JPH079638B2 - Communication method between host computer and terminal device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication system between a host computer and a terminal device.

[Prior Art] In a conventional communication method between a host computer and a terminal device, a method of identifying the terminal device, the image device, and the printing device, a communication control procedure, and contents of text are defined. FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the contents of the text handled by the image device.
Is the text sent from the host computer, the command defines the operation of the terminal device, and the data is the display data but also includes the control code for the display. (50) is the text sent from the terminal device, which is AID (Attention IDentific
ation) indicates which transmission key was input, and the data includes input data and a control code.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional terminal device does not consider communication between application programs, and it is impossible to communicate with the application program of the host computer while operating the image device and the printing device. is there.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the communication between the conventional host computer and the image device and the printing device of the terminal device is possible, and the terminal device, the image device, and the printing device are available. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication method that enables communication between application programs of a host computer and a terminal device without changing the identification method and the communication control procedure.

[Means for Solving Problems] In the communication method between the host computer and the terminal device according to the present invention, the transmission text contents of the host computer and the terminal device are newly determined so that it can be recognized that the communication is between application programs. Further, the terminal operation program unit of the terminal device, a communication control unit for outputting a processing request according to the received content, and an inter-application program communication control unit for controlling the inter-application program communication based on the processing request from the communication control unit. By using the queue of the multi-task operating system, the terminal operation program and the library that can be called from the application program communicate with each other, thereby enabling the communication between the application programs in the terminal device.

[Operation] The communication system between the host computer and the terminal device according to the present invention is such that the function of the conventional terminal device is added to the communication function between application programs, so that the host computer can be operated while the conventional image device and printing device are operated. The user can make arbitrary communication between the terminal and the terminal device.

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

FIG. 1 shows a transmission text for application program communication from the host computer, which is different from the conventional text in the following points. (1) is a command part, which is provided with an extension command and used. (2) is the length part,
By providing the length part, binary data can be used for the data. (3) is an ID (Identification) unit that receives an ID for communication between application programs. The text can be used for various purposes by changing the ID. (4) is a data section, which is optional.

FIG. 2 shows a transmission text for application program communication from a terminal device, which is different from the conventional text in the following points. (5) is AID (Attention IDentiification)
It is a part and is provided with an AID for expansion. (6) is a length part, and by providing the length part, binary data can be used for the data. (7) is an ID section, which is provided with an ID for communication between application programs. The text can be used for various purposes by changing the ID. (8) is a data part, and the data is arbitrary.

3 (a) and 3 (b) are queues generated and used on a multitasking operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS). Reference numeral (20a) is a return queue, which stores information notified from the terminal operation program to the application program communication library. The information includes the status and the address of the data application program communication buffer. Reference numeral (20b) is a request queue, in which information notified from the application program communication library to the terminal operation program is stored, and the information is a transmission request.

Further, FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram at the time of reception of communication between application programs, (10) is a terminal operation program, (20) is a queue section, and (30) is a terminal application program section. The text from the host computer is accumulated in the reception buffer (10b) by the reception processing unit (10a). After the reception is completed, the communication control unit (10c) displays the reception buffer (1
The content of 0b) is that the command part is an extended command and the ID is the buffer for application program communication (10d).
To the application program communication controller (10
Make a processing request to e). Further, the communication control unit (10c) sends a processing request to the image device control unit (10f) when the content of the reception buffer (10b) is for an image device and a processing request to the printing device control unit (10g) when it is for a printing device. To do.

Then, the inter-application program communication control unit (10e), which has received the processing request from the communication control unit (10c),
Write the reception completion status, data length, and address of the inter-application communication buffer in the return queue (20a). The terminal application program (30b) is a library for communication between application programs (30c)
Request to receive. Library for application program communication (30a) reads the return queue (20a),
If the status is reception completion, the contents of the inter-application program communication buffer (10d) are copied to the application program reception buffer (30a) and the reception completion is notified to the terminal application program.

Further, FIG. 5 shows the operation during transmission between application programs. Here, the terminal application program (30b) sets transmission data in the application program transmission buffer (30d) and makes a transmission request to the application program communication library (30c). The application program communication library (30c) writes the transmission request 1 in the request queue (20a). Then, if the transmission is possible, the application program communication control unit (10e) writes the transmittable and application program communication buffer address in the status of the return queue (20a).

Then, the application inter-program communication library (30c) copies the contents of the application program transmission buffer (30d) to the inter-application program communication buffer (10d) when the read queue (20a) is read and the status is transmittable, and the request is sent. Queue (20
Write request 2 to b). The application program communication control unit (10e) requests the communication control unit (10c) to send the application program communication buffer (10d), writes the transmission completion in the status of the return queue (20a), and writes the application program communication library. (30c) notifies the terminal application program of the status of transmission completion. The inter-application program communication control section (10e) copies the inter-application program communication buffer (10d) to the transmission buffer (10h) and requests the transmission processing section (10i) for transmission. The transmission processing unit (10i) transmits the contents of the transmission buffer (10h) to the host computer.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to the functions of the conventional terminal device, any communication by the user between the host computer and the terminal device can be performed while the image device and the printing device are operating. Since the communication function between application programs has been added, in addition to the communication function of the conventional terminal device, the communication control procedure between the host computer and the terminal device and the identification method can be changed without changing the communication method between the host computer and the terminal device. There is an effect that it is possible to execute communication having a high degree of freedom, that is, communication between application programs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are explanatory diagrams for explaining an application program communication text transmitted by a host computer and an application program communication text transmitted by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. ),
(B) is a configuration diagram of a queue generated on a multitasking OS of a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a case where a text for application program communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is received by the terminal device side. FIG. 5 is an operation diagram when the text for application program communication according to an embodiment of the present invention is transmitted on the terminal device side, and FIG. 6 is a text explanatory diagram for a conventional image device. (10) is a terminal operation program section (20) is a queue section (30) is a terminal application program section (10e) is an inter-application program communication control section (20a) is a return queue (20b) is a request queue (30c) is an application program Library for intercommunication Note that the same reference numerals in the drawings indicate the same or corresponding portions.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a communication method between a host computer and a terminal device on which a multitasking operating system operates, transmission text contents of the host computer and the terminal device are newly defined so as to be recognized as communication between application programs, and a terminal is also provided. The terminal operation program unit of the device includes a communication control unit that outputs a processing request according to the received content, and an inter-application program communication control unit that controls the inter-application program communication based on the processing request from the communication control unit, Between the host computer and the terminal device that enables inter-application program communication at the terminal device by using the queue of the multitasking operating system and the library that can be called from the terminal operation program and the application program to communicate. Shin method.