JPH1027090A - Method and device for data filing of installer uninstaller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily generate an installer uninstaller for software by describing information on files to be installed or uninstalled, update data of system files that an operating system administers, etc., in a data file. SOLUTION: For installation from an installation medium 3 to a disk 2 at an installation destination which is connected to a computer 1, the installer uninstaller 4 included on the installation medium 33 is started and then the contents of the data file 5 included on the installation medium 3 are read in to make a user to input user information, choices of installation contents, a storage location of the installation destination, etc., according to the description contents of the data file 5. According to the input information from the user, a copy to the disk 2 of the installation destination included on the installation medium 3 is taken and the contents of the system information file of the computer 1 are altered.

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 or uninstalling software, and more particularly to a data file method for an installer / uninstaller for greatly reducing the time required for creating an installer / uninstaller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, every time software is newly created, it is necessary to create an installer / uninstaller dedicated to the software. One of the prior arts for partially solving this problem is disclosed in JP-A-6-598.
There is a method described in JP-A-66. This prior art,
A built-in interpreter for interpreting and executing a script language indicating a software installation procedure is provided in a ROM, and a common script language and a common operation procedure are provided for each operating system. Is to make it easier.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional system. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 401 denotes a keyboard device (K).
B), 402 is a medium (FD), 403 is a control program (CTL), 404 is a program extraction processing mechanism (LO
A), 405 is an interpreter processing mechanism (IP), 406
Is a program storage mechanism (SAV), and 407 is a storage device (EME).

[0004]

However, the above conventional example has the following problems to be solved.

[0005] The first problem is that in the prior art,
There is a burden that the creator of the installer / uninstaller must learn the grammar of the script language.

[0006] The reason is that, in general, when comparing the load of the creator in the description of data and the description of the language, the load of the creator is larger in the description of the language.

The second problem is that the conventional method requires dedicated hardware (ROM) not only for software but also for software installation, which is problematic in terms of cost.

The reason is that in the conventional method, an interpreter for interpreting and executing a script language is built in the ROM.

[0009] A third problem is that no solution is specified for software uninstallation.

[0010] The reason is that in the recent world of personal computers, in particular, manual uninstallation of software requires specialized knowledge. Therefore, when software is upgraded or deleted, the user of the software is required to uninstall the software. This is because the burden is large.

[Purpose of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to update information relating to files constituting software to be installed / uninstalled and system files managed by an operating system required for the software to operate. By interpreting the contents described in the data file in which the data is described at the time of execution and installing or uninstalling the software, it is possible to easily and quickly create a software installer / uninstaller. An object of the present invention is to provide an uninstaller data file method.

[0012]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] Information (file name, storage location, size, etc.) of a file to be installed or uninstalled in a data file, and a system file managed by an operating system required for software operation Describe the update data etc.

This eliminates the need to use a complicated script language.

Further, when the installation or uninstallation is executed, the software providing medium (FD, CD-
By starting an installer or uninstaller stored in a ROM, MO, or the like, the above data file is read into the memory, and installation or uninstallation is performed based on information of a file specified in the data file. .

Therefore, no extra hardware such as a ROM for storing the interpreter is required.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the installer and the uninstaller read the data file when the software is installed or uninstalled, and perform the installation or uninstallation based on the information of the file specified in the data file.

Therefore, once an installer and an uninstaller are created, it is not necessary to create an installer or uninstaller for the software every time new software is created thereafter, but only to create a new data file. .

Therefore, when new software is created, an installer or an uninstaller for installing or uninstalling the software can be easily and quickly created.
There is a problem that software installers / uninstallers have to modify programs corresponding to each software.

The contents described in the data file are interpreted at the time of execution to perform installation or uninstallation.

In the present invention, in FIG. 1, the installation destination disk 2 connected to the computer 1
When installing from the installation medium 3,
It works as follows.

When the installer / uninstaller 4 included in the installation medium 33 is started, the contents of the data file 5 included in the installation medium 3 are read,
The user is prompted to enter user information (user name, company name, etc.), installation contents selection, installation destination storage location, etc., according to the description contents of the data file. In accordance with the input information from the user, the file 6 to be installed included in the installation medium 3 is copied to the installation destination disk 2 or the contents of the system information file of the computer 1 are changed.

By adopting the above-mentioned method utilizing the present invention, it is not necessary to modify the program of the installer / uninstaller for each software, and it is sufficient to simply change the description contents of the data file.

[0023]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the data file system of the installer / uninstaller according to the present embodiment is used to temporarily store a disk 101 on which software is installed and files required for installation or uninstallation. Temporary disk 102
And an input device 103 for receiving an instruction from a user who actually installs or uninstalls the software, a CPU 104, and stores the contents of the data file and the instruction content from the user who actually installs or uninstalls the software. 105 used for performing the installation and the installation medium 1 storing various files necessary for installation / uninstallation
06, an installer / uninstaller 107 which is a program module for performing installation / uninstallation, a data file 108 storing information required for installation / uninstallation, an installation target file 109, and an operation explanation of the installer / uninstaller And a help file 110 in which data for performing the above is stored.

The temporary disk 102 is used to store files necessary only at the time of installation or uninstallation, and these files are deleted at the end of installation or uninstallation. In the present embodiment, the help file 110 is stored on the temporary disk 102. Temporary disk 1
02 is mainly used when files used for installation or uninstallation are divided and stored on a plurality of media, and even if the medium is exchanged during installation or uninstallation, the files stored on the medium before the exchange are replaced. Used when access is required.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of installing the software of this embodiment. Input device 1
03 receives an instruction to start the installer / uninstaller 107 from the installation medium 10
After the installer / uninstaller 107 is read from the memory 6 into the memory 105, it is activated (step 201).

The started installer / uninstaller 107 is transferred from the installation medium 106 to the memory 105.
The data file 108 is read (step 20).
2). It is determined based on the description contents of the data file whether or not there is anything to be copied from the installation medium 106 to the temporary disk 102 in advance (step 20).
3). In this example, since the help file 110 corresponds to this, the help file 110 is
6 to the temporary disk 102 (step 204).

Further, in accordance with the contents of the data file 108 read into the memory 105, the user interacts with the user as necessary, and prompts the user to input information necessary for installation (such as a disk to be installed) (step 20).
5,206). The management information of the system is updated as necessary from the contents of the data file 108 and the information obtained by the dialogue with the user (steps 207 and 208).

Finally, from the contents of the data file 108 and the information obtained through the interaction with the user, only the files that are determined to be required to be installed among the files 109 to be installed are copied from the installation medium 106 to the installation destination disk 101. (Step 20
9). Finally, the file (help file 110) copied to the temporary disk 102 is deleted (step 210).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of uninstalling the software of the present embodiment. When receiving an instruction to start the installer / uninstaller 107 from the input device 103, the CPU 104 reads the installer / uninstaller 107 from the installation medium 106 into the memory 105 and starts the operation (step 30).
1).

The started installer / uninstaller 107 is transferred from the installation medium 106 to the memory 105.
The data file 108 is read (step 30).
2). From the contents described in the data file 108, the temporary disk 102
It is determined whether or not there is something to be copied (step 303). In this example, since the help file 110 corresponds to this, the help file 110 is copied from the installation medium 106 to the temporary disk 102 (step 304).

Further, in accordance with the contents of the data file 108 read into the memory 105, the user interacts with the user as necessary to prompt the user to input information necessary for uninstallation (information on a file to be deleted, etc.). (Steps 305, 306). The management information of the system is updated as necessary from the contents of the data file 108 and the information obtained by the interaction with the user (step 30).
7, 308).

Finally, from the contents of the data file 108 and the information obtained by the dialogue with the user, the file to be installed 109 among the files to be installed on the disk 101 to be installed and the files generated by the installed software Only the file to be deleted is deleted (step 309). Finally, the file (help file 110) copied to the temporary disk 102 is deleted (step 310).

[0037]

The first effect is that the installer of the present invention is used.
The data file method of the uninstaller has an effect that a software installer can be easily created in a short time.

The reason is that once an installer is created, when new software is created thereafter, data necessary for installing the created software is simply described in a data file, and the installer is completed. That's why.

A second effect is that the data file system of the installer / uninstaller of the present invention has an effect that a software uninstaller can be easily created in a short time.

The reason is that once the uninstaller is created, when new software is created thereafter, the data file only needs to describe the data necessary for installing the created software, and the uninstaller is completed. Because it becomes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an embodiment (software installation) of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of another embodiment (software uninstallation) of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Installation destination disk 102 Temporary disk 103 Input device 104 CPU 105 Memory 106 Installation medium 107 Installer / Uninstaller 108 Data file 109 Installed file 110 Help file 401 Keyboard device (KB) 402 Medium (FD) 403 Control program (CTL) 404) Program extraction processing mechanism (LOA) 405 Interpreter processing mechanism (IP) 406 Program storage mechanism (SAV) 407 Storage device (EME)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An installer which interprets contents described in a data file at the time of execution and installs and / or uninstalls software.
Uninstaller data file method. 2. An installer / uninstaller, which is a program module for installing / uninstalling software when installing / uninstalling software, and information necessary for the installation / uninstallation. A data file, an installation target file, and a help file in which data for explaining the operation of the installer / uninstaller are stored. 2. The installer / uninstaller data file according to claim 1, wherein the installation / uninstallation is performed without changing the installer / uninstaller based on information obtained by the dialogue of the installer. Law. 3. An installer which interprets contents described in a data file at the time of execution and installs and / or uninstalls software.
Uninstaller data file device. 4. A computer device for installing / uninstalling software, which stores an installer / uninstaller which is a program module for installing / uninstalling software, and information necessary for the installation / uninstallation. The help file that stores the data file, the installation target file, and the data for explaining the operation of the installer / uninstaller
At least the installed installation medium, temporary storage means for temporarily storing files required for the installation / uninstallation, an input device for receiving an instruction through dialogue with a user, and the contents of the data file and A memory for storing instruction content from the user; and automatically activating the installer / uninstaller based on the data in the data file and the instruction content from the user. 4. The data file device for an installer / uninstaller according to claim 3, wherein: