JPH04235655A - Peripheral device control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a peripheral device control method that can increase the peripheral devices and separate them from each other without restarting a computer although it is working. CONSTITUTION:The peripheral devices 5 having the specification data specifying the types of devices 5 are controlled by a single device driver 4 in a peripheral device control method. The connection or separation is decided among those devices 5 to all connection parts where the devices 5 are connected to each other. Based on this deciding result, the specification data on the devices 5 ere set or cleared to the data areas of the driver 4 and the system 3.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for managing peripheral devices, and more particularly to a method for managing peripheral devices using a general-purpose interface.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a method for managing peripheral devices connected to a computer using a general-purpose interface, a device driver checks the connection status of the peripheral device only at the very beginning when the system is started.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional method for managing peripheral devices connected via a general-purpose interface as described above, the connection status of peripheral devices is checked only at the very beginning when the system is started. There was a problem in that even if a new peripheral device was connected while the system was running, it could not be used. For example, with conventional peripheral device management methods, even if you suddenly need to save the contents of a large-capacity fixed disk to magnetic tape during a business operation, the magnetic tape device is automatically saved when the system starts up. If it is not connected, the device driver will not be able to recognize the magnetic tape device, resulting in the problem that you will have to abandon the work you were doing and restart the system. An object of the present invention is to provide a peripheral device management method that allows peripheral devices to be added or disconnected even when the system is in use without restarting the system.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, peripheral devices connected through a general-purpose interface and having specification data specifying the type by name can be connected by one device drive of an operating system to In a peripheral device management method that sets or clears the above specification data in the data area of the system and device drives, it is determined whether the peripheral device is connected to all the connections for connecting the peripheral device. a first step; a second step of determining whether the peripheral device has been connected before when it is determined that the peripheral device is connected in the first step; A third step sets the specification data of the peripheral device in the data area if the peripheral device is determined to be newly connected in the first step; If it is determined that there is no connection, the fourth step is to determine whether the previously connected peripheral device has been disconnected; and in the fourth step, it is determined that the previously connected peripheral device has been disconnected. A fifth step of clearing the specification data of the peripheral device from the data area if the peripheral device is a peripheral device is obtained.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an application program 2, an operating system 3, and a device driver 4 stored in a main memory 1 of a computer CP,
This shows the relationship with a plurality of peripheral devices 5 controlled by this device driver 4. An interface board 6 for peripheral devices connected via a general-purpose interface is mounted on the computer CP. A peripheral device 5 is connected to this interface board 6 via an interface cable 7. These peripheral devices 5 have specification data indicating their types.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the peripheral device management method of the present invention. In this flowchart, the maximum number of connections to which the peripheral device 5 can be connected is set to m, and the connection unit counter is set to [n].

First, in step 11, set [n] = 0, in step 12, set [n] = [n+1], and in step 13, determine whether the peripheral device is connected to the (n+1)th connection part. Check. If it is determined in step 13 that a peripheral device is connected to the (n+1)th connection point, it is checked in step 14 whether a peripheral device has been connected to the (n+1)th connection point. That is, it is checked whether specification data indicating the type of peripheral device is stored in the data areas of the operating system 3 and device driver 4 corresponding to the (n+1)th connection.

If it is determined in step 14 that the (n+1)th peripheral device has been connected before, the specification data is cleared from the (n+1)th data area in step 15, and then in step 16 [ n]=m. If it is determined in step 14 that the (n+1)th peripheral device has not been connected for a long time, the process jumps to step 16 and checks whether [n]=m. If it is determined in step 16 that [n] is not equal to m, the process returns to step 12, and [n]
If it is determined that =m, the operation ends.

If it is determined in step 13 that the (n+1)th peripheral device is connected, step 1
In step 7, the specification data of the (n+1)th connected peripheral device is read out, and in step 18 it is checked whether the peripheral device is the same as before. It is compared with the specification data stored in the (n+1)th data area to check whether they are the same.

If it is determined in step 18 that the peripheral device is not the same as before, the specification data of the connected peripheral device is set in the (n+1)th data area in step 19, and then the process proceeds to step 16. go. If it is determined in step 18 that the peripheral device is the same as before, the process jumps to step 16.

[0011]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, peripheral devices can be added or removed without restarting the computer even when the computer is in use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the relationship between a device driver, an operating system, and peripheral devices used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing within a device driver used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Main memory 3 Operating system 4 Device driver 5 Peripheral devices

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A peripheral device connected via a general-purpose interface and having specification data specifying the type by name is connected to the data area of the operating system and device drive by one device drive of an operating system. In a peripheral device management method that manages specification data by setting or clearing it, the first step is to determine whether the peripheral device is connected to all the connections for connecting the peripheral device; If it is determined that the peripheral device is connected, the second step is to determine whether the peripheral device has been connected before, and the second step is to determine whether the peripheral device is newly connected. If it is determined that the peripheral device is connected, a third step sets the specification data of the peripheral device in the data area, and if it is determined that the peripheral device is not connected in the first step, the peripheral device is connected until then. The fourth step is to determine whether the previously connected peripheral device has been disconnected.
and a fifth step of clearing the specification data of the peripheral device from the data area when it is determined in the fourth step that the peripheral device connected up to that time has been disconnected. How to manage peripheral devices.