JPH09223022A - Program down loading method considering version - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To down load the managing program of an optimum version guaranteeing operation for the request of a management execution program to a device to be managed. SOLUTION: While using a management execution program 22, a managing device 22 requests the possession of management information to a device 21 to be managed. When this request is received, the device 21 investigates whether a relevant program exists or not and when there is no relevant management program, it is responded to the managing device 22. When there is the relevant management program, whether it is the latest version of that program or not is judged. In the case of NO, it is reported to the managing device 22 by the device 21 that it is not the latest version, the program in the device 21 to be managed is erased, and the new management program is down-loaded from 3 to a program providing device. When it is the latest version, the device 21 executes the relevant management program and returns the executed result to the managing device 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is for collecting a plurality of managed devices equipped with a management program for providing their own management information and management information of the managed devices provided by the management program. Related to a network system in which a management device having the management execution program of 1. and a program providing device that provides the management program to the managed device are connected, and in particular, the version downloaded program in the managed device connected to the network Regarding the download method to download in consideration of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of managed devices (for example, printers) having a management program for providing their own management information and a management execution program for collecting management information of the managed devices are installed. In a network system to which a management device (eg print management device) is connected,
As shown in FIG. 10, the managed device 101 is the management device 10
When a program execution request is issued from 2 to collect management information, if the management program is loaded, it is executed to notify its own management information, but if it is not loaded, the unloaded program notification means 1011. Management device 1 that the program is not loaded by
There is a conventional technique in which the notification is sent to 02 (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-53334).

Further, in the above network system, as shown in FIG. 11, a means 1122 for storing a program, connecting a program providing device 112 for providing the program, and looking up the status information of each managed device is provided.
Communication is performed to confirm that the program is installed. In particular,
Conventionally, we went to see information that indicates whether all programs are loaded and information that indicates the type of unloaded programs at regular intervals, and if all programs are not loaded, load unloaded programs. There is also a technique (for example, JP-A-5-53335).

[0004]

A plurality of managed devices having the management program for providing their own management information and a management execution program for collecting the management information of the managed devices are installed. In a network system to which an existing management device is connected, the version of a management execution program (eg, a program for acquiring printer configuration information) and the management program (eg, a self-configuration If the version is not appropriate, such as when the version of the program that provides information) is different, a situation occurs in which device management cannot be performed. For example, the management execution program of the management device has been upgraded so that more detailed configuration information of the printer can be obtained, and the management program of the managed device has been upgraded accordingly. Consider a situation where things have not been replaced. When a managed device tries to manage a managed device on the network using a new management execution program, it may happen that the managed device that has the management program before the version upgrade cannot understand the request from the new execution program. However, in this case, the response cannot be returned and it is out of the management target.
In some cases, the managed device may hang because the managed device cannot understand the request from the new management execution program. Furthermore, even if the managed device can return a response, the management device may not understand the response. In this case, wrong management information may be displayed, or in the worst case, the management device may hang. Therefore, the managed device is required to be able to download the program so that the management program of the version capable of correctly processing the request of the management execution program is installed.

However, the prior art does not have a means for upgrading the management program installed in the managed device from the old version of the management program to the new management program of the same type. If it is attempted to realize a version upgrade of the management program in the managed device by the conventional technique, it can be realized by newly registering the management program which is the same version and new version as a program of another kind. However, in this case, another program of the same type is loaded into the managed device every time the management program is upgraded, and the memory resources of the managed device are wasted.

As another method, by adding a management program deleting means capable of deleting the management program loaded in the managed device to the conventional technique, and deleting the management program having an old version from the managed device, A new version of the management program can be loaded into the managed device. However, since there is no way to confirm which managed device to delete the management program for,
Basically, the management program must be deleted for all managed devices, and when the number of managed devices is large, it takes a long time to delete the management program. Moreover, if the management program of the managed device is deleted, a new version of the management program will be loaded into the managed device at a certain timing, so it is necessary to manually manage which managed device of the deleted management program. Or, it is necessary to separately prepare a management system to perform such management.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art. That is, the present invention enables a management program and a management execution program that are upgraded to be downloaded to the managed device with an optimum version of the management program that guarantees the operation in response to the request of the management execution program. The task is to do.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention collects a plurality of managed devices having a management program for providing their own management information and management information of the managed devices provided by the management program. This is a download method in a network system in which a management apparatus in which a management execution program for executing the management program is installed and a program providing apparatus for providing the management program to a managed apparatus are connected. The managed device has program management means for acquiring and managing the version information of the management program currently stored and the latest version of the management program in the program providing device. The program providing device has means for managing the version information of the management program that can be provided and notifying the latest version information in response to an inquiry from the managed device. According to the above configuration of the present invention, the program management means acquires the version information from the program providing device,
Since the management program is managed, the latest management program can be replaced when the version of the management program downloaded to the managed device is old. Therefore, the managed device can execute the latest version of the management program. Further, since the version of the management program can be identified, it becomes possible to know which version of the management program is downloaded in the managed device, and the version management of the management program of the managed device can be reliably performed.

According to the present invention, in the above configuration, a size for checking whether the managed device has an area for storing the management program of the latest version based on the latest version information and the remaining capacity of the storage area for the management program. The configuration may include a check unit and a load unit that loads the latest version of the management program from the program providing apparatus according to the check result of the size check unit. According to this configuration of the present invention, the size check means checks the size to determine whether the program can be stored. Therefore, the remaining capacity of the program storage area in the managed device is insufficient and the management program cannot be replaced with a new version. In this case, there is no need to perform useless download processing that would result in failure from the program providing device. Further, the management apparatus can know that the program storage area of the managed apparatus is full and the latest management program cannot be downloaded.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a plurality of managed devices 11-1 to 11-N in which management programs 11a to 11n for providing own management information are mounted on a network and a managed device 11
The management device 12 in which the management execution program 121 for collecting the management information of -1 to 11-N is installed, and the program providing device 13 that provides the latest management program to the managed devices 11-1 to 11-N And are connected network systems. Here, it is assumed that the management information request by the management execution program 121 of the management apparatus 12 operates correctly in the managed apparatus equipped with the management program provided by the program providing apparatus 13.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the system of FIG. 1 in more detail. Managed device 21 (FIG. 1
11-1 to 11-N), the program storage area 211 for storing the management program and the latest version of the management program from the program providing device 23 (the same as 13 in FIG. 1) are stored in the program storage unit 211. Program reload means 212 for storing, a program version management table storage section 213 for storing a management table for managing version information of the currently stored management program, and management in the program storage section 231 of the program providing device 23. It has a program management means 214 for acquiring and managing the latest versions of the programs 231a-b.

The program providing device 23 includes a program storage unit 231 for storing the latest version of the management program.
And a program version information storage unit 232 that stores information about the version of the management program, an inquiry about the latest version information of the management program from the managed device 21, or a management program 231a-b stored in the program storage unit 231 A version information providing unit 234 that notifies the managed device 21 of information about the latest version stored in the program version information storage unit 232 when it is changed to a version program, and should be loaded to the managed device It has a program providing unit 233 that provides a program.
The management device 22 has a management execution program corresponding to the latest management program 221 provided by the program providing device 23.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an outline of the operation of the program download system configured as described above.
The management device 22 uses the management execution program 221 to make a management information acquisition request to the managed device 21. In response to this request, the managed device 21 checks whether or not there is a corresponding program (step S1). If there is no management program, the managed device 21 returns a response indicating that there is no corresponding management program to the management device 22 (step S2). If there is a corresponding management program, it is compared whether the version of the management program in the managed device is older than the version of the program provided by the program providing device 23, and it is determined whether it is the latest version (step S4). .

If the result of the determination is that the version is old, the managed device 21 returns a response to the management device 22 that there is no corresponding management program (step S
5) The program in the managed device 21 is deleted (step S6), and a new management program is downloaded from 3 to the program providing device (step S7). If the version is the latest version, the managed device 21
Executes the relevant management program (step S8),
A response as the execution result is returned to the management device 22 (step S
9).

Next, the operation after the management program is downloaded to the managed device 21 includes the case where the managed device executes the management program for the request after downloading the management program and returns the result to the managed device. There is a case where the management apparatus notifies the management apparatus that the management program has been downloaded, and the management apparatus transmits the same request again to the managed apparatus. The operation of determining whether the management program in the managed device exists and the operation of comparing and determining whether the version of the management program in the managed device is older than the version of the program provided by the program providing device are the program version. This is performed using the information stored in the management table storage unit 213, that is, the program version management table. The program version management table is updated when the program version information is changed and the management program is downloaded to the managed device 21. Note that FIG. 6 shows a sequence for updating the program version management table.

What is the program version information? The program version information storage unit 23 in the program providing device 23.
It is the program version information stored in 2.
As shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the program type 41, the program size 42, and the version 43 of the management program stored in the program providing apparatus 23 are included. The program version information changes each item (program size, program version) of the changed program when the management program in the program providing apparatus is changed to the latest version of the program. For example, first, as shown in FIG. 4A, a management program 1 (program size 50 kilobytes, Ver. 0.9.9) and a management program 2 (program size 50 kilobytes, Ve
r. 1.1.0) is stored. Next, FIG.
As shown in (b), the management program 1 has a program size of 5
0 kilobytes, program version 0.9.9 to program size 103 kilobytes, program version V
er1.0.0 has been changed to a new management program 3 (program size 200 kilobytes, Ver1.2.0)
Is added, the program version information is changed as shown in FIG. The program version upgrade management table is version information of the management program downloaded in the managed device 21, and is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), program type 51, load state 52, management program version (program version in managed device 21) 53, program providing device 2
3 of the management program (latest version) 54.

First, the program providing device 23 to FIG.
As shown in (a), the managed device 21 has a management program 1 (program size 50 kilobytes, Ver.
0.9.9) and management program 2 (program size 5
0 kilobyte, Ver. 1.1.0) is installed, the values shown in FIG. 5A are set in the program version management table. Next, the program providing device 23
When the managed device 21 receives a management information acquisition request for executing the management program 1 from the management device 22 after the management program therein has the management program as shown in FIG. The program management unit 214 in the device 21 is used to inquire the program providing device 23 about the program version information (step S1).
1).

The program providing means 233 of the program providing device 23 returns the program version information in response to the inquiry (step S12). Program management means 21
When 4 acquires this program version information (step S13), the program version information and the program version management table are compared for each program type, and the program version management table is updated (step S14). In the update, first, the items of the program type are compared, and if they are in the program version information but not in the program version management table, the program type and the latest version are entered in the program type of the management table (FIG. 5A). And FIG. 5 (b)). Next, for each program type, the version of the program version information and the latest version of the program version management table are compared, and if the version of the program providing device is newer, that version is taken as the latest version of the program version management table (Fig. 5 (a) and FIG. 5 (b)).

Using the program version management table shown in FIG. 5B, it is judged whether or not a management program corresponding to the managed device 21 exists and the managed device 21.
Determine if the version of the management program in is up to date. The determination as to whether or not the corresponding management program exists is made by checking the program type and the version in the device in the program version management table. If the program type exists and the version in the device does not exist, it is determined that the program does not exist. Whether or not the version of the management program in the managed device is old is determined by comparing the version in the device with the latest version. If the latest version is newer than the version in the device, it is determined to be old. Therefore, in the case of FIG. 5B, the management program 3 does not exist in the managed device,
It can be seen that the management program 1 is an old version. As described above, the managed device can determine the type of the management program that is not in the managed device 21 and the program with the old version (step S15).

In response to the management information acquisition request for executing the management program 1, the managed device 21 returns a response to the management device 22 that there is no corresponding program because the version is old as a result. Next, the management program 1 is deleted (step S16), and the program providing apparatus 23 is requested to download the latest version of the management program 1 (step S17).

In response to this request, the program providing device 23 downloads the management program 1 to the managed device 21 (step S18). When the managed device 21 finishes storing the latest version of the management program 1 (step S19), the program version management table for the stored management program 1 is updated as shown in FIG. 5C (step S20).

Here, it is known that not only the management program 1 is old, but also the management program 3 does not exist.
It is also possible to issue a download request for 3. When the management program 3 is stored in the managed device 21, the program version management table is changed as shown in FIG. In this way, the version of the management program in the managed device 21 is upgraded.

The method by which the managed device 21 obtains the program version information from the program providing device 23 is not limited to when the management information acquisition request from the managing device 22 is received, but the management program in the program providing device 23 is updated. When the program is supplied from the program providing device 23 to the managed device 2
It is also possible to receive the notification sent to No. 1. In this case, the same judgment will be made based on the received notification.

According to the download method of the present embodiment, the management program version downloaded to the managed device 21 is managed and replaced with the latest management program. Therefore, the management execution program of the management device is executed. Even then, a version of the management program that operates normally can be automatically and accurately downloaded to the managed device.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the memory area for the management program downloaded from the program providing apparatus to the managed apparatus is always prepared as the program storage section. I am assuming that However, since the memory capacity is limited, it is not always possible to prepare the necessary storage area. If the storage area cannot be prepared, it is necessary to notify that there is no storage area and prompt the user to take measures such as expansion of the storage area. In the second embodiment, the following configuration is added to the configuration of FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a version size table 72 of the downloaded program is provided in the version management table in the managed device, and a remaining capacity storage unit 75 of a storage area for storing the program is further provided. Also, as shown in FIG.
Size check means 815 is provided for judging whether the latest program can be stored or not based on the program size item and the remaining capacity of the storage area. Then, as a result of the size check, if the storage area for storing the latest program is insufficient, the management apparatus 82 is notified that the storage area of the program storage unit 813 is full and therefore the latest management program cannot be downloaded. This indicates that the storage area of the program storage unit 811 in the managed device 81 is full. In FIG. 8, elements having the same names as those in FIG. 2 have the same functions.

FIG. 9 shows a flow of processing for checking before downloading a program. It is assumed that the version management table in the managed device is in a state as shown in FIG. Using the management information acquisition request from the management device 82 as a trigger, the version information of the program providing device 83 as shown in FIG. 7B is acquired (step S3).
1). The version information is compared with the version management table stored in the version management table storage unit 813 of the managed device 81, and the management program to be downloaded is extracted (step S32). In the example of FIG. 7, it can be seen that the management program 1 has an old version and should be downloaded. The size of the management program 1 to be downloaded from the program providing device 83 is calculated (step S33). In the example of FIG. 7, the size of the management program 1 is 103 kilobytes. The remaining capacity of the program storage area in the managed device 21 is calculated (step S3).
4). From FIG. 7A, the remaining capacity is 50 + 50 = 100 kilobytes.

The size of the management program to be downloaded is compared with the remaining capacity of the program storage area, and it is determined whether or not there is a free space for storage (step S35). In the example of FIG. 7, when the size of the management program to be downloaded is compared with the remaining capacity of the storage area of the program storage unit 811, the size of the management program to be downloaded is large, so the process is not downloaded (steps S36 to S37). Move. The managed device 83 deletes the old version of the management program 1 existing in the program storage unit 831 (step S36), and notifies the management device 83 that the program storage area is insufficient (step S37). If the result of determination in step S35 indicates that there is a free area,
The extracted old version of the management program in the managed device is deleted (step S38), and the program providing device 8
Download the management program from 3 (Step S
39). Finally, the version management table of the program version management table storage unit 813 in the managed device 81 is changed, and the process ends (step S40). Figure 7
In the above example, the management table is as shown in FIG.

According to the second embodiment described above, the size check is performed by the size check means 81 to determine whether or not the data can be stored. Therefore, the remaining capacity of the program storage unit 811 in the managed device is insufficient. When the management program cannot be replaced with a new version, there is no need to perform a download process that causes a failure from the program providing device 83. Further, the management device 21 can know that the area of the program storage unit 211 of the managed device is full and the latest management program cannot be downloaded.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when the version of the management program downloaded to the managed device is old, it can be replaced with the latest management program. Therefore, the managed device can execute the latest version of the management program. effective. Further, since the version of the management program can be identified, it becomes possible to know which version of the management program is downloaded in the managed device, and there is an effect that version management of the management program of the managed device can be performed. Further, according to the present invention, since the size check is performed by the size check means to determine whether or not the program can be stored, when the remaining capacity of the program storage unit in the managed device is insufficient and the management program cannot be replaced with a new version. Moreover, there is no need to perform useless download processing that would result in failure from the program providing device. Further, the management apparatus can know that the area of the program storage unit of the managed apparatus is full and the latest management program cannot be downloaded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an entire download system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a download method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an operation outline in the first embodiment.

4A and 4B show a data structure of version information of a program providing device, FIG. 4A showing a state before a change of version information, and FIG. 4B showing a state after a change of version information.

5A to 5D are diagrams showing an example of a program version management table of a managed device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a sequence of updating a program version management table.

7A and 7B are diagrams for explaining version management and size check in the second embodiment, where FIG. 7A is a management table of a managed device, FIG. 7B is version information of a program providing device, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a management table of a managed device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a download method according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of processing for checking a program before downloading.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining another conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

11-1 to 11-N, 21, 81 ... Managed device, 12,
22, 82 ... Management device, 13, 23, 83 ... Program providing device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of managed devices, each of which has a management program for providing its own management information, and a management execution program for collecting management information of the managed device provided by the management program. In a network system in which the managed device and the program providing device that provides the management program to the managed device are connected, the managed device is the version information of the management program currently stored and the management program in the program providing device. The program providing device manages the version information of the management program that can be provided and notifies the latest version information in response to an inquiry from the managed device. A download method characterized by having. 2. A plurality of managed devices, each of which has a management program for providing its own management information, and a management execution program for collecting management information of the managed device provided by the management program. In a network system in which the managed device and the program providing device that provides the management program to the managed device are connected, the managed device is the version information of the management program currently stored and the management program in the program providing device. Program management means for acquiring and managing the latest version information of, and size check means for checking whether or not there is an area for storing the latest version management program based on the latest version information and the remaining capacity of the storage area for the management program, The latest version according to the check result by the size check means The program providing device has a loading unit for loading the management program, and the program providing device has a unit for managing the version information of the available management program and notifying the latest version information in response to an inquiry from the managed device. And download method.