JPH0756792A - File backup system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an incremental backup system capable of easily executing the recovery work of a file system. CONSTITUTION:A backup processing part 20 stores the file body of a file to be backed up and attribute information including information indicating a target to be backed up in a backup information storing part 30 and stores only attribute information including information indicating a file other than a target to be backed up about a file not to be backed up. A display control part 40 displays the hierarchical structure of the file system on a display part 50 based upon attribute information stored in the storing part 30 in accordance with a display request.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a file backup system for executing an incremental backup.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in incremental backup, which is one of the backup methods, when a file is updated or a new file is created after the previous backup process is executed, those files are updated at a predetermined time. File is backed up, and even when the backed up file is not updated, the file is backed up in a preset backup cycle (for example, every several days). For example, when the files A and B are backed up, the file B is updated thereafter, and the file C is further created, only the files B and C to be backed up are backed up, and the file A is not backed up.

As described above, in the incremental backup, only the files to be backed up are backed up. Then, in response to a predetermined display request from the user, which file in the file system has been backed up and where in the hierarchical structure of the file system the backed up file is located are displayed. This allows the user to know the information about the backed up files.

Further, as another example of the backup system, the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-212557 is known.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional incremental backup, it is possible to know which file in the file system was backed up and where it was located in the hierarchical structure of the file system. , I couldn't know the files that weren't backed up because there was no information left about the files that weren't backed up. Therefore, it was difficult to confirm the backup work contents.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an incremental backup system which can easily perform a file system recovery operation.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an incremental file for a file having attribute information including information indicating a hierarchical position in a hierarchical file system.
In a file backup system that executes a backup, for a file that is a backup target, the attribute information of the file that includes the main body of the file and that it is a backup target is excluded. For the files that have become the backup information, only the attribute information about the file including the information indicating that the file is not to be backed up is stored as the backup information, and the attribute stored as the backup information in response to the display request. It is characterized in that the hierarchical structure of the file system is displayed based on information.

[0008]

In the present invention, of the files in the file system, the files to be backed up are composed of the file body, for example, the file name, information indicating whether it is a directory or a file, the parent directory name, and the number of descendant files. Attribute information including hierarchical position information and information indicating that the file is to be backed up is saved as backup information. On the other hand, for files that are not the target, for example, information indicating file name, directory or file, parent directory Only the attribute information including the hierarchical position information consisting of the name and the number of descendant files and the information indicating that it is not a backup target is saved as backup information, and the saved attribute information is displayed in response to a display request from the user. Display backup information based on. As a result, it is possible to know the hierarchical structure of the file system and the file that was the target of backup.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a file backup system according to the present invention. In the figure, the system is a file system storage unit 10 that stores a structured file system.
A backup processing unit 20 that executes an incremental backup, a backup information storage unit 30 that stores backup information about files to be backed up, a display control unit 40 that controls the display of the backup information, and the backup information is displayed. And a display unit 50.

In this embodiment, in incremental backup, in order to know the hierarchical structure of the file system at the time of backup, the attribute information of the files that are not subject to backup is stored in the backup information storage unit 30. I am trying. Of course,
For the file to be backed up, the file body and the attribute information are retained as in the conventional case.

Here, due to the nature of incremental backup, the attribute information stored in the backup information storage unit 30 is limited to the minimum required information, for example, a file name, information indicating a directory or a file, a parent directory name. , Number of descendent files, creation date, last modified date,
It is information indicating the last backup date and whether or not to back up. Here, for example, a file name, information indicating a directory or a file, a parent directory name, and the number of descendent files form layer position information. Of course, this hierarchical position information does not need to be composed of such information, and may be any data as long as it represents the hierarchical position in the file system.

Next, the incremental backup processing of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

The backup processing unit 20 refers to the files stored in the file system storage unit 10 one by one (step 101), and judges whether or not the referenced file needs to be backed up (step 101). 102), if you need a backup,
The attribute information of the file and the file body are saved in the backup information storage unit 30 (steps 103, 10).
4) On the other hand, when the backup is unnecessary, only the attribute information of the file is saved in the backup information saving unit 30 (step 105). After step 104 or step 105 is completed, it is judged whether or not there is an unprocessed file (step 106). If there is an unprocessed file, the process returns to step 101, while the file does not exist. If so, the backup process ends.

Next, the display processing of the backup information thus backed up will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

When a display request for backup information is made, the display control unit 40 outputs one file of attribute information in the backup information saved in the backup information storage unit 30, in particular, information indicating whether or not to be backed up. Each time (step 201), it is determined whether or not the file to which the attribute information belongs is a backup target (step 202).

In the case of a backup target, the information indicating the backup target is added to the backup information as display information that can be identified by the user in correspondence with the file (step 203), and then the backup information is displayed (step 203). 204) On the other hand, if it is not the backup target, the backup information is displayed as it is (step 205). Step 204 or step 205
After completion of step 1, it is judged whether or not an unprocessed file exists (step 206), and if it exists, the process returns to step 201, while if it does not exist, the backup information display process ends.

An example of the backup information display is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 and 5 show display examples of backup information when the backup cycle is performed for 3 days. "File Name" represents the file name, "Last Modified On" represents the last modified date,
“Last Backed up On” indicates the last backup date. Also, in the file name field, "Root /" or "Te
Those with "/" added such as st1 / "represent directories, those without" / "such as" TestMailSheet1 "represent files. Furthermore," * "symbol is added at the beginning. This indicates that the directories and files were the objects to be backed up, and not only the attribute information but also the contents of the files have been saved. The data indicating whether or not to be backed up is the internal state (internal For example, "1" indicates that the target is indicated as (data).
On the other hand, the fact that the object is not included is represented by, for example, “0”. Then, when the backup information is displayed, only the files to be backed up are displayed with a "*" symbol added so that the user can recognize them.

In FIG. 4, the root directory "Root /" has "TestMailSheet1" and "TestMa".
It is shown that the "Test1 /" directory that saves the "ilSheet2" file and the "Test2 /" directory that saves the "TestMailSheet3" file are saved. The file is “TestMailSh
Since it is "eet3" and the number at the end is "3", it can be seen that the number of descendent files is "3." Furthermore, in the figure, the last backup was "24-Sep-91 1".
5:00:00 ”(This is September 24, 1991, 15:00
Since all three files have been changed except the last backup date, the "*" symbol indicating that they are backup targets is displayed. Regardless of whether the directory is to be backed up or not, all the information about the directory must be backed up, so it is considered to be backed up. Therefore, the "*" symbol is displayed.

On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 5, only the file “TestMailSheet4” newly added after the last backup date (ie “27-Sep-91 15:00:00”) is backed up and the previous backup is performed. “TestMailSheet
It is shown that only the attribute information is saved for the three files "1" to "TestMailSheet3". This can be easily recognized because the "*" symbol is not displayed.

In any of the examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is possible to know the hierarchical structure of the original file system and the file to be backed up at the time of backup.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the attribute information is backed up even for files that are not backed up. It is possible to display a hierarchical structure. As a result, it is possible to know which file was not the backup target, and it is possible to obtain effective scheduling information such as the backup cycle and the work frequency. Further, it is possible to know the change in the file configuration of the file system with time.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, for a file to be backed up, the attribute information about the file including the main body of the file and the fact that the file is to be backed up is displayed. On the other hand, for files that are not subject to backup, only the above-mentioned attribute information about the files including the fact that they are not subject to backup are saved as backup information, respectively, and further according to the display request,
Since the hierarchical structure of the file system is displayed based on the attribute information stored as backup information, it is possible to visualize and display the hierarchical structure of the entire file system regardless of the backup target / non-target. it can. Therefore, the information indicating whether or not the file is the backup target is also displayed, so that the user can know which file was the backup target. Therefore, the recovery work of the file system can be easily performed.

Further, according to the present invention, since it is possible to know which file was not the target of backup, it is possible to obtain effective scheduling information such as backup cycle and work frequency.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to know the change over time in the file configuration of the file system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a file backup system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an incremental backup processing operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a backup information display processing operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of backup information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of backup information.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... File system storage unit, 20 ... Backup processing unit, 30 ... Backup information storage unit, 40 ... Display control unit, 50 ... Display unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a file backup system for executing an incremental backup for a file having attribute information including information indicating a hierarchical position in a hierarchical file system, a file to be backed up is For the attribute information about the file that includes the main body and that it is a target for backup, on the other hand, for files that are excluded from the backup, The file backup system is characterized in that only the attribute information of the file system is stored as backup information, and the hierarchical structure of the file system is displayed based on the attribute information stored as backup information in response to a display request. .