JPH096543A - External storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an external storage device using a storage medium having especially slow transfer speed by which operability and retrieval efficiency are improved. CONSTITUTION: A bar code 13 printed on the surface of a magnetic tape 12 is read out by a bar code reader 14 provided in the insertion part of a magnetic tape 12 to identify the tape 12. The identified bar code 13 and the file information of the tape 12 are correspondingly managed. Consequently the file can be managed/retrieved without reading out data from the tape 12. Thereby the retrieving time of data can be extremely shortened. In the case of retrieving plural magnetic tapes 12, it is unnecessary to repeat the insertion/ejection of plural tapes 12, thereby improving the operability of the external storage device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external storage device,
In particular, it relates to an external storage device that uses a portable storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of external storage device is generally used for the purpose of shortening the search time of a portable storage medium.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus having an external storage device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-151976. In this conventional example, MPU
Reference numeral 111 is a circuit unit that controls the entire apparatus according to a program stored in the main memory 112. The main memory 112 is a storage unit that stores a medium management table for managing the magneto-optical disk and a key word group, in addition to the program for the MPU 111. The hard disk 113 stores a keyword group, programs, and user data that have overflowed from the main memory 112. Magneto-optical disk drive (OMD) 11
Reference numeral 5 is a device for appropriately loading a magneto-optical disk and inputting / outputting data.

The magneto-optical disk stores management information, a keyword group, and a data group. The management information includes a media unique number, a media name, a keyword registration flag, and a keyword registration date. The keyword registration flag indicates whether or not the keyword of the magneto-optical disk has been taken into the information processing apparatus body. CPU when a magneto-optical disk is loaded in OMD115
The 111 causes the OMD 115 to read the management information of the magneto-optical disk and transfers it to the main memory 112. The keyword registration flag in the management information is checked, and if it is the end registration, a media management table on the main memory 112 is created, and the keyword group of the magneto-optical disk is transferred to the main memory 112 via the OMD 115. If the keyword registration flag has been registered, the media management table and keyword group on the main memory 112 are searched.

[0005]

However, in the conventional external storage device described above, when data is additionally written on the magnetic tape, the file information must be read from the magnetic tape in order to retrieve the file. Reading from this magnetic medium generally takes a lot of time. This tendency is remarkable when the storage medium is a magnetic tape. Further, when searching for a file, the file information or management information must be read from the magnetic storage medium. Therefore, when searching across multiple storage media, insert the storage media.
You have to search while repeating emissions. In particular, in an information processing apparatus that does not have a storage medium auto-loading mechanism as found in a filing apparatus, it is necessary to manually replace the storage medium, which causes a problem that operability and search efficiency are significantly reduced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an external storage device having improved operability and search efficiency, particularly in an external storage device using a storage medium having a low transfer rate.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, an external storage device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a sequential access type portable storage medium having a predetermined code, and this portable storage device. It is characterized in that it has a controller means for controlling reading and writing on a medium and a code reading means for reading a code, and that the code and the file information on the portable storage medium can be associated and managed.

Further, the above external storage device further has a non-volatile memory means, it is possible to store data for management by using this non-volatile memory means, and the code may be a bar code.

An external storage device according to a fourth aspect of the invention is
A portable storage medium having a predetermined OCR character written thereon, a controller means for controlling reading and writing to the portable storage medium, and an OCR character reading means for reading the OCR character are provided. It is characterized in that the file information can be managed in association with the file information.

[0010]

Therefore, according to the external storage device of the present invention, a predetermined code is written on the sequential access type portable storage medium, and the controller means for controlling reading and writing to the portable storage medium, and the code. And a code reading means for reading. Therefore, it is possible to manage the code and the file information on the portable storage medium in association with each other.

According to the storage device of the fourth aspect,
Predetermined OCR characters are written on the portable storage medium, and it has controller means for controlling reading and writing to the portable storage medium and OCR character reading means for reading the OCR characters. Therefore, it is possible to manage the OCR characters and the file information on the portable storage medium in association with each other.

[0012]

Embodiments of an external storage device according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4, there is shown an embodiment of an external storage device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an external storage device according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a configuration example of an information processing device to which the external storage device according to the embodiment is applied. Further, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third embodiment.

In the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.
The external storage device 1 to which any one of the third embodiments is applied is
It is connected to the CPU 2, the main memory 3, the hard disk 4 and the disk controller 5 via the bus 6.

The external storage device 1 is a device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Three examples are detailed below.
The CPU 2 is a central control unit that controls the operation of the information processing device. The CPU 2 is a circuit unit that controls the entire apparatus according to a program stored in the main memory 3. The main memory 3 is composed of a RAM, and holds a management table for managing the external storage device 1 in addition to the control program of the CPU 2. The hard disk 4 is
A storage device that stores subprograms and user data. In the three types of storage units, the main memory 3, the hard disk 4, and the external storage device 1, generally, data in the order of access frequency is distributed and stored based on their respective characteristics.

(First Embodiment) The external storage device 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a controller 11, a magnetic tape 12,
It is configured to have a barcode reader 14. A predetermined bar code 13 is formed on the surface of the magnetic tape 12. The bar code 13 is formed by directly printing on a case forming the magnetic tape 12, or by sticking a paper with a bar code.

The controller 11 is a component for controlling reading / writing of file information on the magnetic tape 12 and reading / writing of the bar code 13 via the bar code reader 14. These executions are performed by the C
This is performed based on the instruction / control of PU2.

The magnetic tape 12 is a general one using a magnetic tape as a storage medium for file data. A bar code 13 is formed on the magnetic tape 12. The set position of the bar code 13 on the magnetic tape 12 is a readable position in relation to the bar code reader 14.

The bar code reader 14 is a magnetic tape 12.
It is a mechanical unit for reading the bar code 13 provided on the. The bar code reader 14 is provided at a predetermined portion of the external storage device into which the magnetic tape 12 is inserted.
The bar code 13 for each magnetic tape 12 is read at the time of insertion of the.

In the information processing apparatus to which the external storage device 1 composed of the above-mentioned parts is connected, the main memory 3 is
Holds a file management table. Using this file management table, the barcode 13 read by the barcode reader 14 and the file information read from the magnetic tape 12 via the controller 11 are associated with each other.

In the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic tape 12 is used.
When inserting, the bar code reader 14 reads the bar code 13 printed on the surface of the magnetic tape 12, and retrieves the corresponding code from the file management table on the main memory 3. If there is no corresponding code, an area on the main memory 3 is reserved for addition to the file management table.

When writing data on the magnetic tape 12,
When the file information retrieved from the file management table and the file information read from the magnetic tape 12 do not match, the file information in the file management table is updated when the data is read. When there is no corresponding code in the file management table, file information is added to the file management table when writing data to the magnetic tape 12 and reading data.

When searching the file on the magnetic tape 12, the file information corresponding to the code searched in the file management table is read from the main memory 3. If there is no corresponding code in the file management table, the file information is read from the magnetic tape 12 and added to the file management table at the same time.

The file management table in the main memory 3 is transferred to the hard disk 4 when the power of the information processing apparatus is turned off, and is transferred from the hard disk 4 to the main memory 3 when the power is turned on.

In the first embodiment, the magnetic tape is identified by the bar code printed on the surface of the magnetic tape, and the file information on the magnetic tape is managed on the main memory.
For this reason, when searching a magnetic tape that has been used once, it is not necessary to read data for management from the magnetic tape, and the search time is substantially unnecessary.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory 15 is provided in the external storage device 1. The non-volatile memory 15 holds a file management table, and the controller 11 manages this file management table.

In addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the second embodiment has the effect of not consuming the resources of the main memory 3 and hard disk 4. Therefore, it can be effectively applied to an information processing apparatus that does not include the hard disk 4.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the external storage device 1 uses a portable storage medium 16 on the surface of which a recognition code 17 in OCR characters is printed. The OCR reader 18 is provided in the insertion portion of the storage medium 16 and reads the OCR character code 17 when the storage medium 16 is inserted.
In the file search, the file information on the inserted storage medium 16 is stored in the main memory 3 as in the first and second embodiments.
In addition to reading from the file management table above,
It has a function of reading all file information in the file management table without inserting the storage medium 16. For this reason,
The recognition code of the storage medium in which the desired file is stored can be specified. Further, since the recognition code is an OCR character, the operator can specify the desired storage medium. The third embodiment uses a bar code instead of the OCR character recognition code 17 and the OCR reader 18.
It can also be realized by providing a recognition code and a barcode reader corresponding to the characters.

In the third embodiment, since management is performed using OCR characters, it is easy for a person to recognize and identify. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the first and second embodiments, when performing a file search across a plurality of storage media, it is not necessary to repeatedly insert and eject the storage media, and operability can be further improved. Further, the above effect can be obtained by utilizing the simple recognition by the OCR character and applying it to a floppy disk or the like having a shorter reading time.

Although the above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0030]

As is apparent from the above description, in the external storage device of the present invention, a predetermined code is written on a portable storage medium, and the code and file information on the portable storage medium are read by reading this code. Can be managed by associating with. According to this management, the storage medium is identified by the code, so that the file information on the storage medium is not read out.
It becomes possible to search. Therefore, the search time can be significantly shortened. Further, when searching for files across a plurality of portable storage media, it is not necessary to repeatedly insert and eject the storage media. Therefore, operability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus including an external storage device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of an information processing apparatus including a conventional external storage device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 External Storage Device 2 CPU 3 Main Memory 4 Hard Disk 5 Disk Controller 6 Bus 11 Controller 12 Magnetic Tape 13 Bar Code 14 Bar Code Reader 15 Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory 16 Portable Storage Medium 17 OCR Character Code 18 OCR Reader

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sequential access type portable storage medium on which a predetermined code is written, a controller means for controlling reading and writing to the portable storage medium, and a code reading means for reading the code, An external storage device capable of managing a code and file information on the portable storage medium in association with each other. 2. The external storage device further comprises a non-volatile memory means, and the non-volatile memory means can be used to store data for the management. External storage device. 3. The external storage device according to claim 1, wherein the code is a bar code. 4. A portable storage medium having a predetermined OCR character written thereon, controller means for controlling reading and writing from and to the portable storage medium, and OCR character reading means for reading the OCR character. An external storage device, wherein characters and file information on the portable storage medium are associated and managed.