JPH05143504A - Fault inspecting device for terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inspect fault conditions at a control equipment side by making result which is obtained by means of executing various kinds of commands is terminal equipments into a file so as to generate a result file and transmitting it to a control equipment with a communication line. CONSTITUTION:When a fault occurs in the terminal 2, the operator of the terminal 2 explains the occurrence conditions of the fault to the operator of the control equipment 1 by telephone, etc. The operator of the control equipment 1 selects some of the commands which are considered to be necessary for the inspection of fault conditions from the fault occurrence conditions of the terminal equipment 2 so as to input them with the command input means of the control equipment 1. Inputted command data is made into the file, the command file is generated and the command file is transmitted to the terminal equipment 2 where the fault occurs with the communication line 3. Then, the command within the command file is executed in the terminal equipment 2 which receives the command file and the result is recorded in a result file. Moreover, the result file is transmitted to the control equipment 1 with the communication line 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a failure investigation device for a terminal used in a POS (point-of-sale information management) system or the like for retail stores operating in multiple stores.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a retail store having a large number of stores such as convenience stores, each store has a POS terminal for registering information about sales of products and the like, and these POS terminals are installed at a headquarters. A POS system has been introduced in which the host computer at the head office is centrally managed by connecting to the host computer via a public line or a dedicated line.

By introducing this kind of POS system, the work of setting the data necessary for the registration work etc. in each POS terminal can be carried out collectively at the headquarters via the host computer, and the registration processing is carried out at each POS terminal. The host computer collects and aggregates the product sales information, so that it is possible to easily analyze the sales of the entire retail store, and it is possible to obtain an excellent effect.

By the way, if a POS terminal of a store fails and the person in charge of the store cannot recover it,
The maintenance staff at the headquarters must investigate the status of the failure and try to recover it. In this case, the following three methods were conventionally used. One is a method whereby maintenance personnel go to the store to investigate, another is a method of conducting a phone call with the person in charge of the store, and yet another one is a POS terminal with a failure. It is a method of conducting research by pulling it up to the headquarters.

[0005]

However, when a maintenance worker goes to a store to take a survey, it is difficult to respond promptly and the maintenance worker has a heavy burden. .. In addition, when the method of investigating by telephone communication with the store manager is adopted, the situation of the failure may not be fully investigated and the store manager may be unable to recover. Furthermore, if the method of raising the faulty POS terminal to the headquarters is used to investigate it, a temporary POS terminal must be installed in the store, which increases the transportation cost of the terminal and gives it to the store side. There was a major drawback.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if a failure occurs in a terminal connected to a controller via a communication line, a terminal capable of quickly and accurately investigating the status of a failure on the controller side. It is intended to provide a machine failure investigation device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in a fault investigation device for a terminal, which investigates a fault of a terminal connected to a controller via a communication line, the controller is designed to detect a fault occurring in the terminal. A command input means for inputting various commands necessary for analysis, a command file creating means for converting the command data input by the input means into a file, and a command file created by the creating means for a terminal via a communication line. Command terminal for transmitting various commands in the command file by analyzing the command file received via the communication line and executing various commands in the command file. The result file created by this creation means and the result file created by this creation means are communicated. It is obtained by a result file transmission means for transmitting to the controller via the.

[0008]

According to the present invention having such a configuration, when a failure occurs in the terminal, the operator of the terminal explains the occurrence status of the failure to the operator of the controller by telephone or the like. The operator of the controller selects some commands that are considered necessary for investigating the status of the failure from the failure occurrence status of the terminal,
Input through command input means of the controller. Then, the command data input by the command input means is converted into a file to create a command file, and the command file is transmitted to the terminal in failure via the communication line.

The terminal which receives the command file executes the command in the command file and records the result in the result file. The result file thus created is transmitted to the controller via the communication line. Therefore, the operator of the controller can investigate the status of the failure by analyzing the result file received from the terminal.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The present invention provides a POS system in which a POS terminal 2 installed in each store B1, B2, B3 is connected to a host computer 1 installed in the headquarters A through a communication line 3 of a public line or a dedicated line. The case where is applied will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the host computer 1, and 110 is a CP constituting the control unit main body.
U (Central Processing Unit), 111 is an RO in which program data for the CPU 110 to control each unit is stored
M (read only memory), 112 is the CPU 1
It is a RAM (random access memory) in which various memory areas for temporarily storing data to be processed by 10 are formed.

Reference numeral 113 is an HDD (hard disk) controller that controls writing and reading of data to and from the hard disk device 114, and 115 is an FDD (floppy disk) controller that controls writing and reading of data to and from the floppy disk device 116.
The hard disk device 114 is formed with a sales totalizing file or the like for totaling product sales data collected from each POS terminal 2 by classifying them by product, time zone, store, etc. The floppy disk device 116 stores product information set in each POS terminal 2.

Reference numeral 117 denotes a keyboard controller which controls the keyboard 118 for inputting various commands and the like.
Reference numeral 119 is a display controller for controlling a CRT display device 120 for displaying key input data and various business menus, 121 is a printer controller for controlling a printer 122 for printing out a sales analysis report and the like, and 123 is a date and time. A clock circuit for clocking, and a communication interface 124 for controlling data transmission / reception to / from each POS terminal 2 via the communication line 3.

The CPU 110, the ROM 111,
RAM 112, controllers 113, 115, 11
7, 119, 121, the clock circuit 123, and the communication interface 124 are connected via a bus line 125.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of the POS terminal 2, and 210 is a CP constituting the main body of the control unit.
U and 211 are ROMs in which program data for executing various business modes such as “registration”, “inspection”, “accounting”, “setting” are stored, and 212 is various memory areas used for registration processing of product sales data. It is a formed RAM.

Reference numeral 213 is an HDD controller for controlling writing and reading of data to and from the hard disk device 214, 215 is a keyboard controller for controlling a keyboard 216 for inputting information on products to be sold, payment information for customers, etc., and 217 is a sales registration. The display controller 219 for controlling the numerical display device 218 for displaying the price of the commodity or the total amount of the customer, and the printer controller 221 for controlling the printer 220 for performing receipt printing and the like.
Is a clock circuit for timing the date and time, 222 is a signal of a mode switch 223 for selecting execution of the various business modes, and a drive signal to a drawer opening device 224 for opening a drawer for storing cash or the like. The output I / O port 225 is a communication interface for controlling the transmission and reception of data with the host computer 1 via the communication line 3.

The CPU 210, the ROM 211,
RAM 212, controllers 213, 215, 21
7, 219, clock circuit 121, and communication interface 2
25 is connected via a bus line 226.

In the POS system having such a configuration, the person in charge of each of the stores B1, B2, B3, when the POS terminal 2 has a trouble and it is difficult to restore it, the maintenance staff of the headquarters A is informed of the contents of the trouble. Please explain and ask for a fault investigation. Then, the maintenance worker operates the keyboard 118 of the host computer 1 to input the information necessary for the failure investigation.

In this case, the CPU 110 of the host computer 1 executes the control shown in FIG. That is, if the information (terminal number, store code, etc.) designating the terminal to be subjected to the failure investigation is keyed in as ST (step) 1, the CRT display 120 displays a processing classification selection screen as shown in FIG. Let

Incidentally, the process classification code 1 "command file transmission" is a task of transmitting a command file described later to the POS terminal 2. The process classification code 2 "command execution" is a job for instructing the POS terminal to execute the command file transmitted by the above-mentioned "command file transmission" job. The processing classification code 3 "send command file, execute" is a task of sending the command file to the POS terminal 2 and instructing execution. The process classification code 4 “collect result file” is a task of collecting the result of executing the command of the above command file from the POS terminal.

Next, when any processing category is selected by key input in ST2, if the processing category is "1" or "3", the command file creation process shown in FIG. Executes text editing processing.

That is, when the processing division "1" or "3" is selected, the counter a is reset, and then a command for fault investigation is waited for key input. Then, each time a command is keyed in, the counter a is incremented by "+".
1 ”is added and one record of the command is edited and stored in the RAM 112. (Command input means).

After that, when the end of command input is instructed, the value of the counter a is stored as the number of records N. In addition, a command file is created based on the record of each command stored in the RAM 112 and written in the hard disk device 114. (Command file creation means)

Then, the transmission text for the command file in the format shown in FIG. 7A is edited. In this case, the message flag is a flag indicating the transmission text for the command file. The destination address is ST1.
Is the communication address of the POS terminal 2 designated as the destination, and the source address is the communication address of the host computer 1. Further, the processing classification is the selected code "1" or "3". Then, the command file transmission text is edited by incorporating the command file created by the command file creation process and the record number N thereof.

On the other hand, when the process category "2" or "4" is selected, the transmission text editing process of ST3 is immediately executed. In this case, the message flag, the transmission destination address and the transmission source address are the same as in the case of the processing division “1” or “3”. Further, the selected code "2" or "4" is set as the processing classification. The number of records and command file are not included.

In this way, if the command file transmission text is edited in ST3, the text is transmitted via the communication interface 124 to the communication line 3 in ST4.
Send to. (Command File Sending Means) Here, when the processing classification “1”, “2” or “3” is selected, this processing is ended.

On the other hand, when the processing division "4" is selected, the ST3 waits for the text reception from the POS terminal 2. If the text is received within a predetermined time, the received text is analyzed.

Here, in the case of the result file transmission text in the format shown in FIG. 7B as ST6,
The result file in the text is the hard disk drive 114
Write to. Further, the contents of the result file are displayed on the CRT display device 120, and the printer 122 prints the contents on the recording paper, and the process ends.

If the text cannot be received within the predetermined time in ST5, or if the text received in ST6 is not the text for the result file, a communication error is notified and this process is terminated. ..

On the other hand, the CPU 210 of the POS terminal 2 which has received the transmission text for the command file executes the control shown in FIG. That is, if a text is received via the communication interface 225 as ST11, the received text is analyzed.

Here, in the case of the transmission text for the command file in the format shown in FIG. 7A as ST12, the processing classification in the text is determined as ST13. Then, in the case of the processing classification “1”, the command file and the number of records in the received text are written in the hard disk device 214, and this processing ends.

In the case of processing category "2", command execution processing of the command file written in the hard disk device 214 is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the counter b is first set to the record number N. Next, after confirming that the counter b is not "0", the top record of the command file is extracted. Then, the command in the record is executed, and the execution result is stored in the RAM 212. After that, when the counter b is decremented by "-1", the next record of the command file is extracted and the command is executed. (Command execution means)

In this way, various commands in the command file are sequentially executed, and the execution result is stored in the RAM. When the counter b becomes "0", the RAM
Create a result file based on the contents of. (Result File Creating Means) After that, the above result file is written in the hard disk device 214, and this processing ends.

In the case of the processing category “3”, first, as in the case of the processing category “1”, the command file and the number of records in the received text are written in the hard disk device 214. Then, the command execution processing of the above command file is performed as in the case of the processing category “2”, the result file is written to the hard disk device 214, and this processing ends.

In the case of processing category "4", the result file written in the hard disk drive 214 is read.
Then, the transmission text for the result file in the format shown in FIG. 7B is edited. In this case, the message flag becomes a flag indicating the transmission text for the result file. The destination address is the communication address of the host computer 1, and the source address is the communication address of the POS terminal 2. Then, the result file transmission text is edited by incorporating the result file.

When the result file transmission text is edited in this way, the text is transmitted to the communication line 3 via the communication interface 225, and this processing ends. (Result file transmission means)

Therefore, when the maintenance staff at the headquarters A confirms the failure status that has occurred in the POS terminal 2, he or she selects some commands that are considered necessary for investigating the status of the failure. For example, when there is a possibility of mistakes in setting product information,
A command for instructing the contents of the RAM 212 and the file of the hard disk device 214 is selected. If an abnormality of a certain program is considered, a command for instructing the execution of the abnormal program is selected.

Then, first, the keyboard 118 of the host computer 1 is operated to input the terminal number, store code, etc. of the POS terminal in which the failure has occurred. Then, the processing classification selection screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the CRT display 120, so that the processing classification "3" is selected for immediate investigation, and the processing classification "1" is selected for investigation after closing, for example. To do. After that, the various selected commands are sequentially key-inputted.

By doing so, various commands entered by the keys are made into a file to create a command file, the transmission text incorporating the command file is edited, and the POS injured via the communication line 3 is generated.
Sent to terminal 2.

On the other hand, in the POS terminal 2 which has received the transmission text for command file, the command file in the text is written in the hard disk device 214. Here, when the processing category “3” is selected, the command file is immediately analyzed and various commands are executed. Then, the execution result is written in the result file of the hard disk device 214.

Further, when the maintenance inspector of the head office A selects the processing category "1" and inputs a command or the like, the maintenance personnel selects the processing category "2" at the investigation time. Then, in the injured POS terminal 2, the command file written in the hard disk device 214 is analyzed and various commands are executed. The execution result is the hard disk device 214.
Will be written to the result file.

Therefore, the maintenance inspector of the headquarters A selects the processing category "4" at an appropriate time. Then, the result file written in the hard disk device 214 of the POS terminal 2 in which the injury has occurred is collected in the host computer 1. Then, the data is written in the hard disk device 114, displayed on the CRT display device 120, and printed out on the recording paper by the printer 122.

Therefore, the maintenance staff can investigate the occurrence status of the injury by analyzing the contents of the result file collected from the POS terminal 2 where the injury has occurred.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the maintenance inspector of the headquarters A, while staying at the headquarters A, stores B1, B2,
It is possible to easily confirm the occurrence status of injury at the POS terminal 2 of B3. Therefore, since it is not necessary for the maintenance inspector to go to the store, a quick response can be made and the burden on the maintenance inspector is reduced.

Further, the maintenance staff selects some necessary commands from the contents of the injury heard from the person in charge of the store, causes the POS terminal where the injury has occurred to execute the command, analyzes the execution result, and shows the injury occurrence status. So we will investigate
The person in charge of the store can simply explain the contents of the injury by telephone or the like, and the burden on the person in charge of the store can be reduced.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to raise the injured POS terminal to the head office for investigation, and the cost of communication between the host computer 1 and the POS terminal 2 is high, so the cost is low and the effect on the store side is also small. It is a thing.

The present invention is not limited to the POS system, but can be applied to a communication system in which a terminal and a controller for controlling the terminal are connected via a public line or a dedicated line. Further, even in a communication system in which a communication line is connected between the terminal set as the master machine and the terminal set as the satellite machine, it can be applied by causing the master machine to function as a controller.

[0048]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, even if a failure occurs in a terminal connected to a controller through a communication line, the controller can quickly and inexpensively and accurately fail. It is possible to provide a failure investigation device for a terminal capable of conducting a situation investigation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a POS system that is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a host computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a POS terminal in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a CP of the host computer in the embodiment.
The flowchart which shows the principal part control of U.

5 is a flowchart specifically showing the command file creation processing in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a processing classification screen in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a format of a transmission text for a command file and a transmission text for a result file.

FIG. 8 is a CPU of the POS terminal in the embodiment.
6 is a flowchart showing the main processing of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart specifically showing command execution processing in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Host computer, 2 ... Terminal, 3 ... Communication line, 110, 210 ... CPU, 114, 214 ... Hard disk device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A failure investigation device for a terminal, which investigates a failure of a terminal connected to a controller via a communication line, wherein the controller is provided with various commands necessary for analyzing a failure occurring in the terminal. Command input means for inputting, command file creating means for converting the command data input by the input means into a file, and a command for sending the command file created by the creating means to the terminal device through the communication line. A terminal for executing various commands in the command file by analyzing the command file received through the communication line and executing various commands by the executing means. The result file created by the created result file creation means and the result file created by this creation means Failure survey device of a terminal, characterized in that via the serial communication line to and a result file transmission means for transmitting to said controller.