JPH11110276A - File retrieval method and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to execute a file retrieval only inside a device specified by a full pass and to prevent a futile retrieval and processing. SOLUTION: A file description for specifying a file to be retrieval object is the one of a full pass containing a device name and a file name specifying a storage device. In a file list, the plural file description like this is registered and a retrieval of file is performed in accordance with a file description sequentially read out. First, a file is retrieved by a full pass described in a film description (step S21). When a file retrieval fails at this point, the device name and the file name are extracted from the file description of the full pass concerned and the file name extracted only inside the device specified by the extracted device name is retrieved (steps S23 and S24).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a file search method for searching for a file stored in an external storage device such as a floppy disk or a hard disk, and an information processing apparatus using the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an information processing apparatus includes a plurality of devices such as a floppy disk and a hard disk as external storage devices. Also, in each device, a hierarchical structure based on directories is formed, and files are registered in the hierarchical structure. Therefore, to specify one file, it is necessary to specify the file in a full path format including a device name for specifying the device, a hierarchical path for specifying the directory, and a file name.

When a file is designated in such a full path format, a message such as "File not found" is output if the designated file does not exist. Therefore, the user needs to know the device and the hierarchy in which the desired file is stored.

In order to eliminate the above strictness, it has been proposed to obtain a file name from a description in a full path format and to search all devices and hierarchies that can be searched by the file name. For example, in a device in which a file to be processed is registered in a file list, and sequentially registered files are searched and the process is performed, one file cannot be searched for one device. In such a case, it is proposed to search the same file for another device.

[0005]

As described above, when a file is specified in a full path format, it lacks flexibility and is difficult to use. For example, even if there is desired data on a floppy disk and its file name is known, the file cannot be specified without knowing the hierarchy in which the file is stored.

A file having the same file name stored in another device may have completely different contents from a desired file. In such a case, if a method is used in which a file name is extracted from the description in the full path format and another device is searched using the file name, an undesired file may be extracted as a search result. For this reason, useless search and processing occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a file search method capable of performing a file search only in a device specified by a full path, and an information processing apparatus using the method. The purpose is to do.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to specify a plurality of devices in path specification, to facilitate file specification in search processing, and to improve search accuracy.

[0009]

An information processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
That is, specifying means for specifying a file to be searched by a file description including at least a device name and a file name for specifying a storage device, and extraction for extracting a device name and a file name from the file description presented by the specifying means Means, and in the device specified by the device name extracted by the extraction means,
A search unit for performing a search based on the file name extracted by the extraction unit.

An information processing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration. That is, specifying means for specifying a file to be searched by a file description including a device name for specifying a storage device, a file name, and a range specification description for specifying a search range;
Determining means for determining one or a plurality of devices to be searched from the range specification description in the file description presented by the specification means; extracting means for extracting a file name from the file description; And a search unit for performing a search based on the file name extracted by the extraction unit.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a data processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a data processing device according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (central processing unit) 1, a ROM (read only memory) 2, a RAM
(Random access memory) 3, a keyboard 4, a mouse 5, a display 6, and external storage devices 7 and 8, and these components are connected to each other by a bus line 9. Note that, depending on the system configuration, system programs and application programs, which will be described later, may be stored in the external storage device 7 or 8 instead of the ROM 2, and may be loaded into the RAM 3 as needed. In the present embodiment, the external storage device 7 uses a hard disk as a storage medium and the external storage device 8
Uses a floppy disk as an external storage medium.

The CPU 1 has, for example, a form of a microprocessor and controls the operation of each section of the apparatus. ROM2
Includes a system program 2a and a file search program 2b1 according to the present invention, and an application program 2b for instructing various other processes.
Is stored.

The RAM 3 stores a file list 3a in which a full path of a file to be processed is described.
It consists of management and work areas used for work. Information such as the number of files stored in the list may be added to the file list 3a as necessary. In addition, an area for managing other various information and data and using it as a work is a management / work area 3f.
It is.

The keyboard 4 is for the user to input data such as characters, numbers, and symbols, and to give various instructions to the CPU 1. The mouse 5 is used to indicate various types of information displayed on the display unit 6 so that the CPU 1
To give various instructions. Instead of a mouse, a method such as a track pole, a pen, or a touch panel may be used.
The display 6 is composed of an LCD or the like, and displays various data under the control of the CPU 1. External storage devices 7 and 8
Is composed of a medium such as a floppy disk or a hard disk. Various data read from the external storage devices 7 and 8 under the control of the CPU 1 is developed on the RAM 3 via the bus line 9.

A file search process in the data processing apparatus of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5 and the examples of FIGS.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a file search method according to the present embodiment. In the description of the present embodiment, it is assumed that a file specified by the file list is used as image data, and the image files specified by the file list are sequentially displayed on the display for a predetermined time. Note that the description of the processing related to the actual display of the image data is omitted.

In the file list 21 shown in FIG.
“/ D0” is the device name of the FD (floppy disk drive) set in the FDD (floppy disk drive) of the external storage device 8, and “/ h0” is the H of the external storage device 7.
It represents the device name of D (hard disk).
In addition, "C", "E", "2", and the like shown by uppercase alphabets and numbers following the device names indicate directory names. It is assumed that the lowercase alphabet at the end indicates the file name. Of course, in practice,
These device names, directory names and file names are
It can be arbitrarily determined within the limits of the number of characters and the types of characters that can be used by the system.

Now, a file list 21 as shown in FIG. 2 (a) is given, and the FD and HD of the external storage devices 8 and 7 have hierarchical levels as shown in FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c), respectively. Assume that files are stored in a structure. Here, the file list can be freely set by the user.
Data stored in the external storage devices 7 and 8 such as D and FD are read out to the file list area 3a on the RAM 3. FD according to this file list
Displayed files are displayed on the display 6
Are sequentially displayed.

First, assuming that the FD shown in FIG. 2B is set in the external storage device 8, the search for the file "/ d0 / a" at the head of the file list succeeds, The image 3 of “/ d0 / a” is displayed on the display 6.
1 (FIG. 3) is displayed. After a certain period of time, the file “/ d0 / b” described in the next column of the file list is searched, and this is also successful. Therefore, the image 32 of “/ d0 / b” is displayed on the display 6. Is displayed. In this way, the files described in the file list are searched from the FD or HD, and the display processing is performed. When the processing is performed to the end of the file list, for example, if the processing returns to the top of the file list, the above processing is continued until there is a termination instruction. That is, the images 31 to 36 are sequentially and cyclically displayed in FIG.

Next, a case where the FD is skipped between file searches will be described with reference to FIG. For example, "/
d0 / a ”is completed, and the image 3
It is assumed that the FD set at the time point when 1 is displayed is removed from the external storage device 8. In this case, “/ d0 / b” is not found in the next search. As described above, when the conventional search method of performing a file search between a plurality of devices based on only a file name is applied, not only the designated device “/ d0” but also another device (in this case, The search for "/ h0") is also performed.
In this case, since "/ h0 / b" is found, the image of "/ h0 / b" is displayed even if the content is different.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the FD is intentionally omitted, it is considered unnecessary to perform the processing for the file having the FD as a full path, and only the full path specified in the file list is searched. Therefore, even if the corresponding file does not exist, the search for a different device is not performed, and the process proceeds to the search for the next file in the file list. In this way, the file search is performed according to the file list until the next file is found. As a result, according to this example, as shown in FIG.
Only "h0 / d" is searched, and only the image 34 is displayed.

In addition, not only when the FD is pulled out in the middle, but also when the file specified in the file list is not stored in the FD, the file is not similarly searched for in another device. No useless search or processing is performed.

The flowchart of FIG. 5 and FIGS.
The flow of the processing will be further described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a file search process using a file list according to the present embodiment. However, processes such as starting an application and performing various initial processes and calling data are well known to those skilled in the art, and are omitted in the flowchart of FIG.

First, when an activation of an application is instructed, an application program 2b including the processing in this embodiment is read from the ROM 2. Various information and areas required in the present embodiment are secured in the RAM 3. However, if they are secured when they are needed, unnecessary memory areas are not used. This is effective when performing other processing to be used. The other management / work area 3f may be reserved in advance when the application is activated, or may be reserved when necessary.

The process of calling a file list to be processed is performed while the application program 2b or the system program 2a controls the user. Upon receiving an instruction to call a file list from the user, the application program 2b stores the specified file list in the file list area 3a on the RAM 3 in step S1.
Read in. Upon completion of the reading, the present embodiment immediately proceeds to the search processing.

First, in step S2, a pointer previously secured in the management / work area 3f is set at a position indicating the full path of the first file in the file list. In step S3, it is checked whether the full path is set at the position indicated by the pointer.
Here, whether or not the full path is set can be easily determined by, for example, determining in advance that if a NULL character string is set, the full path is not set there. If the full path is designated at the pointer position, the process proceeds to step S4,
A search is made for the file indicated by the full path.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a file search procedure according to this embodiment. First, step S
At 21, a file search is performed using the file name in full path format. Then, it is determined whether or not the file has been searched in step S22. If the file has been searched, the search process ends, and the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if the search has failed, the process proceeds to step S23, where the full path format file name is
Extract device name and file name. For example, FIG.
"/ D0 / E / e" in the file list 21 of
The device d0 and the file name e are extracted. Then, in step S24, a search for the file name e is performed in the device specified by the device extracted in step S23. As a result, a search that ignores the hierarchical structure is performed in the device specified in the full path format.

When the file search in step S4 is completed as described above, the flow advances to step S5. Step S
In 5, it is determined whether or not the corresponding file is found in the file search in step S4. If found, the process proceeds to step S6, where processing is performed on the searched file. In the present embodiment, the image data of the searched file is displayed on the display 6 for a predetermined period of time.
Is displayed.

When the processing in step S6 is completed, in step S7, the pointer of the file list is advanced by one to point to the position indicating the next full path in the file list. In step S8, it is checked whether or not the position indicated by the pointer pointed to here is the end of the file list.
If it is not the last, the process returns to step S3, and the above processing is repeated. Here, whether or not the end of the file list can be determined by storing a special code at the end of the file list. In the present embodiment, when the processing has been performed up to the end of the file list, the processing is returned to the head of the file list, and the processing is continued. Return to the beginning and repeat the process.

If it is determined in step S3 that the full path has not been specified at the pointer destination, the flow advances to step S7 to advance the file pointer by one and search for the next full path.
However, if the specification allows the code indicating the end of the file list to be stored at the beginning of the file list, processing for determining whether or not the end of the file list is included even after step S2.

If no file is found in step S5, the flow advances to step S9 to determine whether all files in the file list have not been found. In this determination method, for example, the first file pointer that was not found is stored in the management / work area 3f, and 1 is also set in the counter secured in the management / work area 3f. If the next file to be searched is not found, one is added to the counter. If found, clear the counter. By continuing the processing in this way, when the file indicated by the first file pointer in which the file was not found is searched again, the counter has reached the number of files described in the file list, It detects that not all files were found. In step S9,
If all the files in the file list are not found, a warning to that effect is issued in step S10, and appropriate processing such as requesting the setting of the FD is performed. If not all files are found, there may be files that can be processed.
Proceeding to step S7, the next file is searched.

In this way, even if there is a file that does not exist in the full path of the file list, the device other than the one specified in the full path is not searched, and the file specified in the full path is searched. Therefore, efficient processing can be performed without performing search or processing of a simple file.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a file is searched according to the file list and processing is performed, the search is performed only for the full path described in the file list. Search and processing can be omitted, and processing can be performed efficiently.

[Other Embodiments] The file list described in the above embodiment describes the full path to a device that actually exists or is likely to be connected. In this case, other devices can be searched. For example, in the file list of FIG. 2A, if a device name such as “/ d0H / a” is described, “if no file is found at / d0, another device (eg, / h0) If you say "search", you can arbitrarily specify when creating a file list, such as searching only the full path or searching other devices.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a file search processing procedure according to another embodiment. In another embodiment, the processing described in FIG.
The processing shown in is performed.

First, in step S30, a file name in a full path format is extracted. For example, "/ d0 / a"
"/ D0 / a"
Is extracted as is. On the other hand, when a special designation “H” such as “/ d0H / a” is included, “/ d0 / a” excluding the special designation is extracted as a full path format.

In step S31, a file search is performed using the full path obtained in step S30. Then, in a step S32, it is determined whether or not the corresponding file is searched. Here, if the corresponding file is found, the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the corresponding file is not found, the process proceeds to step S33, and it is determined whether or not there is a special designation for instructing another device to be searched in the full path designation. In this example, “H” is a special designation for instructing a search including other devices. If it is determined in step S33 that there is no special designation, step S33 is performed to search only in the device.
23, and perform the processing of S24. Steps S23 and S23
The process 24 is as described in FIG.

When it is determined that a special designation is included,
Proceeding to step S34, only the file name is extracted from the description in the full path format. Then, in step S35, a file search is performed on all searchable devices using the file name.

As described above, according to the other embodiment, in the specification of the full path format in the file list, it is possible to explicitly specify whether or not to search for another device.
You can finely control the search process.

In the other embodiment, the device to be searched is either only the device specified by the full path or all the devices that can be searched. However, when there are three or more devices, a device to be searched may be specified. For example, devices A0, B as storage devices
In an apparatus having 0, C0, and D0, a plurality of desired devices are designated as devices to be searched (for example, A0,
B0 and C0, and B0 and D0). For example, in the case of “/ d0 / C / c” in the file list 21 described above, the file “c” is searched in the devices A0, B0, and C0 by describing “/ A0; B0; C0 / C / c”. Will be. Of course, the description form is not limited to this. In the above embodiment, independent storage media such as a floppy disk and a hard disk are used as devices. However, when one storage medium is logically partitioned into a plurality of devices (generally referred to as a logical drive), each drive is also described above. Obviously, the control of the embodiment can be applied. In this case, "device" in the above embodiment is replaced by "logical drive".

Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), a device including one device (for example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine). Device).

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, a file search can be performed only in a device specified by a full path, and useless search and processing can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to specify a plurality of devices in the path specification, thereby facilitating file specification in search processing and improving search accuracy.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a data processing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a file search method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a file search method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a file search method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a file search process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a file search procedure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a file search processing procedure according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 Keyboard 5 Mouse 6 Display 7 External storage device 8 External storage device 9 Bus line

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A designating means for designating a file to be searched by a file description including at least a device name and a file name for specifying a storage device, and a device name and a file name from the file description presented by the designating means. An information processing apparatus comprising: an extracting unit that extracts; and a searching unit that searches by a file name extracted by the extracting unit in a device specified by a device name extracted by the extracting unit. 2. The file description is described in a full path format including a device name, a hierarchy, and a file name. The full path search unit searches for a file specified by a full path of the file description. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that executes the extraction unit and the search unit when a corresponding file is not found by the search. 3. The information according to claim 1, wherein the specifying unit sequentially reads the file description from a list in which a plurality of file descriptions are registered, and specifies a search target file by the read file description. Processing equipment. 4. When the search fails for all of the file descriptions registered in the list by the search means,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a notification unit that notifies the user of the fact. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit configured to determine whether the file description includes a range designation description indicating whether or not a plurality of devices are to be included in a search range. The method according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the range specification description is included, a search is performed on the plurality of devices specified by the range specification description using the file names extracted by the extraction unit. Information processing device. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the range specification description specifies whether only a device specified by a device name is set as a search range or all searchable devices are set as a search range. Item 6. The information processing device according to item 5. 7. A specifying means for specifying a file to be searched by a file description including a device name for specifying a storage device, a file name, and a range specifying description for specifying a search range; Determining means for determining one or a plurality of devices to be searched from the range specification description in the file description; extracting means for extracting a file name from the file description; An information processing apparatus comprising: a search unit that performs a search based on a file name extracted by the unit. 8. A specifying step of specifying a file to be searched by a file description including at least a device name and a file name for specifying a storage device; and a device name and a file name from the file description presented in the specifying step. A file search method comprising: an extraction step of extracting; and a search step of performing a search by a file name extracted in the extraction step in a device specified by a device name extracted in the extraction step. 9. The file description is described in a full path format including a device name, a hierarchy, and a file name, and includes a full path search step of searching for a file specified by a full path of the file description; 9. The file search method according to claim 8, further comprising a control step of executing the extraction step and the search step when a corresponding file is not found by the search. 10. The file according to claim 8, wherein in the specifying step, a file description is sequentially read from a list in which a plurality of file descriptions are registered, and a file to be searched is specified by the read file description. retrieval method. 11. The file search method according to claim 10, further comprising a notification step of notifying that the search has failed for all of the file descriptions registered in the list in the search step. 12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the file description includes a range designation description indicating whether or not a plurality of devices is to be a search range. 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein when it is determined that the range specification description is included, a search is performed on the plurality of devices specified by the range specification description using the file names extracted in the extraction step. File search method. 13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the range designation description designates either a device specified by a device name as a search range or all searchable devices as a search range. Item 13. The file search method according to Item 12. 14. A designation step of designating a file to be searched by a file description including a device name for specifying a storage device, a file name, and a range designation description for designating a search range; A determining step of determining one or a plurality of devices to be searched from a range specification description in the file description; an extracting step of extracting a file name from the file description; A search step of performing a search based on the file name extracted in the step. 15. A computer-readable memory for storing a control program for searching for a file, wherein the control program specifies a file to be searched by a file description including at least a device name and a file name for specifying a storage device. A code of a specifying step to specify, a code of an extracting step of extracting a device name and a file name from the file description presented in the specifying step, and a device specified by the device name extracted by the extracting step, A code for a search step for performing a search based on the file name extracted in the extraction step. 16. A code of a specifying step for specifying a file to be searched by a file description including a device name for specifying a storage device, a file name, and a range specifying description for specifying a search range; A code of a determining step of determining one or a plurality of devices to be searched from the range specification description in the file description, a code of an extracting step of extracting a file name from the file description, A code for a search step for performing a search using the file name extracted in the extraction step.