MXPA97004390A - Da receiver apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a data receiving apparatus for receiving data through a communication network, for storing the data, comprising: a storage means for storing start information indicating a start of the extraction of data and information end, which indicates a termination of the data extraction, an extraction means to detect a first data match of the data received through the communication network, with the start information, and a second data match of the data received through the communication network, with the final information, and to extract, from among them, necessary data of the data received through the communication network, and a means of formation of file to form a file that Include the necessary data extracted by the means of extraction

Description

EU DATA RECEIVER DEVICE Field of technique The present invention relates to a data receiving apparatus that stores in a file the data received through a communication network c similar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There is a conventional communication system that uses an information processing apparatus, such as a word processor or a personal computer connected through a modem or similar to a telephone line, or which has these devices. Information processing together connected in series using RS-232C or similar. This system stores the data of a string of characters (hereinafter referred to as "string data") that have been received through communication in a file in an external storage section consisting of, for example, a unit flexible disk (UDF) to record the data received. In the case where an information processing device is connected to a bulletin board system (BBS) to receive (or download) the necessary information, all the data from the declaration of the beginning of reception to the declaration of the end of receipt are written to a file in a UDF or similar.

That is, a text is written in a file that includes menus and messages and control data, as well as the necessary string data that will be received from the host side. In the same way that unnecessary text and control data or the like are written into a file, in addition to the string data necessary at the time of reception, the conventional data receiving apparatus needs a large file and this way he suffers the ineffective use of memory. In order to receive only the necessary information and to avoid an increase in the size of the file, it is necessary to instruct the declaration of the beginning of the reception and the declaration of the end of the reception. It is very likely that this instruction results in an erroneous operation and includes a somewhat annoying operation.

Description of the invention Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a data receiving apparatus capable of writing to a file only the data necessary at the time of writing the data received in the file.

To achieve the above objective, according to the first object of this invention, a data receiving apparatus is provided for receiving the data through a communication network or the like and storing the data, the apparatus comprises: the storage medium to store the start indicator information indicating the beginning of the data; the detection means for detecting, from the received data, the start indicator information stored in the storage means; and the data storage means for storing the data after having detected the start indicator information, among the received data, by means of the detection system. According to the second aspect of this invention, a data receiving apparatus for receiving the data through a communication network or the like and storing the data is provided, the apparatus consists of: a first storage means for storing the indicator information of the start indicating the beginning of the data, the first detection means for detecting, from the received data, the start indicator information stored in the first storage means; the second storage means for storing the end-indicating information indicating the end of the data; the second detection means for detecting the end-indicating information stored in the second storage means from the received data; the data storage medium for storing the data; and the control means for storing, in the data storage medium, the data received after the start indicator information when the start indicator information is detected through the first detection means., and inhibiting the storage of data in the data storage medium when the end instruction information is detected through the second detection means. According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, only the necessary data can be written in a file. Therefore, it is possible that the file size does not increase. In addition, the operation of the apparatus can be easy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a block structural diagram illustrating the essential parts of a personal computer, according to one embodiment of this invention; Figure 2 is a diagram showing the memory structure of a RAM (random access memory) that is used in this mode; Figure 3 is a diagram explaining the content of a download flag that is used in this mode; Fig. 4 is a diagram exemplifying the data structure of the data of the string of characters received through a communication network; Fig. 5 is a flow diagram specifying a process of entering the character string for storing an initial character string and a final character string in a RAM log file; and Figure 6 is a flow chart explaining a receiving operation for receiving the data of the character string.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings. Figures 1 to 6 are diagrams for explaining a data receiving apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of this invention. In this mode, a personal computer prepared for communication is connected to a communication network and only stores, in a storage section, the necessary information between the string data received through this communication network. To begin with, the structure of this modality will be explained. Figure 1 is a block structural diagram illustrating the essential parts of a personal computer 1 according to this embodiment. With reference to Figure 1, the personal computer 1 consists of a UPC (central processing unit) 2, an input section 3, an input control section 4, a RAM (read only memory) 5, a RAM ( random access memory) 6, a display section 7, a display controller section ü, a print section 9, a print control section 10, a storage device 11 and a communication control section 13 , which are mutually connected by means of a bus or collector 14. The UPC 2 controls the individual components of the personal computer 1 according to several driver programs stored in the ROM b. At the time the data is downloaded, which will be described later, they are stored in RAM 6, the UPC 2 detects an initial character string and a final character string, previously stored in RAM 6, from the data of the string of characters received. The UPC 2 extracts a predetermined character string based on the start character string and the end character string detected and only stores in a file the necessary character string that it extracted (henceforth, downloaded data record file) . For example, the UPC 2 performs this control so that a string of characters that follows a string of start characters is stored in the downloaded data log file when it detects only the start character string, a string of characters until the end character string is stored in the downloaded data log file when only the end character string is detected, or a string of characters that is between the start character string and the character string of the end is stored in the downloaded data log file when only the start character string and the end character string are detected. Although the character string excludes the start character string and the end character string, are stored in this mode, the data reception can be so controlled as to store a character string that includes the start character string and the end character string.

The input section 3 has function keys to set the various functions, character data keys to enter the character data, 10 keys to enter the numerical data, a download key to instruct the start of the download and a key to designate the file, to determine where a string of characters will be stored. The signals associated with the operation of these different keys are the output to the UPC 2 under the control of the controller section of the input 4. Stored in the ROM 5 are different kinds of control programs that the UPC 2 executes, and various classes of data that will be processed at the same time that the control programs are executed. RAM 6 has a work area for storing data temporarily for data processing and various parameters, and a program area for storing a program. As shown in Figure 2, for example, the RAM 6 has a temporary reception memory 6a for temporarily storing the data received by the personal computer 1 through a communication network, and a first registration file 6b, a second log file 6c, a third log file 6d and so on, where the necessary data of the received data will be downloaded. Each log file area consists of a log file name to record the name of a file, a log file of downloaded data to record the name of the downloaded data, a storage section of the startup string for store the start character string as a reference for the beginning of the necessary data downloaded, and a storage section of the end character string to store the final character string and a section of the download flag to store a flag which represents the status of the download and each log file. The presentation section 7 shows the text data, the image data or the like which has been received through the input section 3 or the communication control section 13 of the personal computer 1. The presentation section 7 which comprises of a screen, TRC or PCL, is controlled by the controlling section of the presentation ü designed for the presentation. The printing section 9, sequentially, prints the character or similar data that has been developed in the RAM 6, for example, under the control of the printing controller section 10. The storage device 11 has a means of storage 12 where programs, data, etc. are already stored. This storage medium 12 consists of a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium or a semiconductor memory. The storage means 12 may be provided in the storage device 11 permanently or may be of a removable type. The programs, data and the like stored in the storage medium can be received from another device that is connected through the communication network. Otherwise, the storage device 11 equipped with the storage means 12 can be provided in another apparatus that is connected through a communication network, so that the programs, data and the like stored in this storage means 12 can be used through the communication network. The communication control section 13 is composed of an I / O port, a modem or the like, which is connected to a communication network (analog public telephone network or public telephone digital network), and which executes the control of the communication for the data, like the electronic mail that is transmitted and received through the communication by the computer. Bus 14 connects the aforementioned individual components to exchange control and data signals. Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining the contents of a download flag that is used in this mode.

The download flag shows the status of a log file and which is to be written in the section of the download flag in each log file of RAM b as shown in figure 2. As shown in the figure 3, the download flag of "0" indicates that there is no download. When the download flag is "1" the download is in progress, while the associated log file is closed. When the download flag is "2", the download is in progress and the associated log file is open.

Although the download flag is defined as specified in the above in this mode, the states of the download flag are not limited in any way to these types. Figure 4 is a diagram that exemplifies the data structure of the string data received through the communication network (in this example, through an email). As shown in Figure 4, the control data 22 is located in the header of the data of the received character string 21, followed by a start character string 23 indicating the beginning of an email, such as a string of characters "received mail". Then comes the content 24 of the mail, as necessary string data followed by a final string of characters 25 indicating the term of the mail, such as a string of "what is deleted?" other character string data include a string of numbers that indicates a specific symbol or a specific control code and a string of characters consisting of numbers and letters. As is clear from the above, the character string data required in the received character string data 21 is only the content 24 of an email that must be stored in a file at the time the download is made. Therefore, in this mode the start character string 23 and the end character string 25 are extracted from the data of the received character string 21, so that the content 24 of an email or the string data of Required characters, located between the start character string 23 and the end character string 25 that are selectively extracted, are stored in a file. The operation of this mode will now be described in relation to Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 is a flow chart explaining an input process of a character string for registering a start character string and a character string of the end in a log file of RAM 6, and Figure 6 is a flow chart explaining a receive operation for receiving the data of the character string. The programs performing the functions described in the flowcharts of Figures 5 and 6 are stored in the storage medium 12 in the form of program codes that can be read by the UPC 2. As shown in Figure 5, in the case where the data of the received character string is downloaded to a predetermined log file in RAM 6, in this mode, a process of entering the start and end character strings in the established mode. First, the download flags in the log files 6b, 6c, 6d, etc., in RAM 6, as shown in Figure 2, are all erased (not shown). The log files 6b, 6c, 6d are designated for the only thing that is used to register the start and end character strings (step SI). Then the character string is entered (step S2) and the end character string is entered (step S3) both using the input section 3. Next, these start string and end string of entered characters are set together with the storage section of start character strings and the end character string storage section in the log file to be downloaded into RAM 6 which has been determined in step SI (step S4). When the start and end character strings are set in this step S4 the download flag is set to "1" indicating that this log file is where the downloaded data should be stored (step S5).

When the download flag in the log file is set to "1", if the data of the received character string contains the start character string set, the character string data that follows the start character string it can be stored automatically in the log file. During the reception process, at the time of downloading the data as shown in figure 6, first, in step Sil it is determined if a character has been received through the communication control section 12. When it has been received any individual character, the character data received is written to the reception buffer 6a in RAM 6 (step S12). The writing of the received character data is repeated until the reception operation is completed (step S13). When the reception operation is completed in step S13, the data d < = > the string of received characters written in the reception buffer 6a and it is determined whether the data of the read character string contains a defined reception code (step 15). When the data of the string of characters read does not contain the end-of-reception code, which means that the data of the entire character string has not been received, the reception process for the downloaded data is terminated.

When the data of the string of characters read contains the end-of-reception code in step S15, which means that the data of the entire character string has been received properly, the flow continues to step SI6 to continue the process of reception of downloaded data. In step S16 it is determined whether the data of the string of characters read contains a code of the file type. If this file type code is present, the log file associated with this file type code is determined later (step S17), from which the flow continues to step S19. If there is no file type code present in the data of the string of characters read in step YES, no record file is designated by the type code, so that the flow continues to step S18 to wait the designation of a registry file by the user. When a designation is not made by the user, the process is terminated at that point, whereas, when a designation is made by the user, the flow continues to step S19. In step S19 it is determined whether the download flag in the designated file is "0". When the download flag is "0", no download will be made as it is clearly seen in figure 3, so the process is finished. When the download flag in the designated file is different from "0" ("1" or "2"), the flow continues to step S20 where it is determined whether the download flag is "1". When the download flag is "1", the file is closed even though the download is in progress, so this is determined in step S21 if the data of the read string contains the start cell. When the start character string is detected, the download flag in the designated file is set to "2" (step S22) to open the file, and the following character string data stored in the temporary receive memory is read 6a (step S23). When the read string data does not contain the start character string in step S21, the stream immediately proceeds to step S23 without executing step S22 to read the following character string data from the receive memory 6a .

Next, the following character string data in the reception buffer 6a is read in step S23, after which it is determined whether the string data read is the end character string in step S24. When it is not determined that the string data read is the end character string, the flow continues to step S25 to write the content of the character string that is currently read from the temporary reception memory 6a in the designated file (the data log file of the download in the default log file in RAM) 6), and then the following string data is read from the temporary reception memory 6a in step S23. The writing of data in the designated file is repeated until the end character string is detected (step S23 to S25). When in step S24 it is determined that the read character string is the end character string, writing of the character string data is stopped so that the designated file is closed (step S26) and the download flag in the designated file is set to "1" (step S27). In the data receiving apparatus according to this mode, as described above, the character string of the beginning and the end character string have been previously registered to limit the range of data to be downloaded, making possible write only the necessary string data in the data received in the desired log file. This feature eliminates the need for a later edit after downloading 'and can prevent an erroneous cleaning or deletion operation which may otherwise be caused by later editing. Since only the necessary character string data is downloaded, a small log file is sufficient to record this character string data, thus contributing to cost reduction. Since a plurality of log files are provided in RAM 6 and the character strings associated with these log files can be registered individually in this mode, the character strings can be registered in the respective files for the respective purposes . Therefore, it is possible to automatically arrange the transmitted content to write only the necessary data in the associated log files. That is, the log files can be used differently according to the data types; for example, an email can be registered in the first log file while bulletin boards can be registered in the second log file. Alternatively, files for emails can be prepared for each issuer. Although only one embodiment of the invention has been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention can be modified in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, even if the character string data is written clause by clause in a file, this writing can be done character by character or line by line. Although the start character string and the end character string are recorded at the time of reception (download) as declared in the above-described mode, the registration of this character string can be performed with respect to a string of characters default Although the reception (download) is declared at the time reception (download) is carried out in this mode, this statement is not exactly essential. It can be defined in such a way that when a certain registered character string is detected, the data of the character string is automatically written to the associated log file. Although the aforementioned description of this embodiment has been given with respect to the case where the transmitted character string data is written to a file, this invention is also adaptable to the case where the character string data can be transferred from a file to another.

Claims (5)

1. A data receiving apparatus for receiving data through a communication network or the like and for storing the data, the apparatus consists of: the storage means for storing the start indicator information indicating the beginning of the data; the detection means for detecting the start indicator information stored in the storage medium of the received data; and the data storage means for storing the data, among the received data, after the start indicator information has been detected by the detection means.

2. The data receiving apparatus, according to claim 1, further comprises a means of storing the received data to store, temporarily, the received data in predetermined units, by means of which the detection of the start indicator information in each of the predetermined units based on the received data stored in the storage medium of the received data, and when the indicator information of the start is detected, the subsequent storage of the data received in the medium of data storage.

3. A data receiving apparatus for receiving data through a communication network or the like and storing the data, the apparatus consists of: the first storage medium for storing information indicating the beginning indicating the beginning of the data; the first detection means for detecting the start indicator information that is stored in the first storage means, from the received data, the second storage means for storing the end indicating information indicating the end of the data; the second detection means for detecting end-indicating information that is stored in the second storage means from the received data; the data storage medium for storing the data; and the control means, for storing the data received after the start indicator information in the data storage medium when the indicator information of the start is detected in the first detection means and to inhibit the storage of data in the storage medium. of data when information indicating the end is detected in the second detection means.

4. A storage medium that stores program codes that can be read by a computer, the medium stores: a program code to allow storage of the start indicator information indicating the beginning of the data; a program code to allow the data to be received; a program code to allow the stored start indicator information to be detected from the received data; and a program code to allow the storage of the data received after the start indicator information has been detected.

5. A storage medium that stores program codes readable by a computer, which stores: a program code to allow the start indicator information indicating the beginning of the data to be stored; a program code to allow the data to be received; a program code to allow the stored start indicator information to be detected from the received data; a program code to allow the information indicating the end of the data to be stored; a program code to allow the end indicator information, stored, to be detected from the received data; and a program code to allow the data received after the start indicator information to be stored when the start indicator information is detected, and to prevent the storage of data to be received when information indicating the end is detected.