JPH09185565A - Network system with program transferring function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network with a program transferring function capable of transferring a program by simple constitution. SOLUTION: The network system equipped with a database device 10 and plural information processors 20, 30, 30a,... is provided with a first conversion means 21 converting a program to be transferred between the plural information processors 20, 30, 30a,... to program data which can be stored in the database 10, and a second conversion means 32 converting program data to the program. Then the program is transferred between the plural information processors 20, 30, 30a,... by storing the program in the database device 10 as a kind of data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network system in which a plurality of information processing devices are connected by communication lines, and in particular, a network with a program transfer function having a function of transferring a program between a plurality of information processing devices. It is about the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information processing devices such as personal computers and workstations are often used in network systems in which a plurality of devices are connected to each other by communication lines or the like. The scale and configuration are becoming larger and more complex.

As an example of such a network system, a host computer 51, as shown in FIG.
Some include a plurality of terminal devices 52, 52a ... And a terminal control device 53 installed between them. In this network system, the host computer 5
1 and the terminal devices 52, 52a ... Together function as an information processing device that processes data. The terminal control device 53 is for controlling communication between the host computer 51 and the terminal devices 52, 52a .... That is, in this network system, the host computer 5 is controlled under the control of the terminal control device 53.
1 and the terminal devices 52, 52a ...

As another example of the network system, there is a system including a database device 54 in place of the terminal control device 53, as shown in FIG. In this network system, the database device 54 is
Host computer 51 or terminal devices 52, 52a ...
It is for accumulating data to be processed in. Then, the host computer 51 and the terminal devices 52, 52a
In the ..., Data is written to and read from the database device 54.

[0005]

By the way, in these network systems, in order to update or add a program (hereinafter referred to as an operation program) necessary for the terminal devices 52, 52a ... To perform operations such as data processing. From the host computer 51 to the terminal devices 52, 52
Some have a function of transferring an operation program to be updated or added to a. In the case of the network system shown in FIG. 5 described above, the transfer function of this operation program is realized by the processing by the four programs (hereinafter, referred to as transfer programs) described below.

That is, a first program provided in the host computer 51 for transmitting the operation program from the host computer 51 to the terminal control device 53,
A second program provided in the terminal control device 53 for receiving the operation program from the host computer 51 and the received operation program are set in the terminal devices 52, 52.
By a third program provided in the terminal control device 53 for transmitting to a ... And a fourth program provided in the terminal devices 52, 52a ... For receiving the operation program from the terminal control device 53, The transfer function of the operation program is realized. This also applies to the network system shown in FIG. 6 described above.

That is, in order to realize the transfer function of the operation program, the above-mentioned four transfer programs are necessary. Therefore, in the network system having the transfer function of the operation program, the scale of the program of the entire system increases, which requires a large memory capacity for storing the program, and the program configuration in the entire system becomes complicated. turn into. Therefore, it becomes a factor of increasing the size and cost of each device constituting the network system. Therefore,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a network system with a program transfer function capable of suppressing an increase in the scale of a program and transferring an operation program with a simple configuration.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a network system with a program transfer function devised to achieve the above object, a database device for accumulating data, and a plurality of information connected to this database device. And a processing device, and has a function of transferring a program for operating these information processing devices between the plurality of information processing devices via the database device. The information processing apparatus that is the transfer source of the program converts the program into program data having a form of data that can be stored in the database apparatus, and a writing unit that writes the program data in the database apparatus. And means. further,
The information processing apparatus of the transfer destination of the program is operable by the reading means for reading the program data accumulated in the database apparatus from the database apparatus, and the program information extracted by the reading means of the information processing apparatus of the transfer destination. Second to convert to form program
And the conversion means of.

According to the network system with a program transfer function having the above configuration, when transferring a program between a plurality of information processing devices, the first converting means stores data that can be stored in the database device. To program data having the form of Therefore, the writing unit and the reading unit can write and read a program to be transferred, that is, a program for operating the information processing device, to and from the database device, in the same manner as data stored in the database device. Become. The second conversion means converts the program data read by the reading means from the database device into a program in a form in which the information processing device can operate. As a result, in this network system with a program transfer function, it becomes possible to transfer a program between a plurality of information processing devices.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A network system with a program transfer function according to the present invention (hereinafter,
(Simply referred to as a system) will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment has a database device 1
0, the host computer 20, and a plurality of terminal devices 3
0, 30a ... And the database device 10 and the host computer 20 are connected by a communication line 41, and the database device 10 and a plurality of terminal devices 30, 30a ... Are connected by a communication line 42, respectively. Is.

The database device 10 stores the data processed by the host computer 20 or the terminal devices 30, 30a ... In such a manner that these data can be processed by one software system in order to centrally manage the data. Is. For that purpose, the database device 10 is composed of a database unit 12 which is composed of a hard disk device or the like and stores data, and a database control unit 11 which is composed of a controller of the hard disk device or the like and controls data to be stored. .

The host computer 20 functions as one of the information processing devices in the present invention, and is composed of, for example, a personal computer or a general-purpose computer, and performs integrated control of the entire system. In the host computer 20, the terminal devices 30, 30
In order to update or add an operation program necessary for a ... to perform operations such as data processing, the terminal device 30,
The operation program to be updated or added is transferred to 30a. To this end, the host computer 20 comprises a first conversion means 21 and a writing means 22. The first converting means 21 and the writing means 22 are both formed by executing the program processing in the host computer 20.

The first conversion means 21 includes terminal devices 30, 3
0a ... to transfer the operation program to the database device 1
The data is converted into program data having a data form that can be stored when 0. Details of the form of the program data will be described later. The writing means 22 is
The database device 10 is accessed to write data, and the data is stored in the database device 10. Further, the writing unit 22 writes the program data in the database device 10 and stores the program data when the first converting unit 21 converts the operation program into the program data.

Each of the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Functions as one of the information processing devices of the present invention.
It is composed of a personal computer, a workstation and the like. In addition, the terminal device 30 includes the reading unit 3
1, the second conversion means 32, and the storage means 33. The same applies to the terminal device 30a. The reading means 31 is formed by executing program processing in the terminal device 30, and accesses the database device 10 to read data. Further, the reading means 31 reads out the program data when the program data from the host computer 20 is stored in the database device 10.

The second converting means 32 is formed by executing program processing in the terminal device 30, and when the reading means 31 reads the program data from the database device 10, the program data is converted into the first converting means. It is converted into the form of the operation program before the conversion in 21. That is, the second conversion means 32 converts the program data into a program in a form in which the terminal device 30 can operate. The storage means 33 is, for example, EE
PROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read O
nly Memory) and a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk device, and stores an operation program for operating the terminal device 30. However, storage means 3
In No. 3, when the second conversion means 32 converts the program data into the operation program, the operation program is stored.

Next, the form of program data converted by the first conversion means 21 and stored in the database device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the database device 10, when data is stored, the data is stored using the management table T1 and the storage table T2 provided in the database unit 12.
The management table T1 is for storing information for managing data to be stored, and the storage table T2 is for storing the contents of data to be stored, that is, the data itself.

Therefore, in the first converting means 21, in order to store the operation program to be transferred to the terminal devices 30, 30a ... In the database device 10, the operation program is stored in the program management record R1 and program data records R2, R3. The program data is composed of R4 ... The program management record R1 is information for managing program data, and includes a program name F11, a program file name F12, a program identifier F13, and a program size F14.

The program name F11 is for indicating the name of this program data, and the name given in advance to the operation program is made the program name F11 by the first conversion means 21. The program file name F12 is the terminal device 30, 30a ...
Is the code name for identifying the program data,
A predetermined code name represented by alphabets and numbers is given. Program identifier F13
Is an identifier for matching the program management record R1 with the program data records R2, R3, R4 .... The program size F14 indicates the data size of the program data records R2, R3, R4 ..., Specifically, the data size of the program data content F23 described later.

Program data records R2, R
3, R4 ... Are for indicating the contents of the operation program. However, in the operation program, since the size of the data stored in the storage table T2 of the database device 10 is predetermined as a fixed length, the size of the data, that is, a plurality of program data having the data size indicated by the program size F14. Record R2,
The contents are indicated by R3, R4 ... These program data records R2, R
3, R4, ... Are each a program identifier F21,
Data sequence number F22 and program data content F23
It consists of:

The program identifier F21 includes a program management record R1 and program data records R2, R.
3, R4 ... Is an identifier for matching. That is, the same value as the program identifier F13 of the program management record R1 is given to the program identifier F21. The data sequence number F22 indicates each program data record R2, R in order to show the correlation of a plurality of program data records R2, R3, R4 ...
It is for indicating a sequential number given to each of 3, R4 .... The program data content F23 is obtained by dividing the content of the operation program into the data size indicated by the program size F14.

Next, in the system configured as described above, from the host computer 20 to the terminal devices 30, 3
An operation example when transferring the operation program to 0a ... Will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4. First, an operation example in which an operation program is written from the host computer 20 to the database device 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the writing means 22 of the host computer 20 declares to write data to the database device 10,
The management table T1 and the storage table T2 of the database unit 12 are made accessible (step 101, hereinafter step is abbreviated as S).

When the writing means 22 makes the management table T1 and the storage table T2 accessible, the first conversion means 21 sets the initial value of the data serial number F22 of the program data record R2 written in the storage table T2 to "1". (S102). Subsequently, the first conversion unit 21 stores the operation program to be transferred to the terminal devices 30, 30a ... In the storage table T2, so that the storage table T2 can store the data size, that is, the fixed length of the storage table T2. Divide into size. When the first conversion means 21 divides the operation program, the writing means 2
2, the first portion of the divided data is written in the storage table T2 as the program data content F23 of the program data record R2, and the data conversion number F22 defined by the first conversion means 21 is "1". A program identifier F21 having a predetermined value is written in the storage table T2 (S103).

The writing means 22 uses the program identifier F2.
1 and data serial number F22 and program data content F2
3, that is, when the program data record R2 is written in the storage table T2, the first conversion means 21
"1" is further added to the data sequence number F22 defined as "1" (S104). Then, the first conversion means 21 determines whether or not there is a portion of the divided operation program which is not written in the storage table T2 as the program data content F23 (S105), and there is an unwritten portion. If so, the steps described above are repeated for that portion (S103 to S105).

When all parts of the divided operating program are written in the storage table T2 as program data records R2, R3, R4 ..., Then, the first conversion means 21 writes the program management record R1 in the management table T1. That is, the program name F11, the program file name F12, the program identifier F13, and the program size F14 are defined. Then, when the first conversion means 21 defines the program management record R1,
In the writing means 22, the program management record R
1 is written in the management table T1 (S106).

Program data records R2, R3, R
4 and the program management record R1, that is, when the writing of one operation program is completed, the first conversion means 21 determines whether or not there is another operation program to be written (S107), and the other operation program. If there is, the above steps are repeated from the step of defining the initial value of the data sequence number F22 as "1" (S102-
S107). However, the first conversion means 21 uses the program identifier F when writing another operation program.
13 and the program identifier F21 are defined to have different values from those already written. If there is no other operation program for writing, the writing unit 22 releases the accessible state of the management table T1 and the storage table T2 of the database unit 12, and ends the writing of the operation program in the database device 10. (S108).

Next, an operation example when the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Read out from the database device 10 the program data accumulated as described above will be described. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the reading means 31 of the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Declares that the data is read from the database device 10, and makes the management table T1 and the storage table T2 of the database unit 12 accessible. (S201).

When the management table T1 and the storage table T2 are made accessible, the reading means 31 makes the program management record R1 for one operation program stored in the management table T1, that is, the program name F11 and the program. The file name F12, the program identifier F13, and the program size F14 are read (S202). When the reading means 31 reads the program management record R1, the second conversion means 32 recognizes the value of the program identifier F13 in the program management record R1 and reads the program data records R2, R from the storage table T2.
The initial value of the data sequence number F22 of 3, R4 ... Is defined as "1" (S203).

When the value of the program identifier F13 is recognized by the second converting means 32 and the data serial number F22 is defined as "1", the reading means 31 is the same as the program identifier F13 by which the program identifier F21 is recognized. A program data record R2 having a value of 1 and a data serial number F22 of "1" is read from the storage table T2 (S204). When the reading means 31 reads the program data record R2, the second converting means 32 subsequently adds "1" to the data sequence number F22 defined as "1" (S205).
Then, the reading means 31 reads from the storage table T2 the program data records R3, R4 ... Which store the value to which “1” is added.

At this time, in the second converting means 32, based on the program identifier F21 and the data sequence number F22,
All the program data records R2, R3, R4 ... Divided from one operation program are read out by the reading means 3.
It is determined whether or not it has been read by 1 (S20).
6). And all program data records R2,
If R3, R4 ... Are not read, the above steps are repeated until they are all read (S20).
4-S206). Further, when all the program data records R2, R3, R4 ... Are read, the second conversion means 32 outputs these program data records R2,
The program data contents F23 are fetched from R3 and R4, they are arranged in the order of the data serial number F22 and assembled as one operation program (S207), and the operation program is stored in the storage means 33.

When the storage means 33 stores the operation program, the second conversion means 32 additionally stores the database device 1
It is determined whether or not there is program data read from 0, that is, another operation program accumulated in the database device 10 (S107), and if there is another operation program, the program management record R from the management table T1.
The steps from the step of reading 1 are repeated (S202 to S208). If there is no other operation program stored, the reading means 31 releases the accessible state of the management table T1 and the storage table T2 of the database unit 12 and reads the operation program from the database device 10. End (S
209).

As described above, the system of this embodiment is
When the operation program is transferred between the host computer 20 and the terminal devices 30, 30a ..., The first conversion means 21 converts the operation program into program data, and the second conversion means 32 causes the program to be converted. It is designed to convert data into operating programs. That is, if the host computer 20 and the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Have a function of accessing the database device 10, that is, a writing means 22 for writing data and a reading means 31 for reading data, the database is stored. The operation program can be stored in the device 10 as a kind of data.

Therefore, in this system, even when the transfer function of the operation program is realized, the first conversion means 21 and the second conversion means 32 do not need the four transfer programs as in the conventional case. It is possible to transfer the operation program between the host computer 20 and the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Therefore, even if the transfer function of the operation program is realized, the increase in the scale of the program of the entire system can be suppressed, and a large memory capacity and a complicated program configuration are not required. As a result, there is an advantage that it is possible to prevent an increase in size and cost of each device constituting the system.

Further, the system of the present embodiment temporarily stores the operation program transferred between the host computer 20 and the terminal devices 30, 30a ... In the database device 10. Therefore, the terminal device 30, 30a that is the side receiving the transferred operation program
In ..., it becomes possible to receive the operation program at a desired time. For example, when the operation program is transferred from the host computer 20, the terminal device 3
When 0, 30a ... Are in the middle of data processing or the like, the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Can receive the operation program transferred at a later convenient time. Therefore, this system becomes convenient for the user (user) who uses this system.

In this embodiment, the case where the operation program is transferred from the host computer 20 to the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the transfer source of the operation program includes the first converting unit 21 and the writing unit 22 and the transfer destination includes the reading unit 31 and the second converting unit 32, the terminal devices 30, 30a ... It can be applied even in the case of transferring data between them. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a network system in which only the terminal devices 30, 30a ... Are connected to the database device 10, that is, a network system without the host computer 20.

[0035]

As described above, in the network system with a program transfer function of the present invention, when the program is transferred between a plurality of information processing devices, the first conversion means converts the program into the data. Convert to form and also
Since the second conversion means converts the program in the form of data into the form of the program, the program to be transferred to the database device can be stored as a kind of data. Therefore, in this network system, even when the program transfer function is realized, four transfer programs are not required as in the conventional case, so that it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the program of the entire system and Does not require memory capacity or complicated program configuration. As a result, it is possible to prevent an increase in the size and cost of each device that constitutes this system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an example of an embodiment of a network system with a program transfer function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a form of program data accumulated in a database device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example when writing an operation program in a database device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example when writing an operation program in a database device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram (1) showing a schematic configuration of a conventional network system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram (No. 2) showing a schematic configuration of a conventional network system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 database device 20 host computer (information processing device) 21 first conversion means 22 writing means 30 and 30a terminal device (information processing device) 31 reading means 32 second conversion means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A database device for accumulating data, and a plurality of information processing devices connected to the database device, wherein the information processing device is connected between the plurality of information processing devices via the database device. A network system with a program transfer function having a function of transferring a program to operate, wherein an information processing device as a transfer source of the program has a program data in a form of data capable of storing the program in the database device. And a writing unit for writing the program data in the database device, wherein the information processing device to which the program is transferred transfers the program data accumulated in the database device from the database device. Read-out means for reading out, and read-out means for taking out And a second conversion means for converting the program data into a program in which the information processing apparatus of the transfer destination can operate.