JPH0628281A - Method and device for abnormality processing in network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily reset the hang-up of a converting device on a data processor side by resetting the converting device in response to the supply of no next flow control switching signal in a specific time. CONSTITUTION:The converting device 3 waits until an XOFF signal is received, starts time clocking action, and decides whether or not an XON signal has been received. When it is decided that the XON signal has not been received, it is decided whether the clocked time has reached a specific reference time and when not, a decision is made again. When it is decided that the specific reference time has been reached, on the other hand, a fault detection signal indicating that a fault occurs to a terminal device 5 is generated and sent out to the data processor 2, and a reset command from the data processor 2 is expected; and an PS232C control task, a buffer, etc., are eliminated, and an RS232C control task is newly restarted to perform the 1st process again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an abnormality processing method and an apparatus therefor in a network system, and more specifically, a plurality of data processing apparatuses are connected to a network communication line and a terminal apparatus is a conversion apparatus and a local apparatus. In a network system connected to a network communication line via a communication line, a method for detecting the occurrence of an abnormality in a terminal device and eliminating the hang-up of a conversion device due to the abnormality of the terminal device, and the device therefor Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a network system in which a plurality of data processing devices are connected to a network communication line has been adopted in various fields. Further, generally, fewer input / output devices than the number of data processing devices are connected to this network system, and resource saving can be achieved by sharing the input / output devices by a plurality of data processing devices. By the way, as the above-mentioned input / output device, not only a high-performance input / output device which itself has a processor etc. but also a simple input / output device for executing only necessary input / output functions are included. For example, if it is the latter I / O device, connect the converter to the network communication line, and connect the converter and the I / O device with a local communication line. Must be connected. Here, as the local communication line, for example, RS232C
A communication line conforming to the above is used in an asynchronous non-procedure, and the conversion device performs a conversion process so that the data transferred through the network communication line and the asynchronous non-procedural data of RS232C are mutually adapted.

Therefore, for example, when the output data is transferred from the data processing device to the output device through the network communication line, first, the output data is transferred from the data processing device to the conversion device. Then, the RS232C asynchronous non-procedure between the conversion device and the output device, that is, the flow control switching signal (for example, XON / XOFF) supplied from the output device to the conversion device is identified, and X
Only when the ON signal is supplied, the output data is transferred to the output device through the local communication line. As a result, the output data can be sequentially transferred from the conversion device according to the operating speed of the output device, and the output processing based on the transferred output data can be achieved.

[0004]

In the network system having the above-mentioned configuration, the output device converts the XO to the conversion device.
After the FF signal is supplied, if the output device runs out of paper, is jammed, or has a failure such as power interruption due to an erroneous operation, the XON signal is not supplied from the output device forever, and the converter hangs up. I will end up. And
In order to cancel the hang-up of the conversion device, not only the cause of the failure in the output device is eliminated, but also the application program running on the data processing device that has instructed the data output is terminated, and then the conversion device is restarted. There is an inconvenience that the resetting process has to be reset, and the recovery work becomes extremely complicated.

Although only the case where the output device has a failure has been described above, the same inconvenience also occurs when the input device has a failure.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent a hang-up of a conversion device when a failure occurs in the conversion device and an input / output device connected via a local communication line. An object of the present invention is to provide an abnormality processing method and its apparatus in a network system that can be easily reset on the processing apparatus side.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an abnormality processing method in a network system for achieving the above object, which is within a predetermined time after a flow control switching signal is supplied from a terminal device to a conversion device. Is determined whether or not the next flow control switching signal is supplied, and the converter is reset in response to the fact that the next flow control switching signal is not supplied within a predetermined time.

The abnormality processing device in the network system according to claim 2 determines whether or not the next flow control switching signal is supplied within a predetermined time after the flow control switching signal is supplied from the terminal device to the conversion device. And a resetting means for resetting the conversion device in response to the determination result of the abnormality determining means indicating that the next flow control switching signal has not been supplied within the predetermined time.

[0009]

According to the abnormality processing method in the network system of claim 1, the data processing device connected to the network communication line is connected to the network communication line via the conversion device and the local communication line based on the data from the data processing device. When operating the terminal device, whether the next flow control switching signal is supplied within a predetermined time after the flow control switching signal is supplied from the terminal device to the conversion device, that is, the terminal device has a failure. It is determined whether or not it has occurred, and that there is a failure in the terminal device,
That is, the converter can be reset by the data processing device in response to the fact that the next flow control switching signal is not supplied within the predetermined time. Therefore, the data processing device side resets the conversion device which hangs up as it is because the next flow control switching signal is not supplied for a long time after the predetermined flow control switching signal is supplied to the conversion device. As a result, if the fault actually occurring in the terminal device is eliminated, then the terminal device can be controlled by the data processing device without any inconvenience. That is, the user of the data processing device only has to repair the failure of the terminal device without paying attention to the intervening conversion device, and the workability for the abnormal processing can be significantly improved.

According to another aspect of the network system of the present invention, the abnormality processing device is connected to the network communication line via the conversion device and the local communication line based on the data from the data processing device connected to the network communication line. When operating the terminal device, whether the next flow control switching signal is supplied within a predetermined time after the flow control switching signal is supplied from the terminal device to the conversion device, that is, the terminal device has a failure. The conversion device determines whether or not it is occurring, and in response to the fact that the terminal device has a failure, that is, the next flow control switching signal is not supplied within the predetermined time, Since the determination result in step 1 is supplied to the data processing device, the conversion device can be reset by the data processing device based on the determination result. Kill. Therefore, the data processing device side resets the conversion device which hangs up as it is because the next flow control switching signal is not supplied for a long time after the predetermined flow control switching signal is supplied to the conversion device. As a result, if the fault actually occurring in the terminal device is eliminated, then the terminal device can be controlled by the data processing device without any inconvenience. That is, the user of the data processing device only has to repair the failure of the terminal device without paying attention to the intervening conversion device, and the workability for the abnormal processing can be significantly improved.

[0011]

Embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings showing embodiments. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a network system to which the abnormality processing method of the present invention is applied. A plurality of data processing devices 2 are connected to a network communication line 1.
(Only one is shown in the figure) is connected, as well as the converter 3. A printer 5 is connected to the conversion device 3 via a local communication line 4. The network communication line 1 performs data transfer based on the standard of a local area network (hereinafter abbreviated as LAN), and the local communication line 4 performs data transfer based on the RS232C asynchronous non-procedure standard. The conversion device 3 performs data conversion between the LAN standard and the RS232C asynchronous non-procedure standard. Further, the flow control between the conversion device 3 and the printer 5 is performed by XON / XOFF. That is, when the XON signal indicating the data transfer acceptable state is supplied, the local communication line 4
When the XOFF signal indicating the data transfer unacceptable state is supplied, the next XO
By suspending the data transfer until the N signal is supplied, the data transfer to the terminal device 5 can be performed without causing the data overflow or the like.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining an embodiment of the abnormality processing method of the present invention. After outputting the output instruction data and the output data to the printer 5 to the network communication line 1 while the data processing device 2 is performing the processing based on the application program,
The processing based on the application program is performed as it is in a state where the failure detection signal can be received from the conversion device 3. When a failure detection signal from the conversion device 3 is received in this state, the data processing device 2 outputs a reset command instructing to start the RS232C control program of the conversion device 3.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart for explaining the processing in the converter, and XOFF is performed in step SP1.
It waits until it receives a signal, starts the time counting operation in step SP2, and determines in step SP3 whether or not it has received an XON signal. XON in step SP3
If it is determined that the signal has not been received, it is determined in step SP4 whether or not the measured time has reached a predetermined reference time. If it has not reached the predetermined reference time, the determination in step SP3 is performed again. . Conversely, step SP4
If it is determined in step SP5 that the predetermined reference time has been reached, a fault detection signal indicating that a fault has occurred in the terminal device is generated in step SP5 and sent to the data processing device 2, and in step SP6 the data is output. Wait until the reset command is supplied from the processing device 2, and then step S
In P7, the RS232C control task, the buffer, etc. at the corresponding time are erased, the RS232C control task is newly restarted in step SP8, and the process of step SP1 is performed again. In addition, the above step SP3
When it is determined that the XON signal is received in
In step SP9, the timed time is cleared, and the process of step SP1 is performed again. In the flow chart of FIG. 1, the processing of the portion that transfers data when no failure has occurred is omitted.

As is clear from the above description, when no failure has occurred in the terminal device 5, XON is supplied from the terminal device 5 until the predetermined reference time elapses after the XOFF signal is supplied. Since the signal is supplied, necessary data can be sequentially transferred from the conversion device 3 to the terminal device 5 without any inconvenience. On the contrary, when some trouble occurs in the terminal device 5 after the XOFF signal is supplied to the conversion device 3, the XON signal is not supplied even after the predetermined reference time has elapsed, and thus the conventional configuration is used. If this is adopted, the conversion device 3 hangs up while waiting to transfer the next data. However, in this embodiment, when the XON signal is not supplied forever, the converter 3 supplies the fault detection signal to the data processor 2 and the data processor 2 supplies the reset command to the converter 3. Therefore, in the conversion device 3, the RS232C control task in the hung-up state, the buffer, and the like can be deleted, and the RS232C control task can be newly restarted. Therefore, if the fault actually occurring in the terminal device 5 is eliminated, the data transfer to the terminal device 5 becomes possible immediately. That is, since the operator can perform the abnormal processing without considering the existence of the conversion device 3, the workability of the abnormal processing can be significantly improved.

[0015]

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the abnormality processing device of the present invention, in which the data processing device 2 receives the fault detection signal supplied from the conversion device 3 as a condition. 3 includes a reset command unit 21 that supplies a reset command to the device 3. In addition, the conversion device 3 operates under the condition that the XOFF signal is received from the terminal device 5, and the time counting unit that determines whether the time measured by the time counting unit 31 reaches a predetermined reference time. A failure detection signal supply unit 33 that supplies a failure detection signal to the data processing device 2 in response to the determination result of the unit 32 and the measurement time determination unit 32 that indicates that the measurement time has reached a predetermined reference time.
In response to the operation of the failure detection signal supply unit 33, waiting for the supply of the reset command, the RS232C control task, the task erasing unit 34 for erasing the conventional RS232C control task, the buffer and the like on condition that the reset command is supplied Elimination part 34
Task restarting unit 35 for restarting the RS232C task in response to the operation of, and the timer unit 3 on condition that the XON signal is received before the clocking time reaches a predetermined reference time.
And a time counting time clearing unit 36 for clearing the time counting time according to 1.

The operation of the abnormality processing device having the above configuration is as follows. When no failure has occurred in the terminal device 5, the XON signal is supplied from the terminal device 5 to start the operation. Since the signal is received, the clocked time is cleared by the clocked time clearing unit 36 each time, and the necessary data can be sequentially transferred from the conversion device 3 to the terminal device 5 without any inconvenience.

On the contrary, the terminal device 5 transfers the XOF to the conversion device 3.
When some trouble occurs in the terminal device 5 after the F signal is supplied, the time measuring section 31 judges that the time measured by the time measuring section 31 has reached a predetermined reference time. If the same configuration is adopted, the conversion device 3 will hang up while waiting to transfer the next data. However, in this embodiment, when the XON signal is not supplied forever, the failure detection signal supply unit 33 supplies the failure detection signal to the data processing device 2, and the reset command unit 21 of the data processing device 2 instructs the conversion device 3 to operate. Since the reset command is supplied by the task erasing unit 34 in the conversion device 3, the RS232C control task in the hung state, the buffer, etc. are annihilated, and the task restarting unit 35 newly creates the RS23.
Restart the 2C control task. Therefore, the terminal device 5
If the failure actually occurring is eliminated, the data transfer to the terminal device 5 becomes possible immediately. That is, since the operator can perform the abnormal processing without considering the existence of the conversion device 3, the workability of the abnormal processing can be significantly improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be applied to, for example, a network system having a network communication line or a local communication line of a standard different from those of the above-mentioned embodiments. Various design changes can be made within the scope of the present invention.

[0019]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the user of the data processing device only needs to recover the failure of the terminal device without being aware of the intervening conversion device. There is a unique effect that the workability can be significantly improved. Also in the invention of claim 2, the user of the data processing device only needs to recover the failure of the terminal device without being aware of the intervening conversion device, and the workability for the abnormal processing can be significantly improved. It has the unique effect of being able to do it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an abnormality processing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an abnormality processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a network system to which the abnormality processing method of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 network communication line 2 data processing device 3 conversion device 4 local communication line 5 terminal device 21 reset command unit 31 timekeeping unit 32 timekeeping time determination unit 34 task disappearance unit 35 task restart unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of data processing devices (2) are connected to a network communication line (1), and a terminal device (5) performs network communication via a conversion device (3) and a local communication line (4). In the network system connected to the line (1), the terminal device (5)
It is determined whether or not the next flow control switching signal is supplied within a predetermined time after the flow control switching signal is supplied from the converter to the converter (3), and the next flow control switching signal is supplied within the predetermined time. An abnormality processing method in a network system, characterized in that the conversion device (3) is reset in response to the failure. 2. A plurality of data processing devices (2) are connected to a network communication line (1), and a terminal device (5) performs network communication via a conversion device (3) and a local communication line (4). In the network system connected to the line (1), the terminal device (5)
Abnormality determining means (31) (32) for determining whether or not the next flow control switching signal is supplied within a predetermined time after the flow control switching signal is supplied from the converter to the conversion device (3).
And reset means (21) (34) (for resetting the conversion device in response to the determination result of the abnormality determination means (31) (32) indicating that the next flow control switching signal has not been supplied within the predetermined time. 35) An abnormality processing device in a network system, comprising: