JPH0430615B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information processing device with an audio output device in a computer system including various computers and word processors.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in computer systems, methods of displaying information on a screen or using a buzzer have generally been adopted as a means of transmitting information such as an abnormal situation of the device to an operator. However, in recent computer systems capable of multi-processing, including a workstation or word processor, various auxiliary devices, and a host computer, etc., information on abnormal situations and messages from various devices can be notified to the operator, and any processing can be performed. It is desirable to be able to identify whether the information is In this case, with the method of outputting information on the screen, it is necessary to provide an area for displaying information on the screen, which reduces the usual work area, and with the method of notifying with a buzzer, the content of the information cannot be reached. However, in order to know the information content, further processing is required, which reduces work efficiency. In the method of notifying with a buzzer, it has been considered to differentiate the tone color etc. depending on the type of information (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-35255), but even with this method, the correspondence between the tone color etc. and the information is It is impossible to know the content of the information unless you are familiar with it in advance, and when there are many types of information, it is difficult to clearly distinguish them all.

Therefore, by installing an audio output device in a workstation, etc., and outputting a corresponding audio message when a signal to determine an abnormal situation is sent from various devices, information transmission and response operations can be streamlined. This makes it possible to do this efficiently. In this case, as an information processing means, various audio data corresponding to abnormal situations etc. of various devices are collectively stored in an audio data file installed in a workstation etc. in advance, and abnormal situations etc. sent from various devices are stored in bulk. A device is being considered that extracts the necessary audio data from the above file in response to a discrimination signal, converts it into audio, and outputs it (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1983
-Refer to Publication No. 24939). However, with this device, it is necessary to incorporate a large-capacity audio data file into the workstation, etc., and when expanding the system (additional equipment), it is necessary to modify and add audio data to be stored in the audio data file. There remained the issue of what would be necessary.

In view of these circumstances, the present invention enables a multi-type computer system to output abnormalities and other information about various devices as voice messages according to the information content, and also allows large-capacity voice data files to be stored in workstations, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing device with an audio output device that does not require integration and is highly adaptable to system expansion.

That is, the present invention provides a computer system in which one or more input/output processing devices, various auxiliary devices such as printers, system control devices, etc. are connected via communication lines, and the information content of information specific to each device is transmitted. a voice data file that stores voice data obtained by converting a voice message expressed into an electrical signal; a determining means for determining a situation in which the above information should be provided; and voice data selected from the voice data file in response to a determination signal from the determining means. Each of the above-mentioned devices is individually provided with a control means for transmitting the audio data to the communication line, and a means for receiving the audio data sent via the communication line to the input/output processing equipment, and a control means for transmitting the received audio data to the communication line. The present invention is characterized in that it includes an audio output device that reproduces data and generates audio. According to this configuration, audio data representing information content is individually stored for each device with respect to unique information, and in addition to information discrimination processing, processing for selecting audio data with corresponding information content is also performed in each device. The audio data is then played back in the input/output processing device.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a computer system equipped with the device of the present invention. This system consists of workstations (or word processors) 1 and 2 as input/output processing devices, a file device 3 and printers 4 and 5 as auxiliary devices, and a host computer 6 as system control devices. are each formed as a single device and are connected by a communication line 7. The workstations 1 and 2 are equipped with an input device such as a keyboard and a display device such as a CRT, the file device 3 is composed of a magnetic tape or floppy disk for storing input data, and the printers 4 and 5 are equipped with an input device such as a keyboard and a display device such as a CRT. Appropriate printing means is provided to print data accordingly. Further, the host computer 6 controls communication between each device and manages the system. In the example shown in the figure, two workstations 1 and 2 are equipped so that communication can be performed between them through key operations, etc., and correspondingly printers 4 and 5 are installed.
It is also equipped with two. However, the system may be configured with one workstation, auxiliary equipment, a host computer, etc., or the system shown in the figure can be expanded by further adding workstations and various auxiliary equipment.

Each of the above-mentioned devices 1 to 6 includes audio data files 11 to 16 that convert and store several types of voice messages indicating information contents such as abnormal situations specific to each device into electrical signals, and the above-mentioned information. Discrimination means 21 to 26 for discriminating situations corresponding to the above are provided. Then, the controllers (control means) 31 to 36 built into each device control the determining means 2.
Audio data is selected from audio data files 11-16 in response to discrimination signals from audio data files 1-26 and output. For example, in the voice data file 13 of the file device 3, messages such as abnormalities in file reading and writing, messages indicating that the file is full, etc. are stored as voice data, and the voice data files 14, 15 in the printers 4, 5 are stored as voice data, such as messages such as out of paper, etc. Messages such as paper jam and toner replenishment are stored as audio data, and messages such as job completion are stored as audio data in the audio data file 16 of the host computer 6. The determination means 23 to 26 in these devices include various detection means for detecting when a situation in which the various types of information described above should be sent actually occurs. Furthermore, the audio data files 11 and 12 of workstations 1 and 2 also have
Only necessary information is stored in the workstations themselves; for example, messages that notify the start and end of communication when communicating between workstations are stored as voice data. Discrimination means 21 and 22 are constituted by an input control section for inputting key codes for starting and terminating communication.

In addition, the work stations 1 and 2 have audio data reproducing memories 41 and 51 that temporarily store audio data sent via the communication line 7, and read and reproduce data from the memories 41 and 51. Speech synthesis devices 42, 52 and speakers 43, 5
3 and an audio data output device 4 configured by
0.50. The controllers 31 and 32 serving as control means in the workstations 1 and 2 also perform reception processing to receive audio data sent via the communication line and provide it to the audio output devices 40 and 50.

Control by this information processing device is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, on the audio data sending side, when a situation in which a message should be sent occurs, first, the audio data files 11 to 1 are
Audio data corresponding to the situation that occurred from step 6 is extracted (step 61). This data is then transmitted via communication line 7 to workstation 1 or 2.
Then, it is checked whether the transfer is completed (step 63), and if it is not completed, the transfer process is repeated. When the transfer is completed, a transfer confirmation signal is received from the workstation (step 64), and then a playback instruction signal is sent to the workstation (step 6).
5). Then, it is determined whether or not a playback confirmation signal has been sent from the workstation (step 6).
6) If there is no confirmation signal, the playback instruction is repeated,
If there is a confirmation signal, the process ends.

On the other hand, on the audio data receiving side, that is, the workstation 1 or 2, the audio data transferred from the audio data sending side is received (step 71), and this data is stored in the audio data playback memory 4.
1 or 51 (step 72). Then, it is determined whether or not the reception has been completed (step 73), and if the reception has not been completed, the process proceeds to step 7 described above.
Steps 1 and 72 are repeated, and upon completion, a transfer confirmation signal is sent to the audio data sending side (step 74).
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not a replay instruction signal has been sent from the audio data sending side (step 75), and when the reproduction instruction signal is received, the audio data is reproduced (step 76). That is, voice data is called from the voice data reproduction memory 41 or 51 and reproduced by the voice synthesizer 42 or 52, and a voice message is emitted from the speaker 43 or 53. Then, it is determined whether this process has been completed (step 77), and if it has not been completed, this process is repeated, and when it is completed, a reproduction confirmation signal is sent out (step 78), and the control operation ends.

Due to this control, when an abnormal situation occurs or communication is performed in each device, the information content is transferred to the workstation 1.
Alternatively, the information is output as a voice message from the speakers 43 or 53 of 22, so that the operator can clearly know the content of the information. In addition, since audio data files 11 to 16 are provided for each device, the workstations 1 and 2 have audio data files 11 and 12 that store the minimum amount of information necessary for themselves, and audio data files 11 and 12 that store the minimum amount of information necessary for the workstations themselves. It is sufficient to have audio playback memories 41 and 51 that temporarily store only the audio data selected at the time, and does not require a large capacity memory.Furthermore, even when adding equipment to expand the system, All you have to do is add to the device an audio data file that stores only the information necessary for the device.

As described above, the device of the present invention is capable of clearly informing an operator of information from various devices using a voice message according to the information content using the voice output device provided in the input/output processing device.
Since a separate audio data file is provided for each device, there is no need for large-capacity memory in the input/output control section, and there is no need to make major changes to the audio data file when adding devices, making system expansion convenient. It is something.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart. 1, 2...Workstation, 3...File device, 4, 5...Printer, 6...Host computer, 7...Communication line, 11-16...Audio data file, 21-6...Discrimination means, 31～
36...Controller, 40, 50...Audio output/output device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a computer system in which one or more input/output processing devices, various auxiliary devices such as printers, system control devices, etc. are connected via communication lines, voice messages representing information specific to each device are sent electronically. An audio data file for storing audio data converted into a signal, a determining means for determining a situation in which the above information should be provided, and transmitting the audio data selected from the audio data file to a communication line in response to a determining signal from the determining means. A control means is individually provided in each of the above-mentioned devices, and the input/output processing device is provided with a means for receiving audio data sent via a communication line, and a means for reproducing the received audio data. 1. An information processing device with an audio output device, characterized in that it is provided with an audio output device that generates audio.