JPH0756743A - Method and device for managing module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to manage respective modules by a memory space of small capacity in the case of expressing an execution type program, data or the like as modules and developing the modules in a memory. CONSTITUTION:Plural modules are previously stored in an external storage device under equal relation and a module is inputted to a memory 13, if necessary. Module attribute information including the operation environment of the module concerned and the execution history of relative modules is prepared by an attribute information preparing part 15, and after completing the execution of the module, the succeeding module is accessed and a succession substituting part 16 allows the succeeding module to succeed the module attribute information and substitutes the succeeding module for the current module in the memory 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory management technique for an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for managing a plurality of execution-type modules developed on a memory.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus, in order to efficiently expand data received from an input device or an executable program into its main storage area (hereinafter, memory), the program or the like is modularized in advance for each function. Generally, each module has a master-slave relationship and is hierarchically managed. In such a module management method, the parent module activates the child module and the child module activates the grandchild module on the memory. In this case, the upper module is suspended while the lower module is being executed, and control is automatically switched to the upper module after the lower module is completed.

[0003]

The above-mentioned module management method is a generally established method, but the switching of modules is performed by an OS (Operating System), and the upper module is when the lower module is executing. Since it also resides in the memory, the memory usage area increases in a superimposed manner when, for example, a large-scale program with a deep hierarchy in which a child module further calls a grandchild module is executed. Therefore, regardless of whether the OS is single task or multitask, the information processing apparatus using only the internal memory is likely to be unexecutable, and even if the external memory such as the hard disk is used, the execution speed is significantly increased. There was a problem of falling.

For example, in the case of constructing a system in which a plurality of users access by using a multitasking OS, as shown in FIG. 6, each user simultaneously calls module A → module B → module C in that order. Then, the memory empty area indicated by the diagonal line decreases sharply, and some users become inaccessible.

Therefore, conventionally, as a means for solving such a problem, an internal memory is added to increase the memory space, or a memory space is virtually expanded by using a technique such as EMS (Expanded Memory Manager). Was being done. However, there is a certain limit to memory expansion, and even when using an EMS or the like, complicated operations and processing are involved, so that there is a problem that it is not possible to flexibly cope with the recent enlargement of application programs. A module management method has been desired.

The present invention was devised under such a background, solves the above problems, and manages a large number of modules that inherit their attribute information in a small capacity memory space and its realization. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0007]

The present invention does not adopt the master-slave relationship of the modules to be managed as in the prior art, but makes each module exist in an equal relationship and calls each module as necessary. The above problem is solved by using a hyper-structure, inheriting the operating environment of the executed modules, the execution order, and the history of the calling states, and substituting each module in the memory.

That is, the module management method of the present invention reads the first module into the main memory area of the information processing apparatus and creates module attribute information including the operating environment of the first module and the execution history of related modules. At the same time, after the execution of the module is completed, the module attribute information is inherited by the second module, and the second module is replaced with the first module in the main storage area. In the above method, the module attribute information to be inherited may be made into a file, and contact information for contacting this file may be made resident in the main storage area.

Further, the module management device of the present invention creates module attribute information including a module call means for reading the first module into its own main storage area, an operating environment of the called module and an execution history of related modules. Attribute information creating means, a call instructing means for giving a call instruction of the second module to the module calling means by referring to the module attribute information after the execution of the first module, and based on this call instruction It has an inheritance replacing means for making the called second module inherit the module attribute information and replacing it with the first module in the main memory area.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a network-compatible information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an example of a system under a multitasking OS in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected via a communication network.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a module management device,
2 is an external storage device, 3 is a LAN (Local Area Network)
k) and 4 are terminal devices. The module management device 1
Input / output interface 11, CPU 12, memory 1
3, a module execution unit 14, an attribute information creation unit 15, and an inheritance replacement unit 16. In this system, a plurality of users can simultaneously access the module management device 1 from each terminal device 4 via the LAN 3.

The external storage device 2 is, for example, a large-capacity hard disk device, and stores a plurality of modularized programs in executable format and their related data in an equal relationship. The LAN 3 logically connects the module management device 1 and each terminal device 4, and transmits data, control signals and the like by a predetermined protocol. The terminal device 4 is used by each user to input various data and control signals, and is composed of, for example, a workstation or a personal computer.

The module management device 1 manages a plurality of modules used in this system. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the OS shell (CPU 12) calls one module A in a predetermined order from the external storage device 2 by one user's access and expands it in a specific area on the memory 13 ( Module calling means), and this is executed by the module execution unit 14. At this time, the operating environment of the module A, the related module, that is, the execution history of the upper or lower module executed in the past, and other module attribute information are created by the attribute information creating unit 15, and this is created by the inheritance replacing unit 16
Send to. When the execution of the module A is completed, the module execution unit 14 refers to the module history information and instructs the CPU 12 to call the next module B (call instruction means). The inheritance replacement unit 16 causes the called next-order module B to inherit the module attribute information and replaces it with the current module A on the memory 13.
In FIG. 2, the shaded area is the empty area of the memory 13,
When the capacities of the module A and the module B are almost the same, the used area of the memory hardly changes before and after the replacement.

In the above-mentioned manner, the module management device 1 operates as follows: module A → module B → module C → module B →
FIG. 3 shows a state in which the modules A are called in order, the immediately preceding module attribute information is inherited, and substitution development is performed on the memory 13. The lower part of FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of each of the calling states (1) to (4), and shows the procedure of adding the currently executing module to the history of the past executing modules and inheriting it to the next executing module. . In the lower part of FIG. 3, A to C are module names, a portion surrounded by a rectangle is an example of relational information of lower modules viewed from an upper module, and the left side thereof is an execution history.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the state of the memory 13 when a plurality of users succeed in replacing module A.fwdarw.module B.fwdarw.module C, and correspond to the state of FIG. 6 described above. That is, in the system of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, only one module is expanded per user on the available memory at any one time, so that the number of users who can access simultaneously at a realistic execution speed is the same as that of the conventional system. (Fig. 6)
It is significantly increased compared to. If this is viewed with the same number of users, the required memory capacity can be reduced, which is advantageous in terms of cost. Particularly, in the client / server type database system, the load on the server is remarkably reduced, and the effect is enormous.

The above is an example of a network type information processing system using a multi-task OS. According to the present invention, however, a plurality of menus having a deep hierarchy are provided as shown in FIG. 5, and a plurality of items are further provided for each menu. It is possible to easily build a business management system including files even with a personal computer equipped with a single-task OS.

At this time, each item file or menu is modularized, and each item is stored together with its identification information in a hard disk or the like, and each module is loaded into a memory and executed as necessary. At that time, the items in each menu may be fixedly and regularly connected to perform the inheritance replacement described above, or any item may be connected in any order to perform the inheritance replacement.

The module can be identified by a combination of numerical values. For example, in the example of FIG.
If the "management menu" is the first display screen, the "basic menu" is the second display screen, and the "setting menu" is the third display screen, and the display screen is switched sequentially for each menu item, " The "Search output" item in the "Management menu" is the third item on the first screen, which means "13".
"User information" item in "Basic menu" is "2"
5 "," Setting 3 "item in" Setting menu "is" 33 "
Can be expressed as Therefore, when the above-mentioned numerical information is used at the time of calling the module, the execution order can be easily specified, and the use area of the memory can be saved.

Also, depending on the type of module, there is a module in which a large memory use area must be secured. Furthermore, a general-purpose application program may be read and used as it is. At this time, the module information to be inherited is filed and saved, and only the contact information (minimum program dedicated to calling) for contacting this file is made resident in the memory. By doing so, it becomes possible to replace the modules by inheritance while securing a usable memory space to be constant, and thus it becomes possible to construct a more general-purpose system. The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0020]

As apparent from the above description, according to the module management method of the present invention, inheritance of module attribute information and replacement of a module in memory are automatically performed, so that one module is always stored in the memory. Only exists. Therefore, there is an effect that the memory use area required for executing a large-scale program is extremely reduced. As a result, it is possible to flexibly deal with the bloat of the program and solve the conventional problems.

Further, since the module attribute information to be inherited is made into a file and the contact information for communicating with this file is made resident in the memory, it is possible to further save the memory space and even on a single task OS. There is an effect that a large-scale module can be executed without using an expansion memory such as EMS.

Further, according to the module management apparatus of the present invention, the above method can be easily realized, so that the practical value of existing hardware resources and the utilization efficiency thereof can be remarkably increased, and it is also advantageous in terms of cost. Become.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a main part of a network-compatible information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation principle of a module management device in the above system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of inter-module inheritance replacement according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a state of a memory space according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a connection diagram between modules of a business management system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a memory space state according to a conventional module management method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Module Management Device 11 Input / Output Interface 12 CPU 13 Memory (Main Storage Area) 14 Module Execution Unit 15 Attribute Information Creation Unit 16 Inheritance Replacement Unit 2 External Storage Device 3 LAN (Communication Network) 4 Terminal Device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A first module is read into a main storage area of an information processing apparatus to create module attribute information including an operating environment of the first module and an execution history of related modules, and after completion of execution of the module. The method for managing modules, wherein the second module inherits the module attribute information, and the second module is replaced with the first module in the main storage area. 2. The module management method according to claim 1, wherein the module attribute information is made into a file, and contact information for contacting the file is made resident in the main storage area. 3. Module calling means for reading the first module into its own main storage area, attribute information creating means for creating module attribute information including the operating environment of the called module and the execution history of related modules, After the execution of the first module, the call instruction means for giving the call instruction of the second module to the module call means by referring to the module attribute information, and the second module called based on this call instruction A module management device comprising: inheritance replacement means for inheriting the module attribute information and replacing the first module in the main storage area.