JPH11110272A - Storage device and device and method for data management - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage device, a data management device and a data management method that easily and quickly execute management of files and can manage the files even if a directory is destructed. SOLUTION: A CPU decides whether it can correspond to data indicated by this directory ID, that is, whether it can deal with this directory (step S4). When it decides it can, it performs read in of individual data in accordance with a format defined by the directory ID (step S5), then, these individual data are used as information on an application (step S6).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data management apparatus and the like for managing files according to a directory hierarchical structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, for example, in a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC"), a file is managed by forming a hierarchical structure of directories. In this case, the PC manages only the structure of the directory, and does not manage anything about the types and uses of the files in the directory.

[0003]

That is, a PC often contains several types of files in one directory, and when managing by file type or application, all files have the same type. , And it took time to manage the files. In addition, since a large amount of information for managing files is stored in such directories, there is a problem that when these directories are destroyed, files cannot be managed at all.

[0004] Further, since a PC excludes a part related to an application from a file, it is necessary for the application creator to hold and manage individual information.

[0005] The present invention has been proposed in view of such circumstances, and a storage device and a data management device capable of performing file management easily and at high speed and managing files even if a directory is destroyed. And a data management method.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a storage device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to applications and a plurality of files having identification information according to applications. And a control means for controlling the reading of the directory and the file from the storage means.

In the data management apparatus according to the present invention, the storage means for storing a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to the use, and a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to the use, and the identification information coincides with the storage means. Management means for defining and managing usage for each combination of directory and file.

[0008] A data management method according to the present invention stores a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use. It is characterized in that the use is defined and managed for each combination.

A data management apparatus according to the present invention stores a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to a use.
A storage unit having control means for reading the directory and the file from the storage means, and storing a plurality of directories and a plurality of files read by the control means of the storage unit Second
And a management unit having management means for defining and managing the use for each combination of a directory and a file having the same identification information.

A data management method according to the present invention stores a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use, reads the directory and the file, The use is defined and managed for each combination in which the read directory and file identification information matches.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to a memory card system 1 having the configuration shown in FIG. The memory card system 1
It comprises a host computer 10 and a memory card 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the host computer 1 stores a hard disk 11 for storing various file data such as still images and audio, directory data, and the like, and a file data from the hard disk 11 and the like. RAM (Random Access Memo)
ry) 12 and a first serial interface (hereinafter, referred to as a “first serial I / F”) 13 for transmitting and receiving data to and from the memory card 20 via three lines.
And a CPU (Central Processing Uni
t) 14, for example, so that file data such as images and sounds stored in the hard disk 11 can be managed in a hierarchical structure using directories.

The RAM 12 is, for example, a hard disk 11
And temporarily supplies the file data to the first serial I / F 13 via a bus as needed.

The first serial I / F 13 transmits data to the memory card 20 via three lines,
The data stored in the memory card 20 is received.
Specifically, the first serial I / F 13 transmits a serial clock SCK at the time of transmitting the control data and the file data via the first line. The first serial I / F 13 outputs a chip select signal CS indicating a state at that time according to switching of serial data such as file data or control data on the first line via the second line. I do. Further, the first serial I /
F13 transmits file data and control data to be written to the memory card 20 via the third line, and receives file data read from the memory card 20.

The CPU 14 controls reading of file data from the RAM 12 and the hard disk 11, writing of file data to the RAM 12 and the like, and controlling transmission and reception of file data and the like to and from the memory card 20.
For example, the CPU 14 issues a register command for determining whether the write protection of an erroneous erasure prevention switch (not shown) of the memory card 20 is turned on, or designates an address to the memory card 20 to specify a predetermined file. Issue a data write instruction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory card 20 includes a second serial I / F 21 for serially transmitting and receiving file data and control data from the host computer 1, and a flash memory for storing file data. 22 and a controller 23 that controls reading or writing of file data stored in the flash memory 22.

The flash memory 22 includes, for example, an NA
As shown in FIG. 2, file data transmitted from the host computer 1 is divided into blocks each serving as an erasing unit and stored. Each block 0,
Each of 1, 2,..., N is configured by collecting one page (= 512 bytes + 16 bytes) including a data area storing 512 bytes of file data and the like and a 16-byte redundant area. The redundant area stores distributed management information for managing data in the data area of the block. When these pieces of distributed management information are collected, set management information (set management file) is configured. The collective management file is composed of several blocks, and collectively manages data states of all blocks.

As shown in FIG. 3, the distributed management information of each page includes "block enable / disable information" (1 byte), "block flag" (1 byte), and "block end flag".
(4 bits), "reference flag" (4 bits), "management flag" (1 byte), "logical address" (2 bytes),
"Link address" (2 bytes), "format reserve" (3 bytes), "distributed information ECC" (2 bytes),
It has “data ECC” (3 bytes).

The "block enable / disable information" is information for identifying whether the block is usable or unusable. For example, when a block is damaged and becomes unusable, the “block availability / unavailability information” indicates that the block is unusable by being overwritten. "Block flag"
Indicates that data has not been written to the block and has not been used yet, indicates that the block is being used at the beginning of the file, or indicates that the block has been used other than at the beginning of the file This indicates that when the block becomes unnecessary due to erasure, rewriting, or the like, the block is used and erased later. The “block last flag” indicates whether the block is the last block when the blocks continuously constitute one file. If the “block last flag” indicates that the block is the last block, the “link address” is invalid even if specified. The “reference flag” is a flag that specifies reference to additional information described later. This additional information is on the last page of the block. The “management flag” is one-byte information. 3 bits (bits 2 to 0)
Are stored in the collective management file. The remaining 5 bits are not stored in the collective management file, but are used for error correction processing and the like. “Logical address” indicates the logical address of the block. It should be noted that the logical address is 0 in the block of the directory file serving as the root directory. The “link address” indicates a logical address of a block linked to the block. If it is known in advance that the block is the last block, a "block last flag" is set, and "0xffff" is set in the "link address". If it is not known that the block is the last block, a logical address is secured and set as a “link address”. When the block becomes the last block, it is overwritten and a "block last flag" is set. "Format Reserve"
Is 3-byte information and is a reserve area.
“Distributed information ECC” is used for error correction of “management flag”, “logical address”, “concatenated address”, and “format reserve”. “Data ECC” is used when performing error correction on data other than the distribution management information.

Here, the file data includes a user file format such as an image and a sound and a system file format for system management, and is stored in a data area of one or more blocks of the flash memory 22. You.

File data in the user file format is
As shown in FIG. 4, it is composed of a 512-byte header part as attribute information and a data part as main information. The header portion includes a 128-byte OS header, which is information for managing the file data in the memory card 20,
It consists of a 240-byte file header, which is general and essential management information, and a 144-byte entry area.

The OS header includes a file ID, a file version, a file size, the number of used blocks, the number of links, a date, a maker /
It has a model code, an initial registration directory number, a search keyword, a file name, and individual data.

The file ID is the type (use) of the file
, And there is a similar thing in the file header. The file version indicates a so-called version number, and is used to determine whether the host computer 10 or the memory card 20 can process the file data. The file size indicates the total size of the file data including the header portion and the data portion in bytes. The number of used blocks indicates the number of blocks using the file data in the flash memory 22. The number of links indicates the number of links when file data and other file data are in a reference relationship (linked). The date indicates the date when the file data was created or the date when the file data was updated. The maker / type code indicates the maker name of the device that wrote the file data to the memory card 20 and its model. The initial registration directory number indicates the directory number registered first, and is not updated even when the file data is moved to another directory. The number of registered keywords indicates the number of registered keywords. The keyword character code indicates the character code of the keyword. A plurality of keyword character strings can be specified by determining a keyword and a separator. The file name is a file name used when managing file data in the PC 10, and is not particularly used in the memory card 20. The 0 reset reserve is always set to 0 at the time of rewriting. The individual data is used for management for each file ID, for example, data used for a purpose determined by the file ID, and can be used freely by the user.

As shown in FIG. 6, the file header includes “standard identification data”, “file standard identification data”, “file ID”, “file version”, “application creation date”, “application Update date "," creation maker / model code "," update maker / model code "," 0 reset reserve ",
It has “number of data entries”, “number of tables”, “character code”, and “title character string”.

The "standard identification data" indicates that the flash memory 22 stores file data according to a predetermined standard. “File standard identification data” indicates that the file data has been created in accordance with the predetermined standard. "File ID"
Indicates the type of the file, and the OS header has the same type. “File version” indicates a version number. The “application creation date” indicates the date on which the application was created, and the “application update date” indicates the date on which the application was updated. The “creating maker / type code” indicates the maker that created the file data and its model name, and the “update maker / type code” indicates the maker that updated the file data and its model name. . "Number of data entries"
It indicates the number of entry data described later. The “number of tables” indicates the number of data in the table data area. “Character code” indicates an input character by a predetermined code number. "Title character string" indicates a title character.

The entry area stores data for managing main data (entry data) stored in the data section. Note that the data section can store up to four entry data. That is,
The file data including the header part and the data part is composed of a maximum of four entry data. In FIG. 4, the index data, the image data, and the two auxiliary data are taken as examples as the entry data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be other audio data. Therefore, in the entry area, a start address, a size, a type ID, and individual data are stored for each entry data in order to manage the above four entry data.

The file data in the system file format corresponds to, for example, a directory file, and has a different configuration of the header portion than the file data in the user file format.

The header of the directory file is
As shown in FIG. 7, an OS header, a file header,
It has a system entry list and system information. The OS header and file header are
This is similar to the above-mentioned user file format.

The data portion of the directory file has 96 bytes of directory information, group information, and a list of directory entries.

The directory information is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, a 2-byte “directory ID”, a 1-byte “target file ID”, a 1-byte “group number”, a 2-byte “parent directory”, a 2-byte “directory number”, and a 2-byte “directory number” Number of files (all files) ", 2-byte" number of target files ", 2-byte" access point ", 2-byte" number of directory entries ", 2-byte" number of directory entries for system ", 2-byte" use " There are data of “the number of system directory entries”, “number of reserved blocks” of 2 bytes, and “number of used blocks” of 2 bytes, and further have an unused area of 72 bytes.

At this time, "directory ID" indicates the type of directory, and "target file" indicates the ID of the target file. The “number of groups” is the number of registered groups, and the “parent directory” indicates the file number of the parent directory. “Number of directories” indicates the total number of directories included, and “number of files (all files)” indicates the number of all files included in the directory. "Number of target files" indicates the number of target files included, and "access point" indicates an access start directory entry. The “number of directory entries” indicates the number of user directory entries in use, and the “number of system directory entries”
Indicates the number of directory entries for the reservation system.
The “number of used system directory entries” indicates the number of directory entries for the system, the “number of reserved blocks” indicates the number of blocks of the flash memory 22 that the application wants to reserve, and the “number of used blocks” indicates the number of blocks used by the application.

As shown in FIG. 9, the group information includes a 1-byte "group number", a 1-byte "group information size", a 2-byte "directory ID", a 1-byte "0 reset reserve", and a 3-byte "Reserve", 8-byte "date",
It has 8 bytes of “individual data” and an arbitrary number of bytes of “title”. The “group information size” indicates the size of the group information, and has a fixed length of 24 bytes plus an arbitrary number of bytes of “title”. “Directory ID” is an ID assigned to each directory type, and “0 reset reserve” is always set to 0 when it is corrected.
“Reserve” is set to 0 when the file is created. "Date" indicates the creation date of the file, which can be changed by the user. "Individual data" is not particularly defined, and "Title" indicates the title of the directory file.

The directory entry list is composed of a plurality of directory entries that manage part of attribute information of user file format file data.
One directory entry is 4 bytes.

As shown in FIG. 10, one directory entry includes a 2-byte "file number" and "attribute information".
And a “group number”.

The file number is 2 as shown in FIG.
The first bit in the byte has a "0" and the remaining 15
Bits indicate the starting logical address of the file or directory. When “0xffff” is indicated, it means that it is not used.

As shown in FIG. 12, the attribute information has information of "directory / file", "target flag", "mark 1", "mark 2", and "continuous recording". In the "directory / file", when it is 1, it indicates that there is another directory below the directory, and when it is 0, it indicates that there is a file. In the “target flag”, when it is 1, it indicates that the file is the file of the target file ID specified by the directory information, and when it is 0, it indicates that it is other file data. In the case of "mark 1", 1 indicates that there is a mark 1 designation, and 0 indicates that there is no such designation. "Mark 2" is the same as "mark 1". “Mark 1” and “Mark 2” are marking flags that can be specified by the user. In "continuous recording", 00 indicates a normal file, 11 indicates a leading continuous file, and 10 indicates a continuously designated file.

As shown in FIG. 13, the "group number" is a group number represented by 8 bits and indicating one pseudo layer.

In the memory card system 1 configured as described above, the CPU 14 of the host computer 10
Performs the management of the directory by performing the processing of steps S1 to S7 shown in FIG.

In step S1, the CPU 14 reads a directory file for the root directory from the flash memory 22 and stores it in the RAM 12, and then proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the CPU 14 reads the target directory information from the directory file and proceeds to step S3, checks the directory ID in the group information, and proceeds to step S4.
The CPU 14 determines whether or not the data indicated by the directory ID can be handled, that is, whether or not the directory can be handled. If it is determined that the data can be handled, the process proceeds to step S5. If it is determined that the data cannot be handled, the process proceeds to step S5. Proceed to step S7.

In step S5, the CPU 14 reads the individual data according to the format defined for each directory ID, proceeds to step S6, and uses this individual data as application information.

Thus, for example, if the use of the directory is specified in advance so that the directory of the logical address 05 is dedicated to the camera and the directory of the logical address 10 is dedicated to the music, the contents of all the directories are not checked. Thus, the use of the directory can be easily managed. That is, since the host computer 10 has a directory that can be used for each application,
There is no need to prepare a dedicated management file in the application, and it is not necessary to perform separate management.

Further, by storing data assuming the use of an application in the individual data, the basic processing can be executed even for a directory not supported by the host computer 10.

For example, a link to icon data used for group classification can be defined using individual data of group information. By using the individual data of the camera-dedicated directory, it is possible to link to a directory having audio data to be BGM when displaying a list. Using the individual data of the music directory, it is possible to link to the data of the album jacket or the lyrics card, and to manage the total playing time. Further, since the target file ID to be treated as a target is determined by the directory ID, by managing the number of files with the specified ID, for example, the number of shots for a camera and the number of songs for music can be managed. .

On the other hand, in step S7 when it is determined in step S4 that the processing cannot be performed, the CPU 14
Treats this directory as having no application information available. Note that it is possible to copy this directory or send it to another device.

The CPU 1 of the host computer 10
4 can also perform file management by performing the processing of steps S11 to S17 shown in FIG.

In step S11, the CPU 14
A predetermined file is read from the flash memory 22, stored in the RAM 12, the file header of the file is read, and the process proceeds to step S12, where the file ID is read.
And proceeds to step S3.

In step S13, the CPU 14
It is determined whether the data indicated by the file ID can be handled, that is, whether the file can be handled. If it is determined that the file can be handled, step S1 is performed.
4 and if it is determined that it is not possible to respond, step S1
Go to 7.

In step S14, the CPU 14
The individual data is read in accordance with the format defined for each file ID, and the process proceeds to step S15. Using the individual data as information of the application, the process proceeds to step S16.

In step S16, the CPU 14
The data type ID of the entry list is checked, and necessary data processing is executed including the individual data area.

Thus, the purpose of the file can be easily managed without checking the contents of all the files. That is, in the host computer 10, since directories and files that can be used for each purpose are provided, it is not necessary for the application to prepare a dedicated management file, and it is possible to save the trouble of performing separate management.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S13 that the data indicated by the file ID cannot be handled, in step S17, the CPU 14 treats the file assuming that there is no information on a compatible application. Note that it is possible to copy this directory or send it to another device. If there is data that can be handled by the data type ID, the data processing can be executed.

Next, a directory restoration process when a directory is destroyed will be described with reference to FIG. That is, when the directory is destroyed, the CPU 14 can create a directory and perform file management by performing the processing from step S21.

In step S21, the CPU 14
It is determined whether there is a root directory. If there is a root directory, the process proceeds to step S23. If there is no root directory, the process proceeds to step S22.

In step S22, the CPU 14
An empty root directory is created, and the process proceeds to step S23.

In step S23, it is determined whether there is an unprocessed directory, in other words, whether there is a directory that is not registered in the root directory. If there is an unprocessed directory, step S24
To step S if there is no unprocessed directory
Go to 25.

In step S24, the CPU 14
An unprocessed directory ID is checked, and this directory ID is registered in the root directory. For example, the "number of directories" shown in FIG. 8 is updated, or the leading logical address of an unprocessed directory file is registered as one directory entry shown in FIG. 10 in the directory entry list, and the process returns to step S23. An unprocessed directory may be registered not only in the root directory but also in another directory. Thereby, the hierarchical structure of the directory having the root directory as a trunk is determined.

In step S25, the CPU 14
It is determined whether there is an unprocessed file, that is, whether there is a file not registered in the directory. If there is an unprocessed file, the process proceeds to step S26. If there is no unprocessed file, the process ends because the construction of the hierarchical structure of each directory and each file has been completed.

In step S26, the CPU 14
Check the directory ID of all directories to see if there is the same file ID as the unprocessed file.
Proceed to step S27.

In step S27, the CPU 14
It is determined whether there is a directory ID that matches the file ID of the unprocessed file. If there is a matching directory ID, that is, if there is a directory corresponding to the file, the process proceeds to step S29. If there is no matching directory ID, that is, if there is no directory corresponding to the file, the process proceeds to step S28.

In step S28, the CPU 14
A directory necessary for registering the unprocessed file is newly created, and this directory is registered in the root directory, and the process proceeds to step S29.

In step S29, the CPU 14
The unprocessed file is registered in the newly created directory, and the process returns to step S25. Here, for example, the “number of files” shown in FIG. 8 is updated, or the leading logical address of an unprocessed file is registered as one directory entry shown in FIG. 10 in the directory entry list. Then, by executing the processing from step S25 to step S29 until there is no unprocessed file, all files are registered in the directory,
A hierarchical structure can be built.

Therefore, even if there is a directory or a file that is released due to the destruction of the directory, the original directory can be created by the ID of the directory or the file, so that the reliability of the management of the directory or the file can be improved. Can be enhanced.

In the present embodiment, a method for managing files and directories stored in the flash memory 22 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to data management in a normal computer or the like. Of course, it is also possible to apply.

[0066]

As described above in detail, according to the storage device of the present invention, a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use are controlled. By means of reading, the read directories and files can be easily managed for each application.

According to the data management apparatus and the data management method according to the present invention, the use of all directories and files is checked by defining and managing the use for each combination of a directory and a file having the same identification information. In addition, it is possible to easily and reliably manage data for each application.

According to the data management apparatus and the data management method of the present invention, the use is defined for each combination of a directory and a file having the same identification information and managed, whereby the use of all directories and files is checked. In addition, it is possible to easily and reliably manage the data stored in the storage unit for each application.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a memory card system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of data stored in a flash memory in a memory card of the memory card system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of distribution management information of data stored in the flash memory.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of file data stored in the flash memory.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of an OS header of the file data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a file header and an entry area of the file data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a directory file.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the structure of directory information of the directory file.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the structure of group information of the directory file.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a directory entry of the directory file.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a file number of the directory entry.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining attribute information of the directory entry.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a group number of the directory entry.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a CPU when managing a directory.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a CPU when managing a file.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a directory is restored when the directory is destroyed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 memory card system, 10 host computer, 12 RAM, 14 CPU, 20 memory card,
22 flash memory, 23 controller

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use, a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to a use, and a control for reading the directory and the file from the storage means. A storage device comprising: a control unit that performs 2. A storage device comprising: a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use; and a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to the use and individual data used for the use. 2. The storage device according to claim 1, wherein 3. A storage means for storing a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use, and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use, and for each combination of a directory and a file having the same identification information. A data management device comprising: management means for defining and managing a use. 4. The storage means comprises: a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use; and a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use. The data management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the management unit manages each directory or each file based on the individual data. 5. The management means, when at least one directory of the storage means is destroyed, creates a directory based on identification information of a file released by the destruction of the directory, and stores the directory in the created directory. 4. The data management device according to claim 3, wherein the loose files are registered. 6. A plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use are stored, and the use is defined for each combination of a directory and a file having the same identification information. A data management method characterized in that data management is performed. 7. A plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use, and a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to the use and individual data used for the use are stored. 7. The data management method according to claim 6, wherein each directory or each file is managed based on the individual data. 8. When at least one directory is destroyed, a directory is created on the basis of identification information of a file released by the destruction of the directory, and the released file is registered in the created directory. The data management method according to claim 6, wherein 9. A first storage means for storing a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use, a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to a use, and storing the directory and the file in the storage means. A storage unit having control means for performing control of reading from a storage unit; a second storage means for storing a plurality of directories and a plurality of files read by the control means of the storage unit; and a directory having the same identification information. And a management unit having management means for defining and managing the use for each combination of files. 10. The first storage unit of the storage unit,
A plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to the application and individual data used for the application, and a plurality of files having the identification information corresponding to the application and the individual data used for the application are stored. The second storage means stores a plurality of directories and a plurality of files read from the storage unit, and the management means stores the plurality of directories and the plurality of files in the second storage means based on individual data of the plurality of directories or the plurality of files. hand,
The data management device according to claim 9, wherein each directory or each file is managed. 11. The management unit of the management unit, when at least one directory of the first storage unit is destroyed, creates a directory based on identification information of a file released by the destruction of the directory. 10. The data management device according to claim 9, wherein the loose files are registered in the created directory. 12. A directory storing a plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and a plurality of files having identification information according to a use, reading the directory and the file, and reading the read directory and file. A data management method characterized in that a use is defined and managed for each combination having the same identification information. 13. A plurality of directories having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use,
Storing a plurality of files having identification information corresponding to a use and individual data used for the use, reading out the plurality of directories and a plurality of files, based on the individual data of the plurality of directories or a plurality of files; 13. The data management method according to claim 12, wherein each directory or each file is managed. 14. When at least one directory is destroyed, a directory is created on the basis of identification information of a file loosened by the destruction of the directory, and the loosened file is registered in the created directory. The data management method according to claim 12, wherein