JPH1145179A - Program managing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform version-up without trouble even in the case of a program under execution. SOLUTION: A pair of data storage areas 5 and 6 are provided. When performing the version-up of a old program to a new program, the old program is stored in one data storage area and the new program is stored in the other data storage area. Since the new and old programs are stored in a pair of data storage areas, the new program can be stored while executing the old program and by switching the old program to the new program after the completion of execution, version-up is possible without applying trouble to the program under execution.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program management method, and more particularly to a program management method for realizing various functions by being organically connected to hardware such as a personal computer and a workstation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art "Bugs" of programs, especially high-performance programs, cannot be completely eliminated in the development stage. After the product is released, it will be upgraded (or updated) sequentially while fixing bugs. Upgrading a bug-fixed program is just a copy of the file, not a difficult task.

[0003] That is, floppy disks and CD-Rs
The version upgrade file stored in the OM or the like may be overwritten on the file of the same name on the secondary storage (such as a hard disk). And recently, there is an installation tool that automates such processing, so if you use this tool, you can easily perform everything from copying files to setting up the system simply by clicking a button on the screen .

When a program to be upgraded is loaded on the primary storage (main memory), that is, when it is being executed, it is necessary to temporarily terminate the program. In particular, this is an indispensable procedure when the program to be upgraded is an overlay type program referred to by another program, or when the program component is a DLL, OCX, or ActiveX program component. This is because the consistency with other programs is lost depending on the modified part.

[0005]

The disadvantage of the prior art is that when upgrading a running program,
That is, the program must be terminated once. Therefore, if the program cannot be terminated, no version upgrade can be performed. For example, there is a disadvantage that a non-interruptable program such as a 24-hour server program cannot be upgraded.

It is an object of the present invention to upgrade a running program without inconvenience.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 is
It has a pair of data storage areas, and when an old program is upgraded to a new program, the old program is stored in one data storage area and the new program is stored in the other data storage area. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the new and old programs are stored in the pair of data storage areas, so that the new program can be stored while the old program is being executed. Can be upgraded without any trouble.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a reference between another program and the first program is made indirectly via a table, and the program is provided in the table while the reference is being made. Setting the flag, and
When the version of the program is upgraded to the second program, the second program is stored in the secondary storage and loaded into the free area of the primary storage, and after the flag is reset to the reset state, the table is updated. Is changed from the first program to the second program.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the reference to the first program is released, the flag is reset, and in response to the reset state, the reference destination of another program is changed from the first program to the first program. Version 2 is upgraded. Therefore, without breaking alignment
The first program can be upgraded to the second program, and the running program can be upgraded without any inconvenience.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a program management method according to the present invention, and is an example of application to a program distribution system using broadcast waves, although not particularly limited. First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a separation / extraction circuit for separating and extracting video information and program information from terrestrial waves or broadcast waves transmitted by cable or satellite. Note that the video information includes synchronization information such as a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal and audio information, and the program information is embedded in a compressed or uncompressed state, for example, in a vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a broadcast wave. Is what it is.

The video information is sent to a known television receiving unit 2, and a video display and an audio output are performed according to the information content. The program information is sent to a first version comparing unit 4 of the information processing unit 3. If the program information is compressed, the first version comparing unit 4 returns to the non-compressed state, and then checks whether or not the same program information exists in the data storage areas 5 and 6 of the information processing unit 3. In this embodiment, one of the two data storage areas 5 and 6 is used for an executable program, and the other is used as a DLL, OCX or Active.
Although it is used for a program component such as X, it is not limited to this. Hereinafter, the left data storage area 5 is used for an executable program, and the left data storage area is used for a program component. Further, the two data storage areas 5 and 6 are A and B respectively, and the two data storage areas 5A and 5B (6A, 6
B).

When the program information is an executable program, the first version comparator 4 examines the two left data storage areas 5A and 5B. If the same program exists in both areas, the first version comparator 4 deletes the old version program. The new program is overwritten. If the same program exists in only one area, the new program is stored in the other area. When the program information is a program part, the first version comparator 4 also includes two right data storage areas 6A, 6A.
B is checked, and if the same program exists in both areas, the old version of the program is overwritten with the new program. If the same program exists in only one area,
The new program is stored in the other area.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a second version comparison unit. The second version comparing unit 7 includes two version comparing units 7
A, 7B. The left version comparing section 7A compares the versions of the programs stored in the data storage areas 5A, 5B, passes a new version of the program to the program executing section 8, and the right version comparing section 7B.
Is for comparing the versions of the programs stored in the data storage areas 6A and 6B and passing a new version of the program to the program execution unit 8. The program execution unit 8 executes the passed program, for example,
It displays graphics and characters on the television receiver 2 or displays a user interface such as buttons.

According to such a configuration, since the version can be upgraded without rewriting the old program, no inconvenience is given to the program being executed (old program). Since it exists inside the processing unit 3, for example,
If the version upgrade fails, the old program can be used for recovery, and is particularly suitable when communication quality is poor.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the program management method according to the present invention, which is an example of application to an information processing apparatus including the above-mentioned program distribution system. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 10 denotes an address map of the information processing device. The map 10 includes a table 11 which is a point of the present embodiment.
Are provided, and programs 12 to 14 are stored in some areas, respectively. The program 12 corresponds to the “other program” described in the gist of the invention, the program 13 corresponds to the “first program” described in the gist, and the program 14 corresponds to the “second program” described in the gist of the invention.
Program ".

That is, the program 12 is stored in the table 11
The program 13 is indirectly referred to via the program 13, and the program 14 is referred to from the program 12 instead of the program 13 when a predetermined condition is satisfied. The record of the table 11 is composed of a symbol field 11a, a flag field 11b, and an entry field 11c. In the drawing, for convenience, "ABC" is added to the symbol field 11a of a certain record.
Also, “X” is entered in the entry field 11c of the same record.
Is stored.

Here, "ABC" is the symbol name of the program 13. Therefore, the symbol "ABC" described in the program 12 is indirectly referred to by the "X" of the entry field 11c of the table 11, and the program 13 starting from the address X of the map 10 is executed. During this indirect reference, the flag field 11b of the table 11 is set to a set state. When the flag field 11b returns to a reset state, that is, when the execution of the program 13 ends, the table 11 Is rewritten from "X" to "Y" (start address of the program 14).

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the reference between the program 12 and the program 14 can be constructed after the completion of the execution of the program 13, and the version can be upgraded without giving any inconvenience to the program being executed.

[0019]

According to the present invention, even a running program can be upgraded without any inconvenience.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a memory map diagram of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5A, 5B: data storage area (pair of data storage areas) 6A, 6B: data storage area (pair of data storage areas) 11: table 12: program (other program) 13: program (first program) 14: Program (second program)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When a version of an old program is upgraded to a new program having a pair of data storage areas, the old program is stored in one data storage area and the new program is stored in the other data storage area. A program management method characterized by the following. 2. A reference between another program and a first program is made indirectly via a table, and a flag provided in the table is set while the reference is being made. Further, when upgrading the first program to the second program, the second program is stored in the secondary storage and loaded into the empty area of the primary storage, and the state of the flag is reset to the reset state. And changing the reference destination of the table from the first program to the second program after the change.