JPH0520084A - Program starting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the storage capacity of an auxiliary storage device by compressing respective programs and making the programs themselves short, and storing them on the auxiliary storage device. CONSTITUTION:On the auxiliary storage device 5, the plural programs given parameters specifying the programs respectably are stored while compressed. Namely, the programs are compressed by representing the same data which are successive in quantity on the program as the data value and succession quantity to shorten the program length. When the same routine is repeated, the frequency of repetition is added to omit the repetition parts. When a start request wherein parameters are specified is made, it is checked first whether there is the corresponding program in an operation ready state on a main memory 3 and when so, the program is immediately started. When not, the program is read out of the auxiliary storage device 5 and put in the operation ready state (frozen), and the program is started.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program starting method for starting a program designated from a plurality of types of programs, and more particularly to a program starting method for compressing and storing a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a CAD system, there are various types of CRT display devices, XY plotters and the like incorporated in this system, and for example, a CRT display device and an X-ray display device having different display densities are required according to the user's request of this CAD system.
I had to replace the hardware such as the Y plotter. Further, even after the product is once delivered to the user side, the user may replace the hardware by himself. In addition, a plurality of types of CRT display devices and XY plotters may be prepared and the hardware may be replaced according to the type of drawing to be created.

If the specifications of the hardware to be connected are different, the programs that operate the entire CAD system are also minutely different. Therefore, although information such as figures of the same type is created, it is necessary to store a plurality of types of programs having different configurations according to the type of hardware used in the system. Since such a program is usually enormous, it is stored in an auxiliary storage device provided externally, such as a magnetic disk device, and the program corresponding to the connected hardware is stored in, for example, the RAM or the like in the system main body. It was moved to the main memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD) and started.

[0004]

However, as described above, the amount of each program is enormous. As a result, there is a problem that the storage capacity required for the auxiliary storage device for storing these enormous amounts of programs reaches an enormous amount, and the manufacturing cost of the entire system increases significantly. In addition, it takes a lot of time to call a long program from the auxiliary storage device. Further, as the storage capacity increases, program management becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and compresses each program to shorten the program itself and store the program in the auxiliary storage device to reduce the storage capacity required by the auxiliary storage device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program starting method which can be reduced in size and can reduce the manufacturing cost of the entire system.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a program starting method for storing a plurality of types of programs in an auxiliary storage device, and moving a specified type of program to a main memory and starting it. ,

Each program is compressed in accordance with a predetermined compression procedure, and each compressed program is stored in an auxiliary storage device with a parameter for specifying the program.
When a program start request specifying a parameter occurs, if the program specified by the parameter has already been moved to the operable state and stored in main memory,
If the corresponding program is started as it is and the program specified by the corresponding parameter is not in the operable state, move the corresponding program in the compressed state stored in the auxiliary storage device to the main memory and perform the predetermined decompression procedure. In accordance with the above, the program shifts to the operable state and the program shifted to the operable state is started.

[0008]

In the program start-up method configured as described above, it is necessary to have as many programs as the number of kinds of hardware that may be incorporated in the system. However, each of these programs is stored in the auxiliary storage device in a state of being compressed according to a predetermined compression procedure, and in a state of being provided with a parameter specifying each program. Various methods have been proposed as a method for compressing this program. For example, when a large number of the same data are consecutive in the program, the program length is expressed by the corresponding data value and the consecutive number. To shorten. Similarly, when the same routine is repeated, the number of repetitions is noted and the repeated part is omitted.

When a program start request specifying a parameter occurs, if the program specified by the parameter is stored in the main memory in an operable state, the corresponding program is started as it is. If the applicable program in the operable state is not stored in the main memory,
The corresponding program in the compressed state stored in the auxiliary storage device is read out, and the operable state is entered in accordance with a predetermined decompression procedure. This decompression process is the exact opposite of the compression process described above. The program returned to the operable program is started.

That is, since a large number of programs are stored in the auxiliary storage device in a compressed state, the auxiliary storage device has a larger storage capacity than the case where each program is stored in the auxiliary storage device in an operable state from the beginning. Required storage capacity is reduced.

Normally, the programs stored in the auxiliary storage device are not activated at the same time, and only a small number of programs selected by the type of hardware are decompressed to an operable state and transferred to the main memory. Is activated.
Therefore, since the decompression processing is not frequently executed during the actual operation, the decompression processing does not particularly affect the original processing operation such as a reduction in processing efficiency.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a CAD system adopting the program starting method of the present invention. A main memory 3, a keyboard 4 for an operator to input various operation commands via a bus line 2 to a processor 1 for executing various arithmetic processes, an auxiliary storage device 5, and a CRT display for displaying created figures and the like. 6, an XY plotter 7 and the like for outputting the created figures and the like on paper is connected.

The auxiliary storage device 5 is composed of, for example, a magnetic disk device. In the auxiliary storage device 5, as shown in FIG. 1, n programs 5a each having a parameter are stored. Each program 5a is a program that performs substantially the same arithmetic processing in order to perform the original automatic design of the CAD system. The difference between the programs corresponds to the specification difference between the CRT display device 6 and the XY plotter 7 incorporated in the CAD system. Therefore,
In this CAD system, n kinds of CRT display devices 6 and XY plotter 7 can be connected.

Each program is stored in a compressed state. That is, as described above, for example,
In the case where a large number of the same data are consecutive on the program, the program length is shortened by expressing these with the corresponding data value and the consecutive number. Similarly, when the same routine is repeated, the number of repetitions is noted and the repeated part is omitted.

Then, the program name of this program, the creation date, the parameters for specifying this program are attached to the label set at the beginning of each program 5a, and whether this program is in a compressed state or in an operable (decompressed) state. A flag or the like indicating whether or not is registered.

The main memory 3 is composed of, for example, a RAM or a hard disk device (HDD). The main memory 3 stores a program for performing the original design work of the CAD system and various data that need to be frequently accessed. The main memory 3 stores a program 3a that has been moved (decompressed) to an operable state and a startup program 3b for activating each program.

In such a CAD system, when an activation command of a program designating parameters is input from the keyboard 3, the activation program 3b is activated,
Start the program startup process.

When the activation process is started, it is first checked whether or not a program for executing the design teaching is stored in the main memory 3. If it is stored, it is checked whether the parameter of the label at the head of the program is designated and matches the parameter. If they match, the corresponding program is started as it is when the flag of the label indicates the operable state.

When the flag indicates the compressed state, it is judged that the compressed program 5a of the auxiliary storage device 5 has been transferred to the main memory 3 and has not been shifted to the operable state yet. Then, the decompression process for the corresponding program is executed. That is, the corresponding program is returned to the original operable program by the processing which is completely opposite to the compression processing described above. Then, the flag is set to the operable state. After that, the program 3a that has been moved to the operable state is activated.

The input parameters are the main memory 3
If it does not match the parameters of the program stored in the main memory 3, or if no program is stored in the main memory 3, the auxiliary storage device 5 is searched. Then, the program 5 in which the corresponding parameters match in the auxiliary storage device 5
When a is generated, this program 5a is read and written in the main memory 3. After that, the program in the compressed state is shifted to the operating state by the same method as described above. Then, the flag is set to the operable state. After that, the corresponding program is started.

If the program starting method thus constructed is adopted, each program 5a is stored in the auxiliary storage device 5.
Is stored in a compressed state, the required storage capacity of the auxiliary storage device is reduced compared to the case where each program is stored in the auxiliary storage device in an operable state from the beginning.
Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the entire system can be reduced.

Since each program 5a stored in the auxiliary storage device 5 is usually a program for performing the same design work, the programs 5a are not activated at the same time, and the CRT incorporated in this system is not used. Only one type of program 5a selected by the specifications of hardware such as the display device 6 and the XY plotter 7 is transferred to the main memory 3 and then decompressed to an operable state and activated. Therefore, since the decompression process for the program is not frequently executed during the actual design work in the CAD system, the decompression process does not adversely affect the original design work such as a reduction in processing efficiency. ..

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above startup program,
It is also possible to add a function to detect the model (specification) of hardware such as the CRT display device 6 and the XY plotter 7 currently connected to this system, and store a table showing the relationship between the model and the parameters of the program. It is possible.
In this case, the operator only needs to specify the program name, not the parameter, and the program matching the currently connected hardware is automatically selected and started. Therefore, the operator can easily manage the program.

Further, in the embodiment, the case where the invention is applied to the CAD system has been described, but the invention is not particularly limited to the CAD system, and the invention can be applied to all kinds of systems.

[0026]

As described above, according to the program starting method of the present invention, each program is compressed and the program itself is shortened and stored in the auxiliary storage device. When starting this program, it is started after moving the program to the main memory and shifting it to the operable state. Therefore, the storage capacity required by the auxiliary storage device can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the entire system can be reduced. Further, when a program in an operable state is designated, this program is started immediately, so that each program can be managed efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a program starting method according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a CAD system to which the starting method of the embodiment is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Processor, 3 ... Main memory, 4 ... Keyboard, 5 ...
Auxiliary storage device, 6 ... CRT display device, 7 ... XY plotter.

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A program start-up method for storing a plurality of types of programs in an auxiliary storage device, activating a specified type of program by moving it to a main memory, wherein each program is subjected to a predetermined compression procedure. According to the above, each program in a compressed state is stored in the auxiliary storage device with a parameter for identifying the corresponding program added, and when a program activation request with the parameter specified occurs, the program specified by the corresponding parameter already operates. If the program is activated and stored in the main memory, the corresponding program is started as it is, and if the program specified by the parameter is not in the operable state, it is stored in the auxiliary storage device. Move the corresponding compressed program to the main memory and follow the prescribed decompression procedure. Program starting method characterized by operable state transition to and activates the migration program in the operable state.