JPH09198243A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain the partial correction and functional extension of a program by selectively linking functional unit modules stored together with module attribute information at the time of initializing the program. SOLUTION: A memory 11 is constituted of plural function blocks and respective function blocks are stored in the memory 11 at an equal interval. A module attribute managing part 12 scans the memory 11, judges the new/old state of a detected function module, registers the module in a name-address correspondence table 13, and sends an address corresponding to the name of the module in response to an inquiry from a program for accessing a function module. In the memory 11, a module name information and version information 14 are added to each function module and the information-added function module is arranged like a capsule. Since the managing part 13 manages correspondence relation between names and addresses, only always the newest module can be linked even when new and old function modules are mixed in the memory 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to a program function module linking method and a writing method in the information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, linking of a program ends at the time when it is stored in a memory, and in an embedded information processing device, it ends statically at the time when the program is installed. In order to make such corrections, the entire program has to be read into another memory once, corrected, and then stored again, which is a mechanism that cannot be done in that form.

FIG. 7 shows how a program is modified by the conventional method. In this figure, as shown at 61, the modules A, B, C are stored in the program memory.
The program of module D is stored. In the case where only the module B part is rewritten to the version 2 to be the one shown in 62, the program contents shown in 61 are once read, the module B part is rewritten to the version 2, and the whole is stored again. I had no choice but to do it.

As described above, in order to modify or expand the program by the conventional program linking method, it is necessary to reread the program in the entire memory, and a read-only memory (ROM) like an embedded information processing device. If the program is stored in), it is necessary to replace the ROM with the ROM in which the modified program is written. If the surface-mounted element that is widely used today as the ROM is used, There was a problem that the whole board had to be replaced.

[0005]

As described above, when the program is partially modified or expanded by the conventional program linking method, the entire program content must be stored again and stored in the ROM. Is the modified ROM
It was necessary to replace it with a new one, or to replace the board with one with a modified ROM.

The present invention solves such an inconvenience and allows a program to be partially modified or expanded without modifying the existing part, and the function of the information processing device can be flexibly set. An object is to provide an information processing device having a link method.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an information processing apparatus for sequentially executing a predetermined program stored in a storage means to perform information processing,
It is characterized by comprising a module attribute management unit for storing the program in the storage unit together with the module attribute information in units of functional modules, and selectively linking the unit modules stored in the storage unit at the time of initialization of the program. .

According to the present invention, the program can be constructed in units of function modules, part of the functions can be modified or the functions can be expanded, and the functions of the information processing equipment can be flexibly changed or set.

The module attribute information includes module identification information indicating module selection, module name information, and module version number information, and the module attribute management unit is based on the module version number information. The feature is that the latest version of the unit module is always selectively linked to.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily select a function module that constitutes a program and prevent a version update error.

Further, the module attribute management unit stores the module attribute information in the storage unit at equal address intervals.

According to the present invention, the selection of the functional modules that make up the program can be executed at high speed.

Further, the module attribute management unit displays a list information of the module attribute information constituting the program at the time of initialization of the program, and selectively links the module attribute information designated by the user. .

According to the present invention, it is possible to select a function module that constitutes a program according to a user's instruction.

Furthermore, when the storage means is composed of a plurality of storage elements, the module attribute management unit concentrates rewriting on a small number of elements when changing the version of the functional module.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of times of rewriting of the memory element in accordance with the version change of the functional module constituting the program, and it is possible to extend the life of the device.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention of claim 1 of the present invention is an information processing apparatus for sequentially executing a predetermined program stored in a storage means to perform information processing, and the program is stored in the storage means in units of functional modules. A module attribute management unit for storing together with the module attribute information and selectively linking the unit modules stored in the storage means at the time of initialization of the program is provided.
It is possible to configure the program in units of function modules, partially modify or expand the functions in units of function modules, and to flexibly change or set the functions of the information processing device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the module attribute information is configured to include module identification information indicating module selection, module name information, and module version number information, and the module attribute management unit Since the unit modules of the latest version are always selectively linked based on the module version number information, it is easy to select the functional modules that make up the program, and it is possible to prevent version update errors.

In the invention of claim 3 of the present invention, the module attribute management unit stores the module attribute information in the storage means at equal address intervals, so that the selection of the functional modules constituting the program is performed at high speed. There is an effect that can be implemented.

In the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, the module attribute management unit displays a list of the module attribute information constituting the program when the program is initialized,
Since the module attribute information instructed by the user is selectively linked, there is an effect that the selection of the functional module forming the program can be performed according to the instruction of the user.

In the invention of claim 5 of the present invention, when the storage means is composed of a plurality of storage elements, the module attribute management unit concentrates rewriting on a small number of elements when changing the version of the functional module. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of times of rewriting of the memory element in accordance with the version change of the functional module forming the program, and it is possible to extend the life of the device.

The program dynamic linking method according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a functional block for selectively linking to a program module in the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the memory 11 shows the place where the program is stored, and is composed of a plurality of functional blocks. The plurality of functional blocks are stored in the memory 31 at equal address intervals.

FIG. 2 shows the form of the capsule of each functional block. The module attribute management unit 12 of FIG.
Scans the memory 11 to determine whether the function module found is old or new, registers the function in the name / address correspondence table 13, and responds to an inquiry from a program that calls the function module. It has a function to send back the address corresponding to the name. The name / address correspondence table 13 is a correspondence table having information in which module names are associated with addresses where the modules are stored.

The operation of the functional blocks for linking the programs described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the module attribute management unit 12 scans the memory 11 in step S1. Next, step S2
It is determined whether or not the module attribute information is present. If not, the process proceeds to branch NO to end the dynamic link.

If there is the module attribute information in step S2, the process proceeds to YES branch to check the name of the module attribute information found in step S3, and if the name is not registered in the name / address correspondence table 13. If so, the process proceeds to branch NO and proceeds to step S6. In step S6, the module is unconditionally registered in the name / address correspondence table 13.

If the name of the module attribute information found in step S3 is registered in the name / address correspondence table 13, the process proceeds to YES at step S4.
The module registered in the address correspondence table 13 is compared with the old and new of the discovered module. If the found module is newer, branch Y in step S4.
The process proceeds to ES, the name / address correspondence table 13 is updated with the information of the module found in step S5, and the scanning of the memory 11 is continued.

If the module in the name / address correspondence table 13 is newer or the same as the found module, the process proceeds to branch NO, and the scanning of the memory 11 is further continued without doing anything.

As described above, according to this embodiment of the present invention, the module name information and the version information are added to the functional module, encapsulated and placed in the memory, and the scanning of the module and the correspondence relationship between the name and the address are performed. By providing the module attribute management unit that manages, even if the memory 11 contains both new and old functional modules, it is possible to always link only the latest functional module.

FIG. 4 shows a functional block in the case of selectively linking modules based on instruction information given in advance in the second embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 4, a memory 31 is a place where a program is stored and is composed of a plurality of functional blocks. The plurality of functional blocks are stored in the memory 31 at equal address intervals.

The module attribute management unit 32 has a memory 31.
For the function of registering the attribute information of the found functional module in the name / address correspondence table 33 based on the module configuration instruction information 34 and the inquiry from the program that calls the functional module, It has a function to send back the address corresponding to the module name.
The name / address correspondence table 33 is a correspondence table having information associating the module names with the addresses where the modules are stored. The module configuration instruction information 34 describes the name of the functional module to be linked from the outside before the initialization of the program.

The operation of the functional blocks for dynamically linking the programs described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the module attribute management unit 32 temporarily scans the memory 31 in step S11 to search for a functional module. Next, in step S12, the module configuration instruction information 34 is referred to one by one, and in step S14, the information of the module registered in the module configuration instruction information 34 is registered in the name / address correspondence table 33. Step S
In 13, when all the modules registered in the module configuration instruction information 34 have been registered, the process proceeds to YES in the branch and ends the link operation.

As described above, in the present embodiment, by changing the module configuration instruction information 34, it is possible to change the configuration of the program each time it is started.

FIG. 6 shows an information processing apparatus using the program dynamic linking method according to the third embodiment of the present invention, showing how a program is updated among a plurality of memory elements when the program is updated. It is the figure which showed whether to write.

In FIG. 6, (a) shows the first memory state. (B) shows the state of the memory after the first change. (C) is the memory state changed again.

The memory state is the first memory state (a).
If the versions of module A, module B, and module D are changed when changing from the memory state to the memory state (b), the conventional static linking method:
The contents 51 of the memory element X and the contents 52 of the memory element Y had to be rewritten. However, in the method of the present invention, it is only necessary to rewrite the contents 52 of the memory Y as 55.

Furthermore, when the memory state (b) is changed to the memory state (c), the module A and the module C are changed.
And if the version of module E is changed, the conventional static linking method would have had to rewrite the contents 54 of memory device X and the contents 56 of memory device Z. However, in the method of the present invention, it is only necessary to rewrite the content 56 of the memory element Z as 59.

As is apparent from the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, when the conventional static linking method is used, the conventional static link method is used during the transition from the initial memory state (a) to the memory state (c). In the static link method, a total of four memories had to be rewritten, but in the case of using the present invention, it is only necessary to rewrite a total of two memories.

As described above, by using the method of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the number of times of rewriting the memory due to the change of the module version. This allows
As a result, the life of the information processing device itself can be extended.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the functional module of a program is encapsulated by adding attribute information such as name information and version number information, and this encapsulation is selectively performed at the time of initialization of the program. The function modules are linked. Therefore, an information processing apparatus having an excellent dynamic program link function that can modify the program and expand the function without changing the existing part of the program and can flexibly set the function of the information processing apparatus. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a functional block for selectively linking to a program module according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a form of a unit capsule of a program module according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an operation of selectively linking program modules in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of functional blocks for selectively linking to a program module according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an operation of selectively linking program modules in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing changes in the storage state of the memory according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the transition of the memory storage state in the case of the conventional static module link.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 31 memory 12, 32 module attribute management unit 13, 33 name / address correspondence table 14 additional memory element 15 functional module capsule 34 module configuration instruction information 51, 54, 57 memory X state 52, 55, 58 memory Y state 53, 56, 59 Memory Z status

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for performing information processing by sequentially executing a predetermined program stored in a storage means,
It is characterized by comprising a module attribute management unit for storing the program in the storage unit together with the module attribute information in units of functional modules, and selectively linking the unit modules stored in the storage unit at the time of initialization of the program. Information processing equipment. 2. The module attribute information is configured to include module identification information indicating module selection, module name information, and module version number information,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the module attribute management unit always selectively links the latest unit module based on the module version number information. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the module attribute management unit stores the module attribute information in the storage unit at equal address intervals. 4. The module attribute management unit displays a list of module attribute information constituting the program when the program is initialized, and selectively links the module attribute information designated by the user. Alternatively, the information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or claim 3. 5. The information processing according to claim 3, wherein when the storage means is composed of a plurality of storage elements, the module attribute management unit concentrates rewriting on a small number of elements when changing the version of the functional module. apparatus.