JPH01280831A - Assisting method for standardization of intra-program data name - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of a software maintenance job by defining only high-order standard data serving as high-order data converting destination of the high-order one of substitute object data if detected among plural standard data as the standard data name and/or designating the standard data name of the converting destination via a user. CONSTITUTION:A standard file/record information input part 1 inputs previously information storing the standard data structure of each file and the standard name and attribute of each data contained in said data structure, etc., and stores these information in a standard file/record information storing part 20. A means is added for an operator to decide the standard data of his/her own designation as a candidate of the standard data in case plural candidates are available as the standard data having its position, length and attribute coincident with the object data. Then another means is added to define only the standard data having the same position and the same number of digits as the object data as a candidate of the converting destination data among the low-order rank data belonging to the standard one of the high-order data of the converting destination as long as this standard can be decided in terms of the data structure. Thus at least one of said two additional means is used so that the efficiency is improved for a software maintenance job.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to improving software productivity.

In particular, the present invention relates to a method for supporting the standardization of data names within a program, which is suitable for increasing the efficiency of software maintenance work.

[Conventional technology]

Software, particularly office processing software, is comprised of a large number of programs that receive and pass data from file to file or from file to printer, etc. Further, each file is generally referenced and updated by a plurality of programs.

The main content of such software is to pass data in an input file to an output file, printer, or the like.

For this reason, it is especially important to understand the meaning of data in the work of understanding the meaning of a program, which is necessary when maintaining a program. Also, in maintenance work,
When changing attributes such as the number of digits or type of data contained in a file, it is necessary to modify multiple programs that use the same data, so find out which program uses the data to be changed. Work is also important.

If data in a file is named differently by the programs that use it, the people who maintain those programs.

It is difficult to understand the meaning of data, and it is also difficult to find out which program uses a piece of data. The above explanation assumes that the program content is understood only manually, but what if there was a support tool that could analyze multiple programs and find out, for each data name, the program that uses that data name? However, if each program uses a piece of data under a different name, it is difficult to find all the programs that use that data using a tool.

One way to solve this problem is to define a standard name for each piece of data included in the target file, and replace the name of the data in each program that uses that file with the school name. That's true.

Conventionally, one method to support this work is to use information (hereinafter referred to as standard file record information) that specifies attributes such as the data structure of the constituent data and the standard name and length of each data for files whose data names should be standardized. For each program that uses this file, the definition part of the file in the program (including the data structure of each data, data name, attributes such as length), and the standard file record. There is a method of comparing information, creating a name correspondence table of data in the file, and replacing the name of the data of the file used in the program with a standard name based on this table. This method is described, for example, on page 176 of "RBIT" September 1982 Special Issue - "Software Evaluation Techniques - Inspection, Certification, Maintenance, Cost Estimation".

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the corresponding data to which the name of each data in the original program is converted is determined when the relative positions of the original data from the beginning of the record are the same (or the length and attributes of the data are (equivalent) data within the corresponding standard file record information.

However, in the standard 7pj file record information, if the same field of one file record is defined as multiple pieces of data with different names (i.e., redefined), the data name with the original program In general, it cannot be determined in a certain way what data name to replace. For example, when replacing data using a method such as using the first replacement data name found.

There are cases where data names are replaced with data names that are physically correct but have different meanings, and therefore, even if the converted program is correct and can be executed properly, the program becomes difficult to understand and difficult to maintain. .

An object of the present invention is to support efficient conversion of a data name in a program to an intended standard name when there are multiple standard data name candidates to be replaced.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to create a correspondence table that determines the standard name of the conversion destination for each data in the file to be converted in the program to be converted. In addition to means for finding standard data that matches the length and attributes of 2
) - If there are multiple matching standard data candidates, obtain the data above the data in the data structure of the file record to be changed in the original program, and find the standard data to which that data has been converted. This is achieved by using at least one of the following two methods: , a means for determining the conversion destination standard data from among standard data belonging to a lower level in the data structure of the standard data.

[Effect]

If there are multiple candidates for standard data to be converted, the position and data length of the data in the relative record will be the same in the standard file record to be replaced.
In general, conversion to the intended standard data name is made possible by the first means, that is, the means by which the operator selects and specifies the standard data name to be converted from among a plurality of standard data candidates.

In addition, if there are multiple conversion destination standard data candidates for data located at a higher level in the data structure of the file/record to be converted, the conversion destination standard data candidates for each lower level data subordinate to the higher level data will be different. In many cases, a plurality of conversion destination standard names occur, and in this case, the method of specifying the conversion destination standard name one by one using the first method requires a large amount of work. However, if the standard data to which the higher-order data is converted can be determined in terms of data structure, the second method is used to create a standard that matches the position and number of digits of data in the lower-order data that belongs to the standard data to which the higher-order data is converted. Since it is sufficient to select only the data as conversion destination data candidates, the possibility that multiple conversion destination data candidates will occur is reduced.

Therefore, by using only the first means, it is possible to reduce the number of specified operations for conversion destination data, and it is possible to efficiently convert data names in the target program.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram representation of a data processing device that implements a first embodiment of the present invention. Second
The figure is a diagram showing the hardware environment of this embodiment. 1st
1- in the diagram shows the standard data structure of each file in advance,
Information (standard file/record information) storing standard names, attributes, etc. of each data therein is inputted from an input device and stored in the standard file/record information storage section 20.

FIG. 3 shows an example of standard file/record information stored in the standard file/record information storage section 20 expressed in a table format. The information shown in FIG. 3 shows the following contents. In other words, the file name of this file is rDENPYO-F
ILE J, and its file records are composed of data with standard data names such as "slip data" and "slip number j." The level indicates the structure of the data, and data at level 0 corresponds to data at level 02. 02 level data includes 03 level data.In this example, the "slip number" data is "slip number" and "sales details."

It is composed of "deposit details" data, and "sales details" data includes "sales quantity", "sales unit", and "sales amount". "R" in the redefinition column indicates that the data has the same physical location as the previous data at the same level. In this example, the "deposit content data" is redefined as the same 02 level "sales content" data. That is, they are physically the same and are located in the same position 14 in the record. The "relative position" is the relative position t4 of each data from the beginning of the record in bytes. "Length" is the length of each data in bytes. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the two pieces of data "sales details" and "deposit details" have the same relative position and length. Furthermore, data subordinate to each (for example, "sales price" and "deposit quantity") have the same position and length. The attribute column indicates the type of each data (such as a two-character numerical value) and the number of digits. For example, "9" in 9 (6) of "slip number" data indicates that it is a numerical item, and "6" indicates that there are six digits.

The existing source program storage unit 2 shown in FIG. 1 stores source programs whose data names are to be converted. C0B stored in the existing source program storage section 2
An example of an OL source program is shown in FIG.

The file/record information extraction unit 3 in FIG. 1 inputs the source program in the source program storage unit 2, and
Extracts the definition information of records written in each file, calculates the relative position and length of each data included, creates existing file record information, and stores it in the existing file record information storage section 4. do.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which existing file record specification information created from the file record definition information in the portion indicated by 11 in the source program in FIG. 4 is expressed in a table format similar to that in FIG. 3. "file name".

The contents of the "Redefinition", "Relative Position", "Length", and "Attribute" columns are the same as in FIG. 3. "Data name" indicates a conventional, non-standardized data name written in an existing program.

Reference numeral 5 in FIG.
Found in the record information storage unit 20, and based on that information, from among the standard file record information, for each data included in the existing file record information,
The standard data name to be converted is found and registered in the data correspondence table in the data correspondence table storage section 6 along with the existing data name.

In this embodiment, the conversion target standard data name is determined according to the following rules.

(1) Find standard data that matches the target existing data in position, length, and attributes.

If the corresponding standard data is the only one, use this name as the conversion destination data name.

(2) If multiple standard data that match the target existing data in position, length, and attributes are used, select one conversion destination standard data from among these multiple conversion destination standard data candidates using the following procedure. decide.

(a) Find existing data located one level above the existing data in the data structure of the data in the existing file record information.

(b) Find the conversion destination standard data for the higher-level existing data found in (a) (the conversion destination standard data for this higher-level existing data has already been determined).

(C) [In the data structure of data belonging to semi-file record information, (b)
Check to see if there is anything below the upper standard data found in . If it exists and is the only one, use this as the destination for converting the target existing data! :4 is determined as semi-data.

(3) If the conversion destination standard data cannot be determined in (2), the replacement destination standard data name candidates are displayed using the replacement destination data candidate display section 7. is displayed on a display device such as a display, and the user determines the replacement standard data from among these and inputs it using an input device such as a keyboard.

The replacement destination data designation unit 8 determines the replacement target 79 data based on the input specification information, and the data correspondence table creation unit 5 stores this standard data name together with the original data name in the data correspondence table storage unit 8. Register in the data correspondence table.

The existing file record information illustrated in FIG. 5 is associated with the standard file record information illustrated in FIG.
An example of creating a data correspondence table that defines standard data names to be converted to each existing data shown in the figure is shown below.

In this embodiment, the correspondence between the file record information in FIGS. 3 and 5 is such that the file names in each information are both r.
Determination is made based on the match between DENPYo and FILEJ.

Existing data rD-RECJ and rD-N shown in FIG.
Standard data with the same relative position, length, and attributes as “○” is the third
In the example in the figure, "slip data" and "slip number"
Since only existing data exists, these can be immediately registered in the data correspondence table as conversion destination standard data names along with existing data.

Next, there are two types of standard data in FIG. 3 that have the same position, length, and attributes as the existing data rD-CONTENTSJ in FIG. 5: "sales content" and "deposit content." Since the higher-level data of "sales details" and "deposit details" are both "slip data," either one is immediately determined as the replacement data for rD-CONTENTSJ according to the rules (2) and (b) mentioned above. Therefore, two conversion destination standard data names are displayed on the display device 5, and the user is asked to select one of them.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the display/selection screen. In this example, rD-C0NTENTS J is displayed as the conversion source data name (12), and “sales details” and “deposit details” are displayed as conversion destination data name candidates along with candidate numbers (1
3). In this example, the user takes note of this display, determines the conversion destination standard data name as "deposit details", and inputs its number "1". As a result, the "deposit details" will be changed to rD-CONTE.
It is registered in the data correspondence table as NTSJ conversion standard data.

Next, there are two types of standard data in FIG. 4 that have the same position, length, and attributes as the existing data ru-3UURYOUJ in FIG. 5: "sales quantity" and "deposit quantity." In this case, the upper data of "sales quantity" is "sales details" and the upper data of "deposit quantity" is "deposit details", which are different. Of these, the "sales content" data is determined to be the standard data to be converted to rD-C0NTENTSJ, which is higher-order data of rU-5UURYOU J. Therefore, according to the rules (2) and (a) above, the replacement standard data for ru-5UURYOUJ is determined to be "sales quantity" and is registered in the data correspondence table.

Existing data rU-TANKAJ, rU-KI in Figure 5
Regarding NGAKUJ, rU-3UURYOUJ,
Similar to , there are multiple conversion destination standard data name candidates, but these also determine the "sales unit price" and "sales amount" as the conversion destination standard data according to the rules (2) and (a), respectively, and perform data correspondence. Register in the table.

Figure 7 is created by associating the existing file record information in Figure 5 with the JR semi-rough air record information in Figure 3.
A data correspondence table showing conversion destination standard data for each existing data in FIG. 5 is shown in a table format.

The intra-program data name replacement section 9 in FIG. As specified in the table,
The new source program created using the standard data name is output to the new source program storage section 10. This replacement with the standard data name is performed not only in the part defining the existing file record data in the existing program, but also in all parts where the data is used.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a new program created by converting the program shown in FIG. 4 according to the data correspondence table shown in FIG. rDENP in Figure 4 as shown in Figure 4.
As shown in FIG. 7, the names of each data included in the definition part (11) of each data of YO-FILEJ are replaced with standard data names according to the specifications in the data correspondence table of FIG. For example, rD-RECJ is "slip data", rD-RECJ is
"N○" has been replaced with "slip number". Also, the reference data name rD-NOJ in statement 18 in the procedure division (PROCEDURDIVISION) in FIG. 4 is replaced with "slip number" in statement 19 in FIG. 8, and the reference data name in statement 21 in FIG. rU-TANKAJ is “
It has been replaced with sales unit price J. The processing of the in-program data name replacement section 9 can be performed using, for example, a known text matching technique.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic flowchart of this embodiment.

Process 101 inputs one JMQ file record information from the input device by the B semi-file record information input unit 1 in FIG. 1 and stores it in the standard file information storage unit 20.
If all standard file record information has not been input, process 101 is performed again; if all standard file record information has been input, process 103 and subsequent steps are performed (process 1o).
2). In process 103, the file record information extraction unit 3 extracts the file record information of one file in one program in the existing source program storage unit 3 and stores it in the existing file record information storage unit 4.
04 judges whether the file record information of all files of the program has been extracted, and if there is any file that has not yet been extracted, performs the process 103 again, and if all the file record information of the program has been extracted, the process 105 and subsequent steps are performed. Let's do it. In process 105, the data correspondence table creation unit 5 detects replacement destination candidates for one piece of data in one existing file. A process 106 determines whether there are multiple candidates, and if there are multiple candidates, a process 107 causes the replacement destination data candidate display unit 7 to
The replacement destination candidates are displayed on the display device, and in step 108, the replacement destination data specifying unit 8 obtains replacement destination data from the input device. Process 109 stores the obtained data in the data correspondence table storage unit 6.
Register in the data correspondence table within. Process 110 determines whether processing of all data in the existing file record information has been completed, and if not, processes 105 to 109 are performed again for the next data. When the processing of all the data of the existing file record information is completed, it is determined in step 111 whether the processing of the existing file record information of all the files is completed.

If not completed, processes 105 to 110 are performed for the existing file record information of the next file. When the registration of all existing file record information in the data correspondence table is completed, in process 112, the in-program data name replacement unit 9 replaces the data name in the existing program using the data correspondence table, and creates a new file. It is registered in the source program replacement unit 10. Process 113 is a process for all existing programs in which it is determined whether processing has been completed for all existing source programs in the existing source program storage unit, and if not completed, processes 103 to 112 are performed for the next existing program. Once completed, the process ends.

In the first embodiment described above, it has been explained that at least one candidate for the replacement destination standard data name can be detected in the standard file record information for the replacement target data, but there may be cases where the replacement destination standard data name candidate is not found.

To deal with this, the data correspondence table creation unit 5 of FIG.

If data with matching length and attributes is not found, register only the conversion target data name in the data name correspondence table (see Figure 7), and do not register the corresponding conversion destination standard data name. There is a method of adding a step and further adding a step in which, in the in-program data name replacement section 9, if the data is found in the existing source program, the data name is not replaced and an error message is output to a printer etc. do. In this case, the user must change the standard file record information or change the attributes of the data in the existing source program and re-execute the data processing device to correctly name the data in the program. Convert to standard data.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the data correspondence table creation unit 5 adopted only standard data that matches the existing data in relative position, length, and attributes as candidates for replacement standard data. There is also a method of employing items with slightly different values as candidates.

In this case, a warning information column is added to the data correspondence table, and if something with slightly different attributes or length is registered in the data correspondence table as a replacement data name, the necessary information is registered in the warning information column and the program Internal data name replacement part 9
Then, when replacing the data, a message may be output to a printer or the like based on the information in the warning information of the data correspondence table.

In this case as well, it may be necessary to re-execute the program by modifying the existing source program or standard file record information.

Further, in the first embodiment, the rules for determining the standard data to be converted to the existing data in the data correspondence table creation unit 5 are as follows: (1) 2-digit relative position/attribute information; (2) data structure information. , (3) User specified information, each piece of information is used for the priority order, but it is also possible to consider an embodiment in which this order is changed. For example, the conversion destination standard candidates may be narrowed down based on data structure information, and standard data with matching relative position, number of digits, etc. may be searched among them.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, when the conversion destination standard data name cannot be determined, the user specifies the conversion destination standard data name in an interactive manner. Alternatively, there is a method of specifying a conversion destination standard data name and executing one data processing device. In this case, the designated standard data name may be given the first priority.

The various modified embodiments described above can be easily inferred from the first embodiment, and detailed explanations will be omitted.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce errors and labor when replacing data names in a program with standard data names, thereby facilitating standardization of programs and reducing software maintenance work. It can be made more efficient.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a functional block diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware environment of the present invention, and Figure 3 represents an example of standard file record information in table format. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an existing source program. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of existing file/record information extracted from an existing source program in a table format. FIG. A display screen diagram showing a display example of conversion destination data name candidates, Figure 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data correspondence table in table format, and Figure 8 is an explanation showing an example of a new program in which data names are replaced. 9 are processing flowcharts of an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Standard file/record information input section, 2...
Existing source program storage section, 3... File/record information abstraction section, 4... Existing file/record information storage section, 5... Data correspondence table creation section, 6... Data correspondence table accumulation section, 7 ...Replacement destination data candidate display section, 8.
...Replacement destination data specification part, 9...Program name data name replacement part, 10...New source program storage part, bud
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Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Standardization of data included in units of structured data (hereinafter referred to as records) such as files, in order to convert data names used within a program into standard data names. Enter information that defines attributes such as name and number of digits (hereinafter referred to as standard record information) and the program.
In information processing that creates conversion information that specifies the standard data name of the conversion destination for each data included in the record that corresponds to standard record information in the program, a standard record is created for certain conversion target data in the program. If there are multiple candidates for conversion destination standard data names in the information, (1) Among the multiple standard data, there is only one whose upper standard data is the conversion destination of the upper data of the replacement target data. (2) means for the user to specify the name of the standard data to be converted; Data name standardization support method. 2. Adding a means to create a new program by replacing each usage part of the data name in the record included in the program with the conversion destination standard data name specified in the conversion information. 2. A method for supporting standardization of data names within a program according to claim 1. 3. When creating conversion information by determining the conversion destination standard data for each data included in the record in the program, select the standard data in the standard record information that has a relative position equal to the relative position in the record of each data. 2. The method for supporting standardization of data names within a program according to claim 1, wherein the name is found and the name is selected as a candidate for a standard data name to which the data is converted. 4. As a candidate for the standard data name to which each data is converted, find standard data that matches not only the relative position within the record but also the length of the data, and use that data name as the candidate. The data name standardization support method in the program described. 5. In order to find candidates for standard data names to which each of the data is to be converted, the method further includes the step of narrowing down the candidates to those that match the data type (numbers, characters, etc.). The standardization support method for data names within a program described in Section 4. 6. The means for the user to designate the conversion destination standard data name is to display candidates for the conversion destination standard data name of the data on a display terminal such as a display, and allow the user to input the candidates from among them using an input device such as a keyboard. 2. The method for supporting standardization of data names within a program according to claim 1, wherein the method is carried out by: