JPH11134177A - External storage medium and information processor using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor executing a desired program and storing sufficient data without giving burden on an information processor body with a simple operation and to provide an external storage medium used for the processor. SOLUTION: The program which a data processing part 2 can execute is hierarchically stored in the program area of the attachable/detachable external storage medium 5 which is constituted of a semiconductor memory. Data which the data processing part 2 uses and data which the data processing part 2 processes are hierarchically stored in the data area of the external storage medium 5. The data processing part 2 executes the program stored in the program area by using the work area of the external storage medium 5 and stores processed data in the data area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an external storage medium using an external storage medium, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus such as a laptop computer and an external storage medium such as a PC card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional personal computer, when a program is installed, the program is copied from a CD-ROM or the like in which the program is stored in advance to a hard disk built in the apparatus body, and the copied program is read from the hard disk. Desired processing.

[0003]

However, the CD-
Installation from a ROM or the like is complicated and requires some knowledge of a computer, which may be difficult for a beginner.

In addition, when a plurality of programs are already installed, installing a new program increases the load on the CPU, which may hinder processing.

Further, in a portable information terminal in which a laptop computer is further downsized, it is difficult to mount a hard disk from the viewpoint of downsizing and power consumption.
An external storage medium including a semiconductor memory such as a card is used. In this case, the storage capacity of the external storage medium is limited, and a large amount of programs and data could not be stored by using the external storage medium as it was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of executing a desired program and storing sufficient data by a simple operation without burdening the information processing apparatus main body, and an external storage medium used in the apparatus. It is to provide.

[0007]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor memory, a removable external storage medium, reads a program and data from the external storage medium, and processes data by the read program. And data processing means for writing the processed data to the external storage medium, wherein the external storage medium comprises:
A program area storing a program executed by the data processing means, a data area storing data used by the data processing means and data processed by the data processing means, and a data area storing a program in the program area. A work area to be used when the program is executed. The program area stores a program using a hierarchical structure, and the data area stores data using a hierarchical structure.

[0008] With the above configuration, the data processing means can perform desired processing on the work area using the programs and data stored in the external storage medium. That is, the information processing device can basically perform a desired process using only the external storage medium without using the internal storage device, and execute the desired program without burdening the information processing device main body. Data can be stored. In addition, since necessary programs and data are stored in the external storage medium, desired processing can be performed only by attaching the external storage medium to the information processing apparatus, and complicated work such as program installation is not required. , Simple operation can be realized. Furthermore, since programs and data are hierarchized, storage capacity can be reduced and processing can be speeded up.

The program area includes a sub-program area for storing a plurality of sub-programs and a predetermined sub-program from the plurality of sub-programs, and reads out the predetermined sub-program from the sub-program area. And a program index area for storing identification information assigned to each of the main programs, wherein the data processing means includes an identification code stored in the program index area. The information is retrieved to extract the identification information of the main program to be executed, the main program corresponding to the extracted identification information is read from the main program area, and as a part corresponding to the subprogram in the main program, Sa Reading a program, it is preferable to perform the main program.

[0010] In this case, overlapping portions of the program are eliminated, the capacity of the program can be reduced, and various main programs can be created by arbitrarily combining sub-programs. Processing can be performed. Further, the program can be easily changed only by changing a necessary part of each layered area, and the maintenance of the program becomes easy.

The data stored in the data area has at least first and second attributes. The data area has an identification information table area storing different identification information assigned to each data. A first data index area storing an address where data having the first attribute is stored, and a second data index area storing an address where data having the second attribute is stored Including an index area and a data storage area where data is stored, wherein the data processing means writes data to the external storage medium,
When referring to the identification information table area and assigning identification information different from the already used identification information to the data to be newly stored, when reading the data from the external storage medium, the first attribute of the data to be read is Searching for the address of the first data index area corresponding to the search item belonging to, and searching for the address of the second data index area corresponding to the search item belonging to the second attribute of the data to be read, It is preferable that the data to be read is read from the data storage area using a matching address from the searched addresses.

In this case, desired data can be searched only by searching addresses of the first and second index areas without searching all data, and data can be read at high speed.

Preferably, the data processing means compresses the data, writes the compressed data in the data area, decompresses the compressed data from the data area, and reads the data. In this case, the amount of data to be stored can be further reduced, and the data area can be used effectively.

Further, the external storage medium further includes an authentication data area for storing authentication data for recognizing a user, and the information processing apparatus further includes an input unit for the user to input the authentication data, It is preferable that access to the data and the program on the external storage medium is permitted only when the authentication data input from the input unit matches the authentication data stored in the authentication data area in advance. In this case, only the person who knows the authentication data stored in the external storage medium can access the data, and the confidentiality of the data can be improved.

Further, the external storage medium of the present invention is a semiconductor memory, and is an external storage medium detachable from an information processing apparatus, wherein the external storage medium stores a program executed by the information processing apparatus. A program area, a data area for storing data used by the information processing apparatus or data processed by the information processing apparatus, and a work area used when the information processing apparatus executes a program of the program area, The program area stores a program using a hierarchical structure, and the data area stores data using a hierarchical structure.

According to the above configuration, a desired process can be performed on the work area by using the program and data stored in the external storage medium only by mounting the external storage medium on an arbitrary information processing apparatus. That is, the information processing device can basically perform a desired process using only the external storage medium without using the internal storage device, and execute the desired program without burdening the information processing device main body. And
Data can be stored. In addition, since necessary programs and data are stored in the external storage medium, desired processing can be performed only by attaching the external storage medium to the information processing apparatus, and complicated work such as program installation is not required. , Simple operation can be realized. Furthermore, since the programs and data are hierarchized, the storage capacity can be reduced and the processing can be sped up.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus includes an input unit 1, a data processing unit 2, an internal storage device 3, a display unit 4, and an external storage medium 5. The input unit 1 includes, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and is used by a user to select a desired process and to input data. The input information is transferred to the data processing unit 2. . The data processing unit 2 is configured by a CPU or the like, basically reads out programs and data stored in the external storage medium 5 according to the input information, displays a predetermined screen on the display unit 4, After executing the processing, necessary data is stored in the external storage medium 5. The internal storage device 3 includes, for example, a hard disk, and transfers a program or data to the data processing unit 2 as needed. The display unit 4 includes a liquid crystal display, a CRT, and the like, and displays a predetermined image processed by the data processing unit 2. The external storage medium 5 is configured from a semiconductor memory, stores necessary programs and data in advance, and is configured to be detachable from the information processing apparatus.

The information processing apparatus is not particularly limited.
An ordinary computer can be used, for example, a server, a desktop personal computer, a laptop computer (notebook personal computer, sub-notebook personal computer, portable information terminal, etc.) which can write or read data from an external storage medium. Can be used. The external storage medium 4 is not particularly limited as long as it is a normal memory card composed of a semiconductor memory. For example, a PC card (PCMCIA card), a small PC card, a compact flash card, a smart media, a miniature card, a memory stick, etc. Can be used.

In the following description, Windows 95 (registered trademark) is installed as an OS as an information processing device, and Ne is used as a viewer on a hard disk which is an internal storage device 3 in order to make the description easier.
A case will be described in which a notebook personal computer on which tscape Navigator (registered trademark) is installed is used, and an ATA flash card having a capacity of 2 MB as a PC card is used as the external storage medium 5. Also,
Netsc stored in the internal storage device 3 as a viewer
The reason why the ape Navigator is used is that such a program is often already installed in a general personal computer. If the program is stored in the external storage medium 5 including the viewer, the internal navigator is used. The storage device 3 is basically unnecessary.

First, the data structure of the external storage medium 5 will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of the external storage medium 5.

Referring to FIG. 2, the storage area of external storage medium 5 includes an authentication data area I, a program area P, a data area D, and a work area W. Program area P
Is the index area P1, the main program area P
2. It is composed of a subprogram area P3. The data area D includes a table area D1, an index area D2, and a data storage area D3.

In the authentication data area I, authentication data for authenticating a user, for example, a user ID and a password are stored. Further, when the external storage medium 5 is mounted on the information processing apparatus, the external storage medium 5 A program for recognizing and automatically starting and a program for performing authentication processing are stored. When the information processing apparatus recognizes the external storage medium 5 by plug and play, a program for automatically starting is unnecessary.

In the index area P1, for example, a key number corresponding to a menu key displayed on a menu screen described later is stored, and as identification information, for example, a file name of a main program corresponding to each key number is stored. Have been. The main program area P2 stores a file name of each main program and a program body. The main program is composed of a plurality of subprograms, and a subprogram address is stored in a portion of the main program where the subprogram is executed. A plurality of subprograms are stored in the subprogram area P3.

With the above configuration, when an arbitrary menu key on the menu screen is selected by the input unit 1 of the information processing apparatus, the file name of the main program corresponding to the key number of the menu key selected from the index area P1 is changed. The main program corresponding to the searched file name is read from the main program area P2, and the subprogram corresponding to the address of the subprogram in the main program is read from the subprogram area P3.

As described above, when reading a program, the program areas P classified hierarchically are sequentially searched, and a desired program is executed. Although the program area P is hierarchized into three layers as described above, the degree of hierarchies is not particularly limited to three, and can be changed as appropriate according to the capacity and configuration of the program to be stored. is there.

In the table area D1, the identification numbers of all the stored data are stored as mutually different identification information assigned to each data. For example, data is grouped for each input menu and a unique identification number is given as one data. Therefore, all the assigned identification numbers are stored in the table area D1, and when storing data, an identification number that is not used by searching the table area D1 is assigned.
ID numbers do not overlap.

In the index area D2, an index area is provided for each attribute of the data. For example, when the data has two attributes, first and second index areas are provided. The first or second index area stores an address of data corresponding to each item included in each attribute. In the data storage area D3,
All data is stored at a predetermined address.

According to the above configuration, when there is data necessary for processing the program or data that the user wants to use, a plurality of items corresponding to the items included in the first attribute of the data from the first index area. An address is searched, and a plurality of addresses corresponding to items included in the second attribute of the data are searched from the second index area. Next, desired data can be read by reading data from the data storage area D3 using a matching address from the searched addresses.

As described above, when reading data, each area of the data area D classified hierarchically is sequentially searched, and desired data is read. Note that the data area D
Are hierarchized into three hierarchies as described above, but the degree of hierarchies is not particularly limited to three, and can be appropriately changed according to the capacity and attributes of data to be stored.

The configuration of data hierarchies is not particularly limited to the above example. For example, the following hierarchies may be performed. That is, a plurality of attributes included in the data are conceptually hierarchized from the upper level to the lower level, and from the upper level attribute to the lower level attribute, a unique identification number is assigned to each item included in each attribute and the attribute is assigned. Store the contents of the item in the index table. further,
A hierarchy level number indicating the hierarchy level of each attribute is assigned, and for each item of each attribute, its own identification number, its own hierarchy level number, the hierarchy level numbers one higher and one lower than itself,
The identification number given to the item of the attribute one level higher than its own attribute may be stored in the index table in association with each identification number, and this index table may be stored in the index area D2. When this index table is used, for example, by sequentially searching data from an upper level to a lower level, useless search can be prevented, and desired data can be searched more efficiently.

The work area W is an area temporarily used when the data processing section 2 processes data. In the present embodiment, the work area is provided in the external storage medium 5 so that Processing can be performed without imposing a load on the device. Further, since the external storage medium 5 uses a semiconductor memory, in this embodiment, a flash memory, the data access speed is high, and processing can be performed without stress.

Next, SFA (Sales Force)
The specific processing operation of the information processing apparatus will be specifically described by taking, as an example, the case of executing a sales information management analysis program of (Automation). FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the information processing apparatus.
The following programs are executed by the data processing unit 2 using the work area W.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the external storage medium 5 is mounted on the information processing apparatus, the automatic start program is read from the authentication data area I and the automatic start processing is executed (step S1), and the business information Initial setting processing necessary for executing the management analysis program is performed. Next, in step S2, the authentication program is read from the authentication data area I and the authentication process is executed, and the authentication screen shown in FIG. At this time, Netscape Navigator has been started as a viewer, and the following display screen is displayed using this viewer. Here, the user operates a keyboard or the like of the input unit 1 and uses his or her own user ID as authentication data.
And password.

Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the entered user ID and password match those registered in the authentication data area I in advance. If they match, the process proceeds to step S4. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step S2 to repeat the authentication process. If the authentication data does not match even if the authentication process is repeated a predetermined number of times, it may be determined that an unauthorized user is trying to operate and the process may be terminated.

When the authentication is completed, in step S4, the menu screen program is read from the program area P, the menu screen processing is executed, and the menu screen shown in FIG. Each item displayed on the menu screen is a key, and the user can select a desired process by clicking a desired item with a mouse. Here, in order to simplify the explanation, as an example of the input processing, the action management data processing selected by clicking the display of “action data” in the “input items” shown in FIG. 5, and the output As an example of the processing, only the business daily report processing selected by clicking “business daily report” in “output items” will be described. However, even when other items are selected, basically the same as the following Is performed.

Next, if the user selects the action management data processing in step 5, the process proceeds to step S6, where the action management data program is read from the main program area P2, and the processing in steps S6 to S9 is executed. Then, the behavior management data processing is executed.

First, in step S6, a data input screen display process is executed. Specifically, the behavior management data input screen shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the action management data input screen is displayed by the action time input screen G1 displayed by the action time input program, the action content input screen G2 displayed by the action content input program, and the partner input program. It comprises a destination input screen G3, a date display screen G4 displayed by a date display program, and an operation button screen G5 displayed by an operation button display program. That is, the behavior management data program, which is the main program, is an activity time input program, an activity content input program, a destination input program, which are subprograms,
Includes a date display program and an operation button display program.

Therefore, when "behavior data" is clicked, the key number of the "behavior data" key selected from the index area P1, for example, the file name of the main program corresponding to "1", for example, "xxx.exe""Is searched, file name from main program area P2"
xxx. exe ", that is, a behavior management data program. Next, a subprogram corresponding to the address of a subprogram in the behavior management data program from the subprogram area P3;
That is, an action time input program, an action content input program, a destination input program, a date display program,
The operation management data input program is executed by sequentially reading the operation button display program and the operation button display program.

The layering of the program is not particularly limited to the two layers of the main program and the subprogram as described above. For example, the following may be adopted. That is, the data input screen display processing is a subprogram of the behavior management data program, and the data input screen display program is set to the subprogram area P2.
, And a lower program area including a lower hierarchy below the subprogram area P2 is newly provided.
The above-mentioned action time input program or the like may be stored in that area as a lower-order program of the data input screen display program, and may be hierarchized into three or more hierarchies.

Next, in step S7, the data input program is read from the sub-program area P3 to execute data input processing, and the user selects a desired time zone on the action time input screen G1 with the mouse of the input unit 1. The action time is input, and the action content and the other party are input by selecting the action content and the other party in the time zone selected from the items on the action content input screen G2 and the other party input screen G3. When further inputting the action content or the like in another time zone, the above processing is repeated.
Each input data is, for example, 1
It was put together as action management data on January 16,
For example, items such as a date and a person in charge are extracted as keywords, and identification numbers are given. The identification numbers and keywords are stored in the table area D1 and the index area D2.
Is stored in

Next, in step S8, the compression program is read from the sub-program area P3, and the data to which the identification number has been added is subjected to compression processing to reduce the data amount. The data compression method is not particularly limited, and various compression methods can be used according to the storage capacity of the external storage medium 5 and the amount of data to be stored. For example, even if a program such as LHA is used. Good. Also, at this time, if a unique compression method is used, the data will be in the same state as being encrypted, so that data confidentiality can be maintained at the same time, and the compressed data can be further encrypted. Is also good.

Next, in step S9, a data write program is read from the subprogram area P3 to execute data write processing, and a free area in the data storage area D3 according to the amount of data after compression is checked. And writes the data in the index area D2 by associating the address of the area with the above-mentioned identification number.
Write to. The above data input program, compression program, and data writing program are sub-programs of the behavior management data input program.

On the other hand, if the user selects the business daily report processing in step 5, the process proceeds to step S10,
The business daily report program is read from the main program area P2, and the processing of steps S10 to S15 is executed to execute the business daily report processing.

First, in step S10, a keyword input screen display program is read from the subprogram area P3, and a keyword input screen display process is executed. The keyword input screen shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, for example, in the case of business daily report data, there are four items of a keyword, a department, a department, a person in charge, and a date, and these items are attributes of the business daily report data. Therefore, an index for each of these four attributes is provided in the index area D2, and by searching a keyword for each of these attributes, desired data can be searched.

Next, in step S11, a keyword input program is read from the sub-program area P3, and a keyword input process is executed.
A keyword of data to be searched is input by selecting an item serving as a keyword for each attribute into the mouse or the like.

Next, in step S12, a search program is read from the subprogram area P3, and a search process is executed. For example, when the business daily report data of the person in charge A on October 3 is searched, all the addresses of the data related to the person in charge A are searched from the person in charge index in the index area D2, and further, from the date index. Retrieve all data addresses for October 3rd. Next, a matching address is searched from both the searched addresses, and the data stored at this address becomes the business daily report data of the person in charge A on October 3rd.

Next, in step S13, a data read program is read from the subprogram area P3, and a data read process is executed. That is, the business daily report data of the person in charge A on October 3 is read from the data storage area D3 using the address searched in step S12.

Next, in step S14, the expansion program is read from the subprogram area P3, and the data read in step S13 is subjected to expansion processing.
The compressed data is restored to the original data. If the data is encrypted, it is decrypted here.

Next, in step S15, the result display program is read from the sub-program area P3, and the result display process is executed. The result display screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display unit 4 using the data expanded in step S14. Is displayed. As shown in FIG. 8, for example, 10
The daily business report data of the month 3 is displayed. Note that the above-described keyword input screen display program, keyword input program, search program, data reading program,
The expansion program and the result display program are sub-programs of the business daily report program, and the address of each sub-program is included in the business daily report program which is the main program.

In the above description, the case where the sales information management analysis program is executed has been described. However, the application field of the present invention is not particularly limited to such a sales field, and can be applied to various fields. For example, the present invention is similarly applicable to a chart management system in the medical field.

[0052]

According to the present invention, by simply mounting an external storage medium on an information processing apparatus, desired processing can be performed on a work area using programs and data stored hierarchically in the external storage medium. Since it can be performed, a desired program can be executed and sufficient data can be stored by a simple operation without burdening the information processing apparatus main body.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of an external storage medium shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process performed by the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authentication screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a menu screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing device shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing an example of an action management data input screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing device shown in FIG.

7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a keyword input screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a display result screen displayed on a display unit of the information processing device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input part 2 Data processing part 3 Internal storage device 4 Display part 5 External storage medium

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 11, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0020

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In the following description, for the sake of simplicity, as an example, Windows 95 is mounted as an OS as an information processing apparatus, and Microsoft Windows as a viewer is provided on a hard disk which is an internal storage device 3 as an example.
Using a notebook computer on which Internet Explorer is installed, the external storage medium 5
The following describes a case where an ATA flash card having a capacity of 2 MB, which is a PC card, is used. In addition, Microsoftsoft stored in the internal storage device 3 as a viewer
The reason why the Internet Explorer is used is that such a program is often already installed in a general personal computer. When the program is stored in the external storage medium 5 including the viewer, The internal storage device 3 is basically unnecessary.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

As shown in FIG. 3, when the external storage medium 5 is mounted on the information processing apparatus, the automatic start program is read from the authentication data area I and the automatic start processing is executed (step S1), and the business information Initial setting processing necessary for executing the management analysis program is performed. Next, in step S2, the authentication program is read from the authentication data area I and the authentication process is executed, and the authentication screen shown in FIG. At this time, Microsoft Internet E is used as a viewer.
xlorer (registered trademark) has been launched, and the following display screen is displayed using this viewer. Here, the user operates a keyboard or the like of the input unit 1 and inputs his / her user ID and password as authentication data.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A removable external storage medium comprising a semiconductor memory, a program and data are read from the external storage medium, data is processed by the read program, and the processed data is stored in the external storage medium. Data processing means for writing, the external storage medium, a program area storing a program to be executed by the data processing means, data storing data used by the data processing means and data processed by the data processing means An area, and a work area used when the data processing means executes the program in the program area. The program area stores the program using a hierarchical structure. The data area has a hierarchical structure. An information processing device in which data is stored using. 2. The program area includes: a subprogram area for storing a plurality of subprograms; and a predetermined subprogram among the plurality of subprograms, and reads out a predetermined subprogram from the subprogram area. A main program area for storing a main program executed by the main program, and a program index area for storing identification information assigned to each of the main programs, wherein the data processing means stores the identification information stored in the program index area. The information is retrieved to extract the identification information of the main program to be executed, the main program corresponding to the extracted identification information is read from the main program area, and as a part corresponding to the subprogram in the main program, sub Reading the program, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein for executing the main program. 3. The data stored in the data area is:
The data area has at least first and second attributes, the data area is an identification information table area storing different identification information assigned to each data, and an address at which data having the first attribute is stored An index area including a first data index area for storing data, and a second data index area for storing an address at which data having the second attribute is stored; and a data storage area for storing data. The data processing means, when writing data to the external storage medium, by adding identification information different from the already used identification information to data to be newly stored with reference to the identification information table area, When reading data from the external storage medium, the first data corresponding to the search item belonging to the first attribute of the data to be read. While searching for the address of the data index area, searching for the address of the second data index area corresponding to the search item belonging to the second attribute of the data to be read, and searching for a matching address from the searched addresses The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data to be read is read from the data storage area by using the data storage area. 4. The data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the data processing means compresses the data, writes the compressed data in the data area, expands the compressed data from the data area, and reads the data. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The external storage medium further includes an authentication data area for storing authentication data for recognizing a user, the information processing apparatus further includes an input unit for the user to input the authentication data, The access to the data and the program in the external storage medium is permitted only when the authentication data input from the input unit matches the authentication data stored in the authentication data area in advance. 4. The information processing device according to any one of 4 to 4. 6. An external storage medium comprising a semiconductor memory and detachable from an information processing apparatus, wherein the external storage medium includes: a program area storing a program to be executed by the information processing apparatus; A data area for storing data used by the information processing apparatus and data processed by the information processing apparatus; and a work area used when the information processing apparatus executes a program in the program area. An external storage medium in which a program is stored using a hierarchical structure, and data is stored in the data area using a hierarchical structure.