JPH10187582A - Information recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable efficient administration without placing a load on a host computer and a terminal by providing a converting process means which performs code conversion, format conversion, data division, and an editing process matched with respective systems at plural distribution destinations. SOLUTION: Data on the host computer 1 to be distributed to customers and business offices are copied to a magnetic tape 2. The copied data on the magnetic tape are read out by a magnetic tape reader 4 under the control of a controller 3. The controller 3 processes the read data by data division, Chinese-character code conversion, data format conversion, etc., by the distribution destinations by following previously registered process procedures and sends the processed data to a recording device 5, which records the data on a recording medium such as a cassette magnetic tape, a CD-R and an MO. On the side receiving this recording medium, the data have been already converted to its format, so the data are used as they are.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus used for exchanging data between a host computer and a terminal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer communication is a method for exchanging data between remote locations. In computer data communication, a public telephone line, a dedicated line, a high-speed digital line such as ISDN, a company-specific computer communication network, a method using a commercial VAN communication station, or an international network. Methods such as using the Internet are employed.

[0003]

Data exchange by computer communication also has some problems. One problem is communication speed. Despite the rapid technological innovation in this field, the transmission of large amounts of data at the corporate level is extremely time-consuming and cannot respond to the actual situation. The data exchange by computer communication has the advantage that it can be sent quickly and easily when sending a letter-sized document file such as e-mail, but it takes a long time to send a large amount of business data. However, there are aspects that cannot be dealt with as a real problem. For example, it takes 100,000 seconds (about 27 hours) to transfer one CD-ROM over a 64 bps ISDN line.

[0004] As another problem, there is a problem of multi-vendor. We use several models in the same company and in the same office. It is not uncommon for models of the same manufacturer with the same data format to be used, but also for models of different companies with different formats. Moreover, when the data is sent to a different party, there is a problem that the data must be converted into the data format of the other party. In particular, when data is exchanged between a general-purpose host computer and a personal computer terminal, data length conversion and kanji code conversion are required. When exchanging data with each other, data transfer is performed after processing such as kanji code conversion and record format processing. However, whether this processing is performed on the host side or on the terminal side, Data conversion processing according to the situation is required, which is a troublesome problem in system design.

For example, the kanji code of the host computer system uses a kanji code unique to a computer maker such as JIS / JEF / JIPS / KEIS / IBM, and also uses kanji registered by a user other than the standard code system called external characters. Have been. On the other hand, Shift JIS is a kanji code for personal computers.
Such code conversion, together with external characters, was forced to define the design for each task.

As described above, in the online data exchange between the host computer and the personal computer terminal, it takes a communication time and a processing time to convert the data format.
When dealing with terminals of various formats, processing data on the host computer complicates system design, and it is not uncommon for online processing to adversely affect the entire system. For this reason, such processing is usually handled on the terminal side. In this case, on the contrary, the processing time on the terminal is extra.

An object of the present invention is to develop an apparatus for solving the above-mentioned problems in data exchange between a host computer and a personal computer terminal.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, in an apparatus for recording data supplied from a host computer on various recording media for sending to a plurality of destinations, at least a system for each of the plurality of destinations is provided. An apparatus provided with a conversion processing means for performing code conversion, format conversion, and data division and editing processing as necessary.

Further, when the data supplied from the host computer is in the form of a multi-file in which a plurality of files are included in one volume, a conversion processing means for performing data division and editing processing is provided.

When a large amount of data is exchanged between the host computer and the terminal personal computer, a large-capacity recording medium is directly
Means of transportation are effective. Digital video discs (DVD) that can record 13 times as much information as writable compact discs (CD-R), magneto-optical discs (MO), and compact discs (CD) as recording media that have emerged as players in the multimedia age Are characterized by being compact and having a large capacity. When exchanging data between remote locations, the above-mentioned recording medium is compact and has a large capacity, so that there is an advantage that transportation is easy, transportation costs are low, and handling is easy.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, a case where data from a host computer to a personal computer terminal is recorded on a magnetic tape will be described. At this time, a multi-file format is used in which a plurality of files are included per volume. Of course, when the data amount is large, a multi-volume in which one file extends over a plurality of volumes is also possible.

To create data for a personal computer from this magnetic tape, the data is divided according to the contents of the magnetic tape, and the kanji code conversion, the data format conversion, and the personal computer conversion are performed in accordance with the processing procedure registered in the control device in advance. It performs processing such as formatting of the recording medium for use, recording on the recording medium, and the like to create the required number of recording media.
After that, this recording medium is distributed to a necessary place.
The distribution will use common means of transport such as mailing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of the apparatus of the present invention. Since the control device requires intelligent computer functions, a high-performance personal computer is generally used. The data to be distributed to customers and business offices on the host computer 1 is copied to the magnetic tape 2. This magnetic tape may be an open reel or a cassette magnetic tape. When copying data from a host to a magnetic tape, the raw data as it is held on the host may be copied as it is, or may be copied as a file for each distribution destination.

What is important is the balance between the host and the control device, and the content of processing in the control device is determined by how much load is applied to the host.
From the viewpoint of not imposing a load on the host, it is preferable to copy raw to a magnetic tape. Depending on the amount of data to be copied, a multi-file format including a plurality of files in one volume (in this case, a magnetic tape) or a multi-volume format in which one file covers a plurality of volumes may be used. Since this correspondence is performed by the control device, the host does not need to be aware of this point and copy the data.

The magnetic tape data on which the data has been copied is read by a magnetic tape reading device 4 under the control of the control device 3. The control device 3 performs data processing such as data division, kanji code conversion, and data format conversion for each distribution destination according to a pre-registered processing procedure from the read data, sends the data to the recording device 5, and sends the data to a cassette magnetic tape, CD, or the like. -Record on recording media such as R and MO. This recording medium is mailed or delivered to each distribution destination, and a series of processing is completed. The receiving side of the recording medium can use the data as it is because the data has already been converted into the form that was present at the terminal at the place of the user.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart summarizing the above processing. Although FIGS. 1 and 2 show only the flow of processing from the host computer to the terminal, the reverse flow can be easily realized through the control device.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an embodiment of the present invention, an example of producing a CD-R and an MO will be described. Therefore, the recording devices connected to the control device are a CD-R recording device and an MO recording device as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a main control device and a sub-control device are provided so that a load is not applied to the control device. The main controller analyzes the data read from the magnetic tape, performs processing such as data division, code conversion, and format conversion, and passes the processed data to the sub controller. In the sub controller,
It controls the recording device, such as formatting (initializing) the recording medium and sending the received data to which recording medium and how many.

In the main control device, for data processing,
A control table as shown in Table 1 below is created in advance. The table contains information on the host, that is, information on the magnetic tape, and information on the terminal that creates a recording medium. For example, in the example of Table 1, files F-A1 and F-A2 are stored on a magnetic tape made from the host computer HA.
…… etc., and the code used there is C-A1. On the other hand, the data of file F-A1
1, D-2 ……, where the codes used are UC-1, UC
-2, UC-3 ..., etc., as well as the data format, the type of recording medium, the quantity, and the like.

[0019]

[Table 1]

The main controller performs necessary processing such as kanji code change and data format conversion based on the correspondence table, and creates data according to the distribution destination. As a specific example, if C-A1 is an IBM kanji code and UC-1 is a shift JIS code, the IBM kanji code is converted to shift JIS for personal computers. At this time, if an external character is included, an external character for a personal computer terminal is created by a separately prepared external character correspondence table.

In any case, if a table as shown in Table 1 is created, it is possible to handle a plurality of host computers, and data from different host computers is edited and collectively registered in one recording medium. You can also. Therefore, a large-capacity recording medium such as a CD-R or MO can be used without a waste. In the case of MO, it can be rewritten many times, but in the case of CD-R, it can be written only once, so even if it is cheap for storage capacity, in the case of repetitive work, In the long run, there is a big difference in cost depending on whether or not it is fully utilized. This is also an advantage of the present invention.

[0022]

According to the apparatus of the present invention, efficient management can be performed without imposing a load on the host computer or the terminal. In particular, the effect of the present invention is great in periodic work or the like where a large amount of data is generated. When the supply of image data and the like, which are expected to increase in the future, is considered, the effect of the present invention is expected to further increase. Since the processing speed is as fast as about 20 minutes for recording one CD-R, it can sufficiently cope with a large amount of data such as image data. Even if it takes one day for transportation, the effect of the present invention is great considering the line usage fee and the line speed.

Another feature of the present invention is that it is durable even when the data format or the like is changed by the host computer. For example, in online data communication, if there is a change in the data format, etc., the online program is rewritten correspondingly,
Major changes, such as online tests such as unit tests and integration tests, were required.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, the data format conversion and the code conversion can be dealt with by the system of the present invention without affecting the programs of the host computer and the terminal that are turned in and out.
Further, in the event that any trouble occurs online, the present invention can function as an alternative business means. This point is also a secondary effect of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining a configuration of an apparatus embodying a method of the present invention in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for implementing the method of the present invention in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram for creating a CD-R and an MO in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer 2 Magnetic tape 3 Control device 4 Magnetic tape reader 5 Recording device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for recording data supplied from a host computer on various recording media for sending to a plurality of destinations, wherein the conversion processing performs at least code conversion and format conversion for each system of the plurality of destinations. An information recording device comprising means. 2. An apparatus for recording data supplied from a host computer having a multi-file format including a plurality of files per volume on various recording media for sending to a plurality of destinations, wherein at least the plurality of distribution destinations An information recording apparatus, comprising: a conversion processing unit that performs code conversion, format conversion, data division, and editing processing according to each system.