System and method for software installation

• US 6,751,795 B1
• Filed: 12/16/1999
• Issued: 06/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kazuhisa
• Primary Examiner(s): ZHEN, WEI Y
• Application Number:
  US09/464,395
• Time in Patent Office: 1,643 Days
• Field of Search: 717/174, 717/168-178, 717/110-113, 717/122, 707/200-206, 707/8, 707/10, 709/220-222
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

The system for software installation of the present invention comprises: a storage medium for storing a file to be installed; a difference detector for comparing the file in the storage medium with a file in a target, and detecting a difference therebetween; a file operation determination device for determining an operation for the file, based on the comparison by the difference detector; and an installer for performing installation, based on the determination made by the file operation determination device.

Claims

1. A system for software installation comprising:

a storage medium for storing a file to be installed;

a difference detector for determining if a file that corresponds to the file on said storage medium is present on a target, and if such a file is present on said target, comparing the file in said storage medium with the corresponding file in said target, and detecting a difference therebetween;

a file operation course selector for selecting a file operation course, wherein the file operation course selector is set prior to differences being detected between a file on said storage medium and a corresponding file on said target;

a file operation determination device for determining an operation for the file in the target, based on the comparison by said difference detector; and

an installer for performing installation, based on the determination made by said file operation determination device, wherein said file operation determination device is not positioned in said target.

2. A system for software installation according to claim 1, wherein said difference detector comprises a list output device for outputting a list describing a difference between the file in said storage medium and the file in said target.

3. A system for software installation according to claim 1, wherein said file operation course selector selects to perform no file operation when the file in said storage medium is identical to the file in said target, to copy the file from said storage medium to said target when the file in said storage medium is different from the file in said target, to copy the file from said storage medium to said target when the file in the storage medium is not stored in the target, and to delete the file from said target when the file is not stored in the storage medium but is stored in the target.

4. A system for software installation according to claim 1, wherein said file operation determination device determines prohibiting a file operation for a file containing a setting value for software and for a file containing user data.

5. A system for software installation according to claim 1, wherein said file operation determination device determines copying the file from the storage medium to the target only when the file in the storage medium is newer than the file in the target.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said difference detector is not positioned in said target.

7. A software installation method comprising the steps of:

recording a file for installation;

comparing the recorded file with a file in a target and detecting a difference therebetween;

determining if a file that corresponds to the recorded file is present on a target, and if such a file is present on said target, comparing the recorded file with the corresponding file in said target, and detecting a difference therebetween;

selecting a file operation course, wherein the file operation course is set prior to differences being detected between the recorded file and a corresponding file on said target;

determining an operation for the file in the target, based on the detection; and

performing installation, based on the determination, wherein said determining is not performed in said target.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said detecting said difference comprises generating a list describing said difference between the file in said storage medium and the file in said target.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said file operation course comprises at least one of (a) performing no file operation when the file in said storage medium is identical to the file in said target, (b) copying the file from said storage medium to said target when the file in said storage medium is different from the file in said target, (c) copying the file from said storage medium to said target when the file in the storage medium is not stored in the target, and (d) deleting the file from said target when the file is not stored in the storage medium but is stored in the target.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein said performing comprises prohibiting a file operation for a file containing a setting value for software and for a file containing user data.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein said performing comprises copying the file from the storage medium to the target only when the file in the storage medium is newer than the file in the target.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of said comparing and said detecting is not performed in said target.