Automatic delivery system for master files in a distributed processing system

Claim 2

An automatic delivery system for master files in a distributed processing system comprising a parent workstation provided with master files for storing data or information to be shared within said distributed processing system; child workstations connected by communication lines to the parent workstation and provided with slave files for storing data or information acquired from said master files; and grandchild workstations, connected by communication lines to the child workstations, for utilizing data or information in said slave files to execute business processing, wherein said parent workstation comprises a master file updating section, a delivery start notifying section, and a master delivery section; the master file updating section comprising means for updating said master files with data or information forwarded from said child workstations; the delivery start notifying section comprising means for forwarding directory lists of said master files to said child workstations; the master delivery section comprising means for removing data or information requested by said child workstations from said master files, and means for forwarding said requested data or information to said child workstations; and wherein each of said child workstations comprises a slave file updating section, an updated asset registering section, and a slave delivery section; the slave file updating section comprising means for updating said slave files; the updated asset registering section comprising means for forwarding to said parent workstation data or information in said slave files upon updating by the slave file updating section; and the slave delivery section comprising means for comparing a content of the directory list of said master files forwarded by said parent workstation with a content of the directory lists of said slave files, means for requesting said parent workstation to forward the data or information in said master files which is found to be different, and means for instructing said slave file updating section to update said slave files with the data or information received in response to the request.

Claim 3

An automatic delivery system for master files in a distributed processing system comprising a parent workstation provided with master files for storing data or information to be shared within said distributed processing system; child workstations connected by communication lines to the parent workstation and provided with slave files for storing data or information acquired from said master files; and grandchild workstations, connected by communication lines to the child workstations, for utilizing data or information in said slave files to execute business processing, wherein said parent workstation comprises a master file updating section, and operation setting file, a group list file, a master list file, a delivery start notifying section and a master delivery section; the master file updating section comprising means for updating said master files with data or information forwarded from said child workstations; the operation setting file containing points of time at which directory information in said master files is to be forwarded to any child workstation; the group list file containing information relative to which of said child workstations said directory information in said master files is to be forwarded; the master list file containing a directory list of said master files; the delivery start notifying section comprising means for forwarding the directory list of said master files stored in the master list file to one of said child workstations designated in said group list file at a point of time designated in said operation setting file; the master delivery section comprising means for removing data or information requested by said child workstations from said master files, and means for forwarding said requested data or information to said child workstations; and wherein each of said child workstations comprises a slave file updating section, an updated asset registering section, a master list file, a slave list file, a difference list file, and a slave delivery section; the slave file updating section comprising means for updating said slave files; the updated asset registering section comprising means for forwarding to said parent workstation data or information in said slave files upon updating by the slave file updating section; the master list file containing said directory list of said master files forwarded from said parent workstation; the slave list file containing a directory list of said child workstation's own slave files; and the slave delivery section comprising means for comparing a content of the directory list of said master files forwarded by said parent workstation with a content of the slave list file, means for saving a name of any master file which is found to be different into the difference list file, means for requesting said parent workstation to forward the requested data or information in said different master file, and means for instructing said slave file updating section to update said slave files with the data or information received in response to the request.

Claim 4

An automatic delivery system for master files in a distributed processing system comprising a parent workstation provided with master files for storing data or information to be shared within said distributed processing system; child workstations connected by communication lines to the parent workstation and provided with slave files for storing data or information acquired from said master files; and grandchild workstations, connected by communication lines to the child workstations, for utilizing data or information in said slave files to execute business processing, wherein said parent workstation comprises a master file updating section, and operation setting file, a group list file, a master list file, a delivery start notifying section and a master delivery section; the master file updating section comprising means for updating said master files with data or information forwarded from said child workstations; the operation setting file containing points of time at which directory information in said master files is to be forwarded to any child workstation; the group list file containing information relative to which of said child workstations said directory information in said master files is to be forwarded; the master list file containing a directory list of said master files; the delivery start notifying section comprising means for forwarding the directory list of said master files stored in the master list file to one of said child workstations designated in said group list file at a point of time designated in said operation setting file; the master delivery section comprising means for removing data or information requested by said child workstations from said master files, and means for forwarding said requested data or information to said child workstations; and wherein each of said child workstations comprises a slave file updating section, an updated asset registering section, a master list file, a slave list file, a difference list file, and a slave delivery section; the slave file updating section comprising means for updating said slave files; the updated asset registering section comprising means for forwarding to said parent workstation data or information in said slave files upon updating by the slave file updating section; the master list file containing said directory list of said master files forwarded from said parent workstation; the slave list file containing a directory list of said child workstation's own slave files; and the slave delivery section comprising means for comparing a content of the directory list of said master files forwarded by said parent workstation with a content of the slave list file, means for saving a name of any master file which is found to be different into the difference list file, means for requesting said parent workstation to forward the requested data or information in said different master file, and means for instructing said slave file updating section to update said slave files with the data or information received in response to the request.

Claim 5

An automatic delivery system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said system comprises means for storing in said master list file and said slave list files at least names of files and number of versions as directory lists.