JP2006099566A - Screen forming device, screen forming program and storage medium recording the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently change a common attribute of parts (objects) or the like constituting a screen of a programmable display or the like. <P>SOLUTION: A plotting editor forming a screen displays a theme selecting window 101 on a plotting window 102. The theme selecting window 101 includes attributes of objects, and displays theme patterns 103 so that their attributes appear on the appearances. The attribute of each object is preliminarily set so as to follow a common attribute (theme) setting. One of the theme patterns 103 is selected and determined in the theme selecting window 101, whereby the plotting editor collectively converts the attributes of the objects following the theme setting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen creation device, a screen creation program, and a recording medium on which a screen creation program that facilitates changing an attribute of an object included in a screen displayed on a display device such as a programmable display.

  The programmable display has an interface with the host controller (PLC), displays the operating status of the device connected to the host controller, and accepts an operation input for giving a control instruction to the device from the screen. This is an operation-type display with a function. In general, since the programmable display has a graphic display function, it can display an operation panel, a switch, an indicator lamp, and the like, and serves as an operation terminal in the control system.

  The screen displayed on such a programmable display can be created by the user by using screen creation software (drawing software) according to the specifications of the control system. When creating a screen, a user configures a desired screen by using components, drawing functions, and the like provided by drawing software in a personal computer or the like.

  The above parts are images representing switches, numeric keys, meter displays, graph displays, etc., and are prepared in advance in drawing software in a library format so that they can be combined and handled as actual parts. In addition, the above-described component is used in combination with an image representing the component and setting data for expressing the dynamic change of the image at a designated position on the screen. The setting data is stored in the memory of the programmable display as part of the screen data.

  The created screen is transferred to the programmable display device as screen data and stored. When the host controller is in operation, output components such as a meter display on the screen displayed on the display unit of the programmable display dynamically change according to the state of the device connected to the host controller. Further, an input operation on the screen to an input component such as a switch is given to the device as a control instruction.

  In the drawing software, a part provided by the manufacturer of the drawing software is usually used. However, if the prepared part is to be used with a desired specification, the specification must be changed by the user himself / herself. Patent documents 1 and 2 are mentioned as literature which indicated the art which changes the specification of such parts. Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose that a part is handled as an object and the attributes (color, shape, etc.) of the object are rewritten by an editor.

In order to change the attributes using such an editor, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the parts whose attributes are to be changed are selected one by one, and the attributes of the shape and color are changed. Specifically, for each part, the attribute represented by characters is changed using a dialog box or a list of attributes, and as shown in FIG. 10, each screen 1001, 1002,. Rewrite the attributes of the objects 1-1, 1-2,.
JP 2001-266171 A (published September 28, 2001) JP 2003-150212 A (published May 23, 2003)

  However, in the attribute changing method as described above, even if each component is changed to a common attribute, an operation for changing the attribute one by one is required for each component. Therefore, if the attributes are changed for all the parts on the screen on which a large number of parts are arranged, or the attributes of the parts are changed for a large number of such screens, the labor of the operation becomes enormous.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently change common attributes of parts and the like (objects).

  The screen creation device according to the present invention is a screen creation device for creating a screen including a plurality of graphic elements, and in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the designated attribute of the graphic element is changed to a common attribute set in common. It is characterized by providing attribute changing means.

  In the above configuration, the specified attribute of the graphic element is changed to the common attribute by the attribute changing unit. As a result, if it is specified in advance that the attributes of a plurality of graphic elements are to be changed to common attributes, the attributes can be collectively changed to common attributes.

  In the screen creation device, the attribute changing unit displays a list of the common attributes, and is selected from the list-displayed common attributes for the graphic elements whose attribute settings are determined in advance according to the common attributes. It is preferable to change the attribute to a common attribute. Thus, when a desired common attribute is selected from the common attributes displayed in the list, the attribute of the graphic element determined to follow the common attribute is set to the selected common attribute. Therefore, when setting common attributes, it is possible to set these attributes as common attributes only by determining that the attribute setting of each graphic element follows the common attributes, and it is not necessary to set the attributes individually. .

  In this screen creation device, it is preferable that the attribute changing unit displays a list of attribute display figures formed so that the common attribute appears in appearance as the common attribute. Thereby, an attribute can be grasped visually. Therefore, it is possible to more easily set attributes such as colors and shapes that are visually easy to understand.

  In this screen creation device, the common attribute is preferably a plurality of types of attributes. As a result, the efficiency of batch conversion increases as the number of common attribute types increases. Therefore, it is possible to easily change the attribute at each stage as compared with the conventional attribute changing method in which each attribute represented by characters is changed one by one.

  Alternatively, the attribute changing unit preferably excludes the attribute display graphic from the list display when an attribute display graphic that is not displayed is selected from the attribute display graphic displayed in a list. Thereby, since unnecessary common attributes are not displayed, only necessary common attributes can be displayed to facilitate the common attribute changing operation.

  The screen creation program of the present invention is a screen creation program for operating any of the screen creation devices described above, and is a program that causes a computer to function as the attribute changing means. The screen creation program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Thereby, the said screen creation apparatus is realizable by making a computer read and run a program.

  As described above, the screen creation device according to the present invention changes the designated attribute of the graphic element to the common attribute set in common, so that the designated attribute can be changed to the common attribute at once. it can. Therefore, there is an effect that the attributes can be efficiently changed for the graphic elements having the common attributes.

  The embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8 as follows.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control system 1 according to this embodiment includes a host computer 2, a programmable display 3, a PLC 4, a common network 5, a dedicated network 6, and a device 7.

  The host computer 2 and the programmable display 3 are connected to each other via a common network 5. On the other hand, the programmable display 3 and the PLC 4 are connected via a dedicated network 6. The common network 5 is a network such as a local area network (LAN) made of Ethernet (registered trademark) or the like capable of performing communication using a common communication protocol (common communication protocol). The dedicated network 6 is a network composed of a serial cable or the like that can perform communication using a communication protocol (dedicated communication protocol) unique to the PLC 4. The dedicated communication protocol is often different for each PLC4 model, such as for each manufacturing company or for each product even if it is the same company, because the PLC4 has been developed from a sequencer.

  The control system 1 according to the present embodiment connects the programmable display 3 and the host computer 2 respectively connected to each PLC 4 through a common network 5 and uses a dedicated communication protocol as a common communication protocol used in the common network 5. Adopts a common protocol defined independently. Furthermore, as will be described later, the programmable display 3 also has a function of converting a protocol, for example, by performing protocol conversion such as instruction code conversion, argument conversion, or control code conversion during transmission, The communication between the host computer 2 and the PLC 4 connected to the own device is relayed.

  In such a configuration, the programmable display device 3 operates as an HMI, and therefore has more computing power than the PLC 4, and therefore handles most of the communication. For example, it is possible to communicate directly from the host computer 2 to the programmable display 3 without going through the PLC 4 like downloading screen data. Therefore, the burden on the PLC 4 can be reduced, and the calculation capability required for the entire control system 1 can be reduced. Note that the programmable display 3 has a sufficient computing capacity while waiting for an operator's operation, so that protocol conversion can be performed without improving the computing capacity for protocol conversion.

  The PLC 4 captures output data output from the input device 7 via the input unit according to a control program (ladder program) created by the user, and gives the control data to the output device 7. As the input device 7, devices such as sensors (temperature sensors, optical sensors, etc.) and switches (push button switches, limit switches, pressure switches, etc.) are used. As the output device 7, an actuator, a relay, a solenoid valve, a display, or the like is used. These devices 7 are arranged in required portions of various target systems such as a production line. Further, the device 7 may be a specific area in the memory unit 32 described later for storing data manually input from an input device such as a touch panel 33 described later.

  The memory (device memory) in the PLC 4 stores data (word data and bit data) such as the state of the device 7 and the setting value of the device 7 in an area designated by the device address. In the memory, a word device is set as an area for storing word data such as numerical values as input / output data, and is designated by a word address (device address). The bit device is set as an area for storing bit data such as an on / off state, and is set by a bit address (device address). With such a setting, it is possible to control the devices 7 simply by accessing an arbitrary word device or bit device in the PLC 4, or to individually retrieve information relating to the state thereof.

  In the following description, the device address is appropriately referred to as an address.

  The programmable display 3 includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU, and realizes an operation function and a display function specific to the programmable display by executing a program (screen data) for input operation and display created by the user. It is a computer. The programmable display 3 suitably used as the HMI of the control system 1 is based on screen data determined by combining processing instructions (tags) to be described later, the operation when displaying the state of the device 7 on the screen, The operation for controlling the state of the device 7 in accordance with the operation on the screen is specified. This programmable display 3 acquires the state of each device 7 that displays the state on the display screen via the PLC 4 connected to the self-device through communication with the PLC 4 via the dedicated network 6. 34 has a function of displaying the status of each device 7. The programmable display 3 has a function of instructing the device 7 to control the state of the device in response to an operation on the touch panel 33 described later.

  The acquisition / change of the state of the device 7 may be instructed each time, or a cache is prepared in the programmable display 3, and the cache is accessed at the time of acquisition / change, and at predetermined time intervals or at predetermined intervals. Communication may be performed for each event to synchronize with the actual device address.

  The programmable display 3 includes an HMI processing unit 31, a memory unit 32, a touch panel 33, a display 34, and interface units (I / F in the figure) 35 and 36 in order to realize the above functions. Hereinafter, each main part of the programmable display 3 will be described in detail.

  The touch panel 33 is an input device provided for performing input on the display screen of the display 34. The display 34 is preferably a flat display such as a liquid crystal display or an EL display in order to make the programmable display device 3 thin.

  The interface unit 35 is a communication control unit for the programmable display 3 to communicate with the host computer 2 and the like on the common network 5, and is connected to the common network 5. Data is transmitted to and from the host computer 2 through communication via the common network 5. On the other hand, the interface unit 36 is a communication control unit for the programmable display 3 to communicate with the PLC 4, and is connected to the dedicated network 6. Data is transmitted to and from the PLC 4 by communication via the dedicated network 6.

  In the communication system configured as described above, output data from the PLC 4 is transmitted to the programmable display 3 and further connected to the host computer 2 or the common network 5 via the programmable display 3 ( (Not shown). Further, not only the data set in the programmable display 3 is directly transmitted to the PLC 4, but also the setting data transmitted from the host computer 2 or other devices is connected to the PLC 4 as the communication destination. Is transferred to the PLC 4 via.

  The HMI processing unit 31 performs various data processing in order to perform user screen display control and protocol conversion processing, which will be described later.

  The protocol conversion process is a process of converting from one communication protocol to the other communication protocol with reference to later-described protocol conversion data stored in the FEPROM 32b when the communication protocols in the networks 5 and 6 are different from each other. The protocol conversion process is realized by executing a protocol conversion program stored in the memory unit 32 by an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU. The display control process (display control function) will be described in detail later.

  The memory unit 32 includes memories such as a DRAM 32a, a FEPROM (Flash Erasable and Programmable ROM) 32b, and an SRAM 32c.

  The DRAM 32a is mainly used for work during arithmetic processing such as display control, and is also used for temporary storage of data exchanged with the PLC 4. In particular, the DRAM 32a has a state memory area for transferring the state (device address contents) of the device 7 stored in the input / output memory of the PLC 4 to / from the input / output memory.

  The SRAM 32 c is used for logging data obtained from the PLC 4 and storing setting value data (recipe data) to be given to the PLC 4.

  The FEPROM 32b is a rewritable read-only flash memory, and serves as a hard disk drive in a general personal computer. A flash memory does not have a movable part and is resistant to impacts, and thus operates stably even in a poor ambient environment.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the FEPROM 32b has areas for storing a display control system program, protocol conversion data, a communication protocol, and screen data.

  The display control system program is a program for realizing a basic function for performing image display control. Functions realized by the display control system program in the HMI processing unit 31 will be described in detail later.

  The protocol conversion data may be in any format as long as the communication protocol can be mutually converted between the dedicated network 6 and the common network 5, but in the present embodiment, data indicating the format of data transmitted on the dedicated network 6 A transfer format and a command conversion table indicating the correspondence between command codes transmitted in both networks 5 and 6 are stored.

  The communication protocol (dedicated communication protocol) is a protocol used in communication processing with the PLC 4, and is uniquely determined according to the model (manufacturer) of the PLC 4. This communication protocol includes a command code that instructs reading of data to the PLC 4. By combining this command code with an address associated with the control function of the PLC 4, data about a desired control function can be transmitted to the PLC 4.

  The screen data is data of a screen displayed on the programmable display 3, and includes a base screen to be displayed on the display 34, data of parts, a processing instruction word W described later assigned to each part, and the like. The screen data is created by a drawing editor 23 described later and downloaded to the FEPROM 32b. This screen data is stored in the FEPROM 32b as a screen file in a file format. This screen file is composed of a graphic data part and an address data part. The graphic data portion includes graphic data such as a circle and a rectangle, part data, a character string, a processing instruction word W, and the like. The address data portion includes comments corresponding to the addresses and addresses set in the drawing editor 23 for data associated with addresses such as component data and processing instruction word W in the graphic data portion.

  The comment includes an event name such as an operation state of the device, a code corresponding to the device 7 such as SW corresponding to the switch and a lamp, and an operation instruction. Comments can also be handled as variables. The comment defined as described above is associated with a desired input / output terminal number (device address described later) corresponding to the device 7 in advance.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the processing instruction word (tag) W included in the screen data is created for each event to be executed on the base screen. The processing instruction word W basically includes the file number F of the base screen on which the display control operation is to be executed, the event name T for specifying the operation content to be executed on the base screen, and the execution event for each execution event. A set of reference information I including one or a plurality of data to be referred to is provided.

  In the programmable display device 4 according to the present embodiment, as the above-described tag, a display tag indicating the correspondence between the area (display range) on the base screen and the address of the device corresponding to the display in the area, and the area on the screen An input tag indicating a correspondence between (input range) and an address corresponding to a touch input to the region is defined. Furthermore, in this embodiment, each tag can be associated with at least one of a plurality of unit screens.

  The display tag can display a predetermined graphic at a corresponding position on the base screen in conjunction with the operation of the touch panel 33. That is, the display tag includes the file number of the base screen 27 as the file number F, includes the event name that specifies the display of the display target such as a graphic as the event name, and specifies the display coordinate range of the display target and the display target to be called. It contains the file number and the address for referencing the display target when displaying.

  Also, the input tag enables the bit device set at a predetermined address position in the state memory area provided in the DRAM 32a to be reversed in conjunction with, for example, a touch operation on the touch panel 33. That is, the input tag includes the file number of the unit screen as the file number F, the event name specifying the operation of the touch panel 33 as the event name T, and the input coordinates that validate the input operation from the touch panel 33 as the reference information I The range and the address to which data should be rewritten in conjunction with the touch operation on the touch panel 33 are included.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the screen file is composed of one or a plurality of unit screen files UF1, UF2,... UFn (hereinafter simply referred to as “UF” when commonly described for all unit screens), and each unit screen. It is constituted by a project file PF composed of related graphic files FF1, FF2,... FFm to be called from the UF and displayed. In the project file PF, for example, each unit screen file UF is hierarchically called such that the unit screen file UF2 is called from the unit screen file UF1 serving as the main screen, and the unit screen file UF3 is further called from the unit screen file UF2. Associated. In addition, the unit screen file UF is configured as one unit screen file UF by collecting data in each element configured on the base screen into one.

  The display control function of the HMI processing unit 31 is configured to display screen data, set various data on the user screen, transmit the set data to the PLC 4, and display the data received from the PLC 4 on the user screen. This display control system program is realized by causing an arithmetic processing means such as a CPU included in the programmable display 3 to execute the display control system program. This display control function extracts the display tag related to the unit screen currently being displayed from the screen data, and reads the contents of the device address related to each display tag at a predetermined cycle for the display tag. The part of the expression format specified by the tag is displayed in the specified area on the screen in a form corresponding to the read value. On the other hand, when the display control function receives an input operation on the touch panel 33, the display control function searches the screen data for an input tag corresponding to the currently displayed unit screen and matches the input operation, and indicates the device address indicated by the input tag. (Data stored in the memory area specified by the device address) is rewritten according to the input result. Thereby, the programmable display 3 displays the state of the device 7 indicated by the screen data at a display position (parts, etc.) indicated by the screen data in an expression format indicated by the screen data, or allows an input operation by a part in the screen data. Can be controlled accordingly.

  Next, the host computer 2 will be described. The host computer 2 has a CPU, a memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), an external storage device (hard disk drive, MO drive, etc.), a display device and an input device (keyboard, mouse, etc.) like a general-purpose personal computer. ing. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the host computer 2 includes a control unit 21, an interface unit (I / F in the figure) 22, a drawing editor 23, and a data storage unit 24.

  The interface unit 22 is a communication control unit for performing communication with the programmable display 3 and is connected to the common network 5.

  The control unit 21 is a part that performs arithmetic processing including a CPU and a memory, and executes a drawing editor 23 that is an application program on the operating system. The host computer 2 functions as a screen creation device by causing the control unit 21 to execute the drawing editor 23. The drawing editor 23 is recorded on a recording medium configured to be separable from the host computer 2 and can be installed in the host computer 2 from this storage medium.

  The recording medium is a computer-readable recording medium, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk system such as a flexible disk or a hard disk, an optical disk system such as a CD-ROM, MO, MD, or DVD, A card system such as an IC card (including a memory card) or an optical card is suitable. In addition, the program medium may be a medium that carries a fixed program including a semiconductor memory such as a mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash ROM, or the like.

  Further, since the control system 1 has a system configuration that can be connected to a communication network including the Internet, the control system 1 may be a medium that dynamically carries the program so as to download the program from the communication network. However, when the program is downloaded from the communication network in this way, the download program may be stored in the host computer 2 in advance or may be installed from another recording medium.

  The drawing editor 23 includes a screen creation unit 23a, an address setting unit 23b, and an attribute setting unit 23c.

  The screen creation unit 23a is capable of creating a user screen that is a user's own screen, such as switches, lamps, numeric keys, various displays (for example, numerical display, meter display, and graph display), It has a tag setting function, a drawing function, a text input function, and the like. As components, not only components having a single function but also components having a plurality of functions such as a composite switch, a counter, and a timer are prepared. Parts as graphic elements are registered in a library format so that the user can easily select them, and input tags, display tags, and the like corresponding to the functions of the parts are assigned in advance. The drawing function is used to draw line and curved line figures (graphic elements), to draw basic figures (graphic elements) such as circles, quadrilaterals, and triangles, and to fill them with specified colors and patterns in the figure. It is a function. In addition, the screen creation unit 23a collects the data of each element configured on the base screen into one unit screen file PF, and combines the plurality of unit screen files UF into one unit. The project file PF is configured.

  The parts and basic figures have attributes such as shape, color (internal coating color), and size. Therefore, the unit screen file UF includes attribute data that is data of the attribute. The parts and basic figures in the unit screen file UF are treated as objects.

  The user arranges the selected component on the base screen by an operation such as drag and drop from the displayed component list, or changes the size of the component. In addition, the user can arbitrarily draw a line drawing mainly including a straight line or a curve or the inside of a basic figure with a predetermined color or pattern, using a drawing function, almost like a conventional drawing software. Drawing figures can be created on the base screen. Furthermore, the user can individually set the processing instruction word W of the required function to an arbitrary figure drawn on the base screen from the processing instruction word group prepared by the programmable display 3 using the tag setting function. Thus, a new part different from the above parts prepared in advance in the drawing editor 23 can be created.

  The address setting unit 23b sets (corresponds to) the above-described address and a comment (variable) set by the user for the word device or bit device specified by each address. Specifically, the address setting unit 23b provides an address setting dialog box as a user interface, and sets an address input by the dialog box as a component. As a result, the component 106 is associated with the address. The address setting unit 23b also cancels the address setting.

  The attribute setting unit 23c as an attribute changing unit changes the attribute of the object to an attribute designated by the user. In addition, the attribute setting unit 23c prepares a plurality of types of attributes (common attributes) common to each object in advance as a theme, and changes an object for which the theme is specified to an attribute specified by the theme. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the attribute setting unit 23 c prepares a theme selection window 101 as a user interface, and displays the theme selection window 101 so as to overlap the drawing window 102.

  The theme selection window 101 displays a list of one or more theme graphics 103 (attribute display graphics) prepared for the objects. The theme graphic 103 is a plurality of types of graphics formed by various attributes as a theme, and includes one or more object attributes, and is formed so that the attributes appear in the appearance. For example, the theme graphic 103 shown in FIG. 5 includes two attributes for the object of the button switch 105 (component) displayed in the drawing window 102, the external shape is a square and a red graphic, the external shape is a square and a black graphic, A blue figure with a chamfered outer shape and a white circle figure are prepared.

  When the theme graphic 103 is selected and instructed with the cursor 104 by the pointing device, the attribute setting unit 23 c changes the attribute of the object for which the theme is set to the attribute specified by the theme graphic 103.

  Further, the attribute setting unit 23c prepares a non-display confirmation window 106 as a user interface for preventing the unnecessary theme graphic 103 from being displayed from the theme selection window 101. Specifically, the attribute setting unit 23c sets the non-display confirmation window 106 when the delete button in the theme selection window 101 is instructed with the cursor 104 in a state where the non-display theme graphic 103 is selected. When the OK button is instructed and displayed on the selection window 101, the theme graphic 103 is deleted from the theme selection window 101. In this way, by not displaying the unnecessary theme graphic 103, only the required theme graphic 103 can be displayed to facilitate the theme changing operation.

  Since the deleted theme graphic 103 is not deleted as data itself, it can be displayed again in the theme selection window 101 by the attribute setting unit 23c.

  Further, the attribute setting unit 23c accepts the setting of the attribute of each object by the user. The attribute data structure in the project file PF is, for example, as shown on the left side of FIG. 8, first, a project header is arranged, followed by theme settings for colors and shapes, and each object on each screen. Describes whether the color and shape attributes are set according to the theme or as individual attributes. The attribute setting unit 23c provides a user interface (not shown) in the form of a dialog box or the like that allows the user to determine whether the attribute of each object in the above data structure is set according to the theme or set as an individual attribute. .

  The data storage unit 24 is a storage device that stores the project file PF created by the drawing editor 23. The data storage unit 24 includes a storage element such as a memory or a large capacity storage device such as a hard disk device. The project file PF stored in the data storage unit 24 is transferred to the programmable display 3 and stored in the FEPROM 32b for downloading to the execution environment.

  Here, the operation of changing the attribute of the object in the control system 1 configured as described above will be described.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7, an example will be described in which a white attribute is changed to a round and black attribute in a square that is shared by a plurality of objects. In the attribute data structure in the project file PF before the attribute change, as shown on the left side of FIG. 8, the theme setting is set to white for the color and set to the square for the shape. In this data structure, the attributes (colors and shapes) of the objects 1-1, 1-2,..., 2-1, 2-2,. ing.

  Next, the theme selection window 101 is displayed by selecting it from a drop-down menu or the like with the drawing editor 23 activated. When the user selects and confirms one theme graphic 103 from the theme selection window 101, the attribute setting unit 23c changes the theme to the theme specified by the theme graphic 103 for which the theme setting has been confirmed. Thereby, as shown on the left side of FIG. 8, the theme setting is rewritten to black for the color and the circle for the shape. Since each object is set to follow the theme, the attributes of all the objects are changed to black for color and to circle for shape.

  Note that when setting an attribute that does not follow the theme, as in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 10, it is only necessary to set the attribute individually for the object to be set.

  As described above, in the present control system 1, a common theme is set in advance by the attribute setting unit 23 c provided in the drawing editor 23, and the theme is changed using the theme selection window 101. Thereby, the attribute of each object determined to follow the theme is collectively changed to the theme attribute. Therefore, when setting common attributes, it is only necessary to determine that the setting of the attributes of each object follows the theme, and these attributes can be set as the attributes of the theme, eliminating the need to set the attributes individually. Therefore, attributes can be efficiently changed for objects having common attributes.

  In addition, since the theme is changed by selecting the theme graphic 103 having a plurality of types of attributes, it is possible to visually grasp the attributes, and the more the attribute types of the theme are, the more efficient the batch conversion is. Becomes higher. Therefore, the attribute change method according to the present embodiment can greatly facilitate the attribute change compared to the conventional attribute change method in which each attribute represented by characters is changed one by one. In particular, the attribute changing method of the present embodiment is suitable for visually easy-to-understand attributes such as the color and shape of an object.

  In the present embodiment, description has been made by taking color and shape as examples of attributes, but the attributes are not limited to this. For example, for the outline, the color, line width, line type, etc. can be set as attributes, and for the internal painting, not only the color but also the presence or absence of a pattern or blinking can be set as attributes.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately changed within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  Since the screen creation device of the present invention can perform screen creation efficiently by collectively converting common attributes of objects such as parts included in a screen displayed on a programmable display or the like, programmable display It can be suitably used for the development of a control system including a container.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the program structure stored in FEPROM of the programmable display in the said control system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the basic format of the instruction | indication processing word contained in the screen data of the user screen displayed with the said programmable display. It is a figure which shows the structure of the screen file stored in the said FEPROM. It is a figure which shows the state by which the theme selection window prepared by the drawing editor of the said control system is displayed on the drawing window so that it may overlap. It is a figure which shows the state by which the non-display confirmation window for making non-display the theme figure displayed on the said theme selection window is overlapped and displayed on the theme selection window. It is a figure which shows the example which batch-converts the attribute of the object of a screen using the said theme selection window. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the attribute before and behind the attribute conversion shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the prior art example which converts the attribute of the object of a screen. It is a figure which shows the data structure of the attribute before and behind the attribute conversion shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2 Host computer (screen creation device)
23 drawing editor 23c attribute setting part (attribute changing means)
101 Theme selection window 103 Theme figure (attribute display figure)
105 Button switch (graphic element)
106 Hidden confirmation window

Claims (7)

In a screen creation device for creating a screen including a plurality of graphic elements,
An apparatus for creating a screen, comprising: attribute changing means for changing a specified attribute of the graphic element to a common attribute set in common.   The attribute changing means displays the common attribute in a list and changes the attribute to a common attribute selected from the displayed common attribute for the graphic element whose attribute setting is determined in advance according to the common attribute. The screen creation apparatus according to claim 1.   The screen creation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the attribute changing unit displays a list of attribute display graphics formed so that the common attribute appears in appearance as the common attribute.   The screen creation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the common attribute is a plurality of types of attributes.   4. The screen creation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attribute changing means excludes the attribute display graphic from the list display when an attribute display graphic that is not displayed is selected from the attribute display graphic displayed as a list. .   6. A screen creation program for operating the screen creation apparatus according to claim 1 for causing a computer to function as the attribute changing means.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the screen creation program according to claim 6 is recorded.

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