JPH03286351A - Division control system for function of data communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the degree of freedom for application and maintenance of a memory and to prevent the deterioration of quality against the extension of a function by providing a means to control the load state of each divided function to a data communication terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION:A function is divided into pieces within a range where these divided functions attain their prescribed roles independently of each other, and the load state of each divided function is controlled to a data communication terminal equipment 12 via a basic control part 12a and an extension control part 12b. If an unloaded function is required, this function is loaded under the control of both parts 12a and 12b. Then the part 12a functions as a loader or a data transfer controller of the part 12b via an extension control protocol given from a host computer 11. Under such conditions, the functions are controlled in division and therefore an occupied area of a memory can be minimized in a working state. Then it is just required to correct or add only the desired function even in a maintenance or function extension state. Therefore other functions are never adversely affected. Thus it is possible to improve the degree of freedom for application and maintenance of the memory and to prevent the deterioration of quality against the extension of a function.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a divisional control method for dividing and managing terminal processing functions in a data communication terminal device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when basic functions necessary for terminal processing are modularized to the extent that they independently perform specific functions, terminal processing is started after all the basic modules are loaded into memory. As a result, memory is being used exclusively for functions that are not currently used. Furthermore, when modifying the basic module, it was necessary to modify the entire system, including all functions, resulting in poor maintenance efficiency.

In addition, when adding extended functions, the basic functions of the data communication terminal device are also re-created and the extended functions are added, so each time a function is expanded, the basic functions are affected and there is no flexibility. .

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, in the conventional system, there was no flexibility in memory use and maintenance, and there was a lot of waste.

In addition, in the case of functional expansion, since it affects the basic functions, not only is it necessary to waste the work of recreating the basic parts, but there is also a considerable possibility that the quality of the basic functions will deteriorate due to this work. Ta.

The present invention provides a function division control method in a data communication terminal device that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, increases the degree of freedom in memory use and maintenance, and prevents quality deterioration during function expansion.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to solve this problem, the function division control method in the data communication terminal device of the present invention is such that, in the data communication terminal device that performs data communication with a host computer, A management means is provided which divides the functions within the range in which they are performed and manages the load state of each of the divided functions into the data communication terminal device, and when a function that has not been loaded is requested, the management means Load the function according to the management.

Furthermore, a second function managing the usage status of each of the divided functions is provided.
and deletes a predetermined function according to the management of the second management means in accordance with the memory exclusive area caused by loading the requested function.

Here, the divided functions include basic functions and extended functions of the data communication terminal device.

[Function] In this configuration, each function is divided and managed, so the memory area occupied during use is kept to a minimum, and only necessary functions need to be modified or added during maintenance or function expansion, while others are It has an effect that does not adversely affect the functions of

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a data communication terminal device that implements the function division control method of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a host computer device, 12
is a data communication terminal device. Data communication terminal device 12
There is a basic control section 12a for the terminal device and an extended control section 12b for terminal processing.

The expansion control section 12b is independent from the basic control section 12a, and is characterized in that it can be retrofitted.

The basic control unit 12a works as a loader and data exchange controller for the extended control unit 12b according to the extended control protocol from the host.
There is no need to know the function of 2b.

Host computer device 11 and data communication terminal device 12
are connected via a network such as a LAN, and mutual interaction is realized using a control protocol. still,
Host computer device 11 and data communication terminal device 12
There is no limit to the method of connection, and any method such as boat fishing may be used.

Divided Control of Basic Control Unit> FIG. 2A is a configuration diagram of the basic control unit 12a of the data communication terminal device of this embodiment.

In FIG. 2A, 21 is a terminal control protocol analysis unit that analyzes the control protocol on the terminal side and handles subsequent terminal processing.

22 is a basic module management section that can manage N basic modules. This management section manages the loading status of each module, memory arrangement status, jump address during execution, etc. based on a basic module management table 220, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2B.

In FIG. 2B, 220a is data identifying each basic module, 220b is a flag indicating whether it has been loaded or not, 22
0c and 220d are the start and end addresses of the load area, 220e is the program length, 22Of is the start (jump) address of this basic module, and 220g is the value of flags etc. required at the start.

23 is a basic module loader that loads basic modules. This loader 23 has functions such as acquiring and releasing memory and loading basic modules. 2
4.25 is the basic module 1. is an example of basic module 2, and up to N basic modules can be rolled.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for dividing and controlling the basic functions of the data communication terminal device of this embodiment. below,
The processing procedure of this data communication terminal device will be explained according to this flowchart.

First, in step S31, preparations necessary for terminal processing are initialized.In step S32, it is determined whether there is any data received from the host computer. If there is no received data, the process returns to step S32 and repeats the process.

If it is determined in step S32 that there is received data, the received data is analyzed in step S33.

In step S34, it is determined whether the received data is for the execution of a basic function, and if the received data is for the execution of a basic function, the process proceeds to step S35, and it is determined whether the basic module for executing the function is loaded in the memory. do. If it has not been loaded, the process advances to step S36 and the necessary basic module is loaded. Furthermore, step S3
7, the loading status of the loaded basic module,
The state of memory arrangement, jump address during execution, etc. are registered and managed in the basic module management table 220. If it is loaded in the determination of step S35,
Skip steps S36 and S37 and step 338
In step S38, the function targeted for execution of the basic function of the control protocol is executed, and in step S32
Return to and repeat the process.

In the determination in step S34, if the received data is not a control protocol for executing the basic function, the process advances to step S39, processes the received data, and
Return to step 32 and repeat the process.

In addition to the above embodiments, the following functions are added. As terminal processing becomes more complex and diversified, if the basic module is further enhanced and expanded, the size of the basic module will increase and memory may become insufficient. Therefore, we will add a function that automatically deletes the least accessed basic module if there is insufficient memory when loading the basic module. For example, when basic functions are executed using a control protocol from a host, a means for managing access frequency using the access management table 26 shown in FIG. 2A is added, and the access management table 26 is referred to when necessary. , to be able to know the access status.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for deleting a module that is rarely accessed. This flow is executed before loading the basic module in step S36 of FIG.

First, in step S41, the necessity of module deletion is determined based on whether there is an empty memory area in which the basic module that is about to be loaded is available. If there is no need to delete, return as is. If deletion is necessary, the access management table 26 is referred to in step S42, a module to be deleted is determined in step S43 based on the access state, and the module is deleted in step S44. Note that it is better to decide which modules to delete, taking into account not only the usage status but also the importance level, such as the fact that an error processing module should not be deleted even if it is not accessed much.

By adding the above functions, even if the size of the basic module increases, it becomes possible to automatically provide optimal memory usage in case of memory shortage.

This embodiment has the following effects.

First, since divided modules are loaded into memory in module units when necessary, memory is used efficiently and there is no waste.

Second, since the module is divided into small pieces, only the minimum amount of work is required when modifying the module, which greatly improves maintenance efficiency.

<Divisional Control of Expansion Control Unit> FIG. 5A is a configuration diagram of the divisional control unit of the data communication terminal device of this embodiment.

In FIG. 5A, reference numeral 12a denotes a terminal control protocol analysis section that analyzes the control protocol on the terminal side shown in FIG. 2A and handles subsequent terminal processing, and a basic function execution section that executes basic functions.

Reference numeral 52 denotes an expansion module management section that has the ability to manage N expansion modules. Here, the root state of each module, memory arrangement state, jump address during execution, etc. are managed based on the expansion module management table 520 of FIG. 5B, which is similar to FIG. 2B. It has a structure that allows multiple loading and management.

In FIG. 5B, 520a is data identifying each basic module, and 520b is a flag indicating whether or not it has been loaded ~52
0c and 520d are the start and end addresses of the load area, 52oe is the program length, 520f is the start (jump) address of this basic module, and 520g is the value of flags etc. required at the start.

53 is an extension module that loads an extension module.
It's a loader. This loader handles memory allocation,
It has functions such as module loading, memory release, and expansion module relocation. 54.55 is expansion module 1. This is an example of expansion module 2. Up to N of these expansion modules can be loaded multiple times.

Note that the control protocol includes commands and also expresses the classification of module loading, function execution, and module deletion.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for divided control of extended functions in this embodiment.

Hereinafter, the processing procedure of the data communication terminal device will be explained according to this flowchart.

First, in step S61, initialization such as preparation for starting terminal processing is performed. Next, in step S62, it is determined whether there is data received from the host computer, and if there is no data received, step S6
Return to step 2 and repeat the process until there is data received from the host computer. If it is determined in step S62 that there is received data, the process advances to the next step S63, and it is determined whether the protocol is an extended protocol that handles an extended module.

Here, the extended control protocol is a protocol for exchanging data at the application level between the host computer device and the extended control section 12b of the data communication terminal device. For this protocol, the basic control unit 12a has a built-in function that performs control to pass through data.

If the protocol is not an extended control protocol, execution processing of the basic control unit is performed in step S64.

If the result is not an error, the process proceeds to step S66 based on the determination in step S65, the result is sent to the host, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process. In the case of an error, the error status is sent to the host in step S78, and the process returns to step S32 to repeat the process.

If it is determined in step S63 that the command is an extended control protocol, the command is first determined in step S67. If the expansion module has been loaded, it is checked in step S68 whether the expansion module has been loaded, and if it has been loaded, the command is determined to be an error, the error status is sent to the host in step S78, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process. If it has not been loaded yet, the expansion module is loaded in step S69. If the rotat process is in error, the process proceeds to step S78 based on the determination in step S70, transmits the error status to the host, returns to step S62, and repeats the process.

If the command is executed in step S67, it is determined in step S71 whether the module to be executed has been loaded or not, and if it is not loaded, it is determined as an error since it cannot be executed, and the process proceeds to step S78 to check the error situation. The information is transmitted to the host, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process. If it has been loaded, execute the extension module. If the execution process is in error, the error status is sent to the host in step S78, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process.

If the command is deleted in the determination in step S67, it is determined in step S74 whether the module to be deleted is already loaded, and if it is not loaded, it cannot be deleted, so the error status is sent to the host in step S78. Then, the process returns to step S62 and repeats the process. If it has been loaded, the extension module is deleted in step S75. If the deletion process is an error, step S78
In step S62, the error status is sent to the host, and the process is repeated.

When the expansion module loading process, execution process, and deletion process are successfully completed, the process advances to step S77, the results are sent to the host, and the process returns to step S62 to repeat the process.

[Other Embodiments] In addition to the above embodiments, an operation classification is added to the control protocol. There are two types of operation: synchronous and asynchronous. If it is synchronous, the results are sent to the host after the execution process is completed, as shown in FIG. If it is asynchronous, it will reply to the host that the operation has started without waiting for the result of the execution process. after that,
Responds to the request from the host with the status (in progress, completed normally, ended abnormally, etc.).

This operation division is effective in the execution processing of both the basic control section and the extended control section. Asynchronous processing is an effective means for processing that takes time, such as printing to a printer.

It is clear that the deletion process for the basic module shown in FIG. 4 is similarly performed for the expansion module using the access management table 56, and that the same effect is achieved.

This embodiment has the following effects.

First, when expanding the functions of a terminal device, extended functions can be added freely without affecting the basic functions.

Second, since it is possible to handle multiple extensions, the range of additions has been further expanded.

Third, since it has the function of reducing memory, it is possible to use memory efficiently.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a function division control method in a data communication terminal device that increases the degree of freedom in memory use and maintenance and prevents quality deterioration during function expansion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing the data communication terminal device of this embodiment. FIGS. 2A and 2B are configuration diagrams of the basic control section of the data communication terminal device of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure for division control of the basic control unit, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the deletion processing procedure in this embodiment, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are the expansion control unit of the data communication terminal device in this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of divided control of the expansion control section in this embodiment. In the figure, 11... host computer, 12... data communication terminal device, 12a... basic control unit, 12b...
- Extension control unit, 21...terminal control protocol analysis unit,
22... Basic module management section, 23... Basic module loader, 24... Basic module 1.25.
... Basic module 2.26 ... Access management table, 52 ... Extension module management section, 53 ... Extension module loader, 54 ... Extension module 1.5
5... Expansion module 2.56... Access management table. Figure 2A Figure 2B Figure 5A Figure 5B

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a data communication terminal device that performs data communication with a host computer, functions are divided to the extent that predetermined functions can be performed independently, and the loading status of each divided function to the data communication terminal device is managed. 1. A function division control method in a data communication terminal device, comprising a management means, and when a function that has not been loaded is requested, the function is loaded according to the management of the management means. (2) A second device that manages the usage status of each of the divided functions.
Claim 1, further comprising: a management means for deleting a predetermined function according to the management of the second management means in accordance with the memory exclusive area caused by loading the requested function. A function division control method in the described data communication terminal device. (3) The function division control method in a data communication terminal device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the divided functions include basic functions and extended functions of the data communication terminal device.