JP2012108900A - Application development system - Google Patents

Abstract

An application development system capable of shortening the transmission time of design information between a system engineer and a programmer and minimizing the possibility of a flaw in the design concept of both.
The system includes a server machine 12, a development client machine 16 that performs development, program outline creation software 35 that accepts design information from a system engineer to create program outline data 56, and a common output character for development. The data 154 is output to the development client machine 16, and the conversion program 58 for converting the common operation instruction C1 ′ etc. into the operation instruction C1 etc. is provided, and the common design information 60 including the common operation instruction C1 ′ etc. is converted and the application 34 is converted. And development client software 54 that accepts an input operation Y performed by the programmer based on the program summary data and outputs common input character data 156 for development to the server machine 12.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an application development system capable of accurately transferring design information and the like of an engineer in charge of an upstream process to an engineer in charge of a downstream process in an application development work involving a plurality of engineers.

  In conventional application development work, first, an engineer in charge of upstream processes (hereinafter referred to as “system engineer”) performs advance design and basic design (hereinafter collectively referred to as “design information”) of an application developed. After that, the engineer in charge of the downstream process (hereinafter referred to as “programmer”) communicates the design intent and cautions using the document printed with the design information, and finally the programmer uses the application. (For example, patent document 1).

JP-A-8-110855

  However, since the method of transmitting design information from the system engineer to the programmer is verbal explanation using documents, it takes a lot of time for discussion between the two, and there is a limit to improving the accuracy of the transmission. Therefore, there was a risk that the design philosophy between the two would be flawed, despite taking a lot of time.

  In addition, programmers create applications individually and specifically according to the type of database, language, and platform (operation system, CPU, etc.) used in the system or server machine (hereinafter referred to as “usage environment”). On the other hand, the design information transmitted to the programmer by the system engineer must be abstract regardless of the usage environment. For this reason, no matter how much the accuracy of design information transmission is improved, in the process of embodying abstract things (system engineer's ideas) by programmers, there will be a habit caused by restrictions due to “use environment” Could not be avoided.

  The present invention has been developed in view of such problems of the prior art. Therefore, the main problem of the present invention is that it is possible to transmit design information between a system engineer in charge of an upstream process and a programmer in charge of a downstream process in an application development work in a short time, and between the two. It is an object of the present invention to provide an application development system capable of minimizing the possibility of flaws in the design concept.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, “screen definition information 100 that defines the position and type of the input / output column 110 in which numerical values and the like are input / output on the operation screen displayed on the client machine 22, and processing logic are described. A server machine 12 having an application 34, program outline creation software 35, application development software 36, and development screen information 150;
A database 14 for inputting / outputting data used in the processing logic in response to a request from the server machine 12;
A development monitor 40, a screen design software 52 for creating the screen definition information 100, and a development client software 54; a development client machine 16 for system engineers and programmers to develop applications;
Communication lines 18 and 20 for performing mutual communication between the server machine 12 and the database 14, and between the server machine 12 and the development client machine 16, respectively.
The program summary creation software 35 receives application design information from a system engineer and creates program summary data 56.
The application development software 36 is created in accordance with the usage environment of the server machine 12. When the application 34 is developed, the application development software 36 creates development character data 152 to be output to the development client machine 16 and The development character data 152 and the development screen information 150 are output to the development client machine 16 as development common output character data 154 independent of the type of the development client machine 16, and are set and defined in advance. A common arithmetic instruction C1 ′ and a common conditional expression C2 ′ and the common arithmetic instruction C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′ are converted into an arithmetic instruction C1 and a conditional expression C2 corresponding to the use environment of the server machine 12, respectively. The conversion program 58 is provided, and the common program created by the programmer is provided. The application 34 is created by converting the common design information 60 including the general operation instruction C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′ according to the use environment of the server machine 12 using the conversion program 58,
The development client software 54 outputs a screen to the development monitor 40 based on the development common output character data 154 from the server machine 12 and an input operation Y performed by a programmer based on the program summary data 56. Is converted into development common input character data 156 independent of the type of the development client machine 16, and the development common input character data 156 is output to the server machine 12 via the communication line 20. A featured application development system 10 ”.

  According to the application development system 10 according to the present invention, the server machine 12 incorporates application development software 36 created according to the usage environment of the server machine 12, and the application development software 36 includes a programmer. Common operation instructions C1 ′ and common conditional expressions C2 ′ used when developing the common design information 60 are set and defined in advance, and each of these common arithmetic instructions C1 ′ and common conditional expressions C2 ′ is stored in the server. A conversion program 58 is prepared for conversion into an operation instruction C1 and a conditional expression C2 corresponding to the use environment of the machine 12. In general, the arithmetic instruction C1 and the conditional expression C2 are often common to each usage environment of the server machine 12 [in many cases, the order of instruction names and arguments are simply different. In addition, by setting and defining only the arithmetic instruction C1 and the conditional expression C2 that can be shared in this way, the “conversion program 58” can be surely created.

  Further, between the server machine 12 and the development client machine 16 operated by a programmer when developing the application 34, the common output character data 154 for development independent of the use environment of the development client machine 16 and the development client machine 16 are used. Development screen information 150 and development character data 152 necessary for development are exchanged using the common input character data 156, and the development screen created according to the type of the development client machine 16 is used. The client software 54 outputs a screen to the development monitor 40 based on the development common output character data 154 and converts the input operation Y by the programmer into the development common input character data 156.

  Therefore, the programmer creates the common design information 60 using the common operation instruction C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′ using the development client machine 16, and thereafter, the application development software 36 uses the conversion program 58 to perform the relevant process. The common design information 60 is automatically converted into an application 34 corresponding to the usage environment of each server machine 12. Further, since the development client software 54 is incorporated, the application 34 can be developed using the application development software 36 of the server machine 12 regardless of the usage environment of the development client machine 16.

  The present invention is characterized in that the program development software 35 is further incorporated in the server machine 12 in the application development system 10 premised on the development of the common design information 60 as described above.

  The program summary creation software 35 receives application design information from the system engineer and creates “program summary data 56”. Based on this “program summary data 56”, the programmer develops as described above. An input operation Y is performed on the client software 54 to create common design information 60 that does not depend on the use environment of each server machine 12.

  According to the present invention, the programmer only needs to create one common design information 60 regardless of the system use environment. Therefore, the system engineer who is in charge of the upstream process in the application development work can use the common design information 60. Specialized program summary data 56 including more specific design information can be created.

  When more specific design information can be included in the program summary data 56, the design information that can be transmitted to the programmer in charge of the downstream process naturally becomes more specific. Since the common design information 60 can be developed simply by making the necessary adjustments by combining various information presented as a puzzle, the system engineer in charge of the upstream process and the downstream process are in charge of developing the application 34. It is possible to transmit design information to and from a programmer in a short time, and to minimize the possibility of flaws in the design concept between the two.

  In addition, even if a design change occurs in the application 34, the program summary data 56 is simply modified by using the program summary creation software 35, and the modification is reflected by the programmer with little effort. Design information 60 can be created.

The invention described in claim 2 is obtained by adding an application development progress management function to the application development system 10 of claim 1, “The server machine 12 further configures the common design information 60. A progress management means 74 having a progress table 76 in which the progress status of each of the plurality of programs is described;
The development client machine 16 is configured such that when the program summary data 56 corresponding to the program is created, development proceeds to a preset stage, or a system engineer and a programmer directly connect to the development client machine 16. By instructing, a development progress signal 78 is transmitted to the progress management means 74,
When the progress management means 74 receives the development progress signal 78, the progress management means 74 advances the progress state in the progress table 76 of the program corresponding to these signals.
The development client software 54 can display the progress table 76 on the development monitor 40 ".

  According to the present invention, the latest progress status regarding each program constituting the common design information 60 is described in the progress table 76 in the progress management means 74 of the server machine 12, and the progress table 76 is stored in the development client machine. It can be displayed on 16 development monitors 40.

  As a result, the system engineer, the programmer, the system development manager, and the like can check the progress of the application development from the development client machine 16 at any time, so that the progress of the application development can be managed easily and finely. it can.

  The invention described in claim 3 limits the contents of the program summary data 56 in the application development system 10 described in claim 1 or 2, and “the program summary data 56 is the previous information in the screen definition information 100. Screen design data 200 in which individual numbers assigned to the entry / output fields 110 are described, code design data 202 in which specifications of the input / output field 110 are described, and specifications of data stored in the database 14 , A subroutine 206 that executes a part of logic processing performed by the application 34 and is called and used when necessary, and a parameter list 208 used in the application 34. It is characterized by.

  The invention described in claim 4 relates to the improvement of the application development system 10 described in claim 3, and is “used in the screen design data 200, the code design data 202, the data layout 204, and the parameter list 208. Each item 302 is assigned a common ID 304 that is common among the data 200, 202, 204, 208 in addition to the individual ID 306 individually assigned in the data 200, 202, 204, 208. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, when the setting of the item 302 is changed, when all the same items 302 are picked up from the data 200, 202, 204, 208 in each application, a search is performed using the common ID 304 as a keyword. As a result, it is possible to find all the items 302 without omission, and the workability when changing the setting of each item 302 is remarkably improved.

  According to the present invention, when developing an application, design information can be transmitted in a short time between a system engineer in charge of an upstream process and a programmer in charge of a downstream process. It was possible to provide an application development system that can minimize the risk of design design flaws.

It is a figure which shows the application development system concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen displayed on the monitor of a client machine. It is a figure which shows an example of data, such as a character. It is a figure which shows the structure of program outline data. It is a figure explaining the case where common ID is provided to each item. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation screen of screen design software. It is a figure which shows an example of the conversion method to the arithmetic instruction and conditional expression corresponding to a use environment by a conversion program.

  Hereinafter, an application development system 10 to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. The application development system 10 is for developing a business application 34 that executes processing logic used for, for example, sales, sales management, inventory management, or ordering business.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the application development system 10 includes a server machine 12, a database 14, a development client machine 16, a first communication line 18 that enables mutual communication between the server machine 12 and the database 14, And a second communication line 20 that enables mutual communication between the server machine 12 and the development client machine 16.

  In addition to this configuration, one or a plurality of client machines 22 (one case is shown in the figure) operated by a user who uses the application 34, and the server machine 12 and the client machine 22 interact with each other. By providing the third communication line 23 that enables communication, the developed application 34 can be operated. Of course, the development client machine 16 can also serve as the client machine 22.

  The server machine 12 includes a storage device 24 such as a hard disk drive and a memory, a first communication device 26 for communicating with the database 14 via the first communication line 18, and a second communication line 20. A second communication device 28 for performing communication with the development client machine 16 and a control device 30 for controlling the entire server machine 12 based on software incorporated in the storage device 24 are provided.

  The storage device 24 stores screen definition information 100 (all information if the screen definition information 100 for a plurality of screens is necessary), as well as applications used for developing the program summary creation software 35 and the application 34. Development software 36, a developed application 34, and middleware 38 used when operating the application 34 are incorporated.

  Here, the screen definition information 100 will be described. When the completed application 34 is operated, an operation screen displayed on a monitor 62 (described later) of the client machine 22 is arranged at a background image 102 and a predetermined position in the background image 102 as shown in FIG. A plurality of input / output fields 110 for receiving input of numerical values and characters by the user and input operations such as clicking, or outputting numerical values as a result of logic processing, and characters input or output to each input / output field 110 -It consists of numbers and other symbols (hereinafter collectively referred to as "characters 112"). As the type of the input / output column 110, “field 110a” that receives input / output of one word (word), “grid 110b” that includes a plurality of cells and receives one word input / output for each cell, A “button 110c”, a “check box 110d”, a “radio button 110e”, and the like that trigger a predetermined operation are conceivable (of course, not limited to these).

  In such a screen configuration, the screen definition information 100 includes a client having a background image 102 information, position information of each input / output column 110 arranged in the background image 102, and type information of the input / output column 110. This data defines the skeleton of the display screen independent of the type of the machine 22. Further, the number of screen definition information 100 is not limited to one screen, and screen definition information 100 for a plurality of screens can be prepared according to the contents of processing logic performed by the application 34. As will be described later, the screen definition information 100 is created by the screen design software 52 incorporated in the development client machine 16.

  The program summary creation software 35 is software that accepts input of design information from a system engineer in charge of an upstream process of application development and outputs program summary data 56 that summarizes the design information. This program summary data 56 is used to transmit design information from the system engineer as electronic data to the programmer in the downstream process, minimizing the time required for this transmission and reducing the design philosophy between the two due to a transmission error. It has a role to avoid the occurrence of.

  The program summary data 56 is data corresponding to each of a plurality of programs used for the application 34 to be developed (that is, the same number of data as the programs used is created), as shown in FIG. In the screen definition information 100, the screen design data 200 in which individual numbers assigned to the input / output fields 110 are described, the code design data 202 in which the specifications of the input / output fields 110 are described, and the database 14 A data layout 204 describing the specifications of the accumulated data and a subroutine 206 that executes a part of the logic processing performed by the application and is called and used when necessary (this subroutine is referred to as “common operation instruction C1 described later”). '"And" Common conditional expression C2' ") and parameters List is composed of a (variable table) 208. Of course, the contents of the program summary data 56 are not limited to this. The program summary data 56 is stored in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12, for example. The program summary data 56 can also be printed on paper as a “program design document”.

  As shown in FIG. 5, each item 302 in the screen design data 200, the code design data 202, the data layout 204, and the parameter list 208 (the item corresponding to each input / output column 110 or the common design information 60 described later). “Common ID 304” may be assigned to items corresponding to each processing item. In the example of FIG. 5, “person in charge ABC” corresponds to the item 302, and “A000001” corresponds to the common ID 304.

  In general, the individual ID 306 assigned to the item 302 used in each program constituting the application 34 has the same item 302 because the naming rule of the individual ID 306 is different for each data such as the screen design data 200 and the code design data 292. Even if there is a different individual ID 306 for each data (in other words, a different individual ID 306 is assigned for each program even for the same type of data). In the example of FIG. 5, in the screen design data 200 in the [sales management program], “AC001” is assigned as the individual ID 306 to the item 302 of “person in charge ABC”, and the same “person in charge ABC” item 302 has On the other hand, “URA001” is assigned as the individual ID 306 in the code design data 202. Even in the same screen design data 200, “BC001” is assigned as the individual ID 306 in [Accounting Program].

  Therefore, for example, when it is necessary to change the setting of a specific item 302 used for all programs used in a certain company or all programs developed by a certain software development company, It is necessary to individually pick up the corresponding item 302 from the program, which is not only a troublesome setting change but also causes a setting change omission.

  The “common ID 304” is an ID (identification code) that is commonly given to the same item 302 between the programs, apart from the individual ID 306 determined by the naming rule of each program. That is, when this “common ID 304” is adopted, at least two of the individual ID 306 and the common ID 304 unique to each program are assigned to each item 302.

  As a result, when all the same items 302 are picked up from each program, it is possible to find all the items 302 without omission by simply performing a search using the common ID 304 as a keyword. The property is significantly improved. Further, for example, in the case of an application 34 used for transactions with a plurality of foreign countries, when the tax rate of one country is changed by assigning a country code to the common ID 304 of the item 302 corresponding to the tax rate or the like. In addition, it is possible to easily correct the tax rate by picking up the corresponding item 302 using the country code of the country without omission. It is also conceivable to configure the program using only the common ID 304 without assigning the individual ID 306.

  Regarding the setting of the common ID 304, for example, the common ID master 300 in which all items 302 used in each program are registered and the common ID 304 corresponding to each item 302 is set is stored in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12. It may be conceived that, when the program is designed in advance, the item 302 to be used is selected from the common ID master 300, and an individual ID 306 unique to the system is assigned to the item 302. Of course, the method for setting the common ID 304 is not limited to this.

  The application development software 36 (FIG. 1) will be described in detail later, but the programmer exchanges information with the server machine 12 via the development client machine 16, and the common design information 60 configured by a plurality of programs. Is to create.

  The application 34 is developed so as to adapt to the usage environment of the server machine 12 using the application development system 10, and the processing logic is described by the operation instruction C1 and the conditional expression C2. This is characterized in that a “control command” having a role of receiving a screen display on the client machine 22 and an input from the input device 66, which is indispensable to the client machine 22, is not described.

  The middleware 38 is a program developed by an appropriate development means according to the use environment of the server machine 12, and is a user input operation X sent from the client machine 22 and common input characters that do not depend on the use environment. Based on the data 106 and the application 34, logic processing is performed, and character data 114 to be returned to the client machine 22 is created according to the result, and then the character data 114 and the screen stored in the storage device 24 are created. The definition information 100 (if the screen definition information 100 exists for a plurality of screens, the screen definition information 100 for one screen appropriately selected from them) as “common output character data 104” and the third communication line 23 To the client machine 22.

  The common output character data 104 is data including at least one of the screen definition information 100 and the character data 114 that is information of the characters 112 input / output to / from the input / output column 110. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the character etc. data 114 is a set of “rotation number of input / output field”, “type of input / output field”, and “character etc.” input or output to the input / output field 110. This set is prepared for all the input / output fields 110 whose positions are defined by one screen definition information 100 and connected by commas. Of course, the character data 114 is not limited to such a format, and other formats can be adopted as long as the format does not depend on the type of the client machine 22.

  The common input character data 106 is data in a format that does not depend on the type of the client machine 22, and is composed of input character data that has the same format as the character data 114 of the common output character data 104 described above.

  In this embodiment, all input operations X performed by the user on the client machine 22 are converted to the common input character data 106 and then output to the server machine 12. A highly versatile input operation X that is frequently performed without depending on the content of the data (for example, rearrangement of data in the grid 110b [ascending order, descending order, 50-sound order, etc.], etc.) The input operation (hereinafter referred to as “general input operation X ′”) may be processed in the client machine 22 so as not to be output to the server machine 12 as the common input character data 106. As a result, the processing logic unique to each application 34 is processed by the server machine 12, and the general-purpose input operation X ′ set and defined in advance is performed by each client machine 22. Therefore, it is possible to provide comfortable logic processing to each client machine 22 while connecting more client machines 22.

  The database 14 includes all data to be used by the application 34, and requests from the server machine 12 (more specifically, the first by the control device 30 of the server machine 12 that operates based on the contents of the application 34). In response to a data input / output request via the communication device 26), various data used in the logic processing in the server machine 12 is input / output. The database 14 may be arranged separately from the server machine 12 as shown, or may be arranged in the housing of the server machine 12.

  The development client machine 16 includes a development monitor 40 that displays a development screen, a development input device 42 such as a mouse and keyboard for a system engineer (and programmer) to input design information, a hard disk, a memory, and the like. The entire development client machine 16 is controlled based on the storage device 44, the communication device 46 for communicating with the server machine 12 via the second communication line 20, and software installed in the storage device 44. The storage device 44 incorporates screen design software 52 and development client software 54.

  Hereinafter, a scene in which a system engineer first registers design information using the program outline creation software 35 and then a programmer develops the application 34 based on the design information will be described. The application development software 36 incorporated in the server machine 12 will also be described in detail below.

  The screen design software 52 (FIG. 1) is a program for creating the screen definition information 100 stored in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12. When the screen design software 52 is activated, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, an object palette 120 in which all types of usable input / output columns 110 such as “field” and “grid” are arranged, and a predetermined size are displayed. Therefore, the programmer can place the necessary number of input / output fields 110 of the necessary types from the object palette 120 to a desired position in the background image 102 based on the screen design data 200. The screen definition information 100 is created by dragging and dropping. Of course, when a plurality of screen definition information 100 is required depending on the contents of the application 34, the above operation is repeated a plurality of times.

  The development client software 54 is a program created by appropriate development means in accordance with the use environment of the development client machine 16 and outputs a screen to the development monitor 40 based on the development common output character data 154 described later. At the same time, the development input operation Y performed by the programmer through the development input device 42 is converted into development common input character data 156 that does not depend on the type of the development client machine 16, and then the communication device 46 and The common input character data 156 for development is output to the server machine 12 via the second communication line 20.

  Here, the common development character data 154 for development is the screen definition information created by the development screen information 150 and the screen design software 52 sent from the server machine 12 via the second communication line 20 and the communication device 46. The data is independent of the type of the development client machine 16 and includes at least one of 100 and development character data 152.

  The development screen information 150 is information on a screen used when a programmer develops common design information 60 (described later). Like the screen definition information 100, information on the development background image 158, and a user inputs a program code. , Position information of each development input / output column 160 on which information necessary for development is displayed, and type information of the development input / output column 160 are provided.

  The development character data 152 is input or output to the “development input / output field rotation number”, “development input / output field type”, and the development input / output field 160 in the same manner as the character data 114 described above. "Character etc." to be set as one set, this set is prepared for all the development input / output fields 160 whose positions are defined by one development screen information 150, and they are connected by commas Has been. Of course, the development character data 152 is not limited to such a format, and any other format can be adopted as long as it does not depend on the type of the development client machine 16.

  The development common input character data 156 is data in a format that does not depend on the type of the development client machine 16, and is composed of data in the same format as the development character data 152 in the development common output character data 154. Yes.

  The application development software 36 is a program in which a plurality of common operation instructions C1 ′ and common conditional expressions C2 ′ that are set and defined in advance are defined, and is incorporated in the server machine 12. The programmer can develop a client machine for development. While exchanging information (development common output character data 154 and development common input character data 156) with the server machine 12 via the 16 development client software 54, the common operation instruction C1 'and the common conditional expression C2' The common design information 60 can be developed using these.

  These “common operation instruction C1 ′” and “common conditional expression C2 ′” are not limited to individual “instruction words” used when a programmer performs programming, but are “subroutines” that execute frequently used processes. "May be created in advance by combining a plurality of" command words ". In addition, logic frequently used in business applications (for example, logic that calculates the total value of sales during a specific period from a database of dates and sales for each date for several years) ) Are pre-programmed using a “common instruction word” and provided as a “subroutine”. Thus, by providing frequently used logic as a “subroutine”, the programmer can easily develop the target application 34 using the “subroutine”. This can be reduced, and the risk of variations in the quality of the completed application 34 due to differences in experience and habits among users can be minimized.

  Further, the application development software 36 converts the plurality of common arithmetic instructions C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′ described above into individual arithmetic instructions C1 and individual conditional expressions C2 corresponding to the use environment of the server machine 12. The conversion program 58 is provided, and the application 34 suitable for the use environment of the server machine 12 can be created by converting the common design information 60 including the common operation instruction C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′. Yes.

  In general, the operation instruction C1 and the conditional expression C2 are often common among the use environments of the server machines 12 as compared to the control instruction C3 [the instruction names and the argument description order are often different. . In addition, the conversion program 58 can be created relatively easily by selecting in advance and setting and defining only such commands and conditional expressions that can be shared.

  The conversion program 58 will be described with a specific example based on FIG. 7 (note that the content is an example, and the content of the conversion program 58 is not intended to be limited to the specific example). The common design information 60 described by the user using the application development software 36 includes #IF, #MOVE, #CALL, #ENDIF, a common operation instruction C1 ′ such as “<>”, a common conditional expression C2 ′, and “ Parameter (variable) names such as “A”, “B”, “C”, and “SMP0010” are used.

  The common design information 60 is classified into “instruction symbol”, “instruction comparison (operation) symbol”, processing item 1, processing item 2, and result item by the application development software 36 as shown in the table format 122 in the figure. Is done.

In the conversion program 58, sentences for replacing the common operation instructions C1 ′ and the common conditional expressions C2 ′ with the operation instructions C1 and the conditional expressions C2 corresponding to the respective use environments are prepared in the number corresponding to the use environment of the conversion destination ( In the example shown in the figure, since there are three types of conversion destination use environments (I, B, C), three statements of the operation instruction C1 corresponding to one common operation instruction C1 ′ are also prepared). The conversion program 58 replaces each item such as a variable with each operation instruction for each “instruction symbol” or “instruction comparison (operation) signal” classified in the table format 122 with an instruction corresponding to the use environment of the conversion destination. An operation of re-description at the position defined by C1 or conditional expression C2 is performed.

For example, the combination of “instruction symbol” = # IF + “instruction comparison (operation) symbol” = <> + “processing item 1” = A + “processing item 2” = B is “A When converted to “IFNE B” and converted to the usage environment, “IF A NOT = B
THEN "is converted. Similarly, the combination of “instruction symbol” = # MOVE + “processing item 2” = B + “result item” = C is “MOVE B” when converted to the usage environment.
When converted to TOC, and converted to the usage environment C, it is converted to “memcpy (C, B, sizeof (C))”.

  By performing such a conversion operation for all the common operation instructions C1 'and the common conditional expression C2' in the table format 122, it is possible to convert to the application 34 corresponding to each use environment.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the number of statements for replacing each common calculation instruction C1 ′ and common conditional expression C2 ′ with the calculation instruction C1 and conditional expression C2 corresponding to each use environment is the same as the number of conversion destination use environments. Although prepared, a conversion table describing the operation instruction C1 and the conditional expression C2 corresponding to each use environment may be used for each common operation instruction C1 ′ and common conditional expression C2 ′.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the client machine 22 used when operating the application 34 includes a monitor 62 using a liquid crystal or a cathode ray tube, a storage device 64 such as a hard disk drive or a memory, a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch panel. And the like, a communication device 68 for communicating with the server machine 12 via the third communication line 23, and a control device 70 for controlling the entire client machine 22, and a storage device 64 has built-in screen display client software 72. In FIG. 1, the client machine 22 is depicted as a PC (personal computer). However, the client machine 22 is not limited to a PC, and a handy terminal having a touch panel with a small number of pixels, such as a smartphone. It may be. Further, the number of client machines 22 may be one as shown in the figure, or may be a plurality of (the same type or different types).

  The screen display client software 72 is a program created by appropriate development means in accordance with the usage environment according to the type of the client machine 22, and is transmitted from the server machine 12 via the third communication line 23 and the communication device 68. Based on the common output character data 104 that does not depend on the type of the client machine 22 including the screen definition information 100 and the character data 114 that have been sent, the screen is output to the monitor 62 and performed via the input device 66. The user's input operation X is converted into the common input character data 106 independent of the type of the client machine 22, and then the common input character data 106 is transmitted to the server machine 12 via the communication device 68 and the third communication line 23. It is programmed to output.

  A procedure for developing the application 34 using the application development system 10 of this embodiment will be described.

  First, a system engineer in charge of an upstream process of application development activates the program summary creation software 35 of the server machine 12 and inputs design information related to the application 34 to be developed. The program summary creation software 35 that has received the design information forms program summary data 56 that summarizes the design information and stores it in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12.

  When the program summary data 56 corresponding to all the programs is completed, the basic design process (= upstream process) by the system engineer is completed, and then the program shifts to the programming process (= downstream process) by the programmer.

  The programmer in charge of the downstream process of application development calls the program summary data 56 from the storage device 24 of the server machine 12 and activates the screen design software 52 to create the screen definition information 100.

  The created screen definition information 100 is stored in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12 through the second communication line 20. The completed screen definition information 100 is stored in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12 via the communication device 46 of the development client machine 16 and the second communication line 20.

  Next, the programmer starts up the application development software 36 incorporated in the server machine 12, and develops client software 54 based on the code design data 202, the data layout 204, the subroutine 206, and the parameter list 208 in the program summary data 56. The common design information 60 is created while exchanging information with the server machine 12 using. At this time, the program summary data 56 includes specifications of each input / output column (= code design data 202), specifications of data stored in the database 14 (= data layout 204), a subroutine 206 formed in advance, and a parameter list. Since the (variable table) 208 is described, the programmer can basically create the common design information 60 simply by combining and adjusting instruction words, subroutines, and the like based on such information.

  Thereafter, the application 34 is completed by automatically converting the common design information 60 according to the environment of the server machine 12 using the application development software 36 of the server machine 12. The completed application 34 is stored in the storage device 24 in the server machine 12.

  As described above, the programmer creates one common design information 60 using the common operation instruction C1 ′ and the common conditional expression C2 ′ using the development client machine 16, and the application development software 36 thereafter converts the conversion program 58. Is used to automatically convert the common design information 60 into an application 34 corresponding to the usage environment of each server machine 12. Further, since the development client software 54 is incorporated, the application 34 can be developed using the application development software 36 of the server machine 12 regardless of the usage environment of the development client machine 16.

  What should be noted in the present embodiment is that, in the application development system 10 premised on the development of the common design information 60 as described above, the program summary creation software 35 is further incorporated in the server machine 12. The program summary creation software 35 receives application design information from the system engineer and creates “program summary data 56”. Therefore, the programmer performs an input operation on the development client software 54 based on the “program summary data 56”. By performing Y, common design information 60 that does not depend on the use environment of each server machine 12 is created.

  As described above, since the programmer only needs to create one common design information 60 regardless of the system use environment, the system engineer in charge of the upstream process in the application development work is specialized in the common design information 60 program. The program summary data 56 including more specific design information can be created.

  When more specific design information can be included in the program summary data 56, the design information that can be transmitted to the programmer in charge of the downstream process naturally becomes more specific. Since the common design information 60 can be developed simply by combining various information presented as a puzzle and making necessary adjustments, the system engineer in charge of the upstream process and the downstream process are in charge of developing the application. It is possible to transmit design information to and from the programmer in a short time, and to minimize the possibility of a flaw in the design concept between the two.

  In addition, according to the application development system 10 of the present invention, even if a design change occurs, the programmer can simply change the program outline data 56 using the program outline creation software 35 and the common design information 60 can be obtained by the programmer. The common design information 60 reflecting the correction can be created with almost no correction.

  Note that an application development progress management function may be added to the above-described application development system 10 by further providing progress management means 74 in the storage device 24 of the server machine 12.

  In this case, the development client machine 16 creates the program summary data 56 corresponding to a plurality of programs constituting the common design information 60, and a preset stage (for example, a stage where the program coding is completed, When the program development progresses to the stage of compiling, etc., a development progress signal 78 is transmitted to the progress management means 74 (via the second communication line 20).

  Further, the development progress signal 78 can also be transmitted by instructing the development client machine 16 by a system engineer and a programmer at a stage where basic design, detailed design, or program development is completed.

  The progress management means 74 has a progress table 76 in which the progress statuses of a plurality of programs constituting the common design information 60 are described. When the progress management means 74 receives the development progress signal 78 transmitted from the development client machine 16. Further, the progress state in the program progress table 76 corresponding to the development progress signal 78 is advanced.

  As a specific example of “progress of progress state”, each program has a “program summary data creation complete” state, a “program creation complete” state, and a “compilation complete” state set in advance. Each time 74 receives the development progress signal 78 transmitted from the development client machine 16, the progress progresses in the order of “Program summary data creation complete” → “Program creation in progress” → “Compilation complete”. When the system engineer and the programmer send the development progress signal 78 by instructing the development client machine 16, for example, the order of “basic design completion” state → “detailed design completion” state → “development design completion” state. The progress will progress.

  The progress table 76 is transferred from the server machine 12 to the development client machine 16 in response to a request from the development client software 54 and displayed on the development monitor 40 of the development client machine 16.

  As a result, the system engineer, the programmer, the person in charge of system development, and the like can check the progress of application development from the development client machine 16 at any time, and therefore can easily and finely manage the progress of application development.

  Further, the application development system 10 described above can be sold as a set of hardware such as the client machine 22 and the server machine 12 and software such as the screen display client software 72 and the middleware 38, or the screen display client software. 72, middleware 38, screen design software 52, and application development software 36 may be sold as a set.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the client machine 22 that operates the application 34 and the development client machine 16 that develops the application 34 are separate is described. However, the client machine 22 and the development client machine 16 are the same. (That is, the client machine 22 may also serve as the development client machine 16). In this case, in addition to the screen display client software 72, the screen design software 52 is incorporated in the client machine 22 (also serving as the development client machine 16), and the programmer develops the application 34 using the client machine 22. In this case, the application development software 36 of the server machine 12 is used via the screen display client software 72. On the other hand, the screen display client software 72 is designed to have the function of the development client software 54 (that is, when the application 34 is developed, the monitor 62 is based on the common output character data 154 for development from the server machine 12). And the input operation Y performed by the user through the input device 66 is converted into the common input character data 156 for development independent of the type of the client machine 22, and for development via the first communication line 18. The common input character data 156 is programmed to be output to the server machine 12.), So that it is not necessary to incorporate the development client software 54 in the client machine 22.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Application development system: 12 ... Server machine: 14 ... Database: 16 ... Development client machine: 18 ... 1st communication line: 20 ... 2nd communication line: 22 ... Client machine: 23 ... 3rd communication line: 24 ... Storage device: 26 ... 1st communication device: 28 ... 2nd communication device: 30 ... Control device: 34 ... Application: 35 ... Program summary creation software: 36 ... Application development software: 38 ... Middleware: 40 ... Development monitor: 42 ... development device: 44 ... storage device: 46 ... communication device: 48 ... control device: 52 ... screen design software: 54 ... development client software: 56 ... program summary data: 58 ... conversion program: 60 ... common design information : 62 ... Monitor: 64 ... Storage device: 66 ... Input device: 68 ... Communication device: 70 ... Control Position: 72 ... Screen display client software: 74 ... Progress management means: 76 ... Progress table: 78 ... Development progress signal: 100 ... Screen definition information: 102 ... Background image: 104 ... Common output character data: 106 ... Common input character data : 110 ... Input / output column: 112 ... Characters etc .: 114 ... Characters etc. data: 120 ... Object palette: 122 ... Table format: 150 ... Development screen information: 152 ... Development characters etc. data: 154 ... Development common output characters Data: 156 ... development common input character data: 158 ... development background image: 160 ... development input / output field: 200 ... screen design data: 202 ... code design data: 204 ... data layout: 206 ... subroutine: 208 ... parameter List (variable table): 300 ... Common ID master: 302 ... Item: 304 ... Common ID: 3 6 ... individual ID

Claims (4)

On the operation screen to be displayed on the client machine, screen definition information that defines the position and type of input / output fields where numerical values are input and output, applications that describe processing logic, program overview creation software, application development software, and development A server machine having screen information for
In response to a request from the server machine, a database that inputs and outputs data used in the processing logic;
A development monitor, a screen design software for creating the screen definition information, and a development client software, a development engine machine for system engineers and programmers to develop applications,
A communication line for performing mutual communication between the server machine and the database, and between the server machine and the development client machine,
The program summary creation software receives application design information from a system engineer to create program summary data,
The application development software is created according to the usage environment of the server machine, and at the time of development of the application, the development character data is output to the development client machine to create the development character data. The development screen information is output to the development client machine as development common output character data independent of the type of the development client machine, and pre-set and defined common arithmetic instructions and common conditional expressions, A conversion program for converting each of the common operation instruction and the common conditional expression into an operation instruction and a conditional expression corresponding to the use environment of the server machine is provided, and the common operation instruction and the common conditional expression created by the programmer are provided. Common design information including the server using the conversion program. Create an application by convert depending on the machine use environment,
The development client software outputs a screen to the development monitor based on the development common output character data from the server machine, accepts an input operation performed by a programmer based on the program summary data, and An application development system, which converts to development common input character data independent of the type of client machine and outputs the development common input character data to the server machine via the communication line. The server machine further includes a progress management means having a progress table in which the progress status of each of a plurality of programs constituting the common design information is described.
The development client machine directs the development client machine directly when the program summary data corresponding to the program is created, when development progresses to a preset stage, or by a system engineer and programmer By sending a development progress signal to the progress management means,
When the progress management means receives the development progress signal, the progress management means advances the progress state in the progress table of the program corresponding to these signals,
The application development system according to claim 1, wherein the development client software is configured to display the progress table on the development monitor.   The program summary data includes screen design data in which individual numbers assigned to the input / output fields in the screen definition information, code design data in which specifications of the input / output fields are described, and the database A data layout in which specifications of data stored in the application are described, a subroutine that executes a part of logic processing performed by the application, and is called and used when necessary, a parameter list used in the application, The application development system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: The items used in the screen design data, the code design data, the data layout, and the parameter list are common among the data in addition to the individual IDs individually assigned in the data. The application development system according to claim 3, wherein a common ID is assigned.

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