JP2009259081A - Ladder diagram editing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate editing a ladder diagram. <P>SOLUTION: In this ladder diagram editing system, cell size in each line of a ladder diagram in an input condition editing area 44a is automatically adjusted by line or by row in a matrix direction according to an arrangement of ladder components, and size of an operation output editing area is also automatically adjusted according to the arrangement of the ladder components. In this case, as each line of the ladder diagram is vertically scrolled from the outside of the operation output editing area to the inside of the operation output editing area, a lateral size of the operation output editing area is automatically adjusted in accordance with the ladder components of each line of the ladder diagram. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  According to the present invention, a ladder diagram editing area provided on a computer ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area on the left side and an operation output editing area on the right side, and ladder parts are arranged in the respective editing areas. The present invention relates to a ladder diagram editing method for editing a diagram.

  The ladder program is a program that defines a control sequence by the programmable controller, and is described in a ladder diagram. In this ladder diagram, the circuit diagram is drawn like a ladder, and the vertical buses at the left and right ends represent the power symbolically, and the power flow of the contact circuit is shown on the parallel line connecting horizontally between them. It is. In order to create and edit such a ladder diagram format ladder program, for example, a ladder diagram editing device such as a personal computer is used. The ladder diagram editing apparatus includes a ladder diagram editing screen for editing a ladder diagram. The ladder diagram editing screen is divided into a ladder diagram editing area, a ladder component list area, and the like. In this ladder diagram editing area, the left area is entered in the input condition editing area where ladder components for input condition description are placed in order from the left side in the ladder line in the horizontal direction from the left bus, and the right area is manipulated. Are divided into operation output editing areas in which ladder parts for use are arranged (see Patent Document 1). In the above case, each line of the ladder diagram edited in the vertical direction in each editing area is composed of a plurality of cells in a rectangular frame with vertical and horizontal arrangements, and in the input condition editing area in each line of the ladder diagram, from the left bus. Ladder parts are arranged in the cells sequentially selected by the cursor in the horizontal right direction, and ladder parts are arranged in the cells selected by the cursor in the operation output editing area.

  In the above ladder diagram editing method, before placing ladder parts, the size of each cell constituting the input condition editing area and the operation output editing area is the normal size in both the row direction and the column direction for placing the ladder parts. However, depending on the ladder component, if the display size is larger than the normal cell size in the row direction or column direction, or if the row direction size of the ladder diagram row is larger than the normal cell size, the user (ladder diagram editor) ) Manually adjust the cell size.

However, the adjustment of the cell size described above is an editing operation that is troublesome for the user when the number of lines of the ladder diagram is enormous and each line of the ladder diagram becomes complicated.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-092807

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to improve the efficiency of the user's editing work by automatically adjusting each row of the ladder diagram to an arbitrary cell size according to the ladder component in units of rows or columns. is there.

  (1) In the ladder diagram editing system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and editing is performed on both of these editing areas. In the ladder diagram editing method in which each ladder diagram row is configured by arranging one or a plurality of vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells in a matrix (vertical and horizontal) direction and placing ladder parts in each ladder diagram row, each ladder diagram row in the input condition editing area The cell size can be automatically adjusted in the matrix direction in units of rows in accordance with the arrangement form of the ladder parts.

  The layout form of the ladder part includes not only the layout position and size of the ladder part but also the layout position and form of characters such as comments and nicknames of the ladder part, symbol information, and the like.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, when editing each line of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area, even if the number of input conditions in the same line increases, the user is not aware of the increase, and the cell size is set to the line width. There is no need to manually make great adjustments in the direction, and the ladder parts constituting these input conditions can be automatically arranged in the same cell.

  (2) In the ladder diagram editing system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and editing is performed on both of these editing areas. In the ladder diagram editing method in which each ladder diagram row is configured by arranging one or a plurality of vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells in a matrix (vertical and horizontal) direction and placing ladder parts in each ladder diagram row, each ladder diagram row in the input condition editing area The cell size can be automatically adjusted in the matrix direction in units of columns in accordance with the arrangement form of the ladder parts.

  In the second aspect of the present invention, when editing each line of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area, even if a comment explaining the input condition becomes longer in the column width direction, the user is not particularly aware of the length of the comment. In addition, it is not necessary to manually adjust the cell size to be longer in the column width direction, and the column width can be automatically adjusted to be longer so that the comments can be displayed to the user.

  (3) In the ladder diagram editing system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and editing is performed on both of these editing areas. In the ladder diagram editing method in which each row of the ladder diagram is configured by arranging one or a plurality of vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells in a matrix (vertical and horizontal) direction and placing ladder parts in each row of the ladder diagram, the size of the operation output editing area is the ladder. It is characterized in that it can be automatically adjusted according to the arrangement form of the parts.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, as the ladder parts to be arranged in the operation output editing area, for example, the cell size is automatically adjusted according to the width in the column direction of a counter, shift register, copy, etc. The column width of the cell size is automatically adjusted without special attention to the direction width and without having to manually adjust the cell size in the column width direction. improves.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, when the ladder diagram is vertically scrolled from outside (or inside) the operation output editing area to inside (or outside) the operation output editing area, the horizontal size of the editing area is changed to the ladder. This means that automatic adjustment is possible according to the arrangement form of the ladder parts in each row.

  Ladder diagram in the operation output editing area When the column direction width of the cell size is adjusted to match the column width of the ladder part with the largest column width among the ladder parts that the user cannot see in each row, the operation output editing area As a result, the column width becomes longer and the ladder diagram becomes harder to see. Therefore, in the above aspect, the column width of the cell size is automatically optimally adjusted in accordance with the column width of the ladder component having the maximum column width among the ladder components arranged in the ladder diagram range where the user can visually recognize. As a result, the user can create a ladder diagram more efficiently.

  According to the present invention, the cell size of each line of the ladder diagram is automatically adjusted according to the ladder part, the comment, etc. in units of rows or columns, so that the user can efficiently edit the ladder diagram.

  Hereinafter, the ladder diagram editing method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the present embodiment is intended to embody the technical idea of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. . This embodiment does not limit the ladder diagram editing method described in the claims. In this embodiment, a ladder diagram editing apparatus for implementing the same system is a system that creates and edits a ladder diagram format program (ladder program), input / output, display, and computation related to ladder program editing, etc. The communication and other processes are not limited in hardware. An apparatus that implements a ladder diagram editing method in software is also included in the scope of the present invention. For example, software, programs, plug-ins, objects, libraries, applets, compilers, modules, macros that run on specific programs, etc. can be incorporated into general-purpose circuits or computers, and ladder programs can be edited or related processes. Such general-purpose or dedicated computers, workstations, terminals, portable electronic devices, and other electronic devices are also included in the apparatus for executing the ladder diagram editing method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is also applicable to a mode that functions as a part of a computer program, software, service, etc., a mode that is called and functions when necessary, a mode that is provided as a service in an environment such as an OS, and the like. Can do.

  Hereinafter, a ladder diagram editing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, a ladder diagram editing apparatus used in the system of the embodiment includes a ladder program editing program. It is composed of a computer 1. A programmable controller 2 is connected to the computer 1. The programmable controller 2 is an apparatus that connects the input / output devices 3 (3a to 3d), which are devices to be controlled, and controls these devices. The programmable controller 2 controls the operation of the input / output device 3 according to a procedure defined by a ladder program created by a ladder program editing program according to a control program by a built-in CPU. The computer 1 is connected to the programmable controller 2 and can set and display the operation state of the programmable controller 2 and the input / output device 3 controlled by the programmable controller 2.

  A computer 1 as a ladder diagram editing device is a general-purpose computer, and includes a CPU 1a, a memory 1b, a display unit 1c, an operation unit 1d, an external storage device 1e, and an interface 1f. The CPU 1a performs control and arithmetic processing of each unit when operating various application programs including a ladder program editing program on an OS (operating system) installed in the computer 1. The memory 1b includes a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, and can provide a work area for data storage, temporary data storage, and arithmetic processing of the CPU 1a.

  The display unit 1c of the computer 1 includes a flat monitor screen such as a CRT, LCD, liquid crystal panel, or EL panel. The operation unit 1d is a device for performing an input operation such as a keyboard and a mouse. In particular, a pointing device such as a mouse is suitable for an input operation using a ladder program editing program that operates in a GUI environment. The external storage device 1e is a device such as a magnetic disk drive such as a hard disk device or an optical disk drive such as a CD-ROM drive, and includes at least a device that can read information such as a ladder program editing program recorded on a recording medium. It is out. The interface 1 f is an input / output unit that performs data communication with the programmable controller 2. The ladder program created by the ladder program editing program is transferred to the programmable controller 2 via the interface 1f and downloaded to the memory in the programmable controller 2. The ladder program editing program installed and executed on the computer 1 is executed by the CPU 1a of the computer 1.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the ladder diagram editing screen 4 of the display unit 1 c is a user interface screen. The screen configuration area includes a title bar 41, a menu bar 42, a tool bar 43, a ladder diagram editing area 44, a ladder component editing palette. 44c is divided into other areas. Then, by operating each area of the ladder diagram editing screen 4 with the operation unit 1d such as a mouse or a keyboard, operations such as editing, correcting, and changing the ladder program are performed.

  The operation unit 1d is connected to the computer 1 by wire or wirelessly, or is fixed to the computer 1. Examples of the general operation unit 1d include various pointing devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, a slide pad, a track point, a tablet, a joystick, a console, a jog dial, a digitizer, a light pen, a numeric keypad, and a touch pad. In addition, using a touch screen or touch panel on the display unit itself that displays the interface screen, the user can directly input and operate the screen by hand, or use voice input or other existing input means. Or these can also be used together.

  In addition to a mode in which settings are made from an input operation unit connected to a computer 1 in which a ladder program editing program (ladder program programming software) is installed, a ladder program editing program and hardware are incorporated into the programmable controller 2 and programmable. The setting may be made on the controller 2 side.

  In the ladder diagram editing area 44 of the ladder diagram editing screen 4 shown in FIG. 2, the ladder diagram has an input condition editing area 44a for editing a portion in which the left area describes an input condition, and a portion in which the right area describes an operation output. Are divided into operation output editing areas 44b for editing. A boundary 45 is colored in the vertical direction between the input condition editing area 44a and the operation output editing area 44b. A horizontal scroll operation unit 46 is displayed at the lower end of the input condition editing area 44a, and a vertical scroll operation unit 47 is displayed at the right end of the operation output editing area 44b.

  In the input condition edit area 44a, a bus line M1 is displayed in the vertical direction, and a plurality of horizontal row lines L11,... Of each row n1, ... in the ladder diagram from the bus line M1 are displayed at equal intervals in the row direction (vertical direction). Input devices such as push buttons, switches, sensors, and the like are displayed as ladder parts together with device numbers C1,... On the direction row lines L11,. For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 2, the device number and the ladder component are displayed only in the ladder diagram row n1, and are not displayed in the other ladder diagram rows n2,.

  Each row n1,... Of the ladder diagram is composed of a plurality of cells having a vertical and horizontal rectangular frame shape. In each line n1,... In the ladder diagram, cells are sequentially selected with the cursor 50 in the horizontal right direction from the left bus M1 in the input condition editing area 44a, and ladder parts are arranged in each cell. Ladder parts are placed in cells in the input condition editing area 44a from “contact” in the ladder part editing palette 44c, and ladders are placed in cells in the operation output editing area 44b from “coil”. Parts are selected. The row direction cursor width W0 of the cursor 50 corresponds to the cell row direction width of the cell, and the column direction cursor width W1 of the cursor 50 corresponds to the cell column direction width of the cell.

  The horizontal row lines L11,... Constitute ladder diagram rows n1,... When the ladder program is displayed in the ladder diagram format on the ladder diagram editing screen 4. The description of the configuration of input conditions by various circuits such as AND, OR, NOT, etc. by these various input contacts and their combinations is omitted, and all are shown in the same contact format. The horizontal row lines L11,... Can be scrolled horizontally and displayed in the input condition editing area 44a.

  In the operation output editing area 44b, horizontal row lines L12,... Are displayed respectively corresponding to the horizontal row lines L11,... In the input condition editing area 44a, and the horizontal row lines L12,. On the top, ladder parts OUT1,... Such as relays, lamps, motors, actuators, and the like are displayed. Each of the horizontal row lines L12,... Constitutes the same ladder diagram row n1,.

  When the vertical scroll operation unit 47 is operated, for example, in the downward direction, the ladder diagram horizontal lines L11,... In the input condition editing area 44a and the ladder diagram horizontal lines L12,. As a result of vertical scrolling in synchronization, the correspondence between the horizontal lines L11,... And L12,... In the input condition editing area 44a and the operation output editing area 44b is the same.

  When the horizontal scroll operation unit 46 is moved rightward or leftward, each horizontal line L12,... Of the ladder diagram in the operation output editing area 44b is fixed to each line and displayed in the horizontal direction in the input condition editing area 44a. The direction line L11,... Can be horizontally scrolled to the left or right, or the ladder diagram can be individually scrolled horizontally by selecting and individually scrolling each row of the ladder diagram. .

  In the ladder diagram editing area 44 described above, the normal row direction (vertical direction) unit width of a cell is W0, and the column direction (horizontal direction) unit width is W1.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, among the arbitrary ladder diagram rows, in the embodiment, for example, in the ladder diagram n1 row, ladder parts C1, B that are contacts in the A column in the input condition editing area 44a. Ladder parts C2 and C, which are contacts in the columns, have no ladder parts, and ladder parts for operation output are arranged in the operation output editing area 44b. Two ladder components C1 and C3 are arranged in parallel in the row direction in the cell in the A column of the ladder diagram n1 row in the ladder diagram n1 in the input condition editing area 44a shown in FIG. The width in the row direction is W0 ′ (> W0) from the input condition editing area 44a to the operation output editing area 44b.

  Further, six ladder parts C1, C2-C7 are arranged in parallel in the row direction in the cell in the A column of the ladder diagram n1 row in the ladder diagram n1 in the input condition editing area 44a shown in FIG. The row width of the cell in the A column of the eye is W0 ″ (> W0 ′> W0).

  The CPU 1a monitors the ladder diagram information on the ladder diagram editing screen 4 from the display unit 1c, and the cell row width in accordance with the ladder diagram description input from the operation unit 1d is shown in FIG. 3 (a) and FIG. 3 (b). As shown by, automatic adjustment.

  That is, the operation unit 1d reads out the comment of the ladder part, the nickname, etc. from the memory 1b by the operation of the cursor 50, the selection of the ladder part, and the operation of the operation part 1d. From FIG. 3A, for example, when the arrangement form of the ladder components is calculated, the cell size is set so that the ladder components C1 and C2 can be arranged in the row A in the same ladder diagram row n1 in the row direction. Is automatically adjusted to, for example, W0 ′. Further, in the case shown in FIG. 3B, the row size width of the cell size is set to, for example, W0 ″ so that the ladder components C1 to C6 can be arranged in the row A in the same ladder diagram row n1. Adjust automatically.

  In this case, the number of ladder parts in the same ladder diagram row is two or three in the embodiment. However, when a larger number of ladder parts are arranged in parallel, the cell-size width in the row direction is arranged as described above. Automatically adjust according to the form.

  Next, a case where the column width of each column of the ladder diagram n1 row is automatically adjusted will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4A, the column direction width of the column A of the ladder diagram n1 is W1, and the ladder component C1 of the column A of the ladder diagram n1 has a long comment, so only a part of the comment is included. It is not displayed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the CPU 1a sets the width in the column direction of the A column of the ladder diagram n1 row to W1 ′ (> according to the arrangement form of the ladder components arranged in the A column of the ladder diagram n1 row. W1) is automatically adjusted. In this case, the user can set how far the comment on the ladder component C1 can be visually recognized by the user using the operation unit 1d. For example, the column direction width of the column A of the ladder diagram n1 can be adjusted by dragging the mouse. Alternatively, by setting and inputting the column direction width of column A of the ladder diagram n1 to the CPU 1a without requiring a mouse drag operation, the column direction width of column A of the ladder diagram n1 row is automatically automatically set. You may be made to adjust to.

  Next, a case where the row direction width and the column direction width of the operation output editing area 44b are automatically adjusted will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5A, the column direction (horizontal direction) width of the operation output editing area 44b is automatically adjusted to W01 in accordance with the arrangement form of the ladder component (Y001). In FIG. 5B, the column direction (horizontal direction) width of the operation output editing area 44b is automatically adjusted to W02 (> W01) according to the arrangement form of the ladder component Copy. In FIG. 5B, the row width (horizontal direction) width of the operation output editing area 44b is automatically adjusted to W03 (> W02> W01) according to the arrangement form of the ladder component Counter. In these adjustments, the CPU 1a monitors the ladder diagram information on the ladder diagram editing screen 4 from the display unit 1c, and automatically sets the column direction width of the operation output editing area 44b according to the ladder diagram description input from the operation unit 1d. It comes to adjust.

  In the above case, if the column width of the operation output editing area 44b is automatically adjusted to the maximum column width, it is shown in FIG. 5 (c) among FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c). The operation output editing area shown in FIG. 6 is adjusted to the column direction width W03, for example, and the display form is as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C, when each line of the ladder diagram is vertically scrolled to the ladder diagram n1, n10, n20, for example, vertically downward, the horizontal side of the operation output editing area is displayed. The direction width is W01 on the ladder diagram edit screen visible to the user in the ladder diagram row n1 in FIG. 7A, and W02 on the ladder diagram edit screen visible to the user in the ladder diagram row n10 in FIG. 7B. In FIG. 7C, on the ladder diagram edit screen that can be visually recognized by the user in the ladder diagram row n20, W03 is automatically adjusted according to the arrangement form of the ladder parts in each row of the ladder diagram.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the horizontal size and vertical size (width) of the input condition editing area and the operation output editing area are automatically adjusted according to the ladder part. Efficiency can be improved.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a computer, a programmable controller, and an input / output device that constitute an apparatus that implements a ladder diagram editing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a ladder diagram editing screen. FIG. 3 is a diagram used for explaining the case of automatically adjusting the row direction size of each line of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area. FIG. 4 is a diagram used for explanation in the case of automatically adjusting the column size of each line of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area. FIG. 5 is a diagram used for explanation in the case of automatically adjusting the column direction size of the operation output editing area. FIG. 6 is a diagram used for explaining the automatic adjustment of the column direction size when ladder components having different column direction sizes are arranged in each row of the ladder diagram in the operation output editing area. FIG. 7 is a diagram used for explaining automatic adjustment of the column direction size of the operation output editing area on the ladder diagram editing screen that can be visually recognized by the user in the operation output editing area of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Computer 2 Programmable Controller 4 Ladder Diagram Edit Screen 44 Edit Screen Area 44a Input Condition Edit Area 44b Operation Output Edit Area

Claims (4)

The ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer's ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and each row of the ladder diagram edited in both editing areas is divided into vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells. In the ladder diagram editing method, which is configured by arranging one or a plurality of matrix (vertical and horizontal) directions and arranging ladder parts in each row of the ladder diagram,
A ladder diagram editing method in which the cell size of each row of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area can be automatically adjusted in the matrix direction in units of rows according to the arrangement form of the ladder component. The ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer's ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and each row of the ladder diagram edited in both editing areas is divided into vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells. In a ladder diagram editing system that is configured by arranging one or a plurality of matrix (vertical and horizontal) directions and arranging ladder parts in each row of the ladder diagram,
A ladder diagram editing method in which the cell size of each row of the ladder diagram in the input condition editing area can be automatically adjusted in the matrix direction in units of columns according to the arrangement form of the ladder parts. The ladder diagram editing area provided on the computer's ladder diagram editing screen is divided into an input condition editing area and an operation output editing area, and each row of the ladder diagram edited in both editing areas is divided into vertical and horizontal rectangular frame cells. In the ladder diagram editing method, which is configured by arranging one or a plurality of matrix (vertical and horizontal) directions and arranging ladder parts in each row of the ladder diagram,
A ladder diagram editing method in which the size of the operation output editing area can be automatically adjusted according to the layout of ladder parts.   If each line of the ladder diagram is scrolled vertically from outside (or inside) the operation output editing area to inside (or outside) the operation output editing area, the horizontal size of the editing area will match the layout of the ladder parts in each line of the ladder diagram. The ladder diagram editing method according to claim 3, wherein automatic adjustment is possible.

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