CN107562422B

CN107562422B - Programming method of controller human-machine interface and server for providing the programming tool

Info

Publication number: CN107562422B
Application number: CN201610509944.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 秦川; 高国华
Original assignee: Siemens Schweiz AG
Priority date: 2016-06-30
Filing date: 2016-06-30
Publication date: 2021-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2036-06-30
Also published as: CN107562422A

Abstract

The invention provides a programming method of a human-machine interface (HMI) of a building controller and a server for providing the programming tool. The programming method comprises the following steps: -providing a response (120) comprising a programming user interface (P-UI) in response to an access request (110) from a User Device (UD) different from said controller (C); wherein the programming user interface (P-UI), when presented by a WEB browser (WEB-B), comprises at least two first puzzle pieces (220) that are manipulable, a combination of the at least two first puzzle pieces (220) being used to present an HMI on the controller (C); compiling puzzle data (130) from the user device in response to a compilation request, thereby generating a first HMI file (140) executable by the controller (C), and providing the first HMI file (140) to the User Device (UD).

Description

Programming method of controller human-machine interface and server for providing the programming tool

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and Building Automation (BAS) systems within buildings, and more particularly to a programming method for programming a controller human machine interface in an HVAC or BAS system.

Background

The hvac system is a general term for heating, ventilation and air conditioning in a building or a building, and is functionally an important component of the whole building. With the development of urbanization, large commercial buildings or office buildings all adopt advanced heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems. In hvac systems, various field devices (e.g., sensors, fans, valves, etc.) may be connected to a controller. The controller collects data of the field sensor on one hand and can output a control signal to corresponding execution equipment on the other hand. Meanwhile, the controller can be connected with upper computing equipment so as to report the working state in time.

A Building Automation System (BAS) is the management and control of utility machines throughout a building. The building automation system may include, for example, a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system as described above, may also include a drainage monitoring system, a lighting monitoring system, a power monitoring system, or may even include security and fire protection systems. The building automation systems of each building are different in scale and management mode according to the characteristics of the building. A typical management method of a building automation system is decentralized control and centralized management. That is, for example, distributed control is performed using controllers, while monitoring and managing the respective devices using a host computer that can be connected to the controllers.

As such, the controller is a critical component in HVAC and BAS. Existing controllers in buildings typically have an LCD display screen on which an interactive Human Machine Interface (HMI) may be provided. Generally, such an HMI is implemented by an embedded system of a controller, and design and writing of the HMI need to be completed in a product development stage and formed execution code is stored in the controller. Thus, the HMI of the controller is generally unalterable. To accommodate the functional requirements of different controller products or to accommodate the need to upgrade products, embedded software developers need to re-develop the HMI for each product.

During development of the HMI, embedded software developers need not only complete the drive update of the hardware LCD, but also design details of the HMI displayed on the LCD, such as layout format, fonts, content, manipulation keys, and the like. Once the LCD hardware is determined, its driving is substantially unchanged. However, the design of the HMI details requires repeated modification and refinement. Each modification requires the embedded software engineer to rewrite the corresponding code. If it is desired to design an equipment simulator for the controller, which runs on, for example, a PC (personal computer), the software developer will also develop a corresponding HMI for the PC platform.

For this reason, it is desirable to provide a more convenient method of programming the controller HMI.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a programming method for programming a controller human machine interface in a building, such as an HVAC system or BAS system, and a server providing such a programming tool.

According to one aspect of the invention, the invention provides a method for generating a Human Machine Interface (HMI) of a building controller, comprising: providing a response comprising a programmed user interface in response to an access request from a user device different from the controller; wherein the programming user interface is presentable by a web browser on the user device, and when presented: providing at least two first, manipulable, puzzle pieces, each first puzzle piece corresponding to one or a set of instructions executable by the controller, the combination of the at least two first puzzle pieces being used to present an HMI on the controller; receiving a compilation request from the user device, the compilation request including puzzle data generated based on the programming user interface, the puzzle data including data related to the at least two first puzzle pieces; the tile data is compiled to generate a first HMI file executable by the controller and the first HMI file is provided to the user device.

Preferably, the compiling the tile data further comprises: parsing the puzzle data to generate a second HMI file usable by an equipment simulator running on an operating system platform to enable the equipment simulator to present an HMI identical to the HMI on the controller. Preferably, the operating system platform is one of an operating system platform of a personal computer, an operating system platform of a mobile phone or a tablet computer.

More preferably, the compiling the tile data includes: compiling the puzzle data to simultaneously generate the first HMI file and a second HMI file that is callable by an equipment simulator running on an operating system platform to enable the equipment simulator to present an HMI identical to the HMI on the controller.

Preferably, the at least two first puzzle pieces further comprise: at least one page block, each said page block corresponding to a page of said HMI, each said page block including at least one line input; at least one row block, each row block corresponding to a row in a page of the HMI, each of the row blocks including at least one input and a row output connectable to a row input of the page block.

Preferably, the at least two first puzzle pieces further comprise: at least one sub-page block, each said page block corresponding to a sub-page of said HMI, each said sub-page block comprising a line output and at least one line input, wherein said line output is connectable to a line input of said page block. More preferably, the page block can be cascaded/connected with the sub-page block, and the page block cascaded with the sub-page block corresponds to a subsequent page of the sub-page.

Preferably, each of said line blocks comprises at least one text-type input and at least one data-type input, and said line blocks are designed to be able to read and/or write said data-type inputs.

Preferably, when presented on the web browser, the programming user interface: also provided are at least two second, manipulable, puzzle pieces, each second puzzle piece corresponding to one or a set of instructions executable by the controller, a combination of the at least two second puzzle pieces being for implementing control logic on the controller; the puzzle data comprises a combination of the second puzzle pieces; the compiling step further comprises: compiling the puzzle data comprising the second puzzle piece to generate a control logic execution file executable by the controller; the transmitting step further comprises: and sending the control logic execution file to the user equipment.

Preferably, the compiling step further comprises: compiling the puzzle data comprising the second puzzle piece to generate a library file that can be invoked by the device simulator running on the operating system platform, causing the device simulator to execute the same control logic as the controller.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the present invention also provides a server for providing a Human Machine Interface (HMI) programming tool for a building controller, comprising: one or more memories storing one or more resource files capable of presenting a programmatic user interface upon rendering on a web browser of a user device; one or more processors configured to perform the method as described above.

By adopting the scheme, a user can complete online controller HMI programming without installing client software and obtain an executable file which can run on the controller.

Preferably, hierarchical management is employed on the server S side. Specifically, all programs associated with the firmware of the controller C may be packaged into a library file. The library file is imported at compile time to form the final executable file. In this hierarchical approach, the programming logic may be independent of the firmware of the controller C. Thus, the firmware update of the controller C does not affect the programming of the HMI. Also, the same programming logic may be compiled using driver library files for different controllers, as desired. In this way, the same HMI as designed by the user may be adapted for presentation on different controllers, or even simulation of controllers on different platforms may be achieved by facilitating library files under different operating system platforms.

Providing a programmed user interface using the above described scheme can conveniently program and generate an HMI that can be presented on the LCD of the controller C. The user can design the expected HMI according to the actual requirement without any software development knowledge and update the HMI to the controller C in time. In addition, developers can also generate HMI for new controller products in a similar manner. This will also greatly reduce the development cost

The above features, technical features, advantages and modes of realisation of the device will be further explained in the following, in a clearly understandable manner, with reference to the accompanying drawings, illustrating preferred embodiments.

Drawings

The following drawings are only schematic illustrations and explanations of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows the information transfer between a user device UD and a server S according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of an HMI programming tool in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of an HMI programmed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the correspondence of a combination of puzzle pieces to an HMI running on controller C, and an HMI presented on device simulator M.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a schematic diagram of a programming tool according to yet another embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly understand the technical features, objects and effects of the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals indicate the same or structurally similar but functionally identical elements.

"exemplary" means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration" herein, and any illustration, embodiment, or steps described as "exemplary" herein should not be construed as a preferred or advantageous alternative.

For the sake of simplicity, the drawings only schematically show the parts relevant to the present invention, and they do not represent the actual structure as a product. In addition, for simplicity and clarity of understanding, only one of the components having the same structure or function is schematically illustrated or labeled in some of the drawings.

In this document, "one" means not only "only one" but also a case of "more than one". In addition, in this document, "first", "second", and the like are used only for distinguishing one from another, and do not indicate the degree of importance, the order, and the like thereof.

The inventors of the present invention propose: a programming tool based on a puzzle form provides a platform for facilitating the programming of a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for a controller. An HMI programming platform based on a visual puzzle-type programming tool can greatly simplify the complexity of HMI programming and increase the flexibility and customization thereof. A user (e.g., an engineer) can customize the HMI for the controller as needed for the actual application scenario.

Chinese patent application entitled "programming tool for a controller in a building and a server providing the same", filed on even date herewith and filed by the applicant as the present applicant, proposes the use of a programming tool in the form of a visual mosaic as a programming tool for a controller in a building, in particular an HVAC or BAS, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Frame structure

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an architecture 100 of a controller HMI programming platform according to one embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 1, a User Device UD (UD: User Device) may be connected to a Server S (S: Server) via a network NET. The user device UD may here be a laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone or any terminal device that may access the network via a web browser, which may be connected to the controller C. The service area S may be a stand-alone server, or a group of server-implemented cloud servers, comprising one or more memories in which one or more resource files are stored, said resource files being capable of presenting a programming user interface (P-UI) after rendering on a web browser of a User Device (UD); it also includes one or more processors configured to discover relevant responses from received requests or to complete relevant tasks upon request.

The user may make an access request 110 to the server S via a WEB Browser (WEB _ B: WEB-Browser) that is self-contained on the user device UD. For example, from the perspective of the user, the user only needs to enter a corresponding uniform Resource locator url (uniform Resource locator) in the address bar of the WEB browser WEB _ B, and can issue the access request 110 for obtaining the programming service.

Upon receiving the access request 110, the server S sends a Programming User Interface P-UI (P-UI) as a response 120 to the User device UD different from the controller C. Here, the response 120 preferably includes a resource file (e.g., JavaScript, css, png, etc.) corresponding to the programming user interface P-UI being sent to the web browser of the user device UD for rendering. The WEB browser WEB-B on the user device UD renders the user interface, e.g. as shown in fig. 2, on the display of the user device UD. The user can manipulate elements on the user interface to achieve their desired HMI programming. As shown in FIG. 2, the programming user interface P-UI provides a plurality of manipulatable puzzle pieces 220. Each puzzle piece represents one or a set of instructions, also referred to as a logical unit or a functional block, that can be executed on controller C. The concatenation of puzzle pieces 220 with one another (e.g., concatenation point 230) represents the logical relationship between these functional blocks. For HMI programming, a combination of puzzle pieces is used to present the HMI on the controller. The details of the P-UI will be described in detail below.

In this manner, the user manipulates the puzzle pieces shown in FIG. 2 to form a puzzle result that includes the puzzle pieces and their connected relationship to each other, as shown in programmed region P in FIG. 2. This puzzle result may then represent the HMI that the user desires the controller to present. After the user clicks the button 280 in the upper right corner of fig. 2, the programming user interface P-UI may transfer the tile data 130 finally completed by the user to the server S. Preferably, the tile data 130 can be represented in a descriptive language, such as a logical file recorded in an XML language. Preferably, puzzle data 130 can include the names, locations, and connections between the contained puzzle pieces. The logical file carrying the tile data 130 can be delivered to the server S by a data delivery technique between the web browser and the server (e.g., Ajax: asynchronous JavaScript and XML + Json: JavaScript Object notification).

After receiving the logic file carrying the puzzle data 130, the server S parses and compiles the logic file. The server S compiles to generate an HMI file 140 (e.g., HMI. The server S then passes the generated HMI file 140 to the user device UD. In this way, the user may download the executable HMI file 140 from the web browser and store it on the entity controller C for execution and presentation of the desired HMI.

With the architecture described in FIG. 1, a user can complete online controller HMI programming without installing client software and obtain an executable file that can run on the controller.

Programming interface

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a logical programming page of a workspace 200 of the programming user interface P-UI. As shown in FIG. 2, the P-UI 200 includes a tool area T and a programming area P, wherein the tool area T is indicated by light shading and the programming area P is indicated by white. Within tool region T, the P-UI provides at least two puzzle pieces 220-x (x ═ 1-9) that can be manipulated, and these puzzle pieces 220-x constitute the most basic functional blocks. For simplicity, reference will be made below to the reference 220 to the entirety of puzzle pieces and to unspecified individuals. Each puzzle piece 220 represents one or a set of instructions that may be executed within controller C. Each puzzle piece 220 has at least one input 222 and/or at least one output 224. As can be seen in FIG. 2, each output 224 is a projection of the puzzle piece 220. Each input 222 is a notch or opening of the puzzle piece 220. When two puzzle pieces are compatible with each other, the input of one puzzle piece can be intermeshed with the output of the other puzzle piece, as shown at junction 230.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the puzzle pieces 220 presented within programming region P are attributed to a display group, that is, the combination of puzzle pieces 220 is used to present an HMI on a controller. In the example of FIG. 2, the display set includes two types of puzzle pieces, one of which is a page piece (e.g., puzzle pieces 220-1 and 220-2) and two of which are row pieces (e.g., puzzle piece 220-3). Each page block corresponds to a screen on the LCD of the controller C, i.e. one page of the HMI. Each line block corresponds to a line of information in a page of the HMI.

Within tool region T of FIG. 2, a user may obtain a number of puzzle blocks from the "display" classification of puzzle blocks that may be used to generate an HMI, only puzzle block 220-1 (page block) and puzzle block 220-2 (sub-page block) being shown in FIG. 2. Page block 220-1 represents a page displayed on the LCD of controller C with a customizable "page name". The page block 220-1 may have a plurality of inputs, each input representing a row within the page, also referred to as row input 222-1. The sub-page block 220-2 has a row output 224-2 in addition to the row input. The row output 224-2 may be connected to the row input 222-1 of another page block to generate a dependent sub-page.

The line block 220-3 shown in FIG. 2 is used to construct a line of information within a page of the HMI. As shown in FIG. 2, row block 220-3 may include at least two inputs 222-3, for example. Each input is a tile-shaped opening into which a matching data block 220-4 may be embedded. Line block 220-3 includes, for example, at least one text entry 222-3a and one data entry 222-3 b. The text input is used to display text or graphics directly on the LCD of the controller C. The data input may then be designed to be able to be read and/or written. Row block 220-3 also includes a row output 224-3, which may be coupled to row input 222-1 of page block 220-1.

FIG. 3 illustrates the HMI ultimately formed from the puzzle pieces shown in the programming region of FIG. 2. The HMI shown in fig. 3 can be manipulated using up and down arrows, an enter key (OK key), and/or an exit key (physical keys on the controller are shown in fig. 4). Portions of the HMI content shown in FIG. 3 corresponding to puzzle pieces in FIG. 2 are identified with the same reference numerals A-G. As shown in the upper diagram of fig. 3, the HMI presented by the controller C on the LCD starts with the "acousto-optic illumination" page a as the home page. The start page is preferably marked with the current date and time. Three information lines B are included in the "acousto-optic illumination" page. The current state of the text C- "Voice activated switch" is OFF in the first line. Here, OFF means that the current state of the "voice control switch input" channel is an OFF state. The text "current illumination delay" is displayed in the second row for 360S, i.e. the current value D for the "illumination delay" channel is 360S. The third row enters row E for a sub-page "lighting control". If the OK button is pressed in this row, the "lighting control" sub-page shown in fig. 3B may be entered. The sub-page shown in the middle graph in fig. 3 contains one information line showing a "current illuminance" of 20Lm (lumens). The user continues to press the arrow and may proceed to a subsequent page of the sub-page, namely "light settings" page F as shown in the lower diagram of fig. 3. Two setting values, namely, the illumination setting and the delay setting, are shown in the page shown in the lower diagram of fig. 3. For the two information lines shown in the lower diagram of fig. 3, if the user presses the OK button, the setting for the line can be entered. For example, the minimum value of the lighting setting may be changed to 25Lm, or the delay setting may be modified to 200S. The user-set value is written into the corresponding data-type input variable G in fig. 2.

As such, an HMI that may be rendered on the LCD of the controller C may be conveniently composed and generated using the P-UI shown in FIG. 2. The user can design the expected HMI according to the actual requirement without any software development knowledge and update the HMI to the controller C in time. In addition, developers can also generate HMI for new controller products in a similar manner. This will also greatly reduce development costs.

Equipment simulator

According to another aspect of the invention, the P-UI as shown in FIG. 2 may also provide a user with a plant simulator running, for example, on a Personal Computer (PC) platform, which may fully simulate the HMI of the controller C or the control logic of the controller C.

Turning now to FIG. 2, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the P-UI 200 also has a button 270 thereon. If the user clicks the button 270 the user device UD sends a request 150 to generate a device simulator to the server S, as shown in fig. 1. The request 150 may include tile data (e.g., display groups as shown in figure 2) generated based on the P-UI. The server S parses or compiles the tile data in the request 150 to generate an HMI file 160 (e.g., HMI. gui), which may constitute an HMI for the device simulator M. The server S may pass this HMI file 160 to the user device UD. Preferably, the device simulator M may be an executable file (e.g., an exe file) that may run on, for example, a PC. The executable file may be provided to the user device UD together with the P-UI resource file. The HMI file 160 is designed in a form that can be called by the device simulator M. Once the user runs the device simulator M, the device simulator M automatically invokes the HMI file 160. In this way, the plant simulator M can fully simulate the HMI of the controller C. In other words, the plant simulator M is able to present an HMI identical to the HMI present on the controller (C).

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the correspondence of a combination of puzzle pieces to an HMI running on controller C, and an HMI presented on device simulator M. As shown in fig. 4, in one example, the tile data 400 compiled and formed on the P-UI may generate two HMI files, one HMI file, such as an HMI. Gui, ultimately, converts to HMI in fig. 4 within region H, which is the same HMI on entity controller C. Preferably, the two HMI files can be obtained simultaneously by a single parse and compilation.

The plant simulator M shown in fig. 4 can simulate the control logic of the controller C in addition to the HMI capable of simulating the controller C. FIG. 5 illustrates a P-UI 500 according to yet another embodiment of the invention. In the P-UI 500, the programming region P contains not only the puzzle pieces 220 used to generate the controller HMI, but also puzzle pieces 520 used to form the control logic of the controller. Each puzzle piece 520 corresponds to one or a set of instructions that can be executed by the controller C. The combination of puzzle pieces 520 is used to implement control logic, such as logic or an algorithm to control the opening of a water valve, on controller C.

The tile data comprising tile block 520 is also compiled on the server side S. The server S first parses the tile data and generates a source code (e.g., C code, ubc.c) corresponding to the tile data, and then compiles the source code to generate a control logic execution file 180 (e.g., ctrl.bin) that can be executed by the controller C. The control logic execution file 180(ctrl. bin) may be sent to the user device UD together with the HMI execution file (HMI. bin). The user device UD stores it on the controller C and executes it. At the same time, the server S may also compile this source code (ubc.c) based on the PC platform to generate at least one library file 190 (e.g.,. DLL) that can be called by the device simulator M (. exe) running on the PC platform, so that the device simulator M executes almost the same control logic as the controller C. In this way, the user can perform simulated debugging of the controller by using the device simulator M. The control logic referred to herein includes not only the control algorithm or control logic of the controller, but also the communication function (e.g., Modbus-based communication function) of the controller. The control logic containing the communication functions can also be included in the library file, called by the device simulator M, by compilation to the PC platform. Thus, the device simulator M can use the communication port on the PC platform, such as a network card, a serial port, etc., to complete the same network function as the controller. Thus, the user can also debug the communication function of the controller using the device simulator M.

The device simulator M shown in fig. 4 is a simulator that runs on a PC platform (windows platform). Optionally, the device simulator M may also be designed to run on other operating system platforms, for example on a mobile terminal device platform or on an android system platform. Accordingly, the corresponding modification or different compilation is required according to different operating system platforms.

It should be understood that although the present description has been described in terms of various embodiments, not every embodiment includes only a single embodiment, and such description is for clarity purposes only, and those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments described herein may be combined as suitable to form other embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The above-listed detailed description is only a specific description of a possible embodiment of the present invention, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and equivalent embodiments or modifications such as combinations, divisions or repetitions of features, which do not depart from the technical spirit of the present invention, should be included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of generating a Human Machine Interface (HMI) for a building controller, comprising:

-providing a response (120) comprising a programming user interface (P-UI) in response to an access request (110) from a User Device (UD) different from said controller (C);

wherein the programming user interface (P-UI) is capable of being rendered by a WEB browser (WEB-B) on the User Device (UD) and, upon rendering, the programming user interface (P-UI) comprises:

a manipulable at least two first puzzle pieces (220), each first puzzle piece (220) corresponding to one or a set of instructions executable by the controller (C), the combination of the at least two first puzzle pieces (220) being for presenting an HMI on the controller (C);

receiving a compilation request from the User Device (UD), the compilation request comprising puzzle data (130) generated based on the programming user interface (P-UI), the puzzle data (130) comprising relevant data of the at least two first puzzle pieces;

compiling the puzzle data (130) to generate a first HMI file (140) executable by the controller (C) and providing the first HMI file (140) to the User Device (UD);

wherein compiling the tile data (130) further comprises:

parsing the puzzle data (130) to generate a second HMI file (160), the second HMI file (160) usable by a device simulator (M) running on an operating system platform to enable the device simulator (M) to present an HMI identical to the HMI on the controller (C).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein compiling the tile data (130) comprises:

compiling the puzzle data (130) to simultaneously generate the first HMI file (140) and a second HMI file (160), the second HMI file (160) being callable by a device simulator (M) running on an operating system platform to enable the device simulator (M) to present an HMI identical to the HMI on the controller (C).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least two first puzzle pieces (220) include:

at least one page block (220-1), each said page block corresponding to a page of said HMI, each said page block (220-1) comprising at least one line input (222-1);

at least one line block (220-3), each line block corresponding to a line in a page of the HMI, each said line block comprising at least one input (222-2) and one line output (224-2), the line output (224-2) being connectable to one line input (222-1) of the page block (220-1).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least two first puzzle pieces (220) further comprise:

at least one sub-page block (220-2), each of said page blocks corresponding to a sub-page of said HMI, each of said sub-page blocks (220-2) comprising a line output (224-2) and at least one line input (222-1), wherein said line output (224-2) is connectable to a line input (222-1) of said page block (220-1).

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the page block (220-1) is cascadable with the sub-page block (220-2), the page block concatenated with the sub-page block corresponding to a subsequent page of the sub-page.

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein each of said line blocks (220-3) comprises at least one text-type input (222-3a) and at least one data-type input (222-3b), and said line blocks (220-3) are designed to be able to read and/or write to said data-type input (222-3 b).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating system platform is one of an operating system platform of a personal computer, a cell phone, or a tablet operating system platform.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, when rendered on the web browser, the programming user interface (P-UI):

also provided are at least two second puzzle pieces (520) that are manipulable, each second puzzle piece (520) corresponding to one or a set of instructions executable by the controller (C), the combination of the at least two second puzzle pieces (520) being used to implement control logic on the controller (C);

the puzzle data (130) comprises a combination of the second puzzle pieces;

the compiling step further comprises:

compiling the puzzle data (130) including the second puzzle piece (520) to generate a control logic execution file (180) executable by the controller (C);

the method further comprises the following steps:

-sending the control logic execution file (180) to the User Device (UD).

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the compiling step further comprises:

compiling the tile data (130) including the second tile block (520) to generate a library file (190) that can be called by the device simulator (M) running on the operating system platform such that the device simulator (M) executes the same control logic as the controller (C).

10. A server for providing a Human Machine Interface (HMI) programming tool for a building controller, comprising:

one or more memories storing one or more resource files capable of presenting a programming user interface (P-UI) upon rendering on a web browser of a User Device (UD);

one or more processors configured to perform the method recited in any of claims 1-9.