JPH07325771A - File transfer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save the communication cost by transferring a file to a device of the opposite party side by a transfer system that is presently applied to its own device as lone as this system is included in the transfer systems of the opposite party side which are acquired in a negotiation mode and then inhibiting the transfer of the file if its own transfer system is not included in those of the opposite party side. CONSTITUTION:A communication control part 13 transfers the due data to a circuit control part 14 and also takes out the data received by the part 14. the part 14 secures an interface of facsimile to a subscriber circuit when the data are received from the part 13. Then the part 14 transfers the data to a device of the opposite party side via a public circuit network 40. Under such conditions, the function that is supported by the opposite party side in a negotiation mode is acquired and a negotiation table is produced. Then the supported transfer systems acquired from the opposite party side are compared with the transfer system selected at present by its own device. If the latter system is included in the former ones, the system is applied for transfer of a file. If not included, the transfer of the file is inhibited.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a file transfer device in an information processing device such as a personal computer or a word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, various data such as text data created by a user's key operation or image data read by a scanner is collected in each file and stored in a memory (hard disk, floppy disk, Magneto-optical disk, etc.)
There is a file transfer device for transferring the stored data for each file or collectively to an external device. Transferring data in the memory to an external device for each file is called file transfer, and transferring collectively is called volume transfer.

[0003]

However, in the conventional file transfer device as described above, it is not possible to grasp the state of the partner device such as the presence or absence of the file transfer function, and the file transfer is performed by the user's own judgment. Therefore, there is a problem in that even if a file of a type that the other machine cannot receive is transferred.

Further, since the other machine is specified, the compression method to be supported is fixed, and it is not possible to support various new models (compression method) in the future, and the compression rate does not increase. There is also. In addition, since files were transferred regardless of the available memory capacity (remaining memory capacity) of the other device, when writing directly to media such as floppy disks, time adjustment processing such as fill bit when writing is not in time, etc. Had to do.

Furthermore, if the file transfer is performed regardless of the remaining memory capacity of the partner machine, when the partner machine receives the memory, the only option is to disconnect the line halfway due to a communication error when the memory capacity is insufficient. , I had to throw away the data halfway. Moreover, if the line is interrupted due to a communication error, the data must be retransmitted from the beginning. In addition, the above-mentioned problems have resulted in extra communication costs.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and save communication costs.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by the following in a file transfer device for transferring a file.

[0008] According to the invention of claim 1, means for acquiring a transfer method supported by the partner device at the time of negotiation,
The transfer method acquired by the means is compared with the transfer method currently selected by the self-device, and if there is a transfer method currently selected by the self-device among the acquired transfer methods, the other transfer method is used. And a means for prohibiting the file transfer if the file is transferred to the machine.

According to the invention of claim 2, a means for acquiring a compression method supported by the other device at the time of negotiation,
The compression method acquired by the means is compared with the compression method currently selected by the self-device, and if there is a compression method currently selected by the self-device among the acquired compression methods, the other compression method is used. And a means for prohibiting the file transfer if the file is transferred to the machine.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the means for acquiring the memory capacity available to the partner at the time of negotiation and the memory capacity acquired by the means are compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred, and the acquired memory capacity is compared. If it is smaller, a means for selecting a compression method that operates with a smaller memory capacity is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the means for acquiring the memory capacity available to the partner at the time of negotiation and the memory capacity acquired by the means are compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred, and the acquired memory capacity is compared. If the number is smaller, the line is disconnected to put it in a standby state, and means for restarting the transfer control at a preset interval is provided.

According to the invention of claim 5, when transferring a plurality of files, a means for allocating one file to the page memory for one frame is provided. The invention of claim 6 is provided with means for designating the contents of the file to be transferred and means for selecting the compression method suitable for the contents of the file designated by the means.

According to the invention of claim 7, means for checking the contents of the file to be transferred and selecting a compression method suitable for the contents is provided. The invention of claim 8 provides means for checking the contents of the volume to be transferred and selecting a compression method suitable for the contents.

[0014]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the transfer method supported by the other device at the time of negotiation is acquired, the acquired transfer method is compared with the transfer method currently selected by the own device, and the acquired transfer method is acquired. If there is a transfer method currently selected by the device itself, the file transfer is performed to the other device using that transfer method.If not, the file transfer is prohibited. No more transferring files.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the compression method supported by the other device is acquired at the time of negotiation, the acquired compression method is compared with the compression method currently selected by the own device, and the acquisition is obtained. If there is a compression method currently selected by the device itself, the file transfer is performed to the other device using that compression method, and if not, the file transfer is prohibited. ) Can be widely supported.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the memory capacity that can be used by the partner at the time of negotiation is acquired, and the acquired memory capacity is compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred. If is small, select a compression method that operates with a small memory capacity.
It is possible to minimize writing directly to a medium such as a floppy disk.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the memory capacity that can be used by the other device at the time of negotiation is acquired, and the acquired memory capacity is compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred. If is small, the line is disconnected once to put it in a standby state, and transfer control is restarted at a preset interval. Therefore, a memory full error does not occur and the halfway data is not discarded.

According to the invention of claim 5, when transferring a plurality of files, each file is allocated to the page memory for one frame. Therefore, even if the line is interrupted due to a communication error, the page (file) is transferred. You can do it, and you don't have to resend it from the beginning. According to the invention of claim 6,
When the content of the file to be transferred is designated by the user, the compression method suitable for the content of the designated file is selected, so that the file can be compressed at high speed and with high efficiency.

According to the invention of claim 7, the contents of the file to be transferred are checked and the compression method suitable for the contents is selected, so that the file can be compressed at high speed and high efficiency. According to the invention of claim 8, the contents of the volume (disk) to be transferred are checked and the compression method suitable for the contents is selected, so that the file can be compressed at high speed and high efficiency.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of two information processing devices (file transfer devices) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The information processing devices 1 and 21 are displays 2 and 22 for displaying various kinds of information, touch panels 3 and 23 attached to respective screens for inputting various kinds of information by touch designation, and various kinds by key operation. It is provided with keyboards 4 and 24 for inputting information, mice 5 and 25 for inputting various information by movement in X and Y directions, and main bodies 6 and 26 for controlling the entire apparatus.

The main bodies 6 and 26 are respectively floppy disk drive devices 7 and 27, hard disk drive devices 8 and 28, memories 9 and 29, microcomputers (hereinafter referred to as "CPU") 10 and 30, and disk analysis unit 1.
1, 31, file control unit (FCU) 12, 32, communication control unit (CCU) 13, 33, line control unit (NCU) 1
4, 34 are provided.

Floppy disk drive device 7, 27
Is a floppy disk 1 that is detachably attached.
Various kinds of information are stored in and read out from the storage devices 5, 35. Hard disk drive device 8, 28
Stores various kinds of information in the fixed disk inside and reads out the stored information.

The memories 9 and 29 are respectively the CPU 10 and
It is used at the time of processing by 30 or the disk analysis units 11 and 31. CPUs 10 and 30 are ROM and R, respectively.
It is a general-purpose Mycoro computer that consists of AM, timer, I / O, etc., and controls the entire device as a whole. The disk analysis units 11 and 31 analyze the contents of the floppy disks 15 and 35 according to the instructions of the CPUs 10 and 30, respectively.

The file control units 12 and 32 are respectively C
Various data (information) is sent to the floppy disk drive device 7, 27 or the hard disk drive device 8, 28 for each file according to an instruction from the PU 10, 30, and fixed in the floppy disk 15, 35 or the hard disk drive device 8, 28. Let it burn to disc.

The communication control units 13 and 33 pass the data to be transferred to the line control units 14 and 34, respectively, and take out the data received by the line control units 14 and 34. The line control units 14 and 34 are respectively the communication control unit 1
When receiving data from 3, 33, the interface between the subscriber line and the facsimile (FAX) is established, and the public line network 4
It transfers data to the partner device via 0, or acts as an interface between the subscriber line and the facsimile when data is received from the partner device via the public line network 40.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the file transfer processing according to the present invention in this embodiment. The file transfer process in the information processing device 1 will be described here. The user of the information processing device 1 sets the floppy disk 15 in which the data to be transferred to the other device (information processing device 21) is stored in the floppy disk drive device 7 and then instructs the file transfer by the keyboard 4 or the like.

As a result, the CPU 10 uses the disk analysis unit 11 and the memory 9 and the like to execute the floppy disk 15
Analyze the contents of, to determine whether file transfer is possible,
If the file transfer is possible, the designated keys for the transfer methods of the volume transfer and the file transfer are displayed on the screen of the display 2, and the processing of FIG. 1 is started. First, in step 1, it is determined whether volume (entire contents of disk) transfer or file transfer is selected.

The touch panel 3, keyboard 4,
Alternatively, when the file transfer is selected by the mouse 5, in step 2, each file name is displayed on the screen of the display 2, and in step 3, it is determined that one of them (the file to be transferred) is designated. In step 4, the contents of the designated file of the floppy disk 15 are analyzed in detail by using the disk analysis unit 11 and the memory 9 in step 4, and the compression method candidates are selected in step 7.

That is, the contents of the file are checked using the file format table shown in Table 1 (BMP, T
(If the image file format is IFF, PCX, PICT, DRA, GIF, ZIM, etc., determine what kind of image it is by referring to the header described there)
Then, a compression method candidate suitable for the content (image) is selected from the compression method candidate table 1 shown in Table 2 (in this case, the first candidate is selected).

Instead of the file content analysis process of step 4, the determination of step 5, that is, the determination of whether or not the content of the file is designated by the user may be provided. In this case, in step 2, the name of each file and its contents (each image file such as text, word processing document, character image, photo image, color image) is displayed, and the user arbitrarily specifies the file and its contents. It can be so.

[0032]

[Table 1]

[0033]

[Table 2]

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 1 that the volume transfer is selected, the process proceeds to step 6 and the contents of the floppy disk 15 (volume) are analyzed in detail using the disk analysis unit 11 and the memory 9. In step 7, a compression method candidate is selected.

That is, the contents of the volume are checked (the file format peculiar to the OS such as DOS, OS / 2, MAC and UNIX) is checked using the file format format table shown in Table 3, and the compression method shown in Table 4 is used. A compression method candidate suitable for the contents (OS) is selected from the candidate table 2 (in this case, the first candidate is selected).

Then, in step 8, the floppy disk 1
After reading the data of the designated file or volume from 5 and compressing it with the selected compression method, it is stored in the fixed disk of the hard disk drive device 8 in step 9, and it is checked in step 10 whether there is another compression method candidate. If judged, if there is one, the process returns to step 7 to select the next compression method candidate (in this case, select from the second candidates), and thereafter the same processing as described above is repeated.

[0037]

[Table 3]

[0038]

[Table 4]

Then, when there are no other compression method candidates, the process proceeds to step 11 to start file (volume) transfer communication, and at step 12, negotiation is carried out. It should be noted that this negotiation is an extension portion newly provided for file transfer in a normal facsimile (FAX) protocol sequence, and refers to an exchange of function confirmation between the transmitter side and the receiver side.

At the time of this negotiation, the functions (compression method, transfer method, format type, SAF capacity (disk capacity), page memory capacity) supported by the partner machine are acquired to create a negotiation table as shown in Table 5. Then, in the next step 13, any one of the following support function check processes (1) to (4) (each process may be arbitrarily combined) is performed.

[0041]

[Table 5]

(1) The support transfer method (transfer method in the negotiation table) acquired from the partner machine is compared with the transfer method currently selected by the own machine to compare the support transfer method currently acquired from the partner machine with the current one. If there is a transfer method selected by the self-device, that transfer method is selected, and if not, the process ends (file transfer is prohibited).

(2) The support compression method (compression method in the negotiation table) acquired from the partner machine is compared with the compression method currently selected by the own machine, and the currently selected support compression method is obtained from the partner machine. If there is a compression method selected by itself, the compression method with the highest compression rate (smallest data capacity) is selected from the compression methods, and if not, the process ends.

(3) First, the compression method candidate table 1 of the remaining memory capacity (disk capacity in the negotiation table) acquired from the partner machine and the data capacity to be transferred
Or, compare it with the data capacity compressed by the compression method selected from the first candidates of 2 (including no compression), and if the remaining memory capacity is equal to or more than the data capacity, select the compression method. For example, comparing with a compression method (selected from the second to nth candidates of compression method candidate table 1 or 2) that operates with a memory capacity smaller than the remaining memory capacity acquired from the other device, If there is a compression method having the data capacity of, the compression method is selected, and if not, the process ends.

(4) The remaining memory capacity obtained from the partner machine is compared with the data capacity to be transferred (for example, the data capacity compressed by a compression method designated in advance), and if the remaining memory capacity is equal to or larger than the data capacity. If you choose that compression method, if not, disconnect the line once and put it in the standby state,
Data transfer communication is performed again at an interval (retry interval table in Table 6) set according to the number of retries. The retry interval table can be arbitrarily set by the user.

When the support function check process of step 13 is completed, the process proceeds to step 14, and data transfer for transferring the data (file) compressed by the selected compression method to the information processing device 21 which is the partner device is started. In step 15, the data is allocated to the page memory for one frame for each file. That is, when there are two files to be transferred in units of files, an identifier is inserted at the end of the data of the first file, and then the data of the second file is connected.

[0047]

[Table 6]

As a result, the data compressed by the selected compression method is read out for each file from the fixed disk of the hard disk drive unit 8 via the file control unit 12 and passed to the communication control unit 13 for line control. Part 14
As a result, the interface between the subscriber line and the facsimile is taken, and the data is transferred to the information processing device 21 via the public line network 40.

Next, the data receiving process in the information processing device 21 will be described. When data is sent from the information processing device 1 through the public line network 40, the CPU 30 receives the data by the line control unit 34 to interface the subscriber line and the facsimile, and the communication control unit 33 sends the data. File control section 3
After writing to the fixed disk of the hard disk drive device 28 via 2, the received data list and the like are displayed on the screen of the display 22.

Here, when the user designates the data to be written on the floppy disk with the touch panel 23, the keyboard 24 or the mouse 25 and sets the floppy disk 35 in the floppy disk drive device 27, the CPU 30 causes the CPU 30 to analyze the disk 29 and the memory 29. Etc. are used to analyze the format of the floppy disk 35.

Then, based on the analysis result, it is checked whether or not the format type matches the format type of the designated received data. If they match, the received data is designated by the designated transfer method and compression. method,
According to the file type, the file is read from the fixed disk of the hard disk drive 28 via the file control unit 32 (expanded if compressed) and written to the floppy disk 35.

The functions and effects of this embodiment will be listed below. (1) Acquire the transfer method supported by the other device at the time of negotiation, compare the acquired transfer method with the transfer method currently selected by the own device, and use the acquired transfer method by the current device. If there is a selected transfer method, the file transfer is performed to the other device using that transfer method, and if not, the file transfer can be prohibited, so the file of the type that the other device cannot receive will be transferred. And avoid unnecessary file transfers.

(2) Obtain the compression method supported by the other device at the time of negotiation, compare the obtained compression method with the compression method currently selected by the own device, and compare the obtained compression method with the current one. If there is a compression method selected by your machine, you can transfer the file to the other machine using that compression method, and if you do not, you can prohibit the file transfer, so for any model (compression method) However, it can be widely supported.

(3) The memory capacity (remaining memory capacity) that can be used by the other device at the time of negotiation is acquired, and the acquired memory capacity is compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred. When the size is small, a compression method that operates with a small memory capacity can be selected, and therefore writing directly to a medium such as a floppy disk can be suppressed to a minimum.

(4) The memory capacity available to the other device at the time of negotiation is acquired, the acquired memory capacity is compared with the data capacity of the file to be transferred, and once the acquired memory capacity is smaller, once. Since the line can be disconnected to put it in a standby state and data transfer communication (transfer control) can be restarted at a preset interval, it is possible to prevent the data from being discarded halfway due to a memory full error. Further, it is not necessary to restart the data transfer from the beginning.

(5) When transferring a plurality of files, 1
Since each frame is allocated to the page memory for one frame, even if the line is interrupted due to a communication error, the page (file) can be transferred, and there is no need to resend from the beginning. (6) When the content of a file to be transferred is designated by the user, a compression method suitable for the content of the designated file can be selected, so that the file can be compressed at high speed and high efficiency.

According to (7), since the contents of the file to be transferred can be checked and the compression method suitable for the contents can be selected, the same effect as (6) can be obtained. (8) Since the contents of the disk (volume) to be transferred can be checked and the compression method suitable for the contents can be selected, the same effect as (6) can be obtained. In addition, it is possible to save communication costs due to the above-described effects.

Although the floppy disk drive devices 7 and 27 are used in this embodiment, they may be replaced with other storage devices such as a magneto-optical disk device and a hard disk drive device. Further, the hard disk drive devices 8 and 28 may be replaced with other storage devices such as the memories 9 and 29.

[0059]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, unnecessary file transfer can be avoided. According to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to widely support any type (compression method). According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to minimize writing directly to a medium such as a floppy disk. According to the inventions of claims 4 and 5,
Even if the line is interrupted due to a communication error, there is no need to restart data transfer from the beginning. According to the inventions of claims 6 to 8, the file can be compressed at high speed and with high efficiency. Moreover, communication costs can be saved by these inventions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a file transfer process according to the present invention in the information processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of two information processing apparatuses which are one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 21: Information processing device 2, 22: Display 3, 23: Touch panel 4, 24: Keyboard 5, 25: Mouse 6, 26: Main body 7, 27: Floppy disk drive device 8, 28: Hard disk drive device 9, 29 : Memory 10, 30: Microcomputer 11, 31: Disk analysis unit 12, 32: File control unit (FCU) 13, 33: Communication control unit (CCU) 14, 34: Line control unit (NCU) 15, 35: Floppy Disk 40: Public network

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A file transfer apparatus for transferring a file, a means for acquiring a transfer method supported by a partner apparatus at the time of negotiation, a transfer method acquired by the means, and a transfer method currently selected by the own apparatus. If there is a transfer method currently selected by the device itself among the acquired transfer methods, the transfer method is used to transfer the file to the other device, and if not, means for prohibiting the file transfer A file transfer device characterized by being provided. 2. A file transfer apparatus for transferring a file, a means for acquiring a compression method supported by a partner apparatus at the time of negotiation, a compression method acquired by the means, and a compression method currently selected by the own apparatus. If there is a compression method currently selected by the self-apparatus among the obtained compression methods, the file is transferred to the other machine using the compression method, and if not, a means for prohibiting the file transfer is provided. A file transfer device characterized by being provided. 3. In a file transfer device for transferring a file, a means for acquiring a memory capacity that can be used by a partner at the time of negotiation and a memory capacity acquired by the means are compared with a data capacity of a file to be transferred.
And a means for selecting a compression method that operates with a smaller memory capacity when the acquired memory capacity is smaller. 4. In a file transfer device for transferring a file, a means for acquiring a memory capacity that can be used by a partner at the time of negotiation and a memory capacity acquired by the means are compared with a data capacity of a file to be transferred.
If the acquired memory capacity is smaller, the file transfer apparatus is provided with means for disconnecting the line once to put it in a standby state and restarting transfer control at a preset interval. 5. A file transfer device for transferring a file, wherein when transferring a plurality of files, a means for allocating each file to a page memory for one frame is provided. 6. A file transfer device for transferring a file, and means for designating contents of a file to be transferred,
And a means for selecting a compression method suitable for the contents of the file designated by the means. 7. A file transfer device for transferring a file, comprising means for checking the contents of a file to be transferred and selecting a compression method suitable for the contents. 8. A file transfer device for transferring a file, comprising means for checking the contents of a volume to be transferred and selecting a compression method suitable for the contents.