JPH09282148A - Method and system for automatically updating program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically install a program for terminal while keeping the consistency of the program between a center and a terminal system by transmitting a required object to the terminal system when correcting the program on the center side or when requesting processing from the terminal. SOLUTION: When an object for processing request for an application program is transmitted from a terminal system 21 to a center system 11, it is checked by referring to two history holding means 16 and 17 whether that object is transmitted by using the latest program for terminal or not. Then, the center system 11 unitarily holds and manages the updating histories of the application program on the center system 11 and the respective objects for application program on the terminal system 21 and when the application program is added or updated, a data object having a procedure for updating the program for terminal on the terminal system 21 is transmitted to the terminal system 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program automatic updating method and system, and more particularly to a data communication system in which a center system for providing services such as information provision and goods trading and a terminal system for utilizing the same are connected by a network. In the system, when the service application program on the center system is added or updated,
The present invention relates to a program automatic updating method and system for automatically updating and adding a terminal program for using a service application program installed in a terminal system to a terminal system.

In detail, in the data communication system, it is necessary to maintain the consistency between the service application program on the center system and the terminal program for using it, and a new service application program is added to the center system. Alternatively, when the existing service application program is expanded, the terminal system side needs to add / update the terminal program accompanying this. The present invention relates to a program automatic updating method and system for automatically adding / updating a terminal program without imposing a load on a center system administrator or a terminal user.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 shows the configuration of a general data communication system. The data communication system shown in the figure includes one center system 11 and two terminal systems 21C and 2C.
It is composed of 1D. In this example, only two terminal systems are used for simplification of description, but n terminal systems may be used.

The center system 11 is a terminal system 21.
Object storage areas 14A, 14B for storing objects transmitted from the application program control unit 13A,
Application program sections 12A and 12 each having 13B
B, a control program 15.

The terminal system 21 (21C, 21D) is
Object O (A) for using application programs
And object storage area 23 for storing O (B)
Object storage areas 22A, including A and 23B,
22B and a terminal system control program section 24, and a display device 25 and an input device 26 are connected to the terminal system 21.

The terminal programs 22A and 22B are object storage areas 23A and 23 for storing objects O (A) and O (B) for using the application program.
B. For example, when using the application program 12A on the center system 11 from the terminal system 21C,
It is performed in the following procedure.

The user of the terminal system 21 uses the input device 26
The data input to is stored in the object storage area 23A in the terminal program section 22A, and the terminal control program section 24 assigns the destination (in this case, the application program 12A) to the stored object O (A). And sends it to the center system 11.

Control program section 1 of center system 11
5 instructs the application program unit 12A to execute processing based on the destination information attached to the object O (A) sent from the terminal program 22A of the terminal system 21, and the application program unit 12A receives The written object O (A) is written in the object storage area 14A, and the processing is executed.

Terminal program section 2 of terminal system 21
The procedure for using the application program 12 on the center system from 2B is the same as the route shown in FIG. FIG. 12 shows a method of installing a terminal program in a conventional data communication system. In the figure, the same components as those of FIG. 11 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 12, terminal programs are added to the terminal system 21,
A maintenance program unit 27 for updating is provided.

A point to be noted in the conventional method for updating a terminal program shown in FIG. 1 is that the terminal system side 21 has a maintenance program section 27 for adding and updating the terminal program. In addition, the user of the basic system is in charge of managing the terminal program.

For example, consider a situation in which the application program section 12A on the center system 11 is updated, and the terminal program must be updated from T (A) to T '(A) accordingly. When the user activates the terminal system program T (A) before update in the terminal system 21C and sends the object before update, the application program control unit 13A in the application program unit 12A determines that the sent object is incorrect. Determined to be an appropriate object,
Before executing the processing, an error or warning message is returned to the terminal system 21C.

As a result, the user is informed of the center system 1
Recognizing that the application program unit 12A of No. 1 has been updated, the maintenance program unit 27 included in the terminal system 21 is activated. Maintenance program section 27
Is an application program control unit 13 on the center system 11.
A new terminal program T ′ (A) is acquired from A, and the contents of the terminal program section 22A are updated.

In the figure, the solid line arrow shows the route of the processing request from the maintenance program unit 27 to the application program control unit 13A on the center system 11, and the dotted line arrow shows the update route of the terminal program. Also, when a new application program is added to the center system 11, the center system administrator or the service provider notifies the terminal system user of the addition of the new service by some means such as electronic mail, The user of the system uses the maintenance program unit 27 described above to install the terminal program for the service newly installed in the own terminal system.

[0014]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method for installing a terminal program in a communication system, the first problem is that the terminal system user must manually install the terminal program. There is.

Therefore, there is a second problem that additions and updates of application programs on the center system cannot be promptly reflected on the terminal system side. Furthermore, since the center system does not have a common means for checking the terminal program on the terminal system, there is a third problem that each application program must individually check the terminal program.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a program automatic updating method and system capable of solving the above-mentioned conventional problems and automatically installing a terminal program. To do.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a program automatic updating method for updating a program between a center system and a terminal system in a data communication system for transmitting and receiving data and data objects between the center system and a plurality of terminal systems. In, in the center system, managing the update history of the program of the terminal system, when modifying the program on the center side or when processing request from the terminal, send an object for updating the terminal program to the terminal system, Maintain program consistency between the center system and terminal system.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the first principle of the present invention. In the center system of the present invention, the version of the terminal program being used by the terminal system is always identified and held (step 1), and when the center program is updated (step 2), the version is updated along with the update. The version of the stored center program is identified (step 3), and if the stored terminal program is older than the updated version of the center program (step 4), the updated center program is used. A data object for installing a new version of the terminal program corresponding to the program is transmitted to the terminal system (step 5), and the terminal program on the terminal system is automatically updated (step 6).

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the second principle of the present invention. In the center system of the present invention, when the center program is updated (step 11), the updated version of the center program is identified along with the update (step 12), and the terminal system is in use. Is transmitted to the center system (step 13), and if the version transmitted from the terminal system is older than the version of the updated center program (step 14), A data object for installing a new version of the terminal program corresponding to the updated center program is transmitted to the terminal system (step 15), and the terminal system uses the data object transmitted from the center system to execute the terminal program. Update (Step 1 ).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention. The present invention relates to a data communication system for transmitting and receiving data and data objects between a center system 11 and a plurality of terminal systems, and a program automatic updating system for matching program versions between the center system 11 and a plurality of terminal systems. The center system 11 includes update history holding means 16 for managing the history of application program updates, terminal update history holding means 17 for managing the history of program updates of a plurality of terminal systems, and application program updates. At the time of execution of the processing request issued from the terminal system 21, a history of comparing the update history of the application program of the update history holding means 16 with the update history of the program of the terminal system 21 of the terminal update history holding means 17. In the comparing means 15 and the history comparing means 15, the history is Otherwise, it has the update information transmitting means 18 for transmitting the data object for updating the program of the terminal system 21 to the terminal system 21, and the terminal system 21 updates the program transmitted from the center system 11. And an updating unit 24 for updating the terminal program by using the object for performing the operation.

Further, the terminal update history holding means of the center system 11 includes means for updating the contents when an object for updating the program of the terminal system 21 is transmitted to the terminal system 21. In addition, the terminal system 2
1 includes a transmitting / receiving means 27 for transmitting the object of the current terminal program and the accompanying version to the center system 11, and the history comparing means 15 of the center system 11
Means for comparing the version of the terminal program object transmitted by the transmitting / receiving means 27 with the history information of the update history holding means 16 to determine whether or not the version of the terminal program object and the associated version is latest. including.

As described above, according to the present invention, the update history holding means 16 on the center system manages the version of the application program, and the terminal update history holding means 17 manages the version of the terminal program. Therefore, when an object for requesting processing to the application program is transmitted from the terminal system to the center system, whether or not the object is transmitted using the latest terminal program is determined in the above 2
The check is performed by referring to the one history holding means 16 and 17. In this way, the center system centrally holds and manages the update history of the application program on the center system and each application program object on the terminal system, so that when the application program is added or updated, the terminal system Send a data object with a procedure for updating the program for the terminal to the terminal system. As a result, when the terminal system receives the data object for updating the program, the terminal control program executes the procedure for updating the program of the data object, and the terminal program is updated.

Further, according to the present invention, when the data object is transmitted from the terminal system, the history of application programs in the center system is checked in the center system so that the old terminal program is installed in the terminal system. If a data object with a procedure for updating the above-mentioned terminal program is sent to the terminal system, the terminal system receives the program update data object The procedure for updating the program of the object is executed, and the program for the terminal is updated.

With this, the center system holds the application program update history on the center system and the terminal program installation history on the terminal system, and installs the terminal program when the application program is added or updated. It becomes possible to transmit the data object of the above to the terminal system.

Further, according to the present invention, the latest terminal program can be automatically installed in the terminal system by checking the history when the object is transmitted from the terminal system.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a program updating system in a data communication system of the present invention. In the program updating system shown in the figure, the center system 11 comprises application program sections 12A and 12B, a control program section 15, an application program management table 16, a terminal system management table 17, an installation object storage area 19, and a transmission / reception section 3. To be done. The terminal system 21 includes terminal program units 22A and 22B, a terminal control program 24 unit, and a transmission / reception unit 27, and a display device 25 and an input device 26 are connected to the terminal system 21.

Application program section 1 of the center system 11
The latest application programs in the center system 11 are stored and operated in 2A and 12B. The application program management table 16 manages the version of the application program, and manages the latest version (program identifier) of the application program stored and operated in the application program units 12A and 12B for each of the application program units 12A and 12B. .

The terminal system management table 17 manages the version (program identifier) of the terminal program currently operated in the terminal system 21 for each terminal system. The contents stored in the application program management table 16 and the terminal system management table 17 are the program versions (for example, vol.xxx-1, v
ol.xxx-2) with version number,
Or the program identifier (proguram-A, proguram-
The program ID may be simply set without using the number as in B).

The control program section 15 compares the latest application program version managed by the application program management table 16 with the terminal program version in the terminal system management table 17, and if they do not match, the terminal program Is determined not to be the latest version, and the object of the terminal program of the latest version is read from the installation object storage area 19 and is controlled so as to be transmitted from the transmitting / receiving unit 3 to the terminal system 21.

Further, when a processing request is received from the terminal system 21, the control program section 15 compares the object included in the processing request with the latest application program shown in the application program management table 16 and is transmitted. If the object does not correspond to the latest application program, it is determined that the object included in the terminal system 21 is not the latest object, and the object of the latest version of the terminal program is retrieved from the installation object storage area 19 as described above. It is controlled so that the data is read out and transmitted from the transmission / reception unit 3 to the terminal system 21.

Installation object storage area 19
When the application program in the application program unit 12 is updated, stores the object of the terminal program corresponding to the application program. The transmission / reception unit 3 transmits the object of the terminal program to the terminal system 21.
Further, the data object used in the terminal system 21 is received.

The terminal control program section 24 of the terminal system 21 receives the object of the terminal program received from the center system 11, and the terminal program section 22.
To be stored. It also controls the transmission of data objects to the center system 11 via the transmission / reception unit 27.

A and T '(A), B and T' (B) and the like displayed in the application program management table 16 of the center system 11 indicate a set of the application program and its version. Further, C and T (A), T ′ (B) and D and T displayed in the terminal system management table 17
(A) and T (B) show the versions currently held by the terminal system 21.

Further, the application program section 12A of the center system 11 is updated so that the objects used are O
When (A) is changed to O ′ (A) and the application program management table 16 is updated, the control program section 15
Updates the contents of the terminal system management table 17 and installs objects for installing a new terminal program T ′ (A) into the terminal systems 21C and 21C.
D is sent to D to notify the object storage area 22A on the terminal system 21 to be updated. Solid arrows in the figure show the update routes of the object storage areas on the terminal system management table 17 and the terminal system 21. That is, the series of operations of the control program unit 15 when the application program on the center system 11 is updated is
It is as follows.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for implementing the first updating system of the present invention. Step 101) The center system 11 searches the terminal system management table 17 and finds all terminal systems (identifiers of all terminal systems) when an application program is added, and the application program when an application program is updated. Acquires the terminal system (terminal system identifier) being used.

Step 102) Store the latest terminal program in the installation object storage area 19,
The updated object is sent to each of the searched terminal systems to notify that the content of the object storage area on each terminal system is updated.

Step 103) It is judged whether or not the transmission is successful, and if it is successful, the procedure goes to step 104, and if it fails, the procedure goes to step 105. Step 104) When the transmission to the terminal system 21 is successful, the installation status of the corresponding entry in the terminal system management table 17 is updated.

Step 105) It is judged whether or not the processing has been completed for all the searched terminal systems, and if not completed, the processing shifts to step 102. According to the above operation, when the object before update is transmitted from the terminal system 21D, the control program unit 15 refers to the application program management table 16 so that the transmitted object is before update. And sends an object for installing a new terminal program to the terminal system 21D,
Notifying that the terminal program on the terminal system 21D is updated, and updating the entry contents of the terminal system management table 17.

Next, as a second updating system, a series of operations of the control program section 15 when an object is transmitted from the terminal system 21 is as follows. The dotted arrow in FIG. 4 indicates the update route of the object storage area on the terminal system management table 17 and the terminal system 21.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart for implementing the second updating system of the present invention. Step 201) Application program management table 16
Is searched by the information of the terminal system management table 17 in which the object transmitted from the terminal system 21 is stored, and it is determined whether the transmitted object is the latest object.

Step 202) If the object transmitted from the terminal system 21 is the latest one, it is passed to the application program of the corresponding application program section 12 to instruct execution of the process. If it is not the latest one, the process proceeds to step 203. Step 203) If the object transmitted from the terminal system 21 is not the latest, the latest object is transmitted to the terminal system 21 that is the transmission source, and a notification is sent to update the object storage area on the terminal system 21.

Step 204) If the transmission to the terminal system 21 is successful, the process proceeds to Step 205, and if the transmission is unsuccessful, the process is terminated. Step 205) When the transmission to the terminal system 21 is successful, the entry contents in the terminal system management table corresponding to the terminal system are updated.

In such a situation, when the application program 12 on the center system 11 is updated and a new object is transmitted to the terminal system 21 by the above procedure, the terminal system 21 is down for some reason. It happens in some cases. In the present invention, the control program unit 15 checks whether the object transmitted from the terminal system 21 is the latest one, so that the object on the terminal system can be automatically updated even in such a situation.

[0044]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the center system 11 centrally holds and manages the update history of the application program 12 on the center system and the object for each application program on the terminal system 21. When a program is added or updated, an object having a procedure for installing the terminal program is transmitted to the terminal system 21 to automatically install the terminal program.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 7, and 8. FIG. 7 shows the situation before updating the terminal program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
Indicates the status after the update. First, the center system 11
When the latest application program of T is updated from T (A) to T ′ (A), the application program management table 16 of the center system 11 of FIG. It is shown that there is. The terminal system management table 17 also includes terminal systems 21C and 21C.
It is shown that the terminal program currently used in D is T (A) before being updated in the center system 11.

As a result, the control program section 15 detects that the versions of the application programs of the center system 11 and the terminal systems 21C and 21D do not match, and refers to the terminal system management table 17 to refer to the terminals before updating. The terminal systems (identifiers of the terminal systems) 21C and 21D using the program for use are acquired (step 101).

The control program section 15 is used for the terminal system 2
The terminal program corresponding to the latest application program T '(A) of the latest T' (A) stored in the installation object storage area 19 is transmitted to 1C and 21D (step 102).

Here, the control program section 15 of the center system 11 determines whether or not the transmission is successful. In this embodiment, the success / failure of the transmission depends on the terminal system 21C,
It is determined whether or not the reception response is returned from 21D (step 103). Terminal system 21C, 21
When the transmission of the updated object to D is successful, the entry corresponding to the terminal systems 21C and 21D of the terminal system management table 17 ((terminal identifier)
The columns C and D are updated according to the installation status (step 104). In this example, since the installation was successful for both terminal systems 21C and 21D,
As shown in FIG. 8, C of the terminal system management table 17,
Rewrite the column of D to T '(A).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, the terminal system 21C, 21D stores the terminal program T '(A). [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment shown below, when a processing request is sent from the terminal system to the center system, the center system automatically sends the terminal program to the terminal system by sending an object for updating the terminal program. It is installed in and maintains the integrity of application programs.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4, 6, 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
1 shows the situation before updating the terminal program of the embodiment of FIG.
0 indicates the situation after updating the terminal program of the second embodiment of the present invention. First, the application program of the application program unit 12B of the center system 11 changes from T (B) to T '.
When it is updated to (B), as shown in FIG.
The column B (contents of the application program section 12B) of the application program management table 16 indicates that it is currently T '(B).

At this time, when the object is transmitted from the terminal system 21D by using the terminal program T (B), the control program unit 15 of the center system 11 causes the terminal identifier 21D and the application program type of the transmitted object ( By comparing the application program management table 16 and the terminal system management table 17 using B), the version of the terminal program installed in the terminal system 21D matches the latest application program version on the center system. It is determined (step 201).

Here, the application program stored in the application program section 12B of the center system 11 is T '.
(B) and the terminal program installed in the terminal system 21D is T (B), the versions do not match, and it is determined that the version of the terminal program on the terminal system 21D is old (step 20).
2).

As a result, the control program unit 15 of the center system 11 reads out the latest version T '(B) from the installation object storage area 19 and installs the object having the procedure for installing the terminal program into the terminal. It is sent to the system 21D and the terminal program is automatically installed (step 203).

As a result of the transmission, when the reception response is issued from the terminal system 21D, it is assumed that the transmission of the object is successful, and the terminal system management table 17 corresponding to the terminal system 21D is displayed as shown in FIG. Update (T (B) → T ′ (B)).

As described above, according to this embodiment, when an object is transmitted from the terminal system 21 to the center system 11, the center system 11 causes the version of the object and the latest version of the application program in the center system 11. When an execution request is issued to a certain terminal system 21 alone, whether the latest object is individually supplied to the terminal system 21 based on the version of the object that the terminal system 21 has. It is possible to determine whether or not the object version of the terminal system 21 is not the latest version, and the object stored in the terminal system 21 can be automatically updated to the latest version. In the first and second embodiments described above, when the control program unit 15 of the center system 11 determines that the object of the terminal system 21 is not the latest, the latest application of the application program management table 16 is used. It is assumed that the installation object storage area 19 is searched based on the program name, the installation object corresponding to the application program name is read, and is transmitted to the terminal system 21.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) When a service application program on the center system is added or updated, if it becomes necessary to update the terminal program for using the service application program, It is possible to automatically add / update the program for the terminal on the terminal system, regardless of human labor.

(2) Since the addition or update of the application program on the center system is promptly reflected on the terminal system, the service provider can immediately provide a new service and the user can also perform special procedures and operations. You can use the newly established service without doing it.

(3) Since the control program section on the center system checks the objects transmitted from the terminal system and updates the objects on the terminal system, each application program individually has a function to check the transmitted objects. There is no need to prepare for.

This enables automatic installation of the terminal program in the data communication system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the second principle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a program updating system in the data communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for implementing the first updating system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for implementing the second updating system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a situation before updating a terminal program according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a situation after updating a terminal program according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a situation before updating a terminal program according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a situation after updating a terminal program according to the second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 11 is a general data communication system configuration diagram to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a method for installing a terminal program in a conventional data communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Transmitting / Receiving Unit 11 Center System 12 Application Program Unit 13 Application Program Control Unit 15 Control Program Unit, History Comparison Means 16 Application Program Management Table, Update History Holding Means 17 Terminal System Management Table, Terminal Update History Holding Means 18 Update Information Sending Means 19 Installation object storage area 21 Terminal system 22 Terminal program 24 Terminal control program 25 Display device 26 Input device 27 Transmitting / receiving unit, transmitting / receiving means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A program automatic updating method for updating a program between the center system and the terminal system in a data communication system for transmitting and receiving data and data objects between the center system and a plurality of terminal systems, the center system comprising: Managing an update history of the program of the terminal system, transmitting an object for updating the terminal program to the terminal system when modifying the program on the center side or when requesting processing from the terminal, A program automatic updating method, characterized in that the consistency of programs between the terminal systems is maintained. 2. The center system constantly identifies and holds the version of the terminal program being used by the terminal system, and when the center program is updated, it is updated along with the update. The version of the center program is identified, and from the updated version of the center program,
When the held version of the terminal program is older, a data object for installing a new version of the terminal program corresponding to the updated center program is transmitted to the terminal system, The program automatic updating method according to claim 1, wherein the program for the terminal on the system is automatically updated. 3. In the center system, when the center program is updated, the updated version of the center program is identified in accordance with the update, and in the terminal system, a data object in use The accompanying version
Transmitted to the center system, wherein in the center system, from the updated version of the center program,
When the version transmitted from the terminal system is old, it transmits to the terminal system a data object for installing the latest version of the terminal program corresponding to the updated center program, in the terminal system, 2. The program automatic updating method according to claim 1, wherein the terminal program is updated with the data object transmitted from the center system. 4. A program automatic update system for matching program versions between the center system and the plurality of terminal systems in a data communication system for transmitting and receiving data and data objects between the center system and the plurality of terminal systems. The center system includes: an update history holding unit that manages an application program update history; a terminal update history holding unit that manages a program update history of the plurality of terminal systems; Or, when executing a processing request issued from the terminal system, a history comparison for comparing the update history of the application program of the update history holding unit with the update history of the program of the terminal system of the terminal update history holding unit. Means and the history comparing means have the same history If there is not, it has an update information transmitting means for transmitting a data object for updating the program of the terminal system to the terminal system, and the terminal system updates the program transmitted from the center system. And an updating unit for updating the terminal program by using the object for updating the program. 5. The terminal update history holding means of the center system includes means for updating contents when an object for updating a program of the terminal system is transmitted to the terminal system. Program automatic update system. 6. The terminal system includes a transmission unit that transmits an object of a current terminal program and an accompanying version to the center system, and the history comparison unit of the center system includes the transmission unit transmitted by the transmission unit. 5. The program automatic according to claim 4, further comprising means for comparing the version of the terminal program object with the history information of the update history holding means to determine whether or not the version of the terminal program object and the version associated with the object is latest. Update system.