JPS6333181B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to an input/output control method for an electronic computer,
In particular, it relates to an input/output control method for controlling a remote input/output device connected to a computer via a communication line.

[Prior art]

Input/output control methods for electronic computers are broadly divided into methods using local commands and methods using remote commands. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration to which these methods are applied. FIG. 1a shows a case where the input/output device is installed near the computer, and the input/output device (local input/output device) 3 is directly connected to the computer 1 via the input/output interface line 2. In FIG. In this case, the electronic computer 1 directly controls the input/output device 3 using input/output instructions (local commands). On the other hand, FIG. 1b shows a case where the input/output device is located in a remote location, and the input/output device (remote input/output device) 6 is connected to the communication line control device 4 via the communication line 5. is connected to the electronic computer 1 via an input/output interface line 2. In this case, the computer 1 issues an input/output command (remote command) for communication line procedures to the communication line control device 4, and the communication line control device 4 sends this remote command to the input/output device using the communication line 5. 6 to control the input/output device 6. In this way, when an input/output device is connected directly to a computer or when it is connected to a computer via a communication line, in order to make the input/output device perform the same function, it is necessary to issue The commands to do so will be different.

Incidentally, in recent years, in order to improve software reliability, there has been a need for a software remote maintenance function that allows a software expert to diagnose and maintain the state of software in a computer from a remote location. For this reason, it is necessary to connect a display terminal at a remote location and a computer via a communication line, and to have a conversation between the operator (software expert) of the display terminal and the software in the computer. This includes the first
It is necessary to use a remote command method intended for the configuration shown in Figure b.

However, controlling by remote commands has the following problems.

(1) The software in the computer must support the communication line control program. Software remote maintenance is performed between the software supplier and the user's computer. Some users may not support communication line control programs, and remote software maintenance cannot be performed for all users.

(2) Most existing software diagnostic programs only support local display terminals, and require significant program changes to support remote display terminals.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide an input/output control method that allows a computer to control a remote input/output device in the same manner as it controls a local input/output device.

[Summary of the invention]

The main point of the present invention is to provide a local input/output device emulation means that emulates a local input/output device that has the same function as a remote input/output device and is directly connected to a computer, and to connect the computer and the remote input/output device. By sending and receiving commands or data via the local input/output device emulation means, the computer can control the remote input/output device by regarding it as a local input/output device.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the input/output control method according to the present invention. For convenience, FIG. 2 shows a case where a display terminal device is controlled as a remote input/output device. In the figure, 10 is an input/output control device added in the present invention, a local display terminal emulation circuit 11, a pseudo display screen buffer 1
2, an output control circuit 13, an input control circuit 14, and a communication circuit 15. The computer 1 is connected to the input/output control device 10 via an input/output interface line 2, and the input/output control device 10 is connected to a remote display terminal device 18 via a communication line 5. The remote display terminal device 18 has a display 19 and a keyboard 20. 8 is an operator in front of the remote display terminal device 18.

A software diagnostic program 7 is stored in the electronic computer 1. The local input/output device emulation circuit 11 processes the local command issued by the computer 1 using a pseudo display screen buffer, the output control circuit 13 converts the output into a remote command, and the remote command is used to control the communication line. The circuit 15 transmits the data to the remote display terminal device 18 using a predetermined communication line procedure. Further, input data sent from the remote display terminal device 18 is received by the communication line control circuit 15 according to a predetermined communication line procedure, and is received by the input control circuit 14 and set in the pseudo display screen buffer 12. It is sent to the computer 1 by the display terminal device emulation circuit 11.

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the output control circuit 13. The outputs of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 21 provided in the output control circuit 13 become inputs to the screen comparison control circuit 22, and the screen comparison control circuit 21 generates a remote command 23 as an output. The remote command 23 consists of an SBA (Set Buffer Address) for changing the display screen on the display 19 of the remote display terminal device 18, a mismatched character string, and an SBA and IC (Insert Cursor) for controlling the cursor position on the display screen. S.B.A.
As shown at 25, it consists of the SBA identification code (11) ₁₆ and the screen buffer address, and indicates the screen address or cursor address to be changed. The mismatched character string consists of a simple display character 26 or a set of attribute characters 27 indicating attributes of the screen. Screen attribute characters specify key-in to the screen, display color, etc. IC28 is used in combination with SBA25, and SBA
This is an instruction code to set the cursor at the screen address indicated by 25. This remote command 23 serves as an input to the communication line control circuit 15. A signal line 16 coming out from the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 is an input to a screen comparison control circuit 22. Further, a data line 21 is extended from the screen comparison control circuit 22 to the comparison display screen buffer 21.

FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the input control circuit 14. The key-in information string 33 of the remote display terminal device 18, which is the output of the communication line control circuit 15, is an AID 34 indicating the type of the pressed attention key.
and a cursor address 35 indicating the cursor position.
and SBA25 indicating the screen position of the key-in character,
It consists of a key-in character string 36. If the key-in is in multiple locations on the screen, the SBA 25 and the key-in character string 36 are repeated the number of times. This key-in information string 33 becomes an input to a keyboard emulation circuit 32 provided in the input control circuit 14.
The output of the keyboard emulation circuit 32 becomes an input to the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 31. Further, a signal line 17 extends from the keyboard emulation circuit 32 to the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained. The operator 8 who is a software expert in front of the remote display terminal device 18 communicates with the software diagnostic program 7 in the computer 1 to
Perform computer software. This conversation will take place as follows.

The diagnostic program 7 displays diagnostic functions on the display 19 and asks the operator 8 which function to perform.

The operator 8 inputs a key from the keyboard 20 to specifically indicate the function to be executed.

The diagnostic program 7 reads the key-in contents,
Run diagnostics. After execution, the results are displayed on the display 19.

The operator 8 determines the state of the software from the displayed results and takes countermeasures.

Repeat ~ to perform software diagnosis.

A feature of the present invention is that by converting local commands into remote commands in the input/output control device 10, in the above procedure, the diagnostic program 7 can display the display on the display 19 of the remote display terminal device 18 and the key-in data from the keyboard 20. All reading can be performed using local commands. The operation of converting a local command to a remote command will be explained below.

First, a case will be described in which the computer 1 changes the display screen of the display 19 of the remote display terminal device 18.

The computer 1 issues a screen change command to the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 via the input/output interface line 2. The local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 changes the pseudo display screen buffer 12 in response to the screen change command. When the change is completed, the signal line 16 is turned on and the screen comparison control circuit 22 in the output control circuit 13 is turned on.
Reports that the screen has changed.

The screen comparison control circuit 22 compares the contents of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 21 holding the display screen before change, and converts the mismatched portions into remote commands 23 shown in FIG. This conversion procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG. Note that both the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 21 correspond to the display screen of the display 19.

Step 101: Set the buffer address indicating the address of both screen buffers 12 and 21 to the starting point (0).

Step 102: The contents of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 indicated by the screen buffer address and the comparison display screen buffer 21 are compared. Then, if it matches, step 1
The process branches to step 10, and if there is a mismatch, the process proceeds to step 103.

Step 103: If the data indicated by the previous screen buffer address also does not match, the process branches to step 105; if they match, the process proceeds to step 104.

Step 104: Create an SBA 25 consisting of a 1-byte identification code (11) ₁₆ and a 2-byte address from the screen buffer address, and set it in the remote command string 23.

Step 105; If the data in the pseudo display screen buffer 12 is an attribute character, step 1
The process branches to step 08, and if it is a display character, the process proceeds to step 106.

Step 106: Set the characters displayed in the pseudo display screen buffer 12 as they are in the remote command string 23.

Step 107: Set the display characters in the pseudo display screen buffer 12 to the comparison display screen buffer 21 using the data line 24. Then, the process branches to step 110.

Step 108; 1-byte identification code (1D) ₁₆ from the attribute characters of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and mismatched character string 27 of the attribute characters, and remote command string 2
Set to 3.

Step 10: Set the attribute characters of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 to the comparison display screen buffer 21 using the data line 24.

Step 110: If all the display screens have been compared, the process branches to step 112; if the comparison has not been completed, the process proceeds to step 111.

Step 111: Add 1 to the screen buffer address and branch to step 102.

Step 112: Convert the cursor address of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 to SBA 25, set it in the remote command string, and then issue the cursor set command IC.
Set 28.

The output control circuit 13 outputs the remote command sequence 23 created as described above to the communication line control circuit 15.
Transfer to. The communication line control circuit 15 decodes the remote command sequence 23 to the remote display terminal device 18 via the communication line 5 according to a predetermined communication line procedure, and changes the display screen on the display 19.

Next, the computer 1 displays the remote display terminal device 1
The case where key-in data input from the keyboard 20 of No. 8 is read will be explained.

The remote operator 8 presses the data key on the keyboard 20 and performs key-in input. The keyed-in data is displayed on the display 19. When the series of key input processing is completed, the operator 8 presses an attention key indicating the end of key-in. When the attention key is pressed, the remote display terminal device 18 edits the input key-in data and creates a key-in information string 33 (see FIG. 4). Thereafter, the remote display terminal device 18 sends the key-in information string 33 to the communication line control circuit 15 in the input/output control device 10 via the communication line 5. When the communication line control circuit 15 receives the key-in information string 33 through a predetermined communication line procedure, the communication line control circuit 15 transmits the keyboard emulation circuit 32 in the input control circuit 14.
The key-in information string 33 is output to. The keyboard emulation circuit 32 inputs the key-in information 33, emulates it, sets the key-in data in the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 31, and sends the key-in data to the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 via the reception line 17. report that it has been completed.

The procedure of this key-in emulation is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

Step 201: A pointer indicating the data to be emulated in the key-in information string 33 is set at the 4th byte of the key-in information string 33.

Step 201; The data pointed to by the pointer is SBA
Identification code (11) If ₁₆ , step 2
Branch to 06. If it is a key-in character, the process advances to step 203.

Step 203: A key-in character is set at the position indicated by the screen buffer address of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and the comparison display screen buffer 31.

Step 204; Add 1 screen buffer address
and advance to the next key-in position.

Step 205; Increase the pointer by 1 and point to the next key-in information. and,
The process branches to step 208.

Step 206: Make the specified address the screen buffer address.

Step 207; Increase the pointer by 3 and point to the next key-in information.

Step 208; If all key-in information strings 33 have been emulated, step 20
If the process is not completed, the process branches to step 202.

Step 209: Set the cursor of the pseudo display screen buffer 12 at the position indicated by the cursor address 35.

Step 210: Set the attention identification code 34 to the attention identification code of the pseudo display screen buffer 12.

Step 211: Turn on the signal line 17 to notify the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 of completion of key-in.

When notified of the key-in completion, the local display terminal emulation circuit 11 interrupts the computer 1 via the input/output interface line 2. As a result, the computer 1 issues a key-in information reading command to the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 via the interface signal line 2. Thereafter, the local display terminal device emulation circuit 11 reads key-in input data from the pseudo display screen buffer 12 and transmits it to the computer 1.

As described above, according to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, the computer 1 can control the remote display terminal device 18 using the procedure of the local display terminal device.

In addition, since local command data is once converted to remote command data via the pseudo display screen buffer 12, and key-in input data is also converted to read data via the pseudo display screen buffer 12, only the specifications of the local display screen are required. If they match, they can be connected even if their command specifications are different.

In this embodiment, a display terminal device is used as an input/output device, but this may be any other data entry terminal device. In this case, the local input/output device emulation circuit, output control circuit, and input control circuit may be modified to match the specifications of the supported input/output device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, a remote input/output device located at a remote location can be controlled using the procedure of a local input/output device, so that the following effects can be obtained.

(i) Software in a computer can control remote input/output devices without a communication line control program.

(ii) Existing programs that control local I/O devices can be used as is for remote I/O devices.

(iii) Remote commands are more difficult to control than local commands, but since remote input/output devices can be controlled using only local commands, the burden on software can be significantly reduced.

(iv) Conversion processing from local to remote or vice versa is performed via a data buffer, so remote commands and local commands are
Conversion is possible even if there is no one-to-one correspondence (one-to-many conversion is possible), and connection is possible even if the response speed on the local side and the speed on the remote side are different.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of connection of conventional input/output devices.
2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing details of the output control circuit in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the input control circuit in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the conversion procedure to a remote command, and FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the key-in emulation procedure. 1...Electronic computer, 10...Input/output control device,
11...Local display terminal device emulation circuit, 12...Pseudo display screen, 13...Output control circuit, 14...Input control circuit, 15...Communication line control circuit, 18...Remote display terminal device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an input/output control device that controls a remote input/output device connected to a computer via a communication line, a local input/output device that has the same function as the remote input/output device and is directly connected to the computer a local input/output device emulation circuit that emulates the device; an output control circuit that converts the output of the local input/output device emulation circuit into a remote command that can be read by the remote input/output device and sends it to the remote input/output device; It is equipped with an input control circuit that supplies data sent from a remote input/output device to a local input/output device emulation circuit, and a data buffer.The local input/output device emulation circuit processes local commands issued by a computer and stores them in the data buffer. Then, the output control circuit converts the output of the data buffer into a remote command, and sends the remote command to the remote input/output device using the communication line procedure, so that the computer indirectly communicates with the remote input/output device. The input control circuit accepts input data sent from a remote input/output device via a communication line procedure and stores it in a data buffer, and the output of the data buffer is processed by a local input/output device emulation circuit. 1. An input/output control method for a computer, characterized in that by inputting data to the computer, the computer can handle it as input data for a local input/output device.