JPH04213119A - Computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To operate both the first/second language applications by the same computer, inputting/outputting device, and the first language OS by emulating one part of the second language BIOS and the second OS by the second language emulator. CONSTITUTION:For example, in the case of English (first) and Japanese (second), a BIOS 1 is used for an English processing, and an English OS 2 manages a system material by this English BIOS 1. These BIOS 1, OS 2, Japanese circumstance driver 3, and Japanese application program 4, are stored in a main storage 7. A Chinese character font information is stored in an extended memory 8. A Japanese emulator 6 is a system disk constituted of a series of Japanese circumstance driver/Chinese character font information/loader. The Japanese circumstance driver 3 and the Chinese character font information 5 are stored in the main storage 7 and the extended memory 8 by the loader. Thus, the Japanese circumstance can be realized without changing the English OS 1 and a hardware.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Purpose of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a computer system capable of operating both first language application software and second language application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same first language OS. In particular, the present invention relates to a computer system having an emulator for executing Japanese application software on a computer running an English OS while maintaining the soft interface of the English application software, and the emulator.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, personal computers that handle Japanese have a unique architecture that is different from personal computers that handle English, and operating systems (hereinafter referred to as OS) have been supplied in a format with additional Japanese functions. There is.

However, the personal computer for business use mainly in the United States is the IBM PC.
/AT architecture is widespread. And P
Tens of thousands of excellent application software developed for the C/AT architecture have been released around the world. For this reason, in the world of personal computers, the PC/AT architecture is generally recognized as a world standard, and personal computers with the same architecture are manufactured and sold by various companies.

On the other hand, when implementing a Japanese language environment on a PC/AT architecture, hardware such as changing the keyboard or adding a kanji font ROM is added in order to add Japanese-specific functions. There is. Along with this, BIOS (Basic
Input Output System) and OS
changes are required.

That is, FIG. 15 shows a block diagram when English application software (hereinafter referred to as English application) is used in English MS-DOS provided by Microsoft Corporation of the United States. Further, FIG. 16 shows a block diagram when Japanese application software (hereinafter referred to as Japanese application) is used on Japanese MS-DOS. As is clear from comparing Figures 15 and 16, personal computers that handle Japanese applications use Japanese MS-DOS (hereinafter referred to as Japanese DOS) instead of English MS-DOS (hereinafter referred to as English DOS). ) has been established, and Japanese BIO
S is newly established.

[0006]

One method for operating Japanese and English applications on a single personal computer is to provide two types of OS: Japanese DOS and English DOS.

[0007] With this method, each OS only needs to be equipped with the respective functions. However, from the user's point of view, for example, after executing a Japanese application, in order to execute an English application, the English DOS must be started before that, which is a cumbersome task. Also, two O
There is also the drawback that S must be installed on a disk.

Another method is to incorporate English compatibility functions into the Japanese OS. This method has the advantage of running Japanese and English applications on one OS, but even in the case of English applications, there is a memory resident part for Japanese functions, so The disadvantage is that there is less free area left. Also, since it is not English DOS itself,
The drawback is that it cannot be guaranteed how compatible it will be with the English DOS environment. Furthermore, there is a drawback that the entire OS needs to be reviewed and modified every time the OS is upgraded. In addition, both of the above two methods
No consideration was given to printer devices at all, and it was necessary to use a Japanese printer for Japanese applications and an English printer for English applications, which was extremely inconvenient.

Therefore, the present invention provides a computer system that can operate both a first language application and a second language application using the same computer, input/output device, and same first language OS. In other words, without changing the hardware configuration of an existing computer system, for example, it is possible to run an English (first language) OS according to the user's wishes, for example, to run a Japanese (first language) OS.
The purpose is to provide an emulator that can run applications written in a second language.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide information on the English OS according to the user's wishes without changing the contents of the English OS.
For example, the purpose is to provide an emulator that can run Japanese applications.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an emulator that can automatically start or stop the emulator depending on the screen mode requested by an application.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an emulator that can be installed and removed easily or automatically and dynamically so that the memory area of English applications does not decrease. do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a Japanese emulator that easily emulates a Japanese environment for the keyboard of a PC/AT compatible machine. Another object of the present invention is to provide a Japanese emulator with Japanese Kanji font patterns for display using standard extended memory managed by an English OS.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer emulator that does not require a Japanese printer to output a Japanese application using an English printer that does not have Japanese functions. purpose. Another object of the present invention is to provide a Japanese emulator that can monitor country information and return information expected by Japanese applications. [Structure of the invention]

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for processing a first language that is available in the market for processing English or a first language having a writing system highly similar to English. OS, first language application software that is widely distributed in the market in the form of objects that work with the first language OS, processing of a second language that has a different writing system that has little similarity to the writing system of the first language. A second language OS that is distributed in the market for the purpose of the application, second language application software that is distributed in large numbers in the market in the form of an object that works with the second language OS, the first language application software and the second language application software. in the computer and input/output device on which the first language OS operates, in order to execute the first language application software in the object format.
and a first language basic input/output control program interlocking with the computer and input/output device;

00
16. In order to execute the object-format second language application software, an emulator that operates in conjunction with the second language application software, the first language basic input/output control program, and the first language OS is provided. , means for activating or deactivating the emulator, and operating both the first language application software and the second language application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same first language OS. To provide a computer system that can

[0017]

[Operation] For example, a Japanese language environment can be realized without adding or changing the hardware of a computer system based on an English OS. Furthermore, since a Japanese environment can be realized, for example, without changing the English OS, there is no need to worry about the compatibility of English applications. Furthermore, the user only needs to install one OS, which reduces the burden of operation. Further, depending on the screen mode requested by the application, switching between using and not using the emulator is automatically realized. Furthermore, an emulator that can be easily installed/uninstalled automatically or dynamically without reducing the memory area of an English application is realized. Also, PC
/You can easily emulate a Japanese environment on the keyboard of an AT compatible machine. Also, English OS
Provides Japanese Kanji font patterns for display using standard extended memory managed by . Furthermore,
To achieve output using an English printer without an English function without requiring a Japanese printer for printer output of a Japanese application.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that in the following explanation, Japanese will be used as an example of the second language.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the concept of the present invention, and B
IOS1 performs input/output control for original English processing. The OS 2 uses the BIOS 1 to manage system resources such as input/output devices, hardware, and software connected to the system. The Japanese environment driver 3 is composed of various drivers for displaying kanji characters, inputting Japanese characters (conversion to kanji code), and printing kanji characters. The Japanese application 4 implements functions of Japanese document processing (word processing, etc.). The BIOS 1, OS 2, Japanese environment driver 3, and Japanese application 4 are stored in the main memory 7 and used. The kanji font information 5 is Japanese character pattern information used to display kanji characters, and is stored and stored in the extended memory 8. The Japanese emulator 6 is a system disk consisting of a series of Japanese environment drivers/Kanji font information/loader, and the Japanese environment driver 3 is stored in the main memory 7 and expansion memory 8 by the loader.
and kanji font information 5 are stored. The details of the above configuration will be explained below.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram when a Japanese emulator is built into a personal computer system, such as a PC/AT compatible machine, and a Japanese application is used. That is, as is clear from a comparison of FIG. 2 with FIGS. 15 and 16, the Japanese emulator of the present invention has a function of emulating part of the Japanese BIOS and Japanese DOS.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall processing procedure when executing a Japanese application using the present invention. After starting up the system, first, boot processing of English DOS is executed (step 10). Next, loading of the Japanese DOS emulator is executed (step 11). Next, loading of the Japanese printer emulator is executed (step 12). next,
Execute the desired Japanese application (step 13). When the execution of this Japanese application is completed, the Japanese printer emulator is unloaded (step 14). Then, the Japanese DOS emulator is unloaded (step 15). By unloading this Japanese DOS emulator, the computer system returns to English DOS mode.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention. The Japanese emulator 21 of the present invention is loaded and unloaded into a PC/AT compatible personal computer 20 equipped with English DOS as the OS. Using this Japanese emulator 21, the Japanese application 2 can be run on the PC/AT compatible personal computer 20.
2 is executed. Needless to say, the personal computer 20 can also execute English applications.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the program configuration of the Japanese emulator of the present invention. Japanese emulator 21
is composed of a Japanese DOS emulator 211 and a Japanese printer emulator 215. Furthermore, Japanese DO
The S emulator 211 has a buffer area 212 for reading Japanese font patterns, and a display driver program (hereinafter referred to as display driver).
213, and a keyboard driver program (hereinafter referred to as keyboard driver) 214. Other programs will be explained later. Note that the Japanese emulator 21 can also be equipped with a "kana-kanji conversion program" 216 as an option. As this "Kana-Kanji conversion program", in the example, Japanese D
We used Just System's product name "ATOK," which is widely used together with the OS.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the emulator of the present invention when it is loaded into the CPU memory of a personal computer to which the present invention is applied, and the relationship between the input and output devices. Japanese Emulator 21 is on English DOS 30 (
Logically above (but on the left in FIG. 6) are a display driver 213 with a Japanese language processing function, a keyboard driver 214, a printer driver 216, and a communication driver 21.
7. Timer driver 218, Japanese extension driver 219
, a country information driver 220, and a printer emulator 215 that emulates a Japanese printer function to realize a Japanese environment. Reading and starting, or stopping and canceling the Japanese emulator 21 can be specified by operating the English DOS 30 while it is operating and accepting commands. For this reason, it is designed so that it does not take up too much memory capacity or impair compatibility with English applications.

The display driver 213 provides a screen mode in which Japanese can be displayed on the display 31, and controls basic input/output control for the display screen. In particular, the display driver 213 monitors the screen mode so that the existing English application 32 can be executed even when the Japanese emulator 21 is resident in memory. As a result, the Japanese emulator 21 can be stopped when in the English application screen mode. The usable memory area will not be expanded just by stopping it, but if the above-mentioned cancellation is performed as necessary, the memory area will be expanded. Additionally, Japanese kanji font patterns are stored in the extended memory 33. When displaying kanji on the screen, a configuration is adopted in which kanji font patterns are obtained from the extended memory 33 using an extended memory manager 34 that operates according to the English DOS standard EMS system. Therefore, a font pattern can be obtained quickly without reducing the memory capacity for the application 32. Furthermore, the interface between the application 32 and the display driver 213 is compatible with existing Japanese application interfaces.

The keyboard driver 214 manages the hardware scan code and character code notified to the application 32 based on the scan code generated from the keyboard 35. The physical differences between the Japanese keyboard and the English keyboard can be accommodated within this driver 214. The interface between application 32 and keyboard driver 214 is compatible with existing Japanese application interfaces.

[0027] Printer driver 216, communication driver 2
17 and timer driver 218 are driver programs that control the printer 36, communication device 37, and timer 38, respectively. The interface between the application 32 and each driver 216, 217, 218 is compatible with existing Japanese applications.

The Japanese extension driver 219 is a driver that performs special processing especially for the Japanese DOS and the Japanese application 32, and is in charge of controlling parts that depend on differences in hardware, such as kanji font information. . The interface between this driver 219 and application 32 is also compatible with existing Japanese application interfaces.

The country information driver 220 has the function of returning country information such as ``Japan'' in response to the country information from the Japanese application 32, instead of the English DOS returning country information such as ``United States''. do. The interface between application 32 and this driver 220 is compatible with existing Japanese applications.

The printer emulator 215 performs emulation to replace the request to the Japanese printer output by the Japanese application 32 with a request to the printer 36. This emulator 215 allows printing in Japanese on a printer 36 that does not have a Japanese language function without changing the Japanese language application 32. The English ROM BIOS 300 performs basic input/output control for various peripheral devices 31, 35 to 39 under the English DOS 30 environment. This English ROM BIOS30
0 does not include the Japanese language processing function. When the Japanese emulator 21 executes emulation, the language-independent portion of the English ROM BIOS 300 operates.

The extended memory manager 34 is an extended memory manager 33 known to those skilled in the art under the name EMS system.
The Japanese emulator 21 uses this function to read the Kanji font pattern stored in a part of the extended memory 33. Auxiliary storage device 39 is used as external storage. The display 31 shows characters,
Display graphs, etc. The keyboard 35 is used to input characters, data, and the like. The printer 36 prints characters, graphs, etc., and in this embodiment is an English printer without a Japanese font pattern ROM. The timer 38 periodically generates interrupts and is used for time management. The extended memory 33 is managed by an extended memory manager 34, and stores Japanese kanji font patterns in the Japanese emulator. The application 32 includes a Japanese application and an English application, and both applications can be operated with or without using a Japanese emulator. English DOS30
is an OS that includes functions such as memory management and file system, but does not include Japanese language processing functions.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the Japanese emulator shown in FIG. 6 is further developed into a memory map of the CPU. When the Japanese emulator of the present invention is loaded into the main memory 40 of the CPU, a Japanese DOS emulator 211 and a Japanese printer emulator 215 are stored. Further, the kanji font pattern is stored in an EMS type extended memory 33 managed by an extended memory window 41. Next, the operation of the CPU that executes the Japanese emulator of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 8 to 14.

(1) Introduction/cancellation of the Japanese emulator Figure 8 shows the PC/
2 is a flowchart showing the operation of installing and canceling the Japanese emulator of the present invention in the main memory on an AT compatible machine. While the English DOS 30 is operating and accepting commands, it is possible to instruct the installation and release of the Japanese emulator 21. First, it is checked whether the request is to install or cancel the Japanese emulator 21 (step 50). When an installation request is made, it is checked whether the installation has been completed (step 51).
). If it has already been installed, the operator is notified by an error message (step 52). If not installed, the current screen mode is saved in a working memory (not shown) (step 53). Next, the kanji font pattern is loaded into the extended memory 33 (step 54). Next, save the interrupt vector information (step 55).
. Also, information on the DOS device driver is saved (step 56). After that, Japanese BIOS emulator,
Interrupt vectors and device drivers for the Japanese DOS emulator and printer emulator are set (steps 57, 58). Finally, in order to execute the Japanese application, the display screen is switched to the Japanese mode (step 59), the Japanese emulator is made resident in the memory, and the process is terminated (step 60).

[0034] In response to a request to release the Japanese emulator 21, it is first checked whether it has been installed (
Step 61). If it has not been installed, the operator is notified by an error message (step 62). If it has been installed, the interrupt vector information and DOS device driver information saved at the time of installation are restored (steps 63 and 64). Then, the expanded memory 33 is released and the memory occupied in step 60 is released (steps 65 and 66). Finally, the screen mode is returned to the one before introduction (step 67), and the process ends (step 68). Through the above operations, a Japanese emulator that can be installed/cancelled can be realized.

(2) Japanese BIOS Emulator Section The Japanese BIOS emulator section is a function that emulates the Japanese BIOS section in the Japanese DOS environment shown in FIG. In the following explanation, the features of the keyboard driver and display driver realized by the present invention will be explained, targeting the keyboard and Kanji font ROM that need to be added or changed when realizing a Japanese environment on a PC/AT compatible machine. As for processing for other devices, the processing of the Japanese BIOS can be used as is. The Japanese BIOS is built into many domestic personal computers, including Toshiba's J3100 series of laptop computers for the Japanese market, and is well known to engineers in the industry, so we will not discuss it here.

2-1 Keyboard Driver The keyboard driver 214 transfers the scan code generated from the keyboard 35 and the character code generated according to the current shift state to the keyboard buffer (
(not shown) and has a function of transferring the buffered code to the application 32 or the English DOS 30 according to a request from the application 32 or the English DOS 30.

[0037] Japanese keyboards have multiple dedicated keys (for example, kana keys, kanji conversion keys, etc.) for reasons such as directly inputting kana characters and performing kana-to-kanji conversion and romaji-to-kanji conversion. ) is provided. On the other hand, since PC/AT compatible machines do not have the above-mentioned dedicated keys, there is a kana key to switch the kana shift state, and a kana key.
The kanji conversion key that reads the kanji conversion program must be emulated on a keyboard that does not physically exist. Therefore, in the present invention, we decided to emulate keys that exist on the keyboard of a PC/AT compatible machine but are not used by any Japanese application or are rarely used as the above two keys. As an example,
Emulates the "ScrollLock key" with the above kana key, and also emulates the "Alt key" and "ScrollL" key.
When the "OK key" is pressed at the same time, it emulates the above Kanji conversion key. Also, conversely, "ScrollLock"
key" to the above Kanji conversion key, and also "
When the ``Alt key'' and ``ScrollLock key'' are pressed at the same time, it can be easily changed to emulate the above-mentioned kana keys.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing this emulation processing in keyboard interrupt control. First, the key generated from the keyboard is “Sc”.
"rollLock key" is checked (step 70). If it is the "ScrollLock key", then it is checked whether the "Alt key" is in the shifted state (step 71). If "Alt key"
If in shift state, press the "Alt key" and "Scroll"
``Lock key'' is pressed at the same time, so ``Lock key'' is pressed at the same time.
The scan code for the ``ScrollLock key'' is not used, but the scan code for the kanji conversion key defined in the Japanese BIOS is stored in a keyboard buffer (not shown) (step 72). On the other hand, if the "Alt key" is not in the shift state, only the "ScrollLock key" is pressed, so it is regarded as a kana key, and the kana shift state is reversed (step 73). In addition, the process when the pressed key is not the "ScrollLock key" is as follows.
Processing equivalent to the Japanese BIOS is performed, and appropriate character codes are stored in the keyboard buffer according to each shift state (step 74). The above operations are repeatedly executed every time a key is input.

2-2 Display Driver The display driver 213 provides not only the function of displaying Japanese on the display 31 but also the function of turning all Japanese emulations ON/OFF in response to the screen mode setting request of the application. . Also, PC/
AT compatible machines do not have kanji font ROM. Therefore, in the present invention, when displaying kanji, the display driver 213 manages the kanji fonts stored in the extended memory 33 through the extended memory manager 34, and executes processing to render them on the screen.

2-2-1 Change between Japanese and English by switching the screen mode (
Automatic Determination) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing automatic screen mode determination processing within the display driver 213. First, it is checked whether the request to the display driver 213 is a screen mode setting request (step 80).
. If it is a screen mode setting request, then it is checked whether it is a Japanese mode setting request (step 81). If it is a Japanese mode setting request, it is checked whether the current mode is already Japanese (step 82). If it is not the Japanese mode, the Japanese emulator is started (step 83), and the screen mode is then set to the Japanese mode (step 84).

When the request is not to set the Japanese mode, that is, when the English mode is requested, it is checked whether the current mode is already in the English mode (step 85), and when it is not the English mode (that is, when the Japanese mode is set), the Japanese Stop the emulator (step 86). Note that when starting/stopping the Japanese emulation, the interrupt vector setting/restoration and DOS device driver setting/
Restoration takes place. In other words, the Japanese emulator is installed in memory 4.
Automatically starts/stops the emulator while residing in 0. Of course, as a modification of this, it is also easy to make it semi-automatic through a simple operation such as requesting confirmation from the operator. Even when switching to English mode, only this screen mode automatic discrimination processing is working.

For requests other than mode setting requests, it is checked whether the current mode is the Japanese mode (step 87), and if it is the Japanese mode, processing equivalent to the Japanese BIOS is executed (step 88). . On the other hand, when the English mode is selected, processing before installing the Japanese emulator is executed (step 89).

[0043] Figure 10 shows a method of switching the emulator startup/stop using a screen mode setting request output by an application, but it is possible to start the emulator with a Japanese screen mode setting request and then terminate the application that issued the request. It is also possible to control the emulator to stop using the same method. Further, it is also possible to control the emulator to stop in response to a screen mode setting request for a language other than Japanese, and to operate the emulator by terminating the application that issued the request, using a similar method.

Setting/restoring the above interrupt vector and DOS
If the device driver is set/restored and, at the same time, the memory read/memory release described in FIG. 8 is executed, the emulator is automatically and dynamically installed/removed. It is also easy to make it semi-automatic through a simple operation that requires confirmation from the operator.

2-2-2 Kanji font pattern processing The display driver 213 has a function of displaying kanji on the display screen, but the PC/AT compatible machine does not have a kanji ROM. Therefore, a technique is required to acquire the kanji font pattern by some method and display it on the screen. Toshiba's J3100 series PC
A separate kanji font ROM is provided so that the area of the memory 40 is not occupied by the kanji font patterns, and the kanji patterns are stored therein. Furthermore, the kanji font ROM is divided into 16 banks of 64K bytes,
The control is such that it appears to the addressing mechanism of the memory 40 as if one necessary bank out of 16 had been written to a 64 Kbyte fixed address area that is part of the memory 40. For example, if the OS or application wants to use the font pattern included in the third bank of 16, it can write the information "3" to any address in the 64K byte fixed address area. ” is executed. With this operation, hardware control is performed as if the third bank had been written to the above 64K byte fixed address area, so the OS or application
A desired font pattern can be obtained using an instruction to read information from among the K bytes. Because of this mechanism, care must be taken that write commands are executed around the font pattern. Font pattern is R
If it is stored in OM, there is no need to worry as it cannot be written to ROM, but if it is stored in ROM with an emulator etc.
If the font pattern is stored elsewhere, this write command may destroy the font pattern.

Incidentally, when an OS or an application requires a font pattern, a specific command defined by the OS is usually issued to execute indexing. That is, in terms of hardware, an interrupt is generated, the interrupt processing program checks the accompanying information, learns that it is a font pattern request, and transfers control to a program that reads the font pattern. The program that reads this font pattern is
Proceed with the process as described above. However, in rare cases, instead of executing the index using a specific command as described above, an application may proceed through the procedure described above using its own program, making it difficult to create an emulator.

In the present invention, font patterns are stored in the extended memory 33, also called EMS memory. Since the extended memory 33 is a memory area released to the OS and applications, it may also store programs and data related to the OS and applications in addition to the font patterns described above. The extended memory 33 is 1
It consists of multiple banks of 6K bytes. The address specification in extended memory is the bank number, or "page number".
This is specified by an "offset" that indicates the address within the bank. The function of the extended memory manager 34 is to write to or read from a specific address in the extended memory 33 upon receiving this designation. For example, if the page number is specified as "3", the third bank in the extended memory 33 will be written to the hard drive as if it had been written to a specific address area of 16K bytes called EMS window 41 in the memory 40. When hardware control is performed and an instruction to write or read a specific address specified by an offset in the EMS window 41 is executed, the expansion memory 33 is actually
Writing/reading is performed to the address of the offset in the bank.

The font pattern ROM and expansion memory control methods described in the above three paragraphs are basic technologies utilized by the present invention, but they are not new inventions of the present invention and are widely known to engineers in the industry. This is a known method.

In the present invention, 64 font patterns are stored in each bank of the expansion memory 33. Figure 11
shows a flowchart of font pattern acquisition processing. As a result of determining the font pattern read request as described above, the font pattern acquisition process shown in FIG. 11 begins. First, in step 90, the extended memory 3
Information regarding the control of the extended memory, such as which bank of 3 was being used, is saved to a specific address in the memory 40. In the next step 91, a bank containing a desired font pattern is designated as a page and set to be visible in the EMS window 41. In the next step 92, information consisting of a 16 Kbyte font pattern visible in the EMS window is copied to a buffer area 212 for Japanese font patterns prepared in the Japanese DOS emulator 211.

The reason why the font is not used while it is visible in the EMS window, but is copied to the buffer 212 as described above and used is because, as mentioned above, there is a possibility that a write command will be executed around the font, and the EMS window 41
This is because if a write command is issued to , the font stored in the extended memory 33 will be permanently destroyed. Even if the contents of the buffer 212 may occasionally be temporarily destroyed depending on the application, the original font stored in the extended memory 33 will not be destroyed.

In the next step 93, the extended memory control information saved in step 90 is restored, and preparations are made to return to the state and program before the font pattern read command, including the use of the extended memory, and continue. By repeating the above process of FIG. 11 character by character, a plurality of font patterns are read one after another.

[0052] As described above, it is possible to obtain a font pattern without preventing the application from using the extended memory at all. Note that if the memory 40 has sufficient space, it is also possible to provide a font pattern cache mechanism within the Japanese emulator to reduce accesses to the extended memory.

(3) Output of country information In MS-DOS, which is the OS used in the embodiment of this invention, when an application issues a specific command, the MS-DOS
There is a function where the S returns to the application the country code of the phone, thereby informing the application in which country the MS-DOS is to be used. For example, "1" is returned in English MS-DOS for the United States, and "81" is returned in Japanese MS-DOS for Japan.

Specifically, the above specific command executes indexing and generates an interrupt in terms of hardware. Then, the interrupt processing program checks the accompanying information and finds out that the command is to request country information, reads out the country information, and returns it to the application.

[0055] Some applications operate after checking this country-specific information, and some applications include functions such as using the country-specific information to distinguish between "$" and "\". Although the above points are basic techniques utilized by the present invention, they are not new inventions of the present invention, but are methods widely known to engineers in the industry.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an application created for Japanese MS-DOS is used on English MS-DOS, so the country information is "81" even though it is English MS-DOS. The emulator needs a function that returns . For this reason, while the Japanese emulator is running,
The Japanese emulator 21 is activated by the above interrupt, the Japanese emulator 21 checks the accompanying information, and if it is found to be a country information request command, the country information driver 220 is activated and outputs "81". is returned to the application.

(4) Printer Emulator The printer emulator 215 is the application 32
It monitors requests to the Japanese language printer output from the printer 36, and performs processing to convert the output into requests to the printer 36.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the printer emulator. First, the printer emulator obtains data sent by the application 32 (step 100). Next, it is checked whether the data is a control code indicating the start of a command (step 101). If it is not a control code, it is checked whether the current mode is kanji mode (step 102).
. If the mode is kanji mode, second data necessary for kanji is acquired (step 103). Then, obtain the kanji font pattern from the kanji code (step 10).
4), save to image buffer (step 105)
.

On the other hand, when the mode is not kanji mode, the data represents a printable character code. That is, printer 3
6 is a case where printable half-width alphanumeric characters are to be printed, and if saved image data exists, the image is output (step 106), and then the character code is output (step 107). In step 101,
If it is determined that the command is a control code, it is checked whether the command allows printing to start (step 10).
8). If it is a print start command, if there is saved image data, the image is output (step 109), and then a print start command is output (step 110). On the other hand, if the command cannot start printing, command conversion and kanji mode ON/OFF
Internal processing such as the following is performed (step 111). After these series of operations, the process returns to step 100 and the process of acquiring the next data is executed.

Furthermore, the kanji font pattern stored in the image buffer of the printer emulator 215 is shown in FIG.
3, it is stored in a shape rotated 90 degrees in advance. Therefore, there is no need to perform pattern conversion when reading a font pattern, and printing can be easily performed. That is, when a font pattern composed of 24×24 dots (72 bytes) is stored in the same direction as the display font pattern, it is necessary to convert it into an output image of the printer 36. This is because the display scans in the horizontal direction, while the printer outputs in the vertical direction. Therefore, by storing font data as a vertical output image in advance, printing can be performed without performing pattern conversion processing.

Furthermore, when the English printer 36 prints a kanji font pattern received as an image, the rightmost character may be missing. In the normal character printing mode, in which character codes are sent to the printer and converted into fonts within the printer, the printer controls the characters so that they are inserted into the next line if they extend beyond the right edge. However, if the font is arranged on the computer side and the print pattern is sent to the printer as described above, even if automatic line feed is performed, the rightmost character may be partially cut off. Therefore, the printer emulator 215 calculates the maximum number of characters that can be printed in one line and the character spacing, and controls printing on the next line when the number of characters is exceeded.

In FIG. 14, the maximum printing width of one line is 3840
This figure shows the storage state of the image buffer when printing up to 40 characters at equal intervals on a byte printer. In this example, the character spacing for 24 bytes is (72+24
)×40=3840 bytes. If the character spacing cannot be made equal, make pseudo-equal intervals or adjust the rightmost space. Since the character font is loaded into this image buffer before starting the printer, it is possible to prevent the rightmost character from being missing.
Although English DOS is used as an example of the OS, Windows with a DOS emulator function can also be used with OS other than DOS.
The present invention can also be implemented with an OS such as OS/2. Further, although a Japanese application is used as an example of the application software, the application software is not limited to this, and may be in other languages such as Chinese/Korean. Furthermore, the hardware is not limited to PC/AT compatible machines, and can be applied to other hardware as well.

Furthermore, as PC/AT compatible machines develop, new application interfaces may be defined that include support for higher resolution image modes, etc. In that case, you will need to modify your application to fit the new interface. In the embodiments described above, an example has been described in which an emulator is installed in English-language hardware that does not have any convenient functions for handling Japanese. The purpose is to explain that the present invention can be implemented even with hardware that does not have Japanese language functions,
This does not mean that the present invention cannot be implemented if there is a Japanese language function. It will be explained next that the present invention can be implemented more efficiently if the Japanese language function is available. Among the explanations of the embodiment, the explanations of FIGS. 1 to 8 and FIG. 10 are almost the same even if the Japanese function is provided.

If the keyboard is equipped with keys specific to Japanese input such as kana conversion and kanji conversion, the mechanism shown in FIG. 9 becomes unnecessary. Additionally, if the key tops are engraved in Japanese, it is possible to input kana characters instead of using Roman characters.

If the Japanese character pattern information is prepared in a dedicated storage device, the Japanese character pattern information can be directly read out from the emulator without the mechanism shown in FIG. If a Japanese printer with built-in Japanese character pattern information is prepared, the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 12 to 14 will be unnecessary.

That is, if hardware with a Japanese language function is prepared, some of the mechanisms of the present invention are not necessary, and higher performance processing becomes possible. However, this does not change the essence of the present invention, and according to the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 and 10, the same computer and input/output device and the same Using an English OS, it is possible to realize a computer system that can run both English application software and Japanese application software.

[0067]

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention has the following effects. (1) An environment in another language (Japanese, etc.) can be realized without changing the hardware of a PC/AT compatible machine. (2) Since an environment in another language (Japanese, etc.) can be realized without changing the OS, compatibility with English applications will not be compromised. Furthermore, since the user only needs to install one OS, the work load for installation is small. (3) The emulator can be installed/cancelled easily or automatically and dynamically, and the memory area of the English application will not be reduced. (4) From the application screen mode, select English DOS
It is possible to automatically determine whether the program will run with a Japanese emulator or a Japanese emulator. Additionally, both Japanese and English applications can be run on a Japanese emulator. (5) A Japanese printer is not required for printer output of a Japanese application, and an English printer can be used for output. (6) Since the existing application interface is maintained, existing applications can be executed without or with minimal changes. (7) By using a key that is not used by the application or a key that is used extremely infrequently as a kana key on the keyboard of a PC/AT compatible computer, and using that key in combination with another key as a kanji conversion key, The keyboard can also easily provide a Japanese environment. (8) Kanji font patterns can be stored using the standard extended memory managed by the OS, and kanji characters can be easily displayed without worrying about memory capacity. (9) Since the kanji font patterns stored in the printer emulator are stored in advance as patterns rotated by 90 degrees, high-speed output is possible without pattern conversion. (10) Even though English DOS is used, the Japanese application can operate normally because the Japanese emulator returns the information "Japan" in response to the request for country information of the Japanese application.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the concept of incorporating the emulator of the present invention into a computer and using a Japanese application.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall processing procedure when executing a Japanese application using the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a program of the Japanese emulator of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration when a Japanese emulator is loaded into the memory of a personal computer to which the present invention is applied, and the relationship with peripheral devices.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the state in which the Japanese emulator of the present invention is developed on the memory map of the CPU.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the operation of installing/cancelling the Japanese emulator of the present invention on a PC/AT compatible machine.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing of the keyboard driver of the present invention in keyboard interrupt control.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing automatic screen mode determination processing of the display driver of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of kanji font pattern acquisition processing of the display driver of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the printer emulator of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the state of a Kanji font pattern developed in the image buffer of the printer emulator of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an image buffer for line printing control of the printer emulator of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the concept of using a conventional English application.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the concept of using a conventional Japanese application.

[Explanation of symbols]

21...Japanese emulator 213...Display driver 214...Keyboard driver 215...Printer emulator 216...Printer driver 217...Communication driver 218...Timer driver 30...English DOS 31...Display 32...Application 33...Extended memory 34...Extended memory manager 35...Keyboard 36...Printer 40...Main memory 41...EMS window

Claims (25)

[Claims] Claim 1: A first language OS on the market for processing English or a first language having a writing system highly similar to English; A first language application software that is in circulation, a second language OS that is distributed in the market for processing a second language that has a different writing system that has little similarity to the writing system of the first language, and Second language application software, which is distributed in large numbers on the market in object format that works with a bilingual OS, and computers and input/output devices on which the first language application software and second language application software operate, In order to execute the language application software, a first language basic input/output control program that interlocks with the first language OS and the computer and input/output device, and the second language application software in the object format are executed. In order to execute the program, an emulator that operates in conjunction with the second language application software, the first language basic input/output control program, and the first language OS, and means for activating or deactivating the emulator are provided. A computer system comprising: a computer system capable of operating both the first language application software and the second language application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same first language OS. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the first language is English. 3. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the second language is Japanese. 4. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the first language is English and the second language is Japanese. 5. A first language OS on the market for processing English or a first language having a writing system highly similar to English; A first language application software that is in circulation, a second language OS that is distributed in the market for processing a second language that has a different writing system that has little similarity to the writing system of the first language, and Second language application software distributed in large quantities on the market in the form of objects that work with a bilingual OS, including a computer on which the first language application software and the second language application software operate, a memory device, and a keyboard and display device. A first language basic input/output control program interlocked with the first language OS and the computer and input/output device in order to execute the first language application software in the object format in the input/output device. , an emulator that operates between the second language application software, the first language basic input/output control program, and the first language OS in order to execute the second language application software in the object format; means for activating or deactivating the emulator; a keyboard driver program for converting input information into character information in the second language, which are stored in the memory device and connected to the same computer and input/output device and the same first language O.
A computer system capable of operating both the first language application software and the second language application software using S. 6. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the first language is English. 7. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the second language is Japanese. 8. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the first language is English and the second language is Japanese. 9. First means for controlling the keyboard driver program in response to input information from the keyboard, and controlling the second language application software in response to output from the keyboard driver program. in response to a display command output by the second means and the second language application software;
third means for controlling the display driver program; and in response to second language characters output by the display driver program, reading the second language character pattern information from the memory device and displaying the second language character pattern information on the display device. 6. The computer system according to claim 5, further comprising fourth means. 10. The memory device is composed of a main memory section used for normal address specification and an extended memory section used for extended address specification under the control of a first language OS, The language character pattern information is stored in the extended memory, and a part of the extended memory containing the used character pattern information can be read out as part of the address range of the main memory by designation, and the used character pattern information is stored in the extended memory. 6. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the data is further written and used in another address area of the main storage. 11. In response to a screen mode setting request of application software, a constant monitoring portion of the emulator determines whether the application software is the first language application software or the second language application software,
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein if the application software is the first language application software, the operation of the emulator is stopped, and if the application software is the second language application software, the emulator is activated automatically or semi-automatically. computer system. 12. A constant monitoring portion of the emulator detects a screen mode setting request specific to the second language issued by the second language application software, starts the emulator, and detects termination of the application software and stops the emulator. 12. The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the computer system automatically or semi-automatically performs the above steps. 13. A constant monitoring portion of the emulator detects a first language-specific screen mode setting request issued by the first language application software, stops the emulator, detects termination of the application software, and starts the emulator. 12. The computer system according to claim 11, wherein the computer system automatically or semi-automatically performs the above steps. 14. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the emulator can be loaded onto the memory device or activated by an instruction operation while the first language OS is in a command acceptance state. 15. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein the emulator can be stopped or occupancy on the memory device can be released by an instruction operation while the first language OS is in a command acceptance state. 16. Writing a starting address for starting the keyboard driver program in the emulator into the address of an interrupt vector in the memory device,
6. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein while the emulator is operating, the computer system constantly monitors whether there is any keyboard input given a specific meaning in the emulator. [Claim 17] When starting the emulator,
Information related to the screen mode or interrupt vector that has been in use up to that point is saved and stored from a specific address in the memory device, and when the emulator is stopped, the saved information is restored to the specific address. Claim 5
Computer system as described. 18. The emulator further includes a country-specific information driver program, and the country-specific information driver program operates in response to a country-specific information request command issued by the application software to generate country-specific information related to the second language. 6. The computer system of claim 5, further comprising: sending the application software to the application software. 19. The computer system according to claim 18, wherein the country information is a telephone country code. 20. An English OS distributed in the market for English language processing, English application software distributed in large numbers in the market in object format linked to the English OS, and distributed in the market for Japanese language processing. a Japanese OS, a large number of Japanese application software distributed in the market in the form of objects that work with the Japanese OS, a computer on which the English application software and the Japanese application software operate, a memory device, and a keyboard and display. In order to execute the object-format English application software on an input/output device including a device,
In order to execute an English basic input/output control program interlocking with the English OS and the computer and input/output device, and the object-format Japanese application software, the Japanese application software and the English basic The emulator is provided with an emulator that interlocks with the input/output control program and the English OS, and means for activating or deactivating the emulator, and the emulator is configured to receive Japanese character pattern information and the Japanese character pattern. The computer includes a display driver program that displays information on the display device, and a keyboard driver program that converts input information from the keyboard into Japanese character information, and these are stored in the memory device, and the computer
a first means for controlling the keyboard driver program in response to input information from the keyboard; and a second means for controlling the Japanese language application software in response to Japanese character information output by the keyboard driver program. means for controlling the display driver program in response to a display command output by the Japanese language application software; and third means for controlling the display driver program in response to a display command output by the Japanese language application software; It has a fourth means for reading character pattern information and displaying it on the display device, and operates both the English application software and the Japanese application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same English OS. A computer system that can 21. The keyboard driver program can perform kana conversion or kanji conversion by using keys that are not used or rarely used by any of the Japanese application software, or by a combination of the keys and other keys. 21. The computer system according to claim 20, wherein the computer system instructs the computer. 22. An English OS distributed in the market for English language processing, English application software distributed in large numbers in the market in object format linked to the English OS, and distributed in the market for Japanese language processing. a Japanese OS, a large number of Japanese application software distributed in the market in the form of objects that work with the Japanese OS, a computer on which the English application software and the Japanese application software operate, a memory device, and a keyboard and display. In order to execute the object-format English application software on input/output devices including devices and English printers that do not have Japanese language functions, an English language program that operates in conjunction with the English OS and the computer and input/output devices is provided. an emulator that interlocks between the Japanese application software, the English basic input/output control program, and the English OS in order to execute the basic input/output control program and the object-format Japanese application software; means for activating or deactivating an emulator, and the emulator includes a display driver program that displays Japanese character pattern information, the Japanese character pattern information on the display device, and input information from the keyboard. The computer includes a keyboard driver program that converts into Japanese character information, and a printer emulator that prints the output of the Japanese application software on the English printer, these are stored in the memory device, and the computer reads the information from the keyboard. a first means for controlling the keyboard driver program in response to input information; a second means for controlling the Japanese language application software in response to Japanese character information output by the keyboard driver program; third means for controlling the display driver program in response to a display command output by the Japanese application software; and third means for controlling the display driver program in response to a display command output by the Japanese application software; a fourth means for reading and displaying on the display device; and a fifth means for referring to Japanese character pattern information for printing in response to Japanese character information output from the Japanese language application software.
a sixth means for selectively combining the Japanese character information to form print pattern information; and a sixth means for forming print pattern information by selectively combining the Japanese character information, and printing the print pattern information by the English printer not having the Japanese language function to generate Japanese characters. A computer system having a seventh means for printing and capable of operating both the English application software and the Japanese application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same English OS. 23. The Japanese character pattern information for printing is stored in a storage device in a form rotated by 90 degrees, and many shapes obtained by vertically slicing the character pattern are included in the same location of the storage device. The computer system according to claim 22. 24. The printer emulator includes an image buffer corresponding to a maximum printing width, and after writing Japanese character pattern information to the image buffer at equal or substantially equal intervals,
25. The computer system of claim 24, wherein the information stored in the image buffer is sent to the printer for printing. 25. A keyboard having a process for decoding Japanese input in response to input information from the keyboard, and a process for outputting Japanese character information to the Japanese application software as a result of the decoding. A driver program, Japanese character pattern information, a process for reading the Japanese character pattern information in response to a display command output from the Japanese application software, and displaying the read Japanese character pattern information. A display driver program having a process for displaying on a device, and a printer driver program having a process for printing Japanese character information output from the Japanese language application software on a printer that does not have a Japanese language function. An emulator that can operate both English application software and Japanese application software using the same computer, input/output device, and the same English OS.