JPH04128941A - Simulator for recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to grasp transition of simulation of a simulator with the representation of time by displaying at least an elapsed time of simulation as simulation information on the window of the simulator. CONSTITUTION:The simulation window section of a simulator has a simulation window SW for executing simulation, and on the window SW at least an elapsed time of simulation is displayed as simulation information. Further, the simulation window SW is provided with a monitoring window MW for displaying the monitoring screen of a target system and furthermore with commands for opening the debug windows corresponding to various debuggings, and the debug windows are provided with icon commands. By thus displaying at least a lapse of time of simulation as simulation information the transition of simulation can be grasped by time display.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a simulation device that supports the development of recording devices such as copying machines, printers, and facsimile machines, and particularly relates to a simulation device that supports the development of recording devices such as copying machines, printers, and facsimiles. The present invention relates to a software simulator (hereinafter referred to as a simulator) suitable for improving.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, due to the diversification of social needs, there have been major changes in product development of recording devices, such as multifunctionality in a single model and multifunctionality with only specific functions. Technological innovation to respond to these changes is extremely dependent on the introduction of MPUs and their software, and as the scale of software increases year by year, the development of this software has come to account for a large portion of the total man-hours in product development. It's coming.

Conventionally, in software development for recording devices, debugging has been performed in emulation tests and actual machine tests.

With this method, there are many troubles that occur during electrical circuit board/soft connection and debugging of actual equipment, and furthermore, the later you go, the more problems occur.
The number of man-hours required for countermeasures increases, resulting in a decrease in the efficiency of product development. Against this technical background, support systems (simulators) have been proposed that allow software debugging without an electric circuit board or prototype device.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Conventional simulation devices have a monitoring window that displays the machine layout in the simulation window for controlling simulation execution and performing various debugging tasks, and the input/output of signals that change as the target program runs is displayed on the layout of this window. Configured to display status and monitor machine operation during simulation.

The simulator with the above monitoring window is
For example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2-18862 proposed by the same applicant.
A simulator of a recording device and a debugger thereof are disclosed.

This type of simulator is configured so that the debug window can be started with the machine layout displayed in the monitoring window, and debugging work is performed by alternately switching between the monitoring screen and the debug screen during simulation execution.

At that time, the operator looks at the program counter and
It is possible to know which part of the program is being executed by the user, but since the elapsed simulation time is different from the real time, it is difficult to know how far the simulation has progressed.

One way to know the elapsed simulation time is to open a timing data trace window and check the event occurrence time. However, with timing tracing, the simulation time could not be determined unless an event occurred.

In addition, running trace verifies changes in data stored in specified memory addresses or registers, but the time of this change, that is, the time when the event occurred, is not known, and it is difficult to determine at what interval the event occurs. I couldn't figure out exactly what was going on. The processing time required between events can be measured using the runtime sampling function, but when using this function, it is necessary to configure settings for the events that you want to measure.

Furthermore, if past simulation data is used, such as continuing a simulation that has been interrupted or starting from an arbitrary elapsed time of the simulation, for example, you can use 10 seconds of simulation data to debug the process starting from 5 seconds. To do this, it was necessary to set the change in memory or registers that occurred at the 5th second as a breakpoint, which was troublesome.

By the way, if you want to examine the events on the monitoring screen in more detail while the simulation is running, select the debugger command and specify it on the menu screen that opens to open the debug screen related to the event and examine the data. .

This debugging screen is closed by the "'Exit" command, so if you want to see it again, you have to repeat the above operation, making it impossible to debug efficiently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a simulator for a recording device that allows the progress of a simulation to be grasped by a time display.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device simulator that allows the user to grasp event occurrence times and the elapsed time between events on a debugging screen.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording device simulator that can automatically perform setup up to the start of simulation.

Still another object is to provide a recording device simulator that simplifies the operation of opening and closing a debug screen.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a configuration unit that defines hardware information of a target system including an MPU that executes a target program and peripheral LSIs, and generates data indicating change states of signals to input terminals of the MPU. , a simulation engine section that uses software to simulate the electrical and mechanical elements constituting the target system as an engine, and a simulation window section that performs operations such as simulation execution control, environment settings, data input, and corrections. In a simulator of a recording device that starts an engine based on the configuration information and runs a target program to execute a simulation, the simulation window section has a simulation window that operates the execution of the simulation,
At least the elapsed time of the simulation is displayed as simulation information in the window.

In addition, a monitoring window that displays the monitoring screen of the target system is provided in the simulation window, and commands to open the debug window corresponding to various types of debugging are provided. An icon means is provided for temporarily erasing the corresponding debug window and putting it in a standby state by selecting an icon command.

Further, the simulation window section has a break point setting window for setting a break condition for stopping the running of the target program, and is provided with a setting means for setting at least the simulation elapsed time as the break condition.

Furthermore, the simulation window section has a running trace setting window for setting conditions for tracing the execution process of the target program, and the event occurrence time is displayed on the display section of the window.

[For production]

By displaying at least the elapsed time of the simulation as simulation information in the simulation window, the progress of the simulation can be grasped by the time display.

When you specify a running trace from the debug toolbox, you can see on the debug screen the times at which events occur and the elapsed time between events displayed on the display section of the running trace window.

Furthermore, by setting the simulation elapsed time as a break condition, the setup up to the start of the simulation can be automatically performed.

Furthermore, by providing the debug window with an icon function, the opening/closing operation of the debug screen is simplified, and debugging work can be performed efficiently.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. The hardware configuration function of this simulator is based on a patent application filed by the same person earlier.
-140716 (rR published on June 2, 1999), and regarding subsystems including simulation engines, see Japanese Patent Application No. 1-262908 (filed on October 11, 1999), and regarding simulators with debugger functions. is described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 2-18862 (published on January 31, 1990), so this application cites the above application,
A detailed explanation of the components described in the above-mentioned application will be omitted for the purposes of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the hardware refinement of this simulator.6 The central processing unit W10 performs overall control and data processing of this simulator.
is connected to a main memory 11, a keyboard 13 for inputting various data and instructions via an internal bus 12, a display 14 for displaying processing results, and a disk device 15 for storing programs and data. 15 includes the main body of the program necessary during the execution of the simulation, regarding all processing during the execution of the simulation;
Software resources such as data are stored as files. When executing a program, the program and data in this disk device 15 are transferred to the main memory 1.
1, and the central processing unit 10 uses these software resources to execute necessary processing.

Next, the function realizing means for realizing the software configuration of this simulator will be explained based on FIG. 4.

This simulator includes a simulator management unit 20 that controls the specification of product names and module names and window display, as well as starts each session process.
A configuration unit 30 that sets various hardware information of the target system and generates various data necessary for simulation, an LSI circuit, and an MP
It is comprised of a simulation section 40 that executes a simulation of a target system such as U, and a display window section 50 that displays various information about the simulator on a graphic display.

The configuration unit 30 includes an MPU information setting unit 31 that sets the clock, memory, terminals, etc. of the MPU, and an LSI information setting unit 32 that defines control/data addresses of various interface LSIs and connection relationships between terminals. , a machine clock information setting unit 33 that is used to execute the target program, count timing data, etc. and set the reference clock during simulation, and a machine clock information setting section 33 that is schematically drawn to help understand the simulation situation on the screen. a machine layout setting section 34 that arranges a mark corresponding to the I10 boat on the recording section;
A configuration checking unit 35 checks the consistency between various setting data and creates various data required during simulation, and information indicating the operating state of the target system, that is, signals from sensors of mechanical parts, etc. In addition to generating timing data in which levels are arranged in chronological order, this generated timing data,
Alternatively, a timing data creation conversion unit 36 that formats and intersects timing data generated by a separately provided data creation block into direct signal data that can be used by the simulator, and definitions of communication protocols for communicating with other MPUs. It also includes a communication data generation section 37 that sets actual communication data assuming a certain operating mode of the target system.

The simulation section 40 includes the simulation management section 4
1. Consists of an engine initialization section 42, a window management section 43, an engine section 44, and a debugger 45, and starts a simulation engine (hereinafter referred to as the engine) based on the hardware information of the target system defined by the configuration section. , which supplies test data to this engine to perform target 10-gram debugging.

The display window unit 50 displays various data in a window on a bitmap display when the configuration unit sets definition information and generates data.

The time management unit 60 sets, for example, 0.11Ise as the time I'm (reference time) which is the reference time of occurrence of each event.
Manage the occurrence of c.

The simulation time display section 70 displays the simulation time in m5ec order based on the reference time.

Simulation management includes functions such as creating and closing windows, branching to event processing execution in each window when an event occurs in an open window, starting the engine to execute a simulation, and It has functions such as providing various debugging functions such as break and trace.

The simulation management unit 41 manages the session "Simulati" of the simulator window SSH shown in FIG.
If you specify "on" and select "GO5ession",
Called and activated by the simulator management unit 20, the simulation initialization unit 42, window management unit 43,
Controls the engine section 44 and debugger 45.

The window management unit 43 manages windows related to various simulations and events.

Figure 1 shows that the session ``Simulation'' in the simulator window SS- is specified and the session ``GO5es'' is selected.
This is a simulation window that opens when you select ".

In the simulation window S-, you can control simulation execution, set various simulation environments (modes), select various target programs, select various layout diagrams, display and set registers, memory, etc., monitor signal changes during simulation execution,
You can perform operations such as break, trace, and manually input communication and signal data.

This simulation window S- displays the target program name, program counter,
Simulation mode
de) Name Simulation elapsed time (Simulat
Simulation information such as ion Time) is displayed, and error messages are displayed when commands necessary for simulation execution and debugging are executed. Also, the target system (
A monitoring window M- is provided for displaying a schematic diagram of the machine layout (machine layout) and for displaying signal changes at each part.

To start the simulation, press the start button 1000 (
(click). When the simulation mode is selected, the target program is simulated in synchronization with the external environment such as communication data and timing data. In this mode, there is an auto mode in which test data such as communication data and timing data is continuously supplied and executed, and a step mode in which test data is supplied and executed sequentially at the same time label, that is, in steps on data queuing. , a manual mode can be selected in which test data is supplied and executed through manual settings. When the program mode is selected, simulation is executed for only the target program. In this mode, the target program is run without using test data to check the operation of the monitor. In places where test data is actually required, the CPU is used instead of test data.
This is done by setting values in the memory and registers of and running the program.

Debugging can be executed by starting a debug screen by selecting a command in the debug tool box display area 100 of the simulation window S-. The refinement for realizing the debug function will be explained below.

The debugger 45 is managed by the simulation management section 41 shown in FIG. 4, and provides the user with a breakpoint function tracing function, a memory and register setting/display function, a monitoring function, and a setup function at the same time as the simulation is executed. The breakpoint function and running trace function among the functions provided by debugging are explained below.

When, for example, a breakpoint 1010 is specified from the debug tool box 101, a breakpoint setting window BPH is opened so as to overlap the monitoring screen H-, as shown in FIG.

After debugging while looking at the window, if you click the 'Icon' command in the window, the window will temporarily disappear from the monitoring screen and the state shown in Figure 1 will be shown, that is, the breakpoint display area will be reversed and the icon state will appear. You can open it in the same way by clicking on the breakpoint again.In this way, you can switch between the monitoring screen and the debugging screen as appropriate during the simulation to grasp the simulation status and debug.

The breakpoint function is a function that stops the execution of the target program when certain conditions are met.

This function is used to check whether the program passes the set conditions, and to check the contents of memory and registers when the conditions are met.

FIG. 6 shows a module configuration for setting and executing various breakpoints.

The window management section 430 is the simulator 1/-ta management section 20.
0 manages a simulation window event handler 4300 and event handlers 431 of various windows opened by the window event handler.

The window generation unit 4310 generates “'Break Po” from the debugger command of the simulation window S-.
1nt'' is activated by the simulation window event handler 4300, and the breakpoint setting window BP)l shown in FIG. 7 is opened.

The breakpoint setting window BPM includes a command section 200 in which commands for executing operations such as setting and deletion are provided, a parameter display section 201 in which parameters are provided for specifying which conditions to break, and the set break conditions. Entry point display section 202 that displays
It is equipped with

Next, the parameters of the breakpoint setting window will be explained.

“Memory Address, I10＾ddress
s, Register” sets memory, I10 memory, or register as a break condition.

"Read Data, Write Data" becomes a break condition when the CPU reads or writes setting data to a setting address or register.

"Data Format" specifies the input format of read data and write data as Hex format or Binary format.

“Break Court” specifies the number of times the break condition is met. (A break occurs immediately after the break condition occurs this number of times.) “Ti+*e” specifies the time from the start of the simulation as the break condition.

When the above parameter settings are completed, if you select "Set", the break conditions are displayed in the entry point display section 202.8 The window drawing section 4311 draws the specified parameters and set breakpoints into the window. Perform processing for display.

The set processing unit 4312 is activated by specifying the command “Set” and registers the contents specified by the parameters in the breakpoint table.

The clear processing unit 4313 is activated by specifying "C1ear" and deletes only the currently selected entry point.

The clear all processing unit 4314 is "C1ear^11"
It is activated by specifying , and all breakpoints displayed in the entry point display area 703 are deleted.

When the set processing, clear processing, and clear all processing are executed, a break trace management setting section of the access service section, which will be described later, is called and the information in the memory management table is updated.

The history processing unit 4315 is activated by specifying "old 5tory" and displays the contents of the breakpoint history file in a pop-up menu.

The icon processing unit 4316 temporarily erases the debug screen activated during the simulation from the monitoring screen and puts it in a standby state.

The exit processing unit 4317 is started by specifying “Exit” and operates the window closing unit 4318 to close the window.

The information setting unit 4319 inputs data from the window such as memory register and time information, read/write type, hex'i or binary.
(Binary) data format, break count, and time setting processing.

The breakpoint function uses memory, I10 memory, registers, and time management table 430^ (hereinafter referred to as memory etc. management table) as interface data, and breakpoint table 431^ as internal data.
This is executed using a data structure consisting of a breakpoint history file 431B.

The breakpoint table 431^ stores details of breakpoint setting status, and an example of the table structure is shown in FIG. 8.

The breakpoint history file 431B stores the breakpoint table 431^ as a disk file.

Break trace management is performed by a setting section 4321 called by each set processing section 4312, as shown in FIG.
and a monitoring unit 4322 that is called by the simulation management unit 410 each time a trace condition is satisfied during startup of the subsystem.

This break trace management feature consists of memory registers,
In addition to setting and deleting breakpoints and tracepoints in time, after executing the simulation, the memory etc. management table 430^ is referred to, and when a breaktrace point is accessed, the break determination unit 4320
．． The break trace execution processing unit 4323 is activated.

The setting unit 4321 breaks to the memory management table, etc.
This is a group of common subroutines that set and delete trace points such as various traces as debug information.

The monitoring unit 4322 refers to the total flag in the memory management table and calls execution modules such as break and various traces.

Next, Figure 10 shows the effect of the breakpoint function.

This will be explained based on FIG. 11.

FIG. 10 is an inter-module data relationship diagram when executing a breakpoint function.

When you click Set, Clear, or Clear All in the breakpoint setting window, each processing section starts and each process is executed. At the same time, the break trace management setting section starts and the above processing results are stored in the memory etc. management table as debug information. set. On the other hand, the information setting unit updates the breakpoint table based on the set process, clear process, and clear all process.

Also, because the breakpoint is stored in the breakpoint history file by the set process, this history information can be saved in the “old 5t” in the breakpoint settings window.
By specifying "orF", the history processing section is activated, the data is read out, and the data is set in the breakpoint table.

After that, when you specify "Exit", the window closing part starts and the breakpoint setting window is closed.
Click ” to start each engine and run the simulation based on the target program.

Changes in the state of each terminal of the MPLI and LSI upon activation of each engine are stored in the memory and registers managed by the memory management table through the access service section.

The trace function is executed by specifying a desired trace from the debug toolbox in the simulation window, the simulation event handler 430 activating the window generation unit 4310, a trace window is opened, and this window is used to execute the trace function. Among various trace functions, the trace function related to the present invention will be explained below. The basic sequence of each trace is basically the same as the breakpoint function described above, except that the setting contents of each trace window are set in each trace point table, so the explanation thereof will be omitted here.

Note that the module configuration for realizing various trace functions basically has the same functions as those for the breakpoint function described above, such as window generation, drawing, set processing, clear processing, and exit processing. Here, in order to avoid duplication of explanation, the module configuration diagram of each trace is omitted, and the operation of Configuration 1 will also be explained using an inter-module data relationship diagram.

FIG. 12 is a running trace inter-module data relationship diagram.

For the running trace, the contents specified in the running trace setting window RT-en are registered in the running trace table 436^ and the memory management table 430C, and when the trace conditions are satisfied when running the target 10 grams, the running trace execution unit 4369 registers the contents specified in the running trace setting window RT-en. It starts up and writes the change in data stored in the memory address or register specified by the parameter and the time at which the change in data occurs (event occurrence time) to the running trace log file 436C, and displays it on the display section. .

In the running trace setting window RTW, as shown in FIG. 13, specify the type as a trace condition from memory or I10 memory register in the parameter display section 301, enter the memory address or register name, and select the specified memory address or register. Display the name data in any data format “Hex, Binary, D
What display format to display with "isassemle" and which data display format "5croll, No.
When you click on "Set", the set processing section 4361 and information setting section 4362 start up and set the above-mentioned trace conditions to the running trace point table 4.
36^, At the same time as registering in the memory etc. management table 430C, the setting contents are displayed on the entry point display section 302. Also, start ° “St” when running the simulation.
Click "+crt" to execute the trace, and click "Stop" to end the trace. In other words, the running trace execution unit 436
9 starts tracing with a start command, and at the same time,
The time information output from the system time management section 437 is taken in through the monitoring section 4322, the event occurrence time of the memory or register is measured, and the change process of the contents is displayed on the display section 303.

In the display example of FIG. 13, the execution process of memory address 2300 and the H register is shown. For example, at memory address 2300, data in Hex format (54) is shown.
→ (50) → (00), and the respective event occurrence times are 47525 μs, 47590 μs, 47
030 μs.

FIG. 14 is an example of the table structure of the running trace point table. In addition to setting information based on parameters, this table stores execution time information regarding event occurrence times.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the setup up to the start of simulation can be done automatically, and the time of event occurrence, the time interval between events, and the elapsed time of simulation can be clearly seen, making debugging work more efficient. It can be done accurately.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a communication protocol setting window diagram showing the iconized state of the recording device simulator of the present invention, the second section is a window diagram before iconization, and FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram.
Figure 4 is a software configuration diagram, Figure 5 is a simulator window diagram, Figure 6 is a module configuration diagram that implements the breakpoint function, Figure 7 is a breakpoint setting window diagram, and Figure 8 is a breakpoint table structure diagram. , Figure 9 is a configuration diagram of break trace management, Figure 10 is a data relationship diagram between modules of the break point function, Figure 11 is a diagram explaining the sequence of operations of break trace management, and Figure 12 is a diagram of the running trace function. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between data between modules. FIG. 13 is a diagram of the running trace setting window, and FIG. 14 is a diagram of the structure of the running trace point table.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) MPU that executes the target program, peripheral L
A configuration unit that defines the hardware information of the target system including SI and generates data indicating the state of change of signals to the input terminals of the MPU, and software that uses the electrical and mechanical elements that make up the target system as an engine. It consists of a simulation engine section that performs simulations, and a simulation window section that performs operations such as simulation execution control, environment settings, data input, and corrections.Based on the configuration information, the engine is started and the target program is run. 1. A simulator for a recording device that executes a simulation, wherein the simulation window section has a simulation window for controlling execution of the simulation, and at least an elapsed time of the simulation is displayed on the window as simulation information. (2) A monitoring window that displays the monitoring screen of the target system is provided in the simulation window, and commands are provided to open a debug window that supports various types of debugging. 2. The recording device simulator according to claim 1, further comprising icon means for temporarily erasing the debug window and placing it in a standby state by selecting an icon command in the window. (3) The recording device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the simulation window section has a break point setting window for setting a break condition for stopping the running of the target program, and includes setting means for setting at least the elapsed simulation time as the break condition. simulator. (4) The simulation window section has a running trace setting window for setting conditions for tracing the execution process of the target program, and the event occurrence time is displayed on the display section of the window. Or a simulator of the recording device described in 2.