JPH0752417B2 - Software device support method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is intended to enable various peripheral devices (hereinafter referred to as devices) connected to a data processing device to be used from software side such as graphic software. It relates to a device support method of software.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional device support system of graphic software. When accessing from a user-specific application program, a graphic library 2 that is a collection of standardized programs and routines used by various application programs exists below the application program 1 as shown in FIG. The device driver 3 suitable for the use of the device is located in the lower layer, and the support device group 4 has a one-to-one correspondence with the device driver 3. As for the graphic utility that performs a specific operation on the image data file, the graphic utility 5 is located at the top and the disk driver 6 and the device driver 7 are located below it, as shown in FIG. . The magnetic disk 8 corresponds to the disk driver 6, and the support device group 9 corresponds to the device driver 1 on a one-to-one basis.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, when the graphic library is used, the input / output request issued from the application program 1 to the graphic library 2 is converted into a command suitable for the device 4 supported by the device driver 3,
Input / output is performed with each device 4.

On the other hand, similarly, in the graphic utility, the disk driver 6 inputs image data from the magnetic disk 8 according to a command from the graphic utility 5, and the data is converted into a form suitable for the device 9 supported by each device driver 7. Then, input / output is performed with each device 9.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, various devices of a data processing device, particularly devices related to graphics such as digitizers, plotters, graphic displays, etc., show a rapidly progressing body, and the types thereof are becoming very large. For this reason, the demand for additional support devices for graphic software is extremely high. However, in the conventional graphic software, when a new support device is added, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), 15,1
In order to add the device driver 12 that meets the specifications of the additional devices X and Y shown by 7 to 20,23, the existing graphic library 2 and the disk driver 6 which form the main body of the graphic software must be modified as shown by 10,11. In addition to requiring a lot of labor and adding a support device, if the main memory performance of the graphics software and the decrease in disk usage efficiency due to the modification are taken into consideration, there is a limit to the number of itself and the number. , There was a problem that the number of usable years of the software itself became short.

A more specific description will be given.

That is, in the conventional method, the difference in function between the device to be added and the device driver for the device has to be filled with the graphic library.

For example, the application program 1 needs a function of “drawing a rectangle and filling the inside thereof”, and the existing device A,
B, C and their device drivers realize the above functions by the following device driver functions, and the newly added device X and its device driver are devices that can only draw lines. Consider

In this case, in order to draw the same picture on the existing devices A, B, and C and the device X to be added, the graphic library performs an operation of “drawing a rectangle and filling the inside thereof” when outputting to the device X. There must be. That is,
It is necessary to add (modify) two functions to the graphic library: a device specifying function for specifying an output device and a "draw a rectangle to fill the inside" function. Furthermore, when adding a device Y that does not have the function of “drawing a rectangle and filling the inside” to the device driver or less, the “draw a rectangle and fill the inside” function is already added to the graphic library when the device X is added. Since it has been created, it is not necessary to modify the graphic library for this function, but the device specification function for specifying the device Y is necessary, and this function must be added (modified) to the graphic library. I won't.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and a support device can be added without modifying the existing software body, and main memory function, disk usage efficiency, etc. can be reduced. It is intended to provide a device support method for no software.

[Means for solving problems]

In the software device support method according to the present invention, a connection section for an additional device having a function of selecting a device driver in accordance with an input / output request from the software body is provided in advance in the software body, and this connection section is provided. The device driver that matches the specifications of the additional device is connected to the software main body via this.

[Action]

According to the present invention, by connecting the device driver which meets the specifications of the required additional device through the above-mentioned connecting portion for the additional device, the connecting portion responds to the input / output request from the software main body. The device driver for which the additional device is to be accessed is determined, and the target device is accessed. Therefore, since it is only necessary to add the necessary device driver, it is possible to add a support device without modifying the software body, and it is also prevented that the main memory function and the disk usage efficiency are deteriorated.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the device support system of the embodiment, and the same reference numerals as those in the conventional example of FIG. In FIG.
Reference numeral 13 is a window for an additional device corresponding to the connection part of the present application, and one device is selected from a plurality of connected device drivers in response to an input / output request from the software body including the application program 1 and the graphic library 2. It has the function of selecting the driver. Reference numerals 14 and 16 are dedicated device drivers that meet the specifications of the additional devices X and Y indicated by 15 and 17, respectively, and are connected to the software main body through the window 13.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2B, reference numeral 18 denotes a window for an additional device in the graphic utility, which has the same function as the window 13 described above. 19 is a dedicated graphic output program for the additional device X shown by 20,
Standard disk driver 6 and additional device X
And a device driver 21 created in accordance with the specifications of (1), and displays image data registered in the magnetic disk 8. Similarly, 22 is a dedicated graphic output program for the additional device Y indicated by 23, and comprises a standard disk driver 6 and a unique device driver 24. Reference numeral 25 is a table in which the names XX and YY of the dedicated graphic output programs 19 and 22 are registered, and referred to by the window 18.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the graphic library shown in FIG. 1 (a) is used, all input / output requests to the additional device X or Y shown at 15 and 17 are made via the window 13. This window
At 13, the input / output destination request from the application program 1 determines which device driver to access, and accesses the device driver 14 or 16 that matches the request destination,
Input / output is performed with the additional device X or Y.

Further, the operation will be specifically described in detail.

In other words, the function of selecting one device driver according to the input / output request from the software body, which is the function of the window 13, is, in other words, the device designation function (input / output destination request) from the application program 1. Based on the above, the function "specify output to one device" is specifically performed as follows.

(1) Output to device A Output device specification function (device A) .... Output device specification (2) Output to device B Output device specification function (device B) ... Only the argument is different from the output device specification of (1) above. Similarly, for the output to the added devices X and Y, the arguments of the "output device specification function" are (device X),
(Device Y) is sufficient.

Therefore, the output as described above is recognized by the window 13, the device driver is selected, and the output is performed to the device.

It should be noted that the drawing part in the outputs (1) and (2) of the above devices A and B assumes that the device to be added and its device driver have a "line drawing" function. is doing.

Therefore, in the present application, since the window 13 recognizes the device designating function (that is, the input / output destination request) from the application program 1 as described above, the device designating function is added (modified) to the graphic library as in the conventional method. You don't have to.

On the other hand, in the graphic utility shown in FIG. 7B, all output requests to the additional device X or Y indicated by 20 and 23 are made via the window 18. At the window 18, the dedicated graphic output program 19 or 22 is started as a child process of the graphic utility 5 by referring to the table 25 by specifying the output destination input as a command to the graphic utility 5. The program name activated here is registered in the table 25 in advance and becomes a search target. Then, the image data registered in the magnetic disk 8 is read by the standard disk driver 6 forming the started dedicated graphic output program 19 or 22, and the image data is read by the device driver 21 or 24 specific to the additional device X or Y. Is displayed.

In the above embodiment, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to graphic software has been shown, but any software that supports a device through a device driver (spooler, device driver in operating system called UNIX, etc.) ) Is applicable.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a connection section for an additional device having a function of selecting a device driver according to an input / output request from the software body is provided in advance in the software body, and this connection section is provided. Since the device driver that matches the specifications of the additional device is connected to the software body via this, it is possible to easily add any device to the software without modifying the software body, and support from the user for the software It is possible to flexibly respond to requests for device additions and changes.

In addition, since it is only necessary to add the required device driver, there is no restriction on the additional supported device due to a decrease in main memory performance, disk usage efficiency, etc., and it is effective in extending the usable life of the software (software life). is there.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional method, and FIG. 3 is a case where a support device is added by the conventional method. It is a block diagram. 1 is an application program, 2 is a graphic library, 5
Is a graphic utility, 6 is a disk driver, 1,2,5,6 are software main bodies, 3,7 are device drivers, 4 and 9 are devices (peripheral devices), 8 is a magnetic disk, and 13 and 18 are additional support devices. Window (connector), 14, 16, 21, 24 are device drivers for additional support devices, 15, 17, 20, 23 are additional support devices, 19,
22 is a dedicated graphic output program, and 25 is a table. The same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In order to enable access to various peripheral devices connected to a data processing device from a software main body which requires input / output processing, the specifications of the peripheral device are met between the software main body and various peripheral devices. , In the device support method of software in which a device driver corresponding to this one-to-one is interposed, the software main body has a function of selecting a device driver in advance in accordance with an input / output request from the software main body. A device support method for software, characterized in that a connection unit for peripheral devices is provided, and a device driver that meets the specifications of the additional peripheral device is connected to the software body through this connection unit.