JPH08314855A - Job processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the construction cost of an job processing system as a whole by constituting respective clients by simple terminal equipment. CONSTITUTION: In the plural simple terminal equipments 2 respectively operated as client computers, a control part 9 is provided only with the two kinds of functions. That is, a first function is the function for receiving display data transmitted from a personal computer(PC) through a communication channel such as an RS-485A channel cable or the like to the present equipment and delivering them to a display part 6. Also, a second function is the function for displaying input data inputted from a ten-key part 7 and a magnetic card read part 8 at the display part 6, adding an intrinsic terminal address held inside the simple terminal equipment 2 to the input data and sending them out to the communication channel. By using the inexpensive and simply-operated simple terminal equipment 2 as client machine, in such a manner, the equipment constitution cost in the system is reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a business processing system, and more particularly to a business processing system in which the transmission and reception of data relating to business processing performed with a server via a communication line occupies most of the processing in a client.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Personal computers (hereinafter referred to as "P"
Abbreviated as “C”) or workstation (hereinafter “W”)
Along with the development of high performance and low price of "S", a client-server system (hereinafter "CS") in which a plurality of PCs or WSs are connected via a network.
S) is becoming widespread. Generally, in such CSS, the client computer and the server computer share and execute the business processing function. Between the client computer and the client computer, the designated business processing function is independently executed, and only the minimum necessary processing function part is processed while being linked with other computers.

In recent years, a server machine (host machine)
By using a high-performance PC or WS as an operating system and a multitasking OS such as "UNIX" or "Windows NT" as an OS (operating system), a multitasking business processing system can be easily constructed. Has become.

[0004]

By the way, the above-mentioned C
In some business processing systems adopting the SS form, it is sufficient to have only simple functions such as a screen data display function and a data input function as business processing functions to be shared by client computers. Absent.
In such a case, if a PC or WS is used as a client machine (terminal machine), the PC or WS
There is a problem that only a small part of the functions and performances that are originally provided are used, and most of the costs related to unused functions and performances are wasted.

Further, even when the PC or WS is simply used as a terminal machine, in addition to the operation for realizing the screen data display function and the data input function in the business processing system, the initial operation as the original PC or WS is performed. Therefore, there is a problem that the operation procedure becomes more complicated than that of a dedicated terminal machine.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and provide a CSS type business processing system capable of reducing the construction cost of the entire system and simplifying the operation procedure in the client. is there.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the business processing system of the present invention transmits and receives data relating to the business processing between a server that executes a predetermined business processing and the server via a communication line. In a business processing system composed of a plurality of clients, a data input section for inputting data required for the business processing, a data display section for outputting a result obtained by the business processing, and a data input section. Each of the clients is configured by a simple terminal device that has at least a terminal operation control unit that performs operation control for output or transmission / reception.

(2) Further, in (1), the server is provided with a business processing control unit for sequentially and repeatedly executing data input / output or transmission / reception operation control by the terminal operation control unit for each of the simple terminal devices. It is configured to be provided.

(3) Further, in (2), the OS for performing the basic control of the server is constituted by a single task OS,
The control by the business process control unit is executed on the single task OS.

(4) Further, in (3), one or more business processes which are provided for each type of data transmitted from the simple terminal device and in which execution procedures of business processes to be executed are defined in advance. Execution means, a business data buffer for accumulating transmitted data as unprocessed business data in a time series, and unprocessed business data sequentially taken out from the business data buffer according to predetermined interrupt control, The business process control unit is configured by a business process activation unit that executes a specific business process execution unit corresponding to data.

[0011]

The operation based on the above configuration will be described.

(1) A business processing system according to the present invention comprises a server for executing predetermined business processing, a plurality of clients for transmitting and receiving data relating to the business processing with the server via a communication line, In the business processing system including the above, each client is configured by a simple terminal device having at least a data input unit, a data display unit, and a terminal operation control unit, so that a server machine installed on a scale of at most several units. Compared with the conventional client machines that are installed on a scale of 10 or more, inexpensive and easy-to-use simple terminal devices are used instead of expensive PCs or WS, so the device configuration cost in the system is reduced to the general CSS. The cost can be further reduced to reduce the construction cost of the entire system.

The data input unit is for inputting data necessary for the business process, the data display unit is for outputting the result obtained by the business process, and the terminal operation control unit is It controls operation for data input / output or transmission / reception.

(2) Further, in (1), since the work processing control unit is provided in the server, the terminal operation control units provided in all the simple terminal devices are configured to perform the work processing in the server machine. Since the remote control is performed from the control unit via the communication line, the user who wants to execute the business process does not need to perform some initial operation on the simple terminal device which is the client machine. The operation procedure to be performed can be simplified.

The business process control unit is for causing the terminal operation control unit to sequentially and repeatedly perform operation control of data input / output or transmission / reception for each of the simple terminal devices.

(3) Further, in (2), the OS for performing the basic control of the server is constituted by a single task OS,
Since the control by the business process control unit is executed on the single task OS, the basic software is compared with the case where the basic control of the server is managed by the multitask OS that performs relatively expensive and complicated processing. It is possible to reduce the cost required for the above to reduce the construction cost of the entire system, and to simplify the operation procedure required for system management in the server computer.

(4) Further, in (3), the business process control unit is composed of a business process execution means (at least one or more), a business data buffer, and a business process starting means. Although the OS is used, the same multitask control as in the case where the basic control of the server is managed by the multitask OS is possible, and maintenance work such as change and addition of business processing is performed by the server computer. Only by doing so, it is possible to carry out centrally and improve the maintainability of the entire system.

The business process execution means is provided for each type of data transmitted from the simple terminal device, and the execution procedure of the business process to be executed is defined in advance. The business data buffer is A means for accumulating the transmitted data as unprocessed business data in a time series, and the business process starting means sequentially retrieves the unprocessed business data from the business data buffer in accordance with a predetermined interrupt control. This is for executing a specific business process execution means corresponding to business data.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the business processing system of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of the equipment configuration of an embodiment of the business processing system of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a personal computer operating as a server computer, 2 is a plurality of simple terminal devices each operating as a client computer, 3 is a personal computer 1 (hereinafter abbreviated as "PC1") and a simple terminal device 2
RS-485A / RS-232C converter for interface conversion with, 4 is RS-232C line cable connecting PC1 and RS-485A / RS-232C converter 3, 5 is RS-485A / RS-232C conversion It is an RS-485A line cable that connects the device 3 and the simplified terminal device 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the simple terminal device shown in FIG. In the figure, 6 is a display unit including a liquid crystal display, 7 is a ten-key unit, and 8
Is a magnetic card reading unit, 9 is a control unit composed of a microprocessor, the display unit 6 is a "data display unit" in the claims, and the ten-key unit 7 and the magnetic card reading unit 8 are included.
Corresponds to the "data input section" in the claims, and the control section 9 corresponds to the "terminal operation control section" in the claims.

In FIG. 2, the control unit 9 of the simple terminal device 2
Has only two functions. The first function is a PC
It is a function to receive the display data sent from 1 to its own device through the communication line such as the RS-485A line cable 5 and pass it to the display unit 6. The second function is to display the input data input from the ten-key unit 7 and the magnetic card reading unit 8 on the display unit 6 and input the unique terminal address held in the simple terminal device 2. It is a function to add to data and send it to the communication line. As described above, in the simple terminal device 2 of this embodiment, the display function of the display data obtained from the PC 1 and the display function of the input data obtained from the ten-key portion 7 and the magnetic card reading portion 8 and the transmission to the PC 1 are provided. The feature is that it is limited to only two types of functions.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the control portion of the personal computer shown in FIG.
1 shows the relations of the program configuration, various buffer areas, tables, etc. in the PC 1 in FIG. 1, and the entire FIG. 3 corresponds to the “business processing control unit” in the claims. In the figure, 10
Is a single-task OS operating on the PC 1, and "Windows 3.1" is used in this embodiment. Further, 11 is a timer interrupt program, 12 is a business activation program (corresponding to "business processing activation means" in claims), and 13 is a business program group for executing various business processes ("business in claims"). 14 corresponds to a communication buffer area, 15 a business data buffer area (corresponds to a "business data buffer" in claims), 1
6 is a terminal control table.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram for explaining the flow of business processing executed by the personal computer shown in FIG. 1, and shows various programs in the PC 1 and control timing of data. Hereinafter, control in the personal computer 1 that operates as a server computer will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The data input by each simple terminal device passes through a communication line (RS-485A / RS-232C converter 3, RS-232C line cable 4, RS-485A line cable 5) and then a single task It is taken into the communication buffer area 14 by the function provided in the OS 10 and, as shown in FIG. 4, (data from the terminal T01, data from the terminal T02, ...
..), and is accumulated in the communication buffer area 14 in time series according to the order of arrival. Next, the data in the communication buffer area 14 is converted into business data by the timer interrupt program 11 that is activated at regular intervals.
From the communication buffer area 14 to the business data buffer
It is transferred to the area 15 (process shown by in FIG. 4). Subsequently, when the timer interrupt program 11 notifies the business starting program 12 that "there is unprocessed business data in the business data buffer area 15", the business starting program 12 is started. The business activation program 12 sequentially retrieves unprocessed business data from the beginning of the business data buffer area 15, determines the corresponding business processing type from the contents of the business data, and applies the relevant business processing group 13 with the corresponding business processing type. A specific business program (business program A) is started (process shown by in FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, the business program A corresponds to the data from the terminal T01, and the business program B corresponds to the data from the terminal T02.

For example, the business program A executes business processing on data from the simple terminal device T01, and then
The single task OS 10 is requested to send the obtained processing result as display data to the simple terminal device T01, and one processing step is completed (processing shown by in FIG. 4). When one processing step by the business program A is completed, the execution control of the program is returned to the business start program 12 again, and the business data buffer area 1
For the next unprocessed business data (data from the simple terminal device T02) stored in No. 5, the business processing type is determined in the same manner as above, and the corresponding business program B in the business program group 13 is started ( Processing indicated by in FIG. 4).

When each business program is executed and one processing step is completed (processing indicated by and in FIG. 4), the read pointer in the business data buffer area 15 is sequentially read until the next unprocessed business data. To update. Then, while the unprocessed business data exists in the business data buffer area 15, the execution process of the business activation program 12 and the business program corresponding to the retrieved business data is repeated. Even during this period, the timer interrupt program 11 is activated at regular intervals, and if new data from the simple terminal device is newly stored in the communication buffer area 14, this is changed from the communication buffer area 14 to business data Buffer area 1
5 (processing shown by in FIG. 4) and the processing described above is repeated. Writing of unprocessed business data to the business data buffer area 15 is also performed while sequentially updating the write pointer.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the business process X is executed by a certain simple terminal device, the process step of displaying the process result of one input data regarding the business process X is repeated a plurality of times. Thus, the business process X is completed. At this time, if another simple terminal device is also performing business processing, the individual processing steps constituting each business processing can be switched corresponding to the terminal according to the arrival order of data from each simple terminal device. Control is performed. That is, since one business process is executed by being divided into a plurality of processing steps, in order to guarantee the continuity of the business process for each simple terminal device,
A terminal control table 16 is provided.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the terminal control table shown in FIG. In the figure, 30 is a terminal address column,
31 is a business process ID column, 32 is a process sequence number column,
33 is a business information column. In the terminal address column 30, a unique terminal address assigned to each simple terminal device is set. In the business process ID column 31, a business process ID for identifying each business process is set. The business process ID is defined in advance, such as "A001" for personal transfer notification process, "B001" for work leave management process, and "C001" for travel expense claim process. In the process sequence number column 32, for the business process being executed identified by the business process ID set in the corresponding business process ID column 31, which of the plurality of process steps configuring the business process is performed. A number indicating whether the step is being processed is set. The business information column 33 holds various data related to the corresponding processing steps.

As described above, according to this embodiment, as a client machine, instead of an expensive PC or WS,
Since a simple and inexpensive terminal device having only a data input unit, a data display unit, and a terminal operation control unit is used and a single task OS is adopted, the device configuration cost in the system and the cost required for core software are generally It is possible to reduce the construction cost of the entire system by reducing the cost compared to the CSS. In addition, each simple terminal device,
Since it is remotely operated from the PC 1 via the communication line, the user who wants to execute the business process does not need to perform some initial operation on the client machine, and the operation procedure at the client is simplified. be able to. Furthermore, maintenance work such as change and addition of business processing can be centrally performed only by the server computer, and the maintainability of the entire system can be improved.

[0031]

【The invention's effect】

(1) As described in detail above, according to the business processing system of the present invention, transmission / reception of data relating to the business processing is performed between the server that executes a predetermined business processing and the server via a communication line. In a business processing system including a plurality of clients to perform, each of the clients is configured by a simple terminal device having at least a data input unit, a data display unit, and a terminal operation control unit. In general, a simple terminal device that is cheap and easy to operate is used instead of an expensive PC or WS as a client machine that is generally installed on a scale of 10 or more compared to the server machine installed in It is possible to reduce the construction cost as compared with general CSS and to reduce the construction cost of the entire system. It

(2) Further, in (1), since the work processing control unit is provided in the server, the terminal operation control unit provided in all the simple terminal devices can be used for the work processing in the server machine. Since the remote control is performed from the control unit via the communication line, the user who wants to execute the business process does not need to perform some initial operation on the simple terminal device which is the client machine. An effect that the operation procedure to be performed can be simplified can be obtained.

(3) In (2), the OS for performing the basic control of the server is configured by a single task OS,
Since the control by the business process control unit is executed on the single task OS, the basic software is compared with the case where the basic control of the server is managed by the multitask OS that performs relatively expensive and complicated processing. It is possible to obtain an effect that the cost required for the above can be suppressed, the construction cost of the entire system can be reduced, and the operation procedure required for system management in the server computer can be simplified.

(4) Further, in (3), the business process control unit is composed of a business process executing means (at least one or more), a business data buffer, and a business process starting means, so that an inexpensive and simple single task is performed. Although the OS is used, the same multitask control as in the case where the basic control of the server is managed by the multitask OS is possible, and maintenance work such as change and addition of business processing is performed by the server computer. Only by doing so, it is possible to carry out centrally, and it is possible to obtain the effect that the maintainability of the entire system can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a device configuration of an embodiment of a business processing system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a simple terminal device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit in the personal computer in FIG.

4 is a data flow diagram for explaining a flow of business processing executed by the personal computer in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a terminal control table in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Personal computer 2 Simple terminal device 3 RS-485A / RS-232C converter 4 RS-232C line cable 5 RS-485A line cable 6 Display 7 Numerical keypad 8 Magnetic card reader 9 Control unit 10 Single task OS ( "Windows 3.1") 11 Timer interrupt program 12 Business startup program 13 Business program group 14 Communication buffer area 15 Business data buffer area 16 Terminal control table

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Michio Nogawa 1-16-5 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Information Systems Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A business processing system comprising: a server that executes a predetermined business process; and a plurality of clients that transmit and receive data related to the business process to and from the server via a communication line. A data input unit for inputting data necessary for processing, a data display unit for outputting the result obtained by the business process, and a terminal operation control unit for performing operation control for input / output or transmission / reception of data. A business processing system, wherein each of the clients is configured by a simple terminal device having at least the following. 2. The server is provided with a business processing control unit for sequentially and repeatedly performing operation control of data input / output or transmission / reception by the terminal operation control unit for each of the simple terminal devices. The business processing system according to claim 1. 3. An OS that performs basic control of the server is configured by a single task OS, and the single task O
3. The business processing system according to claim 2, wherein control by the business processing control unit is executed on S. 4. One or more business process execution means, which is provided for each type of data transmitted from the simple terminal device and in which execution procedures of business processes to be executed are defined in advance, and transmitted data. Business data buffer that accumulates unprocessed business data in a time series, and unprocessed business data is sequentially taken out from the business data buffer according to predetermined interrupt control, and specific business processing corresponding to the business data is performed. 4. The business processing system according to claim 3, wherein the business processing control unit is constituted by business processing starting means for executing the execution means.