes processing contents of the installation control program, and an installation control method in addition to the above-described installation control program. be able to.

It is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of information processing system 1 of an embodiment. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the outline | summary of an installation package. It is explanatory drawing which shows the installer information table registered into the server. It is a flowchart showing an integrated installation process. 5 is a flowchart showing details of an update inquiry process in S130 in the integrated installation process of FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of download / installation processing in S170 in the integrated installation processing of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the redownload confirmation process of S180 in the integrated installation process of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows a download confirmation dialog.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the specific means, structure, etc. which are shown by the following embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, various forms can be taken. For example, a part of the configuration of the following embodiment is replaced with a known configuration having a similar function, added to or replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, or omitted as long as the problem can be solved. May be. Moreover, you may comprise combining the following several embodiment suitably.

(1) Configuration of Information Processing System 1 As shown in FIG. 1, an information processing system 1 according to this embodiment includes a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”) 3, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 5, It has. The PC 3 and the MFP 5 are connected to each other through the network 10 so that data communication can be performed. The network 10 is a wired LAN in the present embodiment, but this is an example, and other types of networks may be used.

  The PC 3 and the MFP 5 can be connected to the Internet 9 and can be connected to the server 7 through the Internet 9. Therefore, the PC 3 can download necessary information from the server 7 through the Internet 9, and conversely upload information to the server 7 through the Internet 9.

(2) Configuration of PC 3 The PC 3 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, a RAM 13, an HDD (hard disk drive) 14, an external input / output unit 15, a network I / F (interface) 16, a display unit 17, an input unit 18, and the like.

  The CPU 11 controls each unit of the PC 3 by executing a program stored in the ROM 12 or the HDD 14. The CPU 11 can also read and execute programs and data from a storage medium (for example, a CD-ROM) inserted into the external input / output unit 15. The ROM 12 stores various programs executed by the CPU 11 and data. The RAM 13 is used as a main storage device for the CPU 11 to execute various processes. The network I / F 16 is a communication module for performing various data communications with an external device through the network 10. The display unit 17 is configured by a display device such as a liquid crystal display. The input unit 18 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like (not shown) operated by the user.

  Various programs (software) are installed in the HDD 14. The various software includes an OS (operating system) and various applications (application software).

  The external input / output unit 15 can insert / remove storage media such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-R, etc., and when these storage media are inserted, they are stored in the storage media. It is possible to read a program, data, etc., and write data to a writable type storage medium.

  As a storage medium that can be inserted into the external input / output unit 15, there is a CD-ROM 50 shown in FIG. The CD-ROM 50 stores an installation package 60 for installing three applications that can control and monitor the MFP 5 from the PC 3 into the PC 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the installation package 60 includes a device control application installer 71 for installing the device control application 41 on the PC 3, a status monitor installer 72 for installing the status monitor 42 on the PC 3, and a PC-FAX. A PC-FAX application installer 73 for installing the application 43 on the PC 3 and an integrated installer 70 for controlling the installation of the applications 41 to 43 on the PC 3 by the application installers 71 to 73 are included. .

  The installation package 60 is provided by a vendor (product supplier) of the MFP 5. When the CD-ROM 50 in which the installation package 60 is stored is inserted into the external input / output unit 15 of the PC 3, the integrated installer 70 is activated, and the integrated installer 70 sequentially executes the installation processing by the application installers 71 to 73, thereby causing each application. Installation of 41-43 is performed.

(3) Configuration of MFP 5 MFP 5 is a multifunction peripheral device having various functions such as a scanner function for reading an image of a document and a printer function for forming (printing) an image on a recording medium such as recording paper or an OHP sheet. is there.

  The MFP 5 includes a CPU 21, ROM 22, RAM 23, NVRAM 24, network I / F 25, display unit 26, input unit 27, printing unit 28, scanner unit 29, communication line I / F 30, and the like.

  The CPU 21 controls each part in the MFP 5 according to various programs stored in the ROM 22 and the NVRAM 24. The RAM 23 is used as a work area for storing various information, a main memory for storing image data, and the like. An NVRAM (Non Volatile RAM) 24 is a nonvolatile memory capable of electrically rewriting stored contents, and stores firmware, various setting values, various programs, various data, and the like.

  The display unit 26 includes various display devices such as a liquid crystal display and LEDs. The input unit 27 includes a touch panel, various operation buttons, and the like, and receives an operation input by a user. The printing unit 28 forms (prints) an image on a recording medium such as printing paper. The scanner unit 29 includes an image sensor, reads an image of a document, and generates image data thereof.

  The network I / F 25 is a communication module for performing various data communications with an external device (for example, the PC 3) through the network 10. The communication line I / F 30 is a line interface for communicating with an external communication device (for example, telephone or facsimile communication) through a communication line (not shown).

(4) Overview of Server 7 The server 7 is managed by the vendor of the MFP 5. The server 7 stores various programs and data, and can download various programs and data from an external device through the Internet. As programs stored in the server 7, there are application installers 71 to 73 that constitute the above-described installation package 60 (see FIG. 2).

  The server 7 stores the latest versions of the application installers 71 to 73. Therefore, after each application installer 71-73 is stored in the CD-ROM 50, when any of the application installers 71-73 is updated by a vendor or the like, the updated application installer is stored in the CD-ROM 50. The content stored in the server 7 is newer than the stored content.

  The server 7 stores the programs themselves of the application installers 71 to 73, and also stores an installer information table as shown in FIG. This installer information table includes the version number of the latest version, the download priority, the URL of the download destination of the latest version (predetermined storage address in the same server 7 in this embodiment), the file for each of the various application installers. The size is listed in association with each other.

  In the present embodiment, when the installation of each of the applications 41 to 43 is executed using the CD-ROM 50, the version of each of the application installers 71 to 73 is confirmed (confirmation of whether there is an update) from the PC 3 to the server 7. Is called. If the contents of the server 7 are newer than the contents of the CD-ROM 50, the latest version of the program (application installer) is downloaded from the server 7 and the installation process is executed. Is done.

(5) Description of Install Package 60 Next, the install package 60 for installing the various applications 41 to 43 on the PC 3 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the installation package 60 includes the application installers 71 to 73 for installing the applications 41 to 43, and the integrated installer 70 for controlling the installation process by the application installers 71 to 73 in an integrated manner. including.

  The device control application installer 71 is software for installing the device control application 41 in the PC 3. Specifically, the device control application installer 71 includes at least a device control application 41 and an installer program for installing the device control application 41 in the PC 3. The device control application 41 is an application for integrally controlling various functions of the MFP 5 from the PC 3. When the device control application installer 71 is read into the PC 3 and executed by the CPU 11, the device control application 41 is installed in the PC 3.

  The status monitor installer 72 is software for installing the status monitor 42 in the PC 3. Specifically, the status monitor installer 72 has at least a status monitor 42 and an installer program for installing the status monitor 42 in the PC 3. The status monitor 42 is an application for monitoring various states of the MFP 5 by the PC 3. The status monitor installer 72 is read into the PC 3 and executed by the CPU 11, whereby the status monitor 42 is installed in the PC 3.

  The PC-FAX application installer 73 is software for installing the PC-FAX application 43 on the PC 3. Specifically, the PC-FAX application installer 73 includes at least a PC-FAX application 43 and an installer program for installing the PC-FAX application 43 in the PC 3. The PC-FAX application 43 is an application for realizing a PC-FAX function in the PC 3. By using the PC-FAX application 43, the user can transmit files created by various applications of the PC 3 to an external facsimile machine via the communication line I / F 30. When the PC-FAX application installer 73 is read into the PC 3 and executed by the CPU 11, the PC-FAX application 43 is installed in the PC 3.

  The integrated installer 70 is software that controls the installation process of the applications 41 to 43 by the application installers 71 to 73. Each of the application installers 71 to 73 includes the name and version information of the application installer.

  In the following description, the CPU 11 that executes an OS, an application, an installer, or the like may be simply described by a program name. For example, the description “installer” may mean “the CPU 11 that executes the installer”.

  When the CD-ROM 50 is inserted into the external input / output unit 15 of the PC 3, the information in the CD-ROM 50 is read by the CPU 11 of the PC 3 in a predetermined procedure, and the integrated installer 70 is activated. When the integrated installer 70 is activated (executed by the CPU 11), the integrated installer 70 sequentially executes the three application installers 71 to 73 to execute the corresponding application installation process.

  In addition, the integrated installer 70 inquires of the server 7 whether or not the application installer has been updated in parallel with the installation process by the application installer. If there is a latest version of the program updated from the contents of the CD-ROM 50 as a result of the inquiry, the latest version is downloaded in parallel with the installation process by the application installer. However, in this embodiment, even if there is an updated application installer, it is not always downloaded. In the present embodiment, priority is given to sequentially executing the installation of each of the applications 41 to 43 without delay. In the process of sequentially performing the installation process, if there is an updated program, download the latest version in parallel with the installation process as much as possible (at least one). ing.

  Note that a driver (device driver) for controlling the MFP 5 is incorporated as a part of the OS. Data exchange with the MFP 5 by each of the applications 41 to 43 is performed via a driver. Information on various installed applications is registered in the registry that constitutes the OS, whereby various applications can be started based on the OS.

(6) Installation Processing by Integrated Installer 70 Details of control of installation processing of each application 41 to 43 by the three application installers 71 to 73 by the integrated installer 70 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the CD-ROM 50 storing the installation package 60 is inserted into the external input / output unit 15 of the PC 3, the CPU 11 of the PC 3 reads the integrated installer 70 in the installation package 60 and executes the process (integrated installation process). . The specific contents of the integrated installation process are as shown in FIG.

  When the integrated installation process shown in FIG. 4 is started, the CPU 11 of the PC 3 connects to the server 7 in S110. In S120, it is determined whether or not connection to the server 7 has been established, that is, whether or not data communication is possible through the server 7 and the Internet 9.

  If connection to the server 7 is not possible (S120: NO), in S220, all the activation target application installers in the CD (three application installers 71 to 73 in this embodiment) are sequentially activated and executed. Execute the installation process (installing the app using the app installer). For example, first, the device control application installer 71 is started and the installation process is executed to install the device control application 41, and then the status monitor installer 72 is started and the installation process is executed to install the status monitor 42. After that, the PC-FAX application installer 73 is activated and the installation process is executed to install the PC-FAX application 43. Thus, in S220, the installation process by the three application installers 71 to 73 is sequentially executed without any delay. The order in which the three application installers 71 to 73 are executed can be determined as appropriate. Further, “in the CD” here means that in the CD-ROM 50.

  If it is possible to connect to the server 7 in S120 (S120: YES), update inquiry processing is executed in S130. Details of the update inquiry process in S130 are shown in FIG. When the CPU 11 shifts to the update inquiry process of FIG. 5, in step S <b> 310, the CPU 11 transmits at least the following two types of information to the server 7 regarding the application installers 71 to 73 to be installed in the CD. One is the name of each application installer 71-73. The other is information indicating the version of each application installer 71-73.

  When the above-described two types of information are transmitted to the server 7 by the process of S310, the server 7 refers to the installer information table (FIG. 3) based on the transmitted information of each of the application installers 71 to 73, and executes the CD. Check if there is an application installer updated from the contents (version) in the. If there is an updated application installer, the information about the updated application installer (updateable installer information) is transmitted to the PC 3 together with a notification indicating that the updated application installer can be updated. The updatable installer information transmitted by the server 7 includes the app installer name, version, download priority, download destination URL, and file size for each updatable app installer.

  After the process of S310, the CPU 11 of the PC 3 acquires the updatable installer information transmitted from the server 7 in S320. After obtaining the updatable installer information in S320, the process proceeds to S140 (FIG. 1).

  In S140, it is determined whether there is an updateable application installer on the server 7, that is, whether there is an application installer that has acquired updateable installer information in the process of S320. If there is no app installer that can be updated (S140: NO), it means that the contents of each of the application installers 71 to 73 are the latest version, so the process proceeds to S220, and each of the application installers in the CD. The installation process is sequentially executed by 71 to 73.

  If there is an app installer that can be updated in S140 (S140: YES), all the app installers 71 to 73 to be installed can be updated in S150 (that is, all the app installers 71 to 73 are based on the contents in the CD). It is also determined whether there is a new latest version on the server 7).

  If all the application installers 71 to 73 can be updated (S150: YES), in S160, the updateable application installer having the lowest download priority is installed by the application installer in the CD. Let That is, for the application installer having the lowest download priority, the corresponding application is installed by executing the application installer in the CD without downloading. The “execution” of the application installer here means the entire process from the start to the end of the application installer, that is, the entire process from the start to the end of installation of the corresponding application. The same applies to S200, S430, S460, S560, and S580 described later.

  If all the application installers 71 to 73 are updatable, if all of them are downloaded, the application installation process cannot be executed until at least one of the application installers has been downloaded. Therefore, in this embodiment, when all the application installers 71 to 73 can be updated, not all of them are downloaded, but the application installer with the lowest download priority is not downloaded and the application in the CD is not downloaded. Run the installation process using the installer.

  In parallel with the installation process (with the start of the installation process), download of other updatable application installers from the server 7 is started. When there are a plurality of other updatable app installers, various ways of downloading them can be considered. For example, you may download one by one in descending order of download priority. Further, for example, a plurality of application installers may be downloaded simultaneously (strictly, by time division multiplex communication). The same applies to the download in the process of S200 described later.

  In S160, the installation process using the application installer in the CD for the application installer having the lowest download priority is executed, and after the download of another updatable application installer is started, the process proceeds to S170.

  If all the application installers 71 to 73 are not updatable in S150 (S150: NO), that is, if there is at least one application installer that does not require updating (the content in the CD is the latest version) Proceed to S190. In S190, an application installer that has not been updated yet and that has not been installed yet and that has the largest file size is selected from among the application installers that do not require updating.

  In S200, for the application installer selected in S190, the application installer in the CD is activated to execute installation processing. In parallel with the installation process by the application installer (with the start of the installation process), download of another updatable application installer from the server 7 is started.

  In S210, it is determined whether or not the installation process using the update-required application installer (in the CD) has been completed. If all installation processes by the application installer that does not require updating are not completed (S210: NO), the process returns to S190. That is, until the installation process using the update-free application installer is completed, the installation process using the update-free application installer is sequentially performed by repeatedly performing the processes of S190 to S200. Meanwhile, the updateable application installer continues to be downloaded unless all the updateable application installers have been downloaded. When the installation process using the application installer that does not require updating is completed (S210: YES), the process proceeds to S170.

  In S170, download / installation processing is performed. At the time of proceeding to S170, all of the application installers that do not need to be updated are in a state where the installation process has been completed by the application installer in the CD, and there is an application installer that has not been installed. It's an app installer that can be updated (ie, is currently being downloaded or will be downloaded).

  Details of the download / install process in S170 are shown in FIG. When the CPU 11 proceeds to the download / install process of FIG. 6, in S410, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the install process of each of the applications 41 to 43 by all the install installers 71 to 73 to be installed has been completed.

When the installation process by all the application installers 71 to 73 is completed (S410: YES), the process proceeds to S180 (FIG. 1).
If the installation process by all the application installers 71 to 73 has not yet been completed (S410: NO), in S420, among the updateable application installers, the download process has been completed but the installation process has not yet been executed. It is determined whether or not there is anything that is not (hereinafter also referred to as “download completed & not installed”).

  If an affirmative determination is made in S420 (S420: YES), that is, if there is an app installer that can be started with “download completed & not installed”, the process proceeds to S430. In S430, among the updatable app installers, the “download completed & not installed” app installer is activated to execute the installation process. At this time, if there are a plurality of “download completed & not installed” application installers that can be activated, the one with the largest file size is activated with priority.

  Further, among the updatable app installers other than the activated app installer, the download has not been completed yet and the installation process has not been executed, and the download is continued.

  After the process of S430, the process returns to S410. Then, as long as there is an application installer that has been downloaded but has not yet been installed, the processes of S420 to S430 are repeated.

  If a negative determination is made in S420 (S420: NO), that is, if there is no app installer “download completed & not installed” and an updateable app installer is being downloaded, the process proceeds to S440. In S440, the downloadable application installer has not yet been downloaded, the installation process has not been executed, and the download priority is the lowest (hereinafter referred to as “download incomplete & not installed & download priority”). It is determined whether there are two or more.

  If a negative determination is made in S440 (S440: NO), that is, if there are not two or more application installers of “download incomplete & not installed & download priority lowest”, the process proceeds to S460.

  When an affirmative determination is made in S440 (S440: YES), that is, when there are two or more application installers of “download incomplete & not installed & download priority lowest”, in S450, among the two or more application installers Lower the download priority for the largest file size. That is, it is set to a value lower than the download priority set in the server 7.

  In S460, the application installer in the CD is activated and the installation process is executed with respect to the application installer of “download not completed & not installed & download priority lowest” among the updateable application installers. In this case, it is assumed that the target application installer is being downloaded or is waiting to be downloaded. That is, the server 7 has the latest version that is newer than the contents in the CD. Therefore, more preferably, the latest version is downloaded and installed. However, in the present embodiment, priority is given to preventing the time when the installation process is not executed (that is, the three application installers 71 to 73 are continuously executed without delay), and the process proceeds to S460. At that time, the application installer having “download incomplete & not installed & download priority lowest” is executed using the application installer in the CD instead of the latest version.

  In the process of S460, as described above, the application installer of “download incomplete & not installed & download priority lowest” is installed using the application installer in the CD, and downloaded among the other updatable application installers. If the application has not been completed yet and the installation process has not been executed, the download continues as an application installer to be downloaded. After the process of S460, the process returns to S410.

  By the download / install process shown in FIG. 6, all the install processes by all the application installers 71 to 73 are finally completed. As a result, an affirmative determination is finally made in S410, and the process proceeds to S180 (FIG. 1).

  In S180, re-download confirmation processing is executed. At the time when the download / installation process of S170 is completed, the installation process by all the application installers 71 to 73 has been completed. However, in this embodiment, priority is given to the continuous installation processing of the application installers 71 to 73 without delay. Therefore, in some cases, there is a latest version of the program that is newer than the contents of the CD. Regardless, there may be apps installed by the old app installer on the CD without being downloaded. Therefore, in order to ask the user whether or not to update the application installed by such an old version of the application installer to the latest version, the CPU 11 executes re-download confirmation processing in S180. .

  Details of the re-download confirmation process in S180 are shown in FIG. When the CPU 11 proceeds to the re-download confirmation process of FIG. 7, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the install process has been completed by downloading all updatable application installers in S510. When all the updatable application installers have been downloaded and installed (S510), the integrated installation process is terminated.

  When all of the updateable app installers have not been downloaded and installed (S510: NO), that is, all of the installations have been completed, but at least one of them has been updated but the latest version has not been downloaded If the installation process is executed by the application installer in the CD, the process proceeds to S520.

  In S520, among the updatable app installers, download and install the unupdated app installer for the incompletely downloaded and installed app installer (hereinafter referred to as “unupdated app installer”) (update from the current version). ) Display a download confirmation dialog for asking the user whether or not to display it on the display unit 17.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the download confirmation dialog. As shown in FIG. 8, in the download confirmation dialog, names of unupdated application installers are listed and displayed, and a “download” button 81 and a “do not download” button 82 are displayed. If the user wants to download and update the latest version of the unupdated app installer listed, the user can simply click on the “Download” button 81 to update the latest version of the unupdated app installer listed. If no download is required, a “do not download” button 82 may be clicked.

  In S530, it is determined whether or not “download” is selected by the user (that is, whether or not the “download” button 81 is clicked). When “download” is not selected (that is, when the “do not download” button 82 is clicked) (S530: NO), the integrated installation process ends. If “download” is selected (S530: YES), the process proceeds to S540.

  In S540, the application installer having the highest download priority among the unupdated application installers is downloaded from the server 7. In S550, it is determined whether or not all the unupdated application installers have been downloaded.

  If there is an unupdated application installer that has not yet been downloaded (S550: NO), in S560, the unupdated application installer that has been downloaded is activated to execute the installation process. In parallel with the installation process, the application installer having the highest download priority is downloaded among other unupdated application installers that have not yet been downloaded. After the process of S560, the process returns to S550.

  If it is determined in S550 that all the unupdated application installers have been downloaded (S550: YES), in S570, the downloaded unupdated application installer is activated to execute the installation process. In S580, it is determined whether or not the installation process for the latest version has been completed for all the unupdated application installers. If all installation processes have not been completed, the process returns to S570. If all installation processes have been completed, the integrated installation process is terminated.

(7) Effects of Embodiments, etc. According to the integrated installer 70 of the present embodiment described above, when the plurality of application installers 71 to 73 are executed and the plurality of applications 41 to 43 are installed, the plurality of application installers 71 to 71 are installed. If the latest version of the application installer on the server 7 is newer than the contents in the CD while giving the highest priority to the sequential execution of the application 73 without delay (continuously), the application installers 71 to 73 are continuously connected. Download and install the latest version as much as possible within the range that does not prevent proper execution. Therefore, the application installers 71 to 73 can be updated regardless of the number of updateable application installers, the amount of data, the state of the communication line used for downloading, etc. while realizing the update to the latest version of the application installer within the possible range. It is possible to effectively suppress an increase in the time required to complete the installation process.

  The effect of the integrated installer 70 of this embodiment will be supplementarily described with a specific example. For example, a case is assumed in which installation processing is executed by three application installers A, B, and C. In this case, for example, the A installer and the B installer are updateable application installers, the C installer is an application installer that does not need to be updated, and the A installer has a higher download priority than the B installer. In this case, the integrated installer first executes the installation process using the C installer that does not require updating, and at the same time, the two A and B app installers that can be updated are preceded by the A installer having the highest download priority (or both). Start downloading in parallel (time division multiplex communication). When the installation process by the C installer is completed, the integrated installer confirms the download status of the two installers A and B. At this time, if both A and B have not yet been downloaded, the B installer having the lowest download priority is excluded from the download target instead of waiting for the completion of the download of either one (if the download is executed) If it is inside, stop it). Then, the installation process by the B installer is executed. When the installation process by the B installer is completed, the integrated installer confirms the download status of the A installer. At this time, if the download of the A installer is completed, the installation process by the downloaded A installer is executed. If the download of the A installer has not been completed, the download of the A installer is also stopped and the installation process is executed by the A installer in the CD.

  In the above case, depending on the execution time of the installation process by each application installer and the time required for the download, both the updatable A and B installers may download the latest version and execute the installation process. , B There are cases where neither of the two installers can be downloaded and installation processing with an older version of the installer on the CD is forced. Of course, there may be a case where the latest version of the A installer having a high download priority can be downloaded, but the B installer cannot be downloaded. However, what can be said in common in either case is that the installation process by each application installer is executed sequentially without any delay, and there is little (or no) blank time when the installation process is not performed. .

  As described above, according to the integrated installer 70 of the present embodiment, the total time required when the latest version of the application installer is downloaded, but all the application installers in the CD are used as they are without being downloaded. Installation of all apps to be installed can be completed in the same amount of time.

  In this embodiment, the integrated installer 70 corresponds to an example of the installation control program of the present invention, and the latest version program stored in the server 7 for each of the application installers 71 to 73 is an example of the update program of the present invention. The PC 3 corresponds to an example of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the CD-ROM 50 corresponds to an example of the recording medium of the present invention, and the CPU 11 of the PC 3 corresponds to an example of the control unit of the present invention. The file size corresponds to an example of the data amount of the present invention.

[Other Embodiments]
(1) In the re-download confirmation process (detailed in FIG. 7) of S180 in the integrated installation process of FIG. 4, if the user selects “Download”, the latest version of all unupdated application installers is downloaded. However, if there are a plurality of unupdated application installers, the user may arbitrarily select one or more of them.

  (2) In the above embodiment, by transmitting information of each application installer from the PC 3 to the server 7 (S310), the server 7 determines whether there is a latest version, and the result is sent from the server 7 to the server 7. Although it was the structure to acquire (S320), you may make it judge by the other method whether there is the newest version. For example, the latest version information may be acquired from the server 7 and the integrated installer 70 may make a judgment based on the information.

  (3) The user may be able to visually grasp at least one of the progress of downloading the latest version and the execution status of the application installer (progress status of application installation).

  (4) When the application installer in the CD is executed without downloading the latest version on the server 7, an old version of the application that is not the latest version is installed before the execution. You may make it alert | report. Furthermore, in addition to the notification, the user confirms whether he / she wants to install the latest version even if it takes time. If the user desires, the installation process is suspended and the latest version of the app installer is installed. You may make it download.

  (5) The program downloaded from the server 7 may be the entire application installer program, or may be a correction program required to update the contents of the CD-ROM 50 to the latest version. In other words, as long as the latest version of the application can be finally installed, what type of program is downloaded from the server 7 can be appropriately determined.

  (6) In the above embodiment, the installation package 60 is provided by being recorded on the CD-ROM 50. However, the installation package 60 can also be provided by using another recording medium. Further, the configuration is not limited to the recording medium, and may be provided through a network, for example. In addition, it is not essential that the integrated installer 70 and each of the application installers 71 to 73 are recorded and provided on the same recording medium.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing system, 3 ... PC, 5 ... MFP, 7 ... Server, 9 ... Internet, 10 ... Network, 11, 21 ... CPU, 12, 22 ... ROM, 13, 23 ... RAM, 14 ... HDD, 15 ... External input / output unit, 16, 25 ... Network I / F, 17, 26 ... Display unit, 18, 27 ... Input unit, 24 ... NVRAM, 28 ... Printing unit, 29 ... Scanner unit, 30 ... Communication line I / F, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Device control application, 42 ... Status monitor, 43 ... PC-FAX application, 50 ... CD-ROM, 60 ... Installation package, 70 ... Integrated installer, 71 ... Device control application installer, 72 ... Status monitor installer, 73 ... FAX Application installer, 81... "Download" button, 82 ... "Do not download" button.

Claims (8)

A control unit that executes processing according to a program;
A communication unit for data communication with the server;
In an information processing apparatus comprising:
By causing the control unit to execute an application installer, which is a program prepared for each application software and stored in a specific storage unit in order to install a plurality of application softwares, the information processing apparatus stores each application software. An installation control program that can be executed by the control unit for installation,
In the control unit,
For each of the app installers, an update presence / absence confirmation process for inquiring of the server via the communication unit whether or not the server has an update program updated from the content stored in the storage unit;
A normal execution process for executing an update unnecessary application installer, which is the application installer that has been determined by the update presence / absence checking process, that the update program does not exist on the server, in a specific execution order;
For the updatable app installer that is the app installer that has been determined that the update program is present in the server by the update presence confirmation process, the update program is downloaded from the server according to a specific download procedure in parallel with the normal execution process. Download process to
When all the update-unnecessary application installers are executed by the normal execution process, if there is the update program that has been downloaded, the updateable application installer corresponding to the update program is used by using the update program. Each time the execution of the updatable app installer is completed, check whether there is another update program that has been downloaded, and if there is another update program, use that update program, Post-update execution processing for executing the updatable app installer corresponding to the update program;
In the post-update execution process, when all the update-unnecessary application installers are executed by the normal execution process, there is no update program that has been downloaded, and when the updateable application installer has been executed. When there is no other update program that has been downloaded, the storage unit that excludes the update program selected according to a first selection condition from among the update programs that have not been downloaded from the download target. A first non-update execution process for executing the application installer stored in
An installation control program for running An installation control program according to claim 1,
When it is determined by the update presence / absence check process that the update program is present in the server for all the application installers to be executed, the first of the update programs instead of the normal execution process. An installation control program comprising: a second non-update execution process that causes the application installer stored in the storage unit to be excluded from a download target by the download process for the update program selected according to a selection condition . The installation control program according to claim 1 or 2,
Each of the application installers has a preset priority when downloading the corresponding update program from the server,
The first selection condition is that the priority is the lowest. An installation control program according to claim 3,
In the non-update execution process, when there are a plurality of the update programs having the lowest priority, the update program selected by the second selection condition among the plurality of update programs is selected from the download target by the download process. An installation control program that causes the application installer stored in the storage unit to be excluded. An installation control program according to claim 4,
The installation control program according to claim 2, wherein the second selection condition is that the data amount of the update program is the largest. An installation control program according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
After all the application installers to be executed are executed, the updatable app installer in which the app installer stored in the storage unit is executed without using the corresponding update program among the updatable app installers Unupdated determination processing for determining whether or not there is an unupdated application installer,
Selection input reception for receiving selection input as to whether or not to download and execute the update program from the server for the unupdated application installer when it is determined by the unupdated determination process that there is the unupdated application installer Processing,
When a selection input for downloading and executing the update program is received by the selection input reception process, the update program is downloaded from the server, and the corresponding unupdated program is used by using the update program. Update process to run the app installer,
An installation control program characterized by comprising:   A computer-readable recording medium on which the installation control program according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is recorded. In an information processing apparatus capable of performing data communication with a server, in order to install a plurality of application software, an application installer that is a program prepared for each application software and stored in a specific storage unit is executed. Is an installation control method used to install each application software in the information processing apparatus,
For each application installer, an update presence / absence confirmation step for inquiring whether the server has an update program updated from the contents stored in the storage unit;
A normal execution step of causing the application installer that has been determined that the update program does not exist in the server in the update presence confirmation step to be executed in a specific execution order;
For the updatable app installer that is the app installer for which the update program is determined to be present in the server in the update presence confirmation step, the update program is downloaded from the server according to a specific download procedure in parallel with the normal execution step. A download step to download,
After all of the application installers to be executed are executed in the normal execution step, if there is the update program that has been downloaded, the update program is used to update the updatable app installer corresponding to the update program. Each time the updateable app installer is executed, if there is another update program that has been downloaded, the updateable app installer corresponding to the update program is executed using the update program. A post-update execution step,
In the post-update execution step, when all the update-unnecessary application installers are executed in the normal execution step, there is no update program that has been downloaded, and when the execution of the updatable application installer is completed. When there is no other update program that has been downloaded, the storage unit that excludes the update program selected according to the first selection condition from among the update programs that have not been downloaded from the download target. A first non-update execution step for executing the application installer stored in
An installation control method characterized by comprising: