JP2001209414A - Equipment for sequence program test - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sequence program test equipment that boosts test work efficiency by making possible automatic recall for test action instructions when a real PLC with a communication function or a PLC emulator activated through a communication message is used for the testing instructions. SOLUTION: The sequence program test equipment has a PLC part with the communication function where an objective test sequence program is loaded, a communication control part that dispatches and manages a communication message for the PLC part, a communication data recording part that generates a communication record by recording the communication messages dispatched transmitted by the communication control part, an record storage part that stores the data records generated by the communication data storage part, and a communication recall part that recalls the communication message for the PLC part on the basis of communication record storage in the record storage part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sequence program test apparatus using a PLC having a communication function (a real PLC or a PLC emulator).
The present invention relates to a sequence program test apparatus capable of automatically reproducing operation instructions by recording and reproducing a series of communication messages used for giving operation instructions necessary for a desired test to a PLC.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a test method of a sequence program, an I / O of an actual PLC in which the program is to be mounted is used.
There is a device in which the / O port is disconnected from the outside, an indicator light and an operation switch are connected thereto, and the operation switches are manually operated in the sequence to visually recognize the operation output at that time with the indicator light.

In the case of a PLC having a communication function, there are other test methods. In this test method, an act equivalent to the above-described switch operation or indicator light recognition is replaced with an operation instruction by a communication command, and the communication command corresponding to the operation instruction is exchanged between a test tool and a PLC real machine on which the program is to be mounted. It is said to exchange between.

[0004]

However, the following problems have been pointed out in such a sequence program test method.

(1) In a test using an indicator light and an operation switch, visual recognition and operation of a person are indispensable, and the test requires an extremely large number of man-hours.

(2) Since the one-cycle operation of the PLC is asynchronous with the input from the operation switch and the communication command from the personal computer, the operation needs to be synchronized with the one-cycle operation of the PLC (for example, an operation using a timer as a trigger). And clock pulse operation) cannot be sufficiently verified.

(3) In the case of a test using a program via a communication command, it is necessary to create test data corresponding to operation of an operation switch in advance, and when performing various tests, a large amount of test data is created. Need to be done.

(4) It is assumed that a PLC on which a sequence program to be tested is mounted and an external device (for example, a personal computer, a programmable terminal, another PLC, etc. functioning as a test tool) are operated in a mutually linked manner. When performing a sequence program test, the data generated by the external device is analyzed and re-input as test program data, or the external device connected to the PLC is operated in accordance with the operation of the operation switch. It is necessary, and many man-hours are required to perform the test.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem. It is an object of the present invention to use a PLC real machine or a PLC emulator having a communication function and perform a test operation via a communication message. An object of the present invention is to improve the work efficiency of this type of sequence program test by enabling automatic reproduction of a test operation instruction in a sequence program test apparatus that gives the instruction of (1).

Another object of the present invention is to provide a test apparatus for a sequence program which uses a PLC real machine or a PLC emulator having a communication function and gives a test operation instruction through a communication message. A test operation instruction can be given in synchronization with the operation, and an operation that needs to be synchronized with one cycle operation of the PLC (for example, an operation triggered by a timer or a clock pulse operation) can be easily verified. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sequence program test apparatus which uses a PLC real machine or a PLC emulator having a communication function and gives an instruction of a test operation via a communication message. PL where the program is installed
C and external equipment (for example, personal computer, programmable terminal, other PLC, etc. functioning as a test tool)
The object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily verify the connection operation between the two.

Still other objects and effects of the present invention will be easily understood by those skilled in the art by referring to the description in the following specification.

[0013]

A sequence program test apparatus according to the present invention includes a PLC section having a communication function in which a sequence program to be tested is mounted, and a communication management section for managing delivery of a communication message to the PLC section. A communication recording unit that records a communication message managed by the communication management unit and creates a communication record;
A record storage unit that stores a communication record created by the communication recording unit, and a communication reproduction unit that can reproduce an operation instruction by a communication message to the PLC unit based on the communication record stored in the record storage unit. It has.

The "PLC with communication function" includes both a PLC real machine used for actual control and a PLC emulator that virtually realizes the functions of the PLC real machine on, for example, a personal computer. Here, the “communication function”
For example, it means a reception function that receives a communication message and performs processing in accordance with the communication message, or a transmission function that transmits a communication message to a specified destination when a communication command exists in the sequence program. I have.

According to such a configuration, the PLC in which the sequence program to be tested is incorporated
If a communication message (command sequence) corresponding to a desired test operation is sent to the actual device or the PLC emulator by manual operation of a programming tool or the like, a communication record of the communication message is stored as test data. After that, based on the stored communication record, the PLC
The operation instruction by the communication message to the actual machine or the PLC emulator can be reproduced, and the work efficiency of this type of sequence program test can be significantly improved.

In a preferred embodiment, the test apparatus of the present invention has a counter unit for counting one cycle operation of the sequence program, and the communication recording unit records the count value of the counter unit in association with a communication message. And a synchronization management unit that controls one cycle operation of the sequence program, thereby synchronizing and reproducing the one cycle operation instruction by the communication message and the one cycle operation of the sequence program.

According to such a configuration, the PLC
By reproducing communication in synchronization with one cycle operation of the actual device or the PLC emulator, a test operation (for example, an operation triggered by a timer or a clock pulse operation) synchronized with one cycle operation becomes possible.

In a preferred embodiment, in the test apparatus of the present invention, the communication recording unit has a function of recording a communication message from a transmission source within the same computer, via a network, or via serial communication.

Here, "Sender in the same computer"
Includes, for example, a test tool (an application program having a function of operating a PLC real machine or a PLC emulator through a communication message) implemented in software inside a personal computer or the like configuring the test apparatus. It is.

The “transmission source via the network” includes, for example, a PLC real machine to be tested or another PLC real machine connected to a PLC emulator via an external network such as a dedicated FA communication or an Ethernet (Ethernet). And other PLC emulators connected to the PLC emulator to be tested via a new network emulator separately proposed by the present applicant.

The “source via serial communication” is, for example, a program terminal (PT) or a barcode reader connected to a PLC to be tested or a PLC emulator via serial communication such as RS232C or RS422. External devices are included.

According to such a configuration, since a communication message from an externally connected device can be stored and used as test data, a PLC actual device or a PLC emulator in which a sequence program to be tested is mounted and other devices Devices (eg, personal computers, programmable terminals, other PLCs that function as test tools)
) Can be easily verified.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a sequence program test apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a test apparatus implemented on a computer such as a personal computer.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a sequence program test apparatus 1 according to the present invention.
0 is a computer that implements the software in a software manner. As the computer 1, a commercially available personal computer (for example, Wins
ows95 / 98 / NT4.0 etc.).

Reference numeral 2 denotes an actual PLC built in a control device for controlling manufacturing equipment or a control panel separately installed. These PLC real machines 2, 2
Is connected to the computer 1 via a network 4 such as FA dedicated communication or Ethernet (Ethernet) as described later.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an external device having a serial communication function. Examples of the external device 3 include a barcode reader and a programmable terminal (PT). The external device 3 communicates with a serial communication device 5 such as RS-232C or RS-422 as described later.
Is connected to the computer 1 via the.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a test apparatus for a sequence program implemented in software in the computer 1. This test apparatus 10 constitutes a main part of the present invention.

The function of the test apparatus 10 is, in short, a PLC emulator 10 on which a sequence program is mounted.
0, the sequence program, the I / O port,
When verifying the operation of the memory, etc., test data for verification is created and saved as a history of communication messages from the outside, and communication messages are automatically reproduced from the created and saved test data to test sequence programs. Can be automated.

More specifically, the test apparatus 10
Are a PLC emulator unit 100 and a communication management unit 101
, A record storage unit 102, a communication reproduction unit 103, and a synchronization management unit 104.

The PLC emulator section 100 has a sequence program to be tested. PLC
The emulator unit 100 realizes the same operation as that of the actual PLC in software based on a given sequence program. As is well known to those skilled in the art, PLC
The basic operation of the actual device includes an I / O refresh operation, an instruction execution operation, a peripheral service processing operation for communication with an external device, and the like. PLC emulator section 100
Then, all or main operations of these operations are simulated.

Further, it is important to note that the PLC emulator unit 100 is provided with a communication function. The communication function referred to here includes the reception processing shown in FIG. 2 and the transmission processing shown in FIG.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, in the reception-time process, while waiting for reception of a communication message (step 201), in response to the arrival of the communication message, interpretation of a command included in the incoming communication message is performed. Is performed (step 202), and a process corresponding to the interpretation result is executed (step 203). As is well known, read / write processing for an I / O memory or a sequence program is defined as a command.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the transmission process, a transmission message is prepared in response to a transmission command or the like inserted in the sequence program (step 301). In the transmission message creation process, a destination address and transmission data are set. Next, transmission processing of the created message is performed (step 3).
02).

The PLC emulator section 100 further includes a communication recording section 100a and a counter section 100b. The counter section 100b has a function of counting one cycle operation of the PLC emulator section 100 and generating a cycle count value. On the other hand, the communication recording unit 1
00a has a function of recording a communication message which is managed by the communication management unit 101 to be described later and creating a communication record. In particular, the communication recording unit 1 shown in this embodiment
00a, the communication message is sent to the counter 100
b is recorded in association with the cycle count value generated by b.

The communication management section 101 has a function of managing delivery of a communication message to the PLC emulator section 100. In other words, the communication management unit 101 manages communication paths through which communication messages pass.

The record storage unit 102 includes a communication recording unit 100a
Has a function to save the communication record created in the above as a communication history so that it can be reproduced at the time of the test. As described above, each communication record constituting the communication history is:
The communication message and the cycle count value are recorded in association with each other.

The communication reproducing unit 103 has a function of reproducing an operation instruction by a communication message to the PLC emulator unit 100 based on the communication history stored in the recording storage unit 102. At this time, the synchronization management unit 104 controls the cycle operation of the PLC emulator unit 100 so that the operation instruction based on the reproduced communication message is synchronized with the operation timing of the cycle operation of the PLC emulator unit 100.

In FIG. 1, an application program 11 is a program for operating the PLC emulator unit 100 via a communication message.

The above is summarized as follows. The test apparatus 10 includes a PLC emulator unit 10 having a communication function on which a sequence program to be tested is mounted.
0, a communication management unit 101 that manages delivery of communication messages to the PLC emulator unit 100, and a communication management unit 1
01, a communication recording unit 100a for recording a communication message whose delivery is managed by the communication recording unit 01 and creating a communication record;
Record storage unit 1 for storing the communication record created in 00a
02, and a communication reproduction unit 103 that can reproduce an operation instruction by a communication message to the PLC emulator unit 100 based on the communication record stored in the record storage unit 102.

The test apparatus 10 has a counter unit 100b for counting one cycle operation of the sequence program, and the communication recording unit 100a records the count value of the counter unit 100b in association with the communication message. And a synchronization management unit 104 that controls one cycle operation of the sequence program to synchronize and reproduce an operation instruction of one cycle unit by a communication message and one cycle operation of the sequence program.

Further, the communication recording unit 100a in the test apparatus 10 includes the application program 11, which is the transmission source in the same computer 1, and the network 4
PLCs 2 and 2 or serial communication 5
It has a function of recording a communication message from the external device 3 that is the transmission source via the device.

Next, several examples of the operation of reproducing an operation instruction by a communication message to the PLC emulator unit 100 based on the communication record stored in the record storage unit 102 will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the data reproduction process by the asynchronous system. In this example, the PLC emulator unit 1 retransmits the message again based on the history of the communication message stored in the record storage unit 102.
External factors for I / O ports, memories, etc. of 00 are reproduced. At this time, the contents of the memory of the PLC emulator unit 100 are stored in order to confirm the result of the sequence operation.

That is, in this data reproduction process, in step 401, it is determined whether or not there is a communication history to be reproduced in the record storage unit 102. In step 402, the communication message is retransmitted to the PLC emulator unit 100 based on the communication history, on condition that the communication history exists. In step 403, the process waits for a communication response from the PLC emulator unit 100. Step 4
In step 04, a confirmation data reception message is transmitted to the PLC emulator unit 100 on condition that a communication response has arrived. In step 405, the PLC emulator unit 10
It waits for a communication response from 0. In step 406, the reception data for confirmation is stored corresponding to the retransmission message on condition that the communication response has arrived.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the data reproduction process by the synchronous method. In this example, as compared with the asynchronous method, retransmission is performed while controlling the cycle operation of the PLC emulator unit 100, so that the communication message and the operation of the sequence program can be synchronized using the cycle counter.

That is, in this data reproduction process, in step 501, it is determined whether or not there is a communication history to be reproduced in the record storage unit 102. In step 502, on the condition that there is a communication history, the arrival of communication timing is determined based on the cycle count value recorded in association with the communication message and the separately generated current cycle count value. In step 503, on condition that the communication timing has not arrived, the PLC
An instruction is issued to the emulator unit 100 to execute one cycle, and after the end of one cycle execution, the process returns to step 502 to determine the arrival of communication timing. At step 504, the communication message is updated on condition that it is determined at step 502 that the communication timing has come. In step 505, the PLC
It waits for a communication response from the emulator unit 100. In step 506, a confirmation data reception message is transmitted to the PLC emulator unit 100 on condition that a communication response has arrived. In step 507, the process waits for the arrival of a communication response from the PLC emulator unit 100.
In step 508, the reception data for confirmation is stored corresponding to the retransmission message on condition that the communication response has arrived.

Next, some examples of a method for creating test data will be described.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of test data creation based on the operation history of the program development tool. As shown in the figure, in this example, the PLC emulator unit 100
The communication history recorded at the time of the operation performed via the communication message to the
Save to 2. At this time, operations performed via the communication message include compulsory setting of an I / O area, compulsory setting of a memory area, and the like.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of test data creation based on the operation history of the external device. As shown in the figure, in this example, the barcode reader 3
is connected to the computer 1 and the data of the reading result of the barcode reader 3a is stored as test data in the recording and storage unit 1.
02.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of test data creation based on the operation history of the external device. As shown in the figure, in this example, the programmable terminal (PT) 3b is connected to the computer 1, and the operation data by a person on the terminal 3b is stored in the recording storage unit 102 as test data.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of test data creation by communication with a network connection device. In this example, communication messages between the PLC emulator unit 100 and devices (PLC 2, computer 6, and other programmable terminals not shown) connected to the computer via the network 4 are recorded and stored as test data. Stored in the unit 102.

According to the embodiment described above, the following excellent functions and effects are expected.

(1) By automatically performing a test of a sequence program, the number of test steps can be reduced.

(2) Since test data can be created from I / O ports and memory change history manually operated from a programming tool of a sequence program or the like, the number of data creation steps can be reduced.

(3) Since the communication data from the externally connected device can be stored and used as test data, the verification of the linked operation with the external device becomes easy.

(4) By reproducing communication in synchronization with one cycle operation of the emulator, a test synchronized with the cycle operation can be performed.

In the above embodiment, the execution of the sequence program is entrusted to the PLC emulator. However, it goes without saying that the execution of the sequence program may be entrusted to the actual PLC.

[0059]

As is apparent from the above description, a communication message corresponding to a desired test operation is issued to a PLC actual machine or a PLC emulator in which a sequence program to be tested is incorporated by manual operation of a programming tool or the like. When the (command sequence) is sent, the communication record of those communication messages is stored as test data. Thereafter, based on the stored communication records, the operation instruction by the communication message to the actual PLC or the PLC emulator is reproduced. The work efficiency of this type of sequence program test can be significantly improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the actual PLC or P
By reproducing communication in synchronization with the one-cycle operation of the LC emulator, a test operation (for example, an operation triggered by a timer or a clock pulse operation) synchronized with the one-cycle operation becomes possible.

Further, according to the present invention, since a communication message from an externally connected device can be stored and used as test data, a PLC real machine or a PLC emulator on which a sequence program to be tested is mounted and other devices (For example, a connection operation with a personal computer, a programmable terminal, another PLC, or the like functioning as a test tool) can be easily verified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a test device implemented on a personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a reception process of a PLC emulator unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating transmission processing of a PLC emulator unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing data reproduction processing by an asynchronous system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a data reproduction process by a synchronous method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of test data creation based on an operation history of a program development tool.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of test data creation based on an operation history of an external device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of test data creation based on the operation history of the external device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of test data creation by communication with a network connection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 computer 2 PLC 3 external device 3a barcode reader 3b programmable terminal 4 network 5 serial communication 6 computer 10 test device 11 application program 11a sequence program development tool 100 PLC emulator unit 100a communication recording unit 100b counter unit 101 communication management unit 102 record Storage unit 103 Communication reproduction unit 104 Synchronization management unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A PLC section having a communication function in which a sequence program to be tested is installed, a communication management section that manages delivery of a communication message to the PLC section, and a communication message that is managed by the communication management section. A communication recording unit for recording to create a communication record; a record storage unit for storing the communication record created by the communication recording unit; and the PLC based on the communication record stored in the record storage unit.
And a communication reproducing unit capable of reproducing an operation instruction by a communication message to the unit. 2. A communication unit comprising: a counter unit for counting one cycle operation of a sequence program;
It has a function of recording the count value of the counter unit in association with a communication message, and further controls one cycle operation of the sequence program, thereby enabling one cycle unit of operation instruction by the communication message and one cycle operation of the sequence program. The sequence program test device according to claim 1, further comprising: a synchronization management unit configured to perform synchronization and reproduction. 3. The sequence program test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication recording unit has a function of recording a communication message from a transmission source within the same computer, via a network, or via serial communication. 4. A transmission / reception function having a transmission / reception function, comprising: a cycle counting unit for counting cycle operations of a sequence program to generate a cycle count value; and a communication recording unit for recording an external communication message in association with the cycle count value. PLC emulator device. 5. A storage medium storing a computer-executable program, the program comprising: a program code for implementing a function of a PLC for interpreting and executing a sequence program; and a cycle for counting a cycle operation of the PLC. A storage medium comprising: a program code for realizing a function of generating a count value; and a program code for realizing a function of recording a communication message to a PLC in association with a cycle count value. 6. A storage medium storing a computer-executable program, wherein the program has a function of reading a communication message history and reconstructing the communication message in order to retransmit the communication message as a communication message to a PLC. A storage medium comprising: a program code for realizing; and a program code for realizing a function of transmitting a retransmitted communication message in synchronization with a cycle operation of a PLC.