JPH06124251A - Automatic installation method to lan terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly and efficiently perform an installation operation to a LAN terminal by anyone. CONSTITUTION:An FEP program part is developed at a development terminal to be transferred to a host machine (102) and an updated distribution list file is transferred to the host machine (105.) On a general terminal side, 'obtaining new menu list' is selected from a menu (112) and thus the distribution list file is automatically obtained from the host machine (113) to be displayed (114). By selecting a system name to be obtained (115), a program for installation is automatically generated (116).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic installation method for installing a program in a terminal connected to a LAN (local area network).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A host machine and a terminal are connected via a LAN, and one or a plurality of business processing systems are operated in cooperation with the host machine and the terminal. Figure 5
In FIG. 2, the LAN 11 is connected to the host machine 12 and a plurality of terminals 14, and the host machine 12 is connected to the external storage device 13. Here, the business processing system is a system that comprises a group of application programs and performs organic processing, and examples thereof include an electronic mail system and a management information management system. LA
When configuring a business processing system using N, the business processing system is divided into a front-end processor (FEP) and a back-end processor (BEP), and F
The EP program is installed, and the BEP program is installed on the host machine side.

Consider the case of introducing a new service, that is, a business processing system. In this case, it is necessary to newly install the BEP program for providing the service in the host machine and the FEP program in each terminal. In order to install the FEP program on each terminal, generally, the FEP program portion is first created on a development terminal (a terminal used for developing the FEP program portion among terminals connected to the LAN),
The FEP program part is stored in advance in the external storage device of the host machine via the LAN, and then the FEP program part is sent via the LAN to a general terminal (terminals connected to the LAN other than the development terminal) It is done by pulling it to the side. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a conventional procedure for installing the FEP program part in a terminal, where (a) shows the procedure on the development terminal side and (b) shows the procedure on the general terminal side.

When the terminal-side execution file (FEP portion) relating to the new service is completed on the development terminal, the execution file is bound (step 201). The execution file is not limited to a single file, and there may be data files that accompany the execution file. Therefore, this binding operation allows these execution files and data files to be combined into a single bind file. And compress it. Then, this bind file is transferred from the development terminal to the host machine by a network command and stored in the host machine side (step 2).
02).

In a general terminal, first, L from the host machine
The bind file is acquired via the AN (step 211). Then, a directory for storing the FEP part for the new service is created on the general terminal (step 212), and the bind file is moved to the created directory (step 213). Then, the bind file is decompressed (step 214). Here, decompression is to extract the original execution file, data file, and the like from a file (bind file) that is combined and compressed into one file. As a result, the same executable file created on the development terminal side will exist in the directory for the new service. After decompressing the file, the bind file becomes unnecessary, so the bind file is deleted (step 215).
Finally, the program name of this service is added to the menu so that a new service can be selected from the menu screen of the terminal (step 216). From the above,
This means that the installation of the FEP program part on the general terminal has been completed.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional installation method, even if the general terminal side has a graphical user interface (G
Even if the business processing system can be started by UI), the work of installing the FEP program part of the new business processing system is not supported by this GUI. It is necessary to proceed while inputting commands. In the flowchart of FIG. 6 (b), the number of commands to be input at each step is displayed between <<>>. For example, in the transfer of the bind file in step 211, the connection between the terminal and the host machine is established,
Four commands, that is, opening a file on the host machine side, transferring the opened file to the terminal side, and releasing the connection with the host machine must be sequentially input. After all, in order to perform this installation, 12 commands must be sequentially input in the general terminal as a standard.

Thus, in the conventional installation method,
Since a large number of commands have to be directly input, there is a problem in that the installation work can be performed only by a certain expert of the computer, and there are many mistakes in inputting the commands. In addition, since it is generally necessary to install the software on dozens to hundreds of terminals, it takes a lot of time to install it on all terminals, and it takes about one week as a period. is there. In addition, when a bug is fixed or a reinstallation is performed due to a version upgrade, it may be difficult to adjust the schedule for that purpose.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic installation method for a LAN terminal, which enables anyone to perform installation work quickly and efficiently.

[0009]

According to the automatic installation method for a LAN terminal of the present invention, a new program is added to a terminal connected to a host machine via a LAN and a program to be executed is selected in a menu format. To store the distribution list file in the host machine, read the distribution list file from the host machine, display the distribution list file in a menu format, and install the new program when a new program is selected. A distribution list display selection program for automatically generating the installation program for executing the installation program is prepared, and the distribution list display selection program is registered in the menu of the terminal so that the program can be selected and executed. Prior to installation work on A new program to be installed by storing the new program in the host machine, registering the name of the new program in the distribution list file, executing the distribution list display selection program on the terminal to display the distribution list file, and installing the new program. , The installation program is automatically generated by the selection, the installation program is started, and the new program to be installed is transferred from the host machine to the terminal by the execution of the installation program, and the new program is The installation is completed by being registered in the menu.

[0010]

[Operation] A distribution list display selection program is registered in the terminal menu. This distribution list display selection program reads the distribution list file from the host machine and displays it in a menu format.When a new program is selected, an installation program for installing the new program is automatically generated and installed. It is for executing the application program. Therefore, when installing a new program, select the distribution list display selection program on the menu screen when the terminal is started and execute it, and select the new program to be installed in the menu format from the distribution list file displayed by the distribution list display selection program. By selecting, the new program will be installed in the terminal. After all, the installation of the new program is completed by selecting the distribution list display selection program and the new program to be installed once, twice in total, on the menu-type selection screen. Since the installation can be done by only selecting twice on the menu type selection screen, anyone can perform the installation work quickly and efficiently.

In order to reduce the storage area required for storing the FEP part in the host machine and to shorten the transfer time, the new program is stored in the host machine as a compressed file and installed. It is preferable that the program for use is a program that unzips the one file and installs it on the terminal.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Here, L of the connection configuration shown in FIG.
A new business processing system F can be added to the terminal connected to the AN.
An example of installing the EP program part will be described.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the present embodiment, where (a) shows the procedure on the development terminal side, and (b) shows the procedure on the general terminal side.

It is assumed that the distribution list file described later is stored in advance in the host machine. The file name of the distribution list file is, for example, "distlist".
In the distribution list file, names of FEP program parts already stored in the host machine are registered.

First, the FEP program portion (execution file) is developed on the development terminal side. Here, for example, it is assumed that a business processing system having a system name "management index" has been developed and the FEP program part of the "management index" system has been developed. When the development is completed, the executable files of these "management index" systems are bound (step 101). At this time, if there are data files attached to the execution file, these data files are also bound together. Binding, as described above, is to collectively compress a plurality of files and programs into one binding file. Then, the file transfer command is used to transfer the bind file from the development terminal to the host machine (step 102).
After that, the distribution list file is transferred from the host machine to the development terminal (step 103), and the name of the newly developed business processing system is added to the distribution list file (step 104). In this case, a name such as "management index" is added. Then, the distribution list file is transferred to the host machine, and the work on the development terminal is completed (step 105). By the series of these operations, the contents of the distribution list file 21 become as shown in FIG. In the distribution list file 22, in addition to the system name,
For each business processing system, the command name ("execution name") used to start the system on that terminal, the name of the bind file on the host machine ("bind file name"), the date stored on the host machine (“Distribution month”), the directory name (“directory”) that is the installation destination of the terminal when the business processing system is installed in the terminal, comments, etc. are recorded.

Next, the work on the side of the general terminal will be described.

First, the general terminal will be described. This general terminal is a program to be executed (business processing system)
Is selected in the menu format, and the menu is automatically displayed by the menu program even when the terminal itself is activated such as when the power is turned on. That is, a menu program (for example, "uu.exe" with an executable file name) is automatically started. This menu program is a menu table stored in the terminal (for example, the file name is "winsmenu.tb
l "), the system name of the business processing system is displayed. Then, the user can select the program to be executed by using the cursor keys or the mouse. 3, a general terminal is provided with a list file acquisition program and a list file display selection program. Configure the distribution list display selection program.

Here, the contents of the menu table 22 and FIG.
Comparing the contents of the distribution list file 21 shown in
In the menu table 22, “acquire new menu list” which is not included in the distribution list file 21 is registered. The “management index” is not registered in the menu table 22. The "management index" is not registered because the installation on the general terminal side has not been completed at this point. On the other hand, "Get new menu list" has, for example, a startup file name of "getnew", and by selecting and executing this "get new menu list", a program for obtaining a list file is started. .

The list file acquisition program is, for example, a batch format file whose file name is "getnew.bat", and acquires the distribution list file from the host machine side and activates the list file display selection program. belongs to. Also, the program for selecting the list file display is, for example, "vv.exe" in the executable file name, and the acquired distribution list file is displayed in the menu format, and when the system name to be installed is selected, The installation program corresponding to the system name is automatically generated and the installation program is started.

Next, the flow of processing in the general terminal will be described step by step.

First, the menu program is activated by turning on the power (step 111). As a result, the menu table is read and displayed in the menu format. Here, the user selects "acquire new menu list" using the cursor keys or the mouse (step 11).
2). As a result, the list file acquisition program is activated, the distribution list file is transferred from the host machine, and the transferred distribution list file is displayed in a menu format by the list file display selection program (step 114).

Here, the user selects the system name to be installed from the displayed arrangement list file by using the cursor keys or the mouse (step 11).
5). In this case, "Management Index" is installed, so select "Management Index". This allows
The program for selecting a list file display automatically generates an installation program corresponding to the selected system name and activates this installation program (step 116). As a result, the installation is automatically performed, and the installation work is completed.

Next, details of the installation program will be described. The installation program is, for example, a batch format program whose file name is "getsys.bat", and the list file display is performed by determining the arguments for each command that constitutes this batch format program according to the selected system name. It is automatically generated by the program for selection. The processing performed by this installation program will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the bind file corresponding to the designated system name is obtained from the host machine (step 151). For "management index", file ": newkei
_a.lzh "is obtained from the host machine. Then, a directory (" nkei "for" management index ") corresponding to the specified system is created in the general terminal (step 15).
2) The obtained bind file is moved into this directory (step 153) and the bind file is decompressed (step 154). As a result, the FEP program portion of the designated system and the data file associated with the execution file are expanded in the created directory. After decompression, the bind file is unnecessary and is deleted (step 155). Further, as a result of the decompression, a batch file for startup for the specified system has been generated, so this batch file for startup is moved to the directory for automatic startup (for example, the directory name is "autoload") (step 156). ). Then, the system name of the designated system is added to the menu table (step 157), and the menu program is activated (step 158). As a result, the control returns to the menu program, the updated contents of the menu table are displayed, and the installation work is completed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the FEP portion and the distribution list file are stored in the host machine in advance, and the installation program is automatically generated by the distribution list display selection program on the terminal side. As a result, even if a large number of LAN terminals are installed, anyone can install them quickly and efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an automatic installation method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is work on a development terminal side,
(b) shows the work on the general terminal side.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a distribution list file.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a menu table.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of an installation program.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a LAN connection configuration.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of a conventional installation method, in which (a) shows work on the development terminal side and (b) shows work on the general terminal side.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 LAN 12 Host Machine 13 External Storage Device 14 Terminal 21 Distribution List File 22 Menu Table 101-105, 111-116, 151-158 Steps

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic installation method for adding a new program to a terminal connected to a host machine via a LAN and selecting a program to be executed in a menu format, wherein a distribution list file is stored in the host machine. , The distribution list file is read from the host machine and displayed in a menu format, and when a new program is selected, an installation program for installing the new program is automatically generated and the installation program is executed. A distribution list display selection program is prepared, and the distribution list display selection program is registered in a menu of the terminal so that the program can be selected and executed. Prior to installation on the terminal, the new program is stored in the host machine. Store with said new The name of the program is registered in the distribution list file, the distribution list display selection program is executed on the terminal to display the distribution list file, a new program to be installed is selected, and the installation program is automatically selected by the selection. A new program to be installed is generated, the installation program is started, the new program to be installed is transferred from the host machine to the terminal by the execution of the installation program, and the new program is registered in the menu to complete the installation. Characteristic automatic installation method to LAN terminal. 2. The LAN terminal according to claim 1, wherein the new program is stored in the host machine as a single compressed file, and the installation program decompresses the single file to execute installation on the terminal. Automatic installation method to.