JP2007249471A - Shared data management system, management server, and shared data management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shared data management system, capable of easily performing notification of change in shared data of control equipment shared by a plurality of setting softwares. <P>SOLUTION: This system comprises a plurality of setting softwares A and B for setting control equipment 31; and a management server 20 for performing transmitting and receiving of data with the setting software. The setting software is connected with the management server using a connection ID (CID) managing a communication unit. The management server includes a notification management table 21 for mutually associating a data ID uniquely specifying variable data for access of setting software to control equipment, address information of control equipment storing the data ID, and a connection ID of the setting software using the variable data; a change means (control part 22) for changing address information stored in the notification management table, based on notification from the setting software; and a notification means (control part 22) for notifying information for variable data stored in the notification management table to the setting software having the connection ID associated with the variable data concerned. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a shared data management system, a management server, and a shared data management method.

  In a network system in FA (Factory Automation), a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) that controls production equipment and a device whose operation is controlled by the PLC are connected to a control system network. These PLCs and devices communicate with each other cyclically via the network of the control system, thereby transmitting / receiving IO data and controlling production facilities.

  Create a program necessary for operating each device such as a PLC or a display (PT) constituting the system, download the created program to the PLC or device, or set parameters in the PLC or device. In this case, the user performs each using a dedicated tool (setting software). In other words, the user performs processing using a tool for PLC and a tool for each device.

The PLC stores variable data used for control processing in a memory. The memory has a storage area, and data to be stored is assigned to a physical address, and a fixed data object is stored at a certain physical address. As a mechanism for sharing a physical address for storing variable data between tools and PLCs, there is a “tag sharing” function. In this tag sharing, a tag is shared by a plurality of tools and PLCs by associating a different “tag” with each of a plurality of variable data or addresses on a memory. A tag is a character string that can be recognized by humans, and is sometimes called a symbol, a logical name, or a variable name. Multiple tools update the tag-to-physical address correspondence information each time and share that information. Even if the address of the physical area of the PLC that stores the data is changed, the tag is shared via the tag. From this information, the physical address of the memory where the data is stored can be grasped. However, if you forget to update or not update when the association information between the tag and the physical address changes, the data will be handled based on the wrong association information, and unintended data will be imported into the tool. There is a possibility that an event will occur, and there is a problem with safety. Therefore, as in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, a system having a function of notifying a change has been proposed.
WO2002 / 042853

  In the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the change notification is set for each tool. Therefore, in the invention, the unit of notification is large and the amount of data when notifying each tool of the change is large, which is not practical.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a shared data management system, a management server, and a shared data management method that can easily notify a change in shared data of a control device shared by a plurality of setting software (tools).

  A shared data management system according to the present invention includes a plurality of setting software for setting a control device, and a management server for transmitting and receiving the setting software and data. The setting software and the management server manage communication units. This is a shared data management system connected using a connection ID. The management server has a data ID for uniquely specifying the variable data to be accessed by the setting software on the control device on the shared data management system, the address information of the control device that stores the data ID, and a setting that uses the variable data. It has a notification management table associating software connection IDs. Further, the management server, based on the notification from the setting software, changes the address information stored in the notification management table, and information related to the variable data stored in the notification management table in the variable data. Notification means for notifying the setting software having the associated connection ID.

  The connection ID corresponds to the connection ID in the embodiment. In the embodiment, the plurality of setting software and the management server are configured by separate devices (computers), respectively. However, the plurality of setting software may be mounted on the same computer. And the management server may be mounted on the same computer. The change unit and the notification unit are realized by the control unit 22 in the embodiment.

  The notification means has a function of notifying the setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data when the information stored in the notification management table is changed. Further, the notifying means can have a function of notifying information on the requested variable data based on a request from the setting software.

  The management server holds hierarchical information obtained by hierarchizing a plurality of variable data, and may use a data ID set for the hierarchized group (the data ID of the highest level variable data may be used for the group. A newly set ID may be stored in the communication management table, and a hierarchical group change notification may be made using the data ID stored in the communication management table.

  The management server of the present invention is a management server that is connected using a plurality of setting software for setting a control device and a connection ID for managing a communication unit, and variable data for the setting software to access the control device is shared data management “Notification management table” in which a data ID uniquely specified on the system, address information of the control device storing the data ID, and connection ID of setting software using the variable data are associated with each other, and setting software "Change means" for changing the address information stored in the notification management table based on the notification from the server, and the setting software having the connection ID associated with the variable data, the information regarding the variable data stored in the notification management table And “notification means” for notifying.

  The notification means may have a function of notifying setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data when the information stored in the notification management table is changed.

  A shared data management method according to the present invention includes a plurality of setting software for setting a control device, and a management server for transmitting and receiving the setting software and data. The setting software and the management server manage communication units. This is a management method in a shared data management system connected using a connection ID. Then, the management server has a data ID for uniquely specifying on the shared data management system the variable data that the setting software accesses to the control device, the address information of the control device that stores the data ID, and the variable data A notification management table that associates the connection ID of the setting software that uses the information is stored, and the setting software notifies the management server of the address information of the changed variable data together with the data ID of the variable data. The received management server accesses the notification management table based on the notification from the setting software, determines whether or not the received data ID is stored in the notification management table, and an address corresponding to the stored data ID Change information. Further, the management server notifies the setting software having the connection ID associated with the variable data of the information related to the variable data stored in the notification management table.

  When the management server changes the address information stored in the notification management table based on the notification from the setting software, the management server changes the address information changed to another setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data. It is advisable to execute the process of notification.

  In the present invention, the management server notifies the setting application of the change in the variable data or group unit specified by the data ID. Therefore, the amount of data at the time of notification is small, and notification of a change in shared data of control devices shared by a plurality of setting software can be easily performed.

  A plurality of tools 10 and the management server 20 are connected via a network 30. Further, the network 30 is connected to a control device 31 such as a PLC which is a setting / information collecting target of the tool 10.

  The tool 10 is software (application program) for programming, setting parameters, and the like for devices constituting the FA network system such as a control device 31 such as a PLC and a display (not shown). For example, the plurality of tools 10 are for setting different control devices / devices. The plurality of tools 10 may be used to download different programs or set parameters for the different programs for the same control device. The plurality of tools 10 may be installed on different computers or may be installed on the same computer. In the former case, the plurality of tools 10 commonly access the memory of the same control device / device.

  In the present embodiment, each of the plurality of tools 10 includes software (setting software A and B) having a function of accessing the memory of the common control device 31 and writing and / or reading data.

  The setting software A and B create control device variable data for accessing the control device 31 and store it in the storage unit 10a. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device variable data includes an ID that can uniquely represent the data, a memory address of the control device 31 to be accessed, a name (variable name) that logically represents it, a comment, It consists of data size and data type (bit, word, etc.). The setting software A and B includes a connection interface 10b compliant with the TCP / IP protocol, and transmits / receives data to / from the management server 20 via the network 30. A connection ID (CID) is set for each connection interface 10b.

  FIG. 3 shows a hardware configuration of a computer on which setting software constituting the tool 10 is installed. The calculation unit 11 controls the execution of each setting software including the OS. An execution module of each setting software is stored in the storage unit 12 such as a ROM or an HDD. The RAM 13 is used as a work memory required when each setting software is executed. The communication control unit 14 is used to control communication via a network such as the Internet. The storage unit 10 a that stores the control device variable data can be realized by the storage unit 12.

  There is a single management server 20 on the system. The management server 20 manages information in which a logical name is associated with the physical address of the control device 31 created by each setting software. The management server 20 includes a notification management table storage unit 21 that stores such information. The notification management table is a table in which attributes, addresses, and connection IDs are associated with each other. The attribute includes at least ID among the control device variable data shown in FIG. Furthermore, the management server 20 communicates with the setting software, updates the data stored in the notification management table storage unit 21, and confirms that the data shared with other setting software is updated for the predetermined setting software. The control part 22 which notifies is provided.

  In FIG. 3, the setting software A holds data (data A) stored in the address D100 of the shared memory of the control device 31 as control device variable data in the storage unit 10a. The setting software A communicates with the management server 20 using “connection ID = 1”. The setting software B shares, as control device variable data, data (data A) stored at the address D100 of the shared memory of the control device 31, data (data B) stored at the address D101 of the shared memory, The data (data C) stored at the address D200 of the memory is held in the storage unit 10a. The setting software B communicates with the management server 20 using “connection ID = 2” for data A and data B, and communicates with the management server 20 using “connection ID = 3” for data C. Here, data A, B, C,... Represent the control device variable data shown in FIG. 2 as a representative, and at least an ID that uniquely identifies the data and a memory of the control device 31 that stores the data. Address.

  Information about the data A to C is stored in the notification management table storage unit 21 of the management server 20. Although not shown, the data A to C are stored in the shared data table storage unit 23 in association with address information in which the data is stored. As shown in the figure, the notification management table storage unit 21 stores the number (1, 2) of each setting software as a connection ID for data A shared between the setting software A and the setting software B. Thus, when a plurality of numbers are registered in the connection ID column of the notification management table, the management server 20 recognizes that the corresponding data is shared by a plurality of setting software. Therefore, when one setting software receives a notification of an address change for the shared data, the management server 20 notifies the other setting software to be shared of the change. The setting software that has received the notification of the change from the management server 20 updates the address stored in its own control device variable data storage unit 10a. Accordingly, all setting software sharing data can prevent the address of the data to be shared from being unintentionally different among the setting software.

  Hereinafter, the functions of the control unit 22 of the management server 20 and the setting software constituting the tool 10 will be described with reference to specific data transmission / reception.

<Data sharing process>
4 and 5 show the data sharing procedure process. First, the user sets the IP address of the management server 20 in the setting software as an initial setting. As shown in FIG. 4A, the setting software connects to the management server 20 by transmitting a connection command to the IP address of the set management server 20 (S1).

  The management server 20 that has received the connection command from the setting software holds a connection ID for managing the connection (S2). In FIG. 4A, the management server 20 holds the connection ID (1) of the setting software A and the connection ID (2) of the setting software B.

  The setting software transmits a data registration command and control device variable data to the IP address of the management server 20 (S3). In FIG. 4B, the setting software A transmits data A (ID, address, etc.), and the setting software B transmits data A (ID, address, etc.) and data B (ID, address, etc.). .

  The management server 20 holds the control device variable data sent from the setting software in the shared data table storage unit 23. This data can be shared from a plurality of setting software by a data read command or a write command (S4). In the case of FIG. 4B, since the data A is referred to by both the setting software A and the setting software B among the data A and B held in the shared data table storage unit 23, the data A is shared. It becomes.

<Notification registration process>
6 and 7 show processing for registering control device variable data in the notification management table. The setting software registers and registers with the management server 20 in order to share the control device variable data. That is, the setting software transmits control device variable data to be notified of change to the management server 20 using a notification registration command (S11).

  The management server 20 that has received the notification registration command determines whether or not the received control device variable data exists on the shared data table (S12). If not, the management server 20 returns an error to the setting software that has issued the notification registration command and ends (S13). On the other hand, if it exists on the shared data table, the management server 20 associates the received control device variable data (ID, address, etc.) with the connection ID of the connection IF of the setting software that issued the notification registration command, and notifies it. Store in the management table (S14). As a result, the management server 20 can perform detailed notification control to be described later by managing the connection ID which is the logical connection, instead of managing the setting software.

  By executing this notification registration process, in the case of FIG. 6, the setting software A and the setting software B request notification registration for the respective control device variable data. In this example, since the requested data (data A and B) is held in the shared data table, it is stored in the notification management table. Since data A has been requested to be registered by both setting software A and B, the respective connection IDs (1, 2) are registered.

<Change detection and notification generation processing>
8 and 9 show processing when the setting software changes the control device variable data. When the setting software changes control device variable data (for example, address), the setting software notifies the management server of the change. By this notification, the shared data stored in the shared data table storage unit 23 of the management server 20 is changed (S21). Accordingly, the contents of the corresponding notification management table storage unit 21 are updated.

  The management server 20 accesses the notification management table storage unit 21 using the ID of the shared data that received the change notification as a key (S22), and determines whether data having the same ID exists on the notification management table. (S23). If it does not exist in the notification management table, the management server 20 ends without doing anything (S24). When data having the same ID exists, the changed control device variable data is transmitted to the connection of the setting software indicated by the connection ID corresponding to the data (S25).

  In the case of FIG. 8, in response to the setting software B changing the address of the data A from D100 to D101, the management server 20 accesses the notification management table storage unit 21 from the ID of the data A, and the corresponding connection. It is recognized that there are “1” and “2” as IDs (see FIG. 8A). Since the connection ID = 2 has the connection ID of the setting software B that has received the change notification, the management server 20 sends a change notification for the data A to the remaining setting software A with the connection ID = 1. (See FIG. 8B).

  In the present embodiment, the setting software that has received this change notification does not immediately change its own control device variable data table as will be described later, but displays the content of the change notification once received on the display screen, It is updated after confirmation. As a result, it is possible to prevent other users of the setting software from inadvertently changing an address or the like, or causing a malfunction due to duplication with an already used address.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, the management server 20 that has received a change notification from a certain setting software notifies the relevant other setting software of the change, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each setting The software may voluntarily check the management server 20 for changes. Specifically, the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is executed.

  First, the setting software starts a change inquiry timer at the connection IF 10b (S31). The setting time is set by the setting software when the timer starts. The change inquiry timer waits for the time to expire (S32), and if the time has expired, a change inquiry command is transmitted together with the ID of the data to be confirmed (S33).

  The management server 20 that has received the change inquiry command accesses the notification management table storage unit 21 using the ID of the shared data for which the inquiry has been made as a key (S34), and whether data having the same ID exists in the notification management table. It is determined whether or not (S35). Then, if it does not exist, the management server 20 ends without doing anything (S36). If there is data having the same ID, the changed control device variable data is returned to the connection ID of the inquired connection IF 10b (S37). As a result, the setting software that has received such a return can know whether there has been a change by comparing the returned control device variable data with the data stored by itself.

  It is possible to adjust the CPU load factor of the device depending on which of the above notifications of change is taken.

<Process after change notification is received>
11 and 12 show processing after the setting software receives the change notification. The setting software that has received the change notification notifies the operator of the information of the variable that has been changed based on the change notification by a screen display or the like. The operator confirms the information displayed on the screen, and accepts the changed contents as necessary (see FIG. 11B) or overwrites the changed variables again (see FIG. 11). (Refer to (a)), or perform processing according to the intention of the operator, such as ignoring.

  Specifically, the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 is executed. That is, when the setting software receives the change notification of the control device variable data (S41), the setting software selects “whether the shared data has been changed and is acquired, overwritten, or ignored”. The screen is displayed on the display device (S42).

  When the operator selects to acquire change data (Yes in S43), the setting software issues a shared data acquisition command to the management server 20 to acquire the change data (S44: FIG. 11B). ).

  When the operator selects to overwrite the changed data (Yes in S45), the setting software issues a shared data write command to the management server 20 (S46: FIG. 11A). That is, the setting software transmits the data stored in its own control device variable data storage unit (data before change). The management server 20 that has received this command updates the corresponding notification management table and notifies other related setting software of the change, similarly to the case of receiving the change notification.

  If the operator selects not to do anything, the branch determinations in process steps S43 and S45 are both No, so the process is terminated as it is (S47).

<Sharing / notification processing>
The setting software deletes the shared data from the management server when it is no longer necessary to share the data. At that time, the data on the notification management table is also deleted. If the data is shared but notification is no longer necessary, the setting software sends a command to stop the change notification to the management server. The management server 20 deletes the data on the notification management table. When the setting software disconnects from the management server, the management server terminates the connection held in the notification management table and deletes all data having connection IDs that are no longer used.

  In this sharing / notification cancellation process, as shown in FIG. 13, the data to be released is specified together with the release command, and the release is performed in units of set software as shown in FIG. There is. FIG. 13A shows sharing cancellation, and FIG. 13B shows notification cancellation. Further, as shown in FIG. 13A, when a release instruction is issued for data (data B) that is not used by other setting software, the management server 20 reads the corresponding data (data B) from the notification management table. ) Is deleted. Also, as shown in FIG. 13B, when there is other shared setting software, the management server 20 deletes the corresponding connection ID (1) from the notification management table. As shown in FIG. 14, when a release instruction, that is, a disconnection command is issued collectively, the above processing (deletion of data itself / deletion of connection ID) is performed for each data.

  Such processing is realized by the setting software and the management server having a function of executing the flowcharts shown in FIGS. First, FIG. 15 is a flowchart for executing sharing cancellation processing for certain control device variable data. As shown in the figure, the setting software transmits control device variable data to be shared to the management server using a delete command (S51). The management server 20 that has received the delete command determines whether or not the acquired control device variable data exists on the shared data table (S52). If it does not exist, an error is returned and the process ends (S53). If it exists, the control device variable data is deleted from the shared data table, and the control device variable data and the connection ID are deleted from the notification management table ( S54). If another connection ID exists for the control device variable data to be processed, only the connection ID is deleted.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart for executing notification cancellation processing for certain control device variable data. As shown in the figure, the setting software issues control device variable data for which change notification is to be stopped to the management server using a notification release command (S55). The management server 20 that has received the notification cancel command determines whether or not the acquired control device variable data exists on the shared data table (S56). If it does not exist, an error is returned and the process ends (S57). If it exists, the control device variable data and the connection ID are deleted from the notification management table (S58). If another connection ID exists for the control device variable data to be processed, only the connection ID is deleted.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart for a certain setting software to release the connection with the management server 20, that is, to execute a disconnection process. The setting software that releases the connection with the management server 20 issues a disconnection command. Therefore, when the management server 20 recognizes that the setting software has disconnected from the management server (S61), it determines whether data having the disconnected connection ID exists in the notification management table (S62). . If it exists, the management server 20 deletes the control device variable data and the connection ID from the notification management table (S63).

<Notification process of hierarchical data>
As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, in this embodiment, the notification data can be hierarchized. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the setting software A registers data sharing and data notification with the management server as “data A has parent data attributes of X, Y, and Z”. Thereby, the data X, Y, and Z are associated and registered as children of the data A in the shared data table of the management server 20. Data A is registered in the notification management table of the management server 20.

  In this state, it is assumed that a change notification command for data X and data Z is issued from the setting software B as shown in FIG. In such a case, the management server 20 accesses the shared data table and searches for the relationship between the data A and the data X and Z registered in the notification management table. The management server 20 that has recognized that the data A has parent data attributes of X and Z acquires the connection ID of the data A stored in the notification management table storage unit 21, and connects the change notification of the data A to the connection. Issued for ID = 1. Thus, even when the data X and Z are not registered for notification, an efficient change notification can be generated by registering the parent. In other words, when the notification data is hierarchized, by registering the highest hierarchy, it is possible to make one notification even when there is a change in a plurality of data.

  The above-described processing is performed by executing the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, when receiving the shared data change notification command from the setting software (S71), the management server 20 searches the data on the notification management table based on the acquired shared data ID (S72) and has the same ID. It is determined whether the data exists on the notification management table (S73). If it exists, the changed control device variable data is transmitted to the connection of the setting software indicated by the connection ID (S74). On the other hand, if it does not exist, it is determined whether or not the parent of the data having the ID exists on the notification management table (S75). If it exists, the changed control device variable data and its parent data are transmitted to the connection IF of the setting software indicated by the connection ID (S76).

  In this embodiment, when sharing the variable data for accessing the control device, the notification data is not registered in units of applications but registered in units of communication connections, thereby reducing the frequency of notifications and efficiently informing. Can be performed. Further, since the notification data is registered for each communication connection unit, the management server may be operated anywhere, and the setting software can always register the notification data and receive the notification using the same I / F. Furthermore, since the notification data can be managed in a hierarchical manner, a plurality of notifications can be collected and processed as a higher-level notification, so that the frequency of notifications can be reduced and it becomes efficient.

It is a figure which shows suitable one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of control apparatus variable data. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the apparatus which mounts a setting application. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the function of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the function of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 Setting tool (setting software)
10a Control device variable data storage unit 10b Connection I / F
11 Calculation unit 12 Storage unit 13 RAM
14 communication control unit 20 management server 21 communication management table storage unit 22 control unit (change means, notification means)
23 shared data table storage unit 30 network 31 control device

Claims (8)

Shared data comprising a plurality of setting software for setting a control device and a management server for transmitting and receiving the setting software and data, wherein the setting software and the management server are connected using a connection ID for managing a communication unit A management system,
The management server
A data ID for uniquely specifying on the shared data management system variable data for the setting software to access the control device, address information of the control device for storing the data ID, and setting software using the variable data A notification management table that associates the connection IDs of
Based on the notification from the setting software, changing means for changing the address information stored in the notification management table;
Notification means for notifying the setting software having the connection ID associated with the variable data, information regarding the variable data stored in the notification management table;
A shared data management system characterized by comprising:   The notification means, when information stored in the notification management table is changed, notifies setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data. 2. The shared data management system according to 1.   2. The shared data management system according to claim 1, wherein the notifying unit notifies information on the requested variable data based on a request from the setting software. The management server stores hierarchical information obtained by hierarchizing a plurality of variable data, and stores the data ID set in the hierarchized group in the communication management table,
The shared data management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a hierarchical group change notification is made using a data ID stored in the communication management table. A management server for connecting a plurality of setting software for setting a control device and a connection ID for managing a communication unit;
A data ID for uniquely specifying on the shared data management system variable data for the setting software to access the control device, address information of the control device for storing the data ID, and setting software using the variable data A notification management table that associates the connection IDs of
Based on the notification from the setting software, changing means for changing the address information stored in the notification management table;
Notification means for notifying information regarding variable data stored in the notification management table to setting software having a connection ID associated with the variable data;
A management server comprising:   The notification means, when information stored in the notification management table is changed, notifies setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data. 2. The shared data management system according to 1. Shared data comprising a plurality of setting software for setting a control device and a management server for transmitting and receiving the setting software and data, wherein the setting software and the management server are connected using a connection ID for managing a communication unit A method for managing shared data in a management system,
The management server includes a data ID for uniquely specifying variable data for the setting software to access the control device on the shared data management system, address information of the control device for storing the data ID, and variable data thereof. A notification management table that associates the connection ID of the setting software that uses
The setting software notifies the management server of the address information of the changed variable data together with the data ID of the variable data,
The management server accesses the notification management table based on the notification from the setting software, determines whether or not the received data ID is stored in the notification management table, and corresponds to the case where it is stored. Change the address information,
The shared data management method, wherein the management server notifies the setting software having a connection ID associated with the variable data of information related to the variable data stored in the notification management table. When the management server changes the address information stored in the notification management table based on the notification from the setting software, the address is changed to another setting software having a connection ID associated with the changed variable data. 8. The shared data management method according to claim 7, wherein processing for notifying information is executed.

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