JPS59158447A - Terminal device provided with self-diagnosis function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability by incorporating a diagnostic program in a terminal device in advance and using an ON-line switch to the start of the program to prevent the malfunction at the start of diagnostic program. CONSTITUTION:A diagnostic program is stored in an ROM3 of the terminal device in advance. Further, the start of diagnostic processing is set when the number of operations of the ON-line switch ONSW attains 5. Data receiving is executed when an interruption is given from an interface IF1 and key processing is executed when key interruption exists. When the ON SW is operated five times continuously during this processing, a counter CU is reset, and a flag ONF representing the ON-line is reset and the start of the diagnostic processing is informed to the operator from a printer 8. Thus, the malfunction is prevented by the operation of the ONSW in this way, thereby improving the operability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a test function (diagnosis function) of a terminal device such as an input/output control device or an input/output device in an information processing system.

<Prior art> Conventionally, when diagnosing a terminal device such as an input/output control device or input/output device, the terminal device is taken offline and logically disconnected from the host device (host 1-CPU), and then the terminal device is disconnected. Diagnosis is performed on the device side, diagnosis is started from the second device (host CPU) and diagnosed by host CPU software, and even a simulated CPU is used during maintenance.
In some cases, a diagnostic device consisting of a U was prepared separately, and the diagnosis was performed using this device.

Among these, a system in which diagnosis is performed from the host CPU is undesirable because it increases the burden on the host CPU, and a system in which a separate diagnostic device is used significantly increases the burden on service personnel, operators, etc.

In fact, when a terminal device performs a self-diagnosis, starting the diagnostic process is troublesome. That is, when a switch for starting the diagnostic processing is provided, the starting switch may be operated unnecessarily when the switch is placed on the operation surface, and for this reason, the starting switch is installed inside the device. This may suffice if the terminal device has a simple structure, but if it is a large-scale device such as a line printer, opening the case or the like requires troublesome work.

Purpose of the present invention In view of the above points, the present invention provides a self-diagnosis in which a diagnostic program is built into a terminal device in advance, and the startup operation of the diagnostic program can be performed easily while preventing the occurrence of erroneous operations. The purpose is to provide a terminal device with functions.

Therefore, in the present invention, the diagnostic processing program is started by using one of the key switches on the operation surface of the terminal device, that is, by using an online switch that opens and closes the connection with the host device (host CPU). (3) The operability is improved by having the switch be activated when the switch is operated multiple times in succession within a predetermined period of time, and even if the switch is operated inadvertently, the diagnostic processing program is not activated. It's just that it doesn't exist.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device (a line printer is exemplified) of the present invention.

This terminal device is connected to a host CPU via an interface circuit 1, and data is sent and received under the control of an ON line 10FF line.

Note that this example uses a line printer, so
Data is only received, and only response signals are sent.

This interface circuit 1 performs transmission/reception control according to the status of the printer, and specifically, as shown in FIG. If the printer is online and in a recordable state, it sends an ACK signal indicating reception is OK. This recordable state also includes a determination as to whether the transmission state with the CPU (host) is good.

In response to this ACK signal, the printer control unit (CP
Interrupt U2).

On the other hand, if it is offline (ONF="0゛°) or unable to print (Busy), it is assumed that reception is not possible and the host) CP
It responds with a NACK signal to U and prepares for the next reception. Also,
Host) Does not cause any response to the CPU.

Next, the printer control section will be explained.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a CPU of the printer, which is controlled as described below in accordance with a ROM 3 that stores a control program in advance. Also, this CPU2 has a locking switch DIP.
SW is connected, and when this switch DIPSW is turned on to the ground side, it is possible to execute the diagnostic processing described later, and when it is turned on to the other side, the execution of the processing is disabled.

This DIPSW is provided on a board to which circuit elements built into the printer body are wired, so that it cannot be easily operated by an operator or the like. The on operation of this switch is set to the on state at the time of first maintenance or at the time of shipment by the manufacturer. Therefore, when the printer is normally used, it is set to the on state, and the diagnostic processing described later can be executed at any time.

In addition to the normal program that receives data received from the host 1-CPU, such as ASCII character codes, and reads recording patterns from an internal pattern generator, the ROM 3 supplies them to the printer recording control section. , a diagnostic program related to the present invention is stored.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a RAM controlled by the CPU 2, in which various buffers and flags are formed.
and a timer T of about 2 seconds, and this timer T is “1”.
A counter CU is formed to count the number of operations of the online switch (ONLINE) during the period ``.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a pattern generator CGROM which generates a character pattern corresponding to a received character code, and stores kanji pattern and alphanumeric pattern separately.

Reference numeral 6 designates a custom character pattern generator CGRAM which first receives and stores non-standard characters such as characters and figures that are not in the CGROM (-) from the host CPU.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a printer interface PIF with the printer 8, which is controlled by the CPU 2 and supplies transferred print data to the printer 8.

Reference numeral 8 denotes, for example, a line printer that arranges dots in the width direction of the recorded text, and the above-mentioned circuit elements are housed in the housing of this printer.

Further, a non-lock type ON line switch 0NSW is provided on the front operation panel of this printer. In addition to this, switches such as a paper feed switch for Mania I are also arranged. This ON line switch 0N
When the SW is operated, Nuitchi a is supplied to the CPU 2 via the PIF.

Next, the control of this printer will be explained with reference to a flowchart according to FIG.

When the power is first turned on, the flow shown in FIG. 4(A) is executed and the software is checked.

For example, a sum check is performed on each bit of the ROM 3, and if an error occurs, error processing such as a buzzer sound or flashing lamp is performed to notify that the printer is abnormal. At this time, I was busy. These treatments are generally known in other fields. If this error does not occur, the printer can be used and continues to wait for an interrupt from each key operation or an interrupt from the interface circuit (L/F) 1.

If there is an interrupt from the ink fader circuit 1, data reception (print 1-processing) is executed. Furthermore, when there is a key interrupt (PIF interrupt), key processing is executed.

During this key processing, if a diagnosis, which will be described later, is determined, the process shifts to diagnostic processing (also at this time, the printer is in l3usy).

” The second key process is executed as shown in FIG. 4(C).

First, when the online switch (ONSW) is operated, it operates as described below, and other than this online switch, the process shifts to other keys and processes corresponding to each key are performed.

Now, suppose we are operating an online switch and 0NF=1
If (online), reset ONF and go offline; if 0NF=O, set ONF and go online. In other words, if the switch is currently online, it will switch to offline, and if it is currently offline, it will switch to online.

Here, if the DiPSW is not turned on to the ground side, the state shown in FIG. 4(A) is returned again, and if it is turned on to the ground side, the following operation is performed.

Here, if it is not T-1 (timer is on), the counter CU is reset, and if T=1, the counter CU is not reset. Furthermore, the count up of the counter CU (C
Perform U-1-1).

In other words, if the timer (2 seconds) is on, each time the counter CU is operated the online switch, it will run 1-
Will be uploaded. Subsequently, it is determined whether CU=5 or not, and if CU=5, the timer T is restarted (the timer is newly turned on for 2 seconds). Then again in Figure 4 (
Return to A).

Through this operation, the counter CU is sequentially counted by continuously operating the online switch within a predetermined period of time, and when the counter CU is operated a predetermined number of times (5 times in this example), the process proceeds to the diagnosis routine described below.

Generally, this online switch is not operated continuously during transmission/reception with the host CPU. This fact is utilized to activate the diagnostic processing of the present invention. In other words, the online switch is sometimes operated up to two to three times in total, and for this reason, in this example, the number of switch operations is set to 11,511 when starting the diagnostic process.

When the online switch (ONSW) is operated five times in succession in this manner, the counter CU is reset, the flag ON indicating that the printer is online is reset, and the operator is then notified that diagnostic processing will be performed from the printer. For example, a message is printed as shown in FIG.

It is preferable that the content of this message be printed in alphanumeric format, which has a relatively small number of character types. In other words, there are fewer malfunctions. .

If an abnormality occurs here (such as an abnormality in the printer mechanical section or an abnormality in the CG ROM), no operation is performed, and the operator can thereby know that the above-mentioned abnormality exists.

When this message print is finished, the timer is started again, and depending on the number of operations of the online switch described below, the test is performed, for example, from TEST-1 to TES as shown in Fig. 2.
Select one of T-5.

That is, each time the online switch is operated after the diagnostic process is started, the counter CU counts it and starts the timer again. If the online switch is turned off within the predetermined time of this timer, the selection is completed, the contents of the counter CU are checked, and the corresponding diagnostic processing is performed (TES"l-1~
TEST-5), J For example, TEST-1 reads and prints the kanji patterns in CGROMS in order from the beginning and performs a pit check, and TEST-2 performs the alphanumeric pattern in CGROM5. are read out and printed in order from the beginning, and a pit check is performed. The TES'r-3 sequentially reads and prints the patterns in the CGRAM 6 and also performs a pit check. TEST-4 generates and prints a grid pattern to check the mechanical elements of the printer. TEST-5 prints character patterns with additional functions such as reverse characters, double-length characters, and underlines. .

TEST-6 is the revised version number of Flow0gram.

print. However, the contents of TEST are not limited to these.

When the diagnosis is completed in this way, for example, the menu shown in Figure 3 will appear.
Performs tsusage printing.

If the online switch is operated during the above diagnosis, the diagnosis will be interrupted. If an error occurs due to a focus check or the like during diagnosis, the process is interrupted and the message shown in the lower row of FIG. 3 is printed, for example, or nothing is printed at all. This allows the operator to be informed that there is an abnormality.

<Effects> The present invention utilizes an on (off) line switch that turns on and off the logical connection with a higher-level device (host CPU) that a terminal device usually has. The system is designed to run the diagnostic processing program built into the terminal device on the condition that a predetermined number of consecutive operations have been performed within a certain period of time. The diagnostic processing program can be easily operated on the operating screen, and is activated only after a predetermined number of consecutive operations within a predetermined period of time, so that the diagnostic processing program will not be activated inadvertently. This is particularly effective for bird and mechanical diagnosis of terminal devices, for example.

Unfortunately, when the diagnostic processing program is started, the corresponding on (
This method becomes more effective by allowing the test contents to be selected depending on the number of times the off) line switch is operated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a terminal device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing an example of printing a message, and FIGS. 4(A), (B), and (C) are the same. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device. 1: Interface circuit, 2: Printer CPU, 3
: ROM, 4: RAM, 5: Pattern generator, 6: External character pattern generator, 7: Printer ink chain, 8: Printer, 0NSW: Online switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A terminal device in an information processing system equipped with an on (off) line switch for turning on and off a logical connection with a host device (host CPU), which device has a diagnostic processing program. and a control unit that controls the diagnostic processing program, and the control unit responds to a detection means that detects that the on (off) line switch is continuously operated a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time. A terminal device equipped with a self-diagnosis function, characterized in that it starts a diagnostic program. 2. Claims characterized in that the diagnostic program includes a plurality of types of programs, and the on-(off)-line switch is configured to select a desired one of the plurality of programs depending on the number of times the switch is operated. A terminal device equipped with a self-diagnosis function according to item 1.