JPH0644110A - Installing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize exact installation whose operation is easy for a computer having any CPU architecture. CONSTITUTION:In an installing method by which arbitrary software is installed in the computer form a single installation medium (magnetic cartridge, for example) where software corresponding to plural CPU architectures, position information 34 consisting of the name of the CPU architecture which software to be installed operates and the storage position of software operated by the CPU architecture is previously stored in the installation medium, and software fitted to the CPU architecture of the computer for installing is obtained based on the position information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for installing software from a single medium storing software corresponding to a plurality of CPU architectures or a plurality of software versions.

Even in a relatively small computer such as a personal computer or a workstation these days, a software installation medium is a floppy disk (for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62- No. 202233),
The use of magnetic tape is shifting to 8 mm tapes and CD-ROMs that can store large amounts of data. On the other hand, in workstations, by integrating operating systems of different manufacturers, software source compatibility can be maintained even if CPU architectures differ, and object compatibility can be maintained if the CPU architectures are the same. Is becoming. Therefore, in a situation where it is relatively easy to individually associate the same software with multiple CPUs, it is costly to store the software corresponding to each of the multiple architectures individually in a single installation medium. It is also necessary from.

[0003]

However, when creating this installation medium, only the manufacturer of the installation medium can know which CPU architecture software is stored in which position of the medium. Know what the CPU architecture you are installing and follow the procedure
It was necessary to indicate the location of the data for the architecture. This has a drawback that the operation becomes complicated for a user who is unfamiliar with the handling of the computer, and an incorrect installation is performed. This causes the same problem when installing different versions of software for computers with the same CPU architecture.

In order to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention installs the CPU of the computer installed on the end user for a computer having any compatible CPU architecture or software version.
The object is to realize an easy installation and accurate installation without being aware of the architecture or the OS version.

[0005]

The installation method of the present invention is an installation method for installing arbitrary software into a computer from a single installation medium (for example, a magnetic cartridge) storing software corresponding to each of a plurality of CPU architectures. In, the location information (34) including the name (40) of the CPU architecture on which the software to be installed operates and the storage location (41) of the software operating on the CPU architecture is stored in advance in the installation medium, and the location information (34) is stored in the installation medium. It is characterized in that the software (35, 36, 37) corresponding to the CPU architecture of the computer to be installed is acquired based on the stored position information and installed.

Another aspect of the installation method of the present invention is, in an installation method of installing an arbitrary version of software from a single installation medium storing software corresponding to each of a plurality of versions, the version to be installed. Information (94) including the name (101) of the software and the storage location (102) on the medium of the software operating with that version
Is stored in advance in an installation medium, software (95, 96) corresponding to the version of the software of the computer to be installed is acquired based on the position information stored in the installation medium, and the installation is performed. .

[0007]

The software corresponding to a plurality of CPU architectures is stored on the installation medium, and the position information on the installation medium where the software is stored is also stored at a predetermined position on the installation medium. The position information is configured as, for example, a table in which the name of the CPU architecture of the installation target computer and the storage position of the corresponding software are associated with each other. obtain. Then, the predetermined data is acquired from the storage location and the installation is performed. According to the present invention, since the installation medium has the information on the storage location comparing the corresponding architecture and the storage location on the medium, the user should be aware of the device information of the computer necessary for the installation. Without, you can install exactly the software you need.

In another aspect of the present invention, software corresponding to a plurality of versions is stored on the installation medium, and position information on the installation medium where the software is stored is also stored on the installation medium. Stored in place. Its location information is
For example, it is configured as a table in which the name of the version of software to be installed is associated with the storage location of the corresponding software, and the table is indexed by the version of the installation target to obtain information on the storage location. Then, the predetermined data is acquired from the storage location and the installation is performed. According to the present invention, since the installation medium has the information on the storage location in which the corresponding version is compared with the storage location on the medium, the user does not have to be aware of the version of the software required for installation. , Can install exactly the required software.

[0009]

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration for executing the installation method of the present invention. This is the central processing unit 2
1, a memory (main storage device) 22, a medium drive 23 for reading and writing an installation medium, an auxiliary storage device 24 for holding data and an installation program, and a keyboard operated by a user and a display 25 for displaying results. There is. The auxiliary storage device 24 includes not only a hard disk directly connected to the computer but also an auxiliary storage device accessed via a network provided by the operating system. Further, the installation medium holds information (hereinafter referred to as position information) corresponding to each CPU architecture and the position on the medium corresponding to the CPU on the medium.

FIG. 1 shows the software means required to execute the installation method under the configuration of FIG.
An operating system 11 for controlling the entire system and each software of FIG. 2, a CPU architecture acquisition means 12 for acquiring the CPU architecture of a computer before being installed, and a data file acquisition means 1 for acquiring data from a specified position of an installation medium.
3, CPU architecture comparison means 14 for comparing the acquired CPU architecture with the CPU architecture obtained from the position information, data position acquisition means 15 for acquiring the position corresponding to the CPU architecture, and instructing the acquired position to the medium. The position indicating means 16 is provided. It should be noted that the installation medium and the operating system 11 that controls the installation medium must be able to store data in a plurality of files at positions designated by a user or a program, and must provide means for acquiring data from the designated positions. . An example for carrying out the method of the present invention using the configuration described above will be described below.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure on a magnetic tape represented by a cartridge tape in this embodiment. In the figure, 31 is the reading start position of the cartridge tape, 32 is the end of file mark (hereinafter referred to as EOF mark) on the tape,
33 is an installation program for installing software, 34 is software storage location information data, 3
5 is a software data group for CPU-1, 36 is a software data group for CPU-2, and 37 is a CP
It indicates that the software data group corresponding to U-n continues.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the data structure of the position information 34. 40 is a character string indicating the type of CPU, 41 is EO up to the position where the software for that CPU is stored
The number of F is shown. 5 and 6 are flow charts showing steps in installing software from the magnetic tape having the configuration shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The installation process will be described below in order with reference to FIGS.

In this example, a magnetic tape is used as an installation medium and a hard disk is used as an auxiliary storage device. As shown in FIG. 3, since the installation program 33 exists on the installation medium, S
At step 1, the tape is set in the medium drive 23. S
At step 2, the installation program 33 is taken out onto the auxiliary storage device 24 by using the data file acquisition means 13, and is executed as at step 3.

The subsequent installation script processing will be described with reference to the processing flow chart of FIG. At Step 4, preprocessing specific to the installation program is performed to check the adaptability of the installation conditions. Then CP at Step 5
A character string of the CPU architecture is acquired by using the U architecture acquisition means 12 and stored in the variable arch. S
At step 6, the position information is stored as a position information file on the auxiliary storage device (disk) by using the data file acquisition means 13. The position information is stored as a table having the data structure shown in FIG. 4 as described above. S
In step 7, preparations necessary for analyzing the acquired position information are performed. At Step 8, the CPU architecture comparing unit 14 is used to determine whether or not the acquired entry of the variable arch exists in the position information file. If not, an error message is displayed at Step 14. If so, in step 9, the position on the magnetic tape is acquired using the data position acquisition means 15 and stored in the variable count. At Step 10, the magnetic tape is rewound by using the position indicating means 16, and at Step 11, the tape reading position is skipped by the EOF count. Step
At 12, the desired software that matches the architecture of the CPU is stored in the disk using the data file acquisition means 13. At Step 13, post-processing such as an end message is performed, and the process ends.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment, a CD-ROM is used as an installation medium.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a simplified structure of data in which position information is added to a CD-ROM. In the figure, 72 is C
D-ROM read start position, 73 is position information block position, 74 is block position of software data group for each CPU, 75 is CD-ROM software information (S / W) and hardware information (H / W) ), 76 is software storage position information data, 77 is a software data group for CPU-1, and 78 is a software data group for CPU-2. FIG. 8 shows an example of the data structure of the position information. Reference numeral 81 is a character string indicating the type of CPU, and 82 is the number of blocks from the beginning up to the position where the software for the CPU is stored.

The processing flow of this embodiment is in the form of position information in which the software storage position is obtained by counting the number of blocks instead of counting the EOF due to the difference in the installation medium from the first embodiment. The processing is basically the same, with only the differences.

(Third Embodiment) In the first and second embodiments, the present invention is applied to a plurality of CPU architectures. However, a certain business application has an operating system or window system version. The installation method of the present invention can also be applied when it is necessary to change the contents for each and provide it to the market. FIG. 9 shows an embodiment in that case, in which the one corresponding to the CPU architecture in FIG. 3 is changed to a certain operating system version. In the figure, reference numeral 91 is a reading head position of the cartridge tape, 92 is an end of file mark (EOF) on the tape, 93 is an installation program for installing software, 94 is software storage position information data in the present invention, and 95 is OS version 1. Software data group for 0, 96 for OS
The software data group for version 2.0 is shown. FIG. 10 shows an example of the data structure of position information. 1
01 indicates a character string indicating the type of OS version, and 102 indicates the number of EOFs from the beginning up to the position where the software of the OS version is stored. FIG. 11 shows a flow of the installation process, which is almost the same as the process of FIG. 6 except that the software to be installed is selected for each OS version.

[0018]

According to the present invention, a plurality of pieces of data are stored together with position information on a single medium in correspondence with the operating environment of software for executing the same work. Even if multiple pieces of similar software exist on the installation medium, the user can install the required software accurately without being aware of the device information of the computer to be installed or the version of the environmental software. Becomes

Even when a software corresponding to a new CPU or another version of OS is to be newly added to the installation medium, if the data size of the position information is predetermined, the position information can be updated accurately. Since it is only necessary to add the necessary software group at a predetermined position, it is not necessary to create a new medium and the stock installation medium can be used as it is, resulting in cost reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration (software means) for implementing an installation method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of a device configuration for executing the software means.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure on a magnetic tape according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of position information according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of software installation processing according to the first embodiment.

6 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of processing of an installation script in the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure on a CD-ROM in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of position information according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a data structure on a magnetic tape according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of position information according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of an install script in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Operating system, 12 ... CPU architecture acquisition means, 13 ... Data file acquisition means, 1
4 ... CPU architecture comparison means, 15 ... Data position acquisition means, 16 ... Position instruction means, 17 ... Installation program, 21 ... CPU (central processing unit), 22 ... Memory (main storage device), 23 ... Medium drive, 24 ... Auxiliary storage device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In an installation method for installing arbitrary software into a computer from a single installation medium that stores software corresponding to each of a plurality of CPU architectures, the name of the CPU architecture on which the software to be installed operates and its C
Position information including the storage position of the software operating on the PU architecture on the medium is stored in advance in the installation medium, and the software corresponding to the CPU architecture of the computer to be installed is installed based on the position information stored in the installation medium. An installation method characterized by acquiring and installing. 2. In an installation method for installing software of an arbitrary version from a single medium storing software corresponding to each of a plurality of versions, a name of a version to be installed and a medium of software operating with the version are installed. Position information including a storage position is stored in advance in an installation medium, and software corresponding to the version of the software of the computer to be installed is acquired and installed based on the position information stored in the installation medium. And how to install.