JP2016212607A - Message display device, monitoring system, message display method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a message display device which allows a user to check messages whose number exceeds a limited number on an area where the limited number of messages are displayed, a monitoring system, a message display method and a program.SOLUTION: The message display device has a message acquisition part and a display control part. The message acquisition part time-sequentially acquires messages on the condition of a monitoring object device. The display control part displays a prescribed number of messages in the descending order from the latest message at its generation time on a message display area inside a screen of a monitoring device and time-sequentially displays on the message display area messages which were displayed at the message display area before the messages being displayed when a prescribed instruction is input.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a message display device, a monitoring system, a message display method, and a program.

Generally, a plant monitoring system has an HMI (Human Machine Interface) which is a device that displays a plant state to a user. The HMI displays device operation information generated in the monitored plant, alarm information indicating a device failure, and the like as a history message.
Normally, when confirming a generated history message, the user displays a dedicated screen for referring to the history message on the HMI. The HMI displays history messages in a list format within its dedicated screen. Some specific HMIs have an area for displaying several latest messages on the screen at all times. By displaying this area, the generated history message can be confirmed without displaying a dedicated screen.

When an area for constantly displaying the latest message is provided on the screen, if the occupied area is increased, the area for performing other monitoring operations is reduced. Therefore, one or two messages are often displayed.
However, when a plurality of events (device operation or failure) occur in association with each other, three or more messages may occur simultaneously. Therefore, in the area where only one or two messages as described above can be displayed, it may be difficult to confirm all the messages that have occurred at the same time. In such a case, it may be necessary to display a dedicated screen for displaying a history message.

JP 2006-276955 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a message display device, a monitoring system, a message display method, and a program capable of confirming a message exceeding the number of messages by an area for displaying a limited number of messages.

  The message display device of the embodiment includes a message acquisition unit and a display control unit. The message acquisition unit acquires a time-series message regarding the status of the monitoring target device. The display control unit displays a predetermined number of messages in order from the newest message in the message display area in the screen of the monitoring terminal, and when a predetermined instruction is input, the message being displayed in the message display area The messages displayed in the message display area in the past are displayed in time series.

The functional block diagram which shows the structure of the monitoring control system of embodiment. The figure which shows the message history information of the embodiment. The figure which shows the monitoring screen at the time of the message automatic update of the embodiment. The figure which shows the monitoring screen at the time of the latest message display area selection of the embodiment. The figure which shows the monitoring screen at the time of the display object switch instruction | indication input of the embodiment. The flowchart which shows the display control process of the newest message display area by the monitoring terminal of the embodiment. The figure which shows the display screen when expanding the display area of the embodiment and displaying a message.

Hereinafter, a message display device, a monitoring system, a message display method, and a program according to embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the monitoring control system of the embodiment, and only functional blocks related to the present embodiment are extracted and shown. As shown in the figure, the monitoring control system includes a plant device 1, a controller 2, a monitoring control server 3, and a monitoring terminal 4. The monitoring control system shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a monitoring system, and the monitoring terminal 4 is an example of a message display device. Although only one controller 2 and one monitoring terminal 4 are shown in the figure, a plurality of each can be connected to the monitoring control server 3. The monitoring control server 3, the controller 2, and the monitoring terminal 4 are connected by a communication network using, for example, IP (Internet Protocol).

  The plant equipment 1 is equipment that constitutes a plant to be monitored and controlled. The plant equipment 1 is, for example, a pump, a blower, and various sensors (such as a thermometer, a water level meter, a wattmeter, and a voltmeter), but is not limited thereto. The plant equipment 1 transmits a signal representing the process value to the controller 2. The process value is a value that represents the status of the monitoring target plant device 1 (monitoring target device). For example, the process values are measured values such as temperature, water level, inflow water amount, outflow water amount, concentration of a specific substance, power, voltage, etc., and the operation state of the plant equipment 1 (on / off state, rotation speed, air flow rate, etc.) However, the present invention is not limited to these values.

  The controller 2 controls the plant equipment 1 according to the control instruction signal received from the monitoring control server 3. Further, the controller 2 transmits a process value notification signal in which the process value received from the plant device 1 and the type of the process value are set to the monitoring control server 3. Since the controller 2 transmits and receives electrical signals to and from each plant device 1, the controller 2 is connected by different signal lines. Therefore, which type of process value is identified by the signal line or physical port that has received the signal indicating the process value. Further, when the process value is transmitted / received by a signal other than an electrical signal, the controller 2 can add other information added to the signal indicating the process value (for example, the address information of the IP signal and the type set in the payload). Information) may be used to identify the type of process value.

  The monitoring control server 3 is realized by one or more computer servers. The monitoring control server 3 includes a storage unit 31, a process value reception unit 32, a control instruction unit 33, a message generation unit 34, and a data transmission unit 35.

  The storage unit 31 stores process value information, message history information, and facility information. The process value information indicates the current process value for each type. The message history information is information in which a message occurrence time, a message type, a message target device, and a message are associated with each other. The facility information is information indicating the plant equipment 1 belonging to each section. The classification can be arbitrarily set. For example, the classification may be a plant for power generation, a plant for water treatment,..., A plant for A machine, a plant for B machine,.

  The process value receiving unit 32 operates as a receiving unit that receives a process value notification signal from the controller 2. The process value receiving unit 32 converts the process value indicated by the received process value notification signal into an engineering value according to the type of the process value. The process value receiving unit 32 writes the process value type and the process value converted into the engineering value in association with the process value information stored in the storage unit 31.

  The control instruction unit 33 operates as a reception unit that receives a control instruction for the plant equipment 1 from the monitoring terminal 4. The control instruction unit 33 transmits a control instruction signal instructing to control the plant equipment 1 according to the control instruction received from the monitoring terminal 4 to the controller 2 that controls the plant equipment 1 to be controlled.

The message generation unit 34 generates a message indicating the status of the plant equipment 1 based on data representing the status of the plant equipment 1. Data representing the status of the plant device 1 is a process value written by the process value receiving unit 32 in the process value information stored in the storage unit 31, the type of the process value, and a control instruction for the plant device 1. The message generation unit 34 writes the generated message, the message occurrence time, the message type, and the target device in the message history information stored in the storage unit 31 in association with each other. The message generation unit 34 determines whether to generate a message based on the type of process value and the process value, or based on the plant equipment 1 to be controlled and the control content indicated by the control instruction. When generating a message, the message generation unit 34 changes the message content, message type, and target device based on the type of process value and the process value, or the control target plant device 1 and the control content indicated by the control instruction. Based on this, a determination is made according to a predetermined rule.
The data transmission unit 35 outputs the process value information, message history information, and facility information stored in the storage unit 31 to the monitoring terminal 4.

The monitoring terminal 4 is an HMI (Human Machine Interface), and is realized by a computer terminal such as a workstation. Note that the monitoring control server 3 and the monitoring terminal 4 may be realized by the same computer device. The monitoring terminal 4 includes a data acquisition unit 41, a storage unit 42, a display control unit 43, an image display unit 44, an operation input unit 45, and a control instruction transmission unit 46.
The data acquisition unit 41 acquires process information, message history information, and facility information from the monitoring control server 3. The data acquisition unit 41 operates as a message acquisition unit that acquires time-series messages generated based on data representing the status of the plant equipment 1 to be monitored by acquiring message history information. The storage unit 42 stores process information, message history information, and facility information acquired by the data acquisition unit 41 from the monitoring control server 3.

The display control unit 43 generates a monitoring screen that displays the state of the plant based on the process information and message history information stored in the storage unit 42 and causes the image display unit 44 to display the monitoring screen. The display control unit 43 includes a display update unit 431, a buffer 432, and a display switching unit 433.
When new message information is added to the message history information, the display update unit 431 displays messages based on a predetermined number of message information selected in the order of occurrence in the order of occurrence in a predetermined display area on the monitoring screen. To do. In the present embodiment, this predetermined display area is the latest message display area capable of displaying two messages.
The buffer 432 buffers (stores) the message displayed by the display update unit 431 in the latest message display area. The number of messages to be buffered is the number of messages that can be displayed retroactively in the latest message display area, such as 20, for example.
When the display input switching instruction is input from the operation input unit 45, the display switching unit 433 acquires a message displayed in the past from the message currently displayed in the latest message display area from the buffer 432, and displays the latest message in time series. Display in the display area.

The image display unit 44 is a display and displays a screen.
The operation input unit 45 is an interface for inputting a user operation, and is, for example, a mouse or a key. When the image display unit 44 is a touch panel, the operation input unit 45 is a touch sensor disposed on the touch panel. Hereinafter, a case where the operation input unit 45 is a mouse will be described as an example.
When the user inputs a control instruction for the plant equipment 1 through the operation input unit 45, the control instruction transmission unit 46 transmits a control instruction based on the input to the monitoring control server 3.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of message history information. As shown in the figure, the message history information 5 includes message information in which a message occurrence time, an event type, and message contents are associated with each other. In the figure, message information 5-1, 5-2, 5-3,... Are registered in the message history information in order from the message information with the newest occurrence time. The message type is notification, operation, alarm, or the like. The notification is a message that notifies the operation of the plant equipment 1 and the like, and the operation is a message that indicates the control content and the like instructed to the plant equipment 1 by a user operation. The alarm may be further detailed message types such as a major failure, a minor failure, and so on. The target device indicates which plant device 1 is the message. In addition, when the information which specifies the plant apparatus 1 is contained in the content of a message, you may use the information as information of an object apparatus.

Next, a monitoring screen displayed on the image display unit 44 by the display control unit 43 of the monitoring terminal 4 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the monitoring screen 71 when the message is automatically updated. The monitoring screen 71 has a latest message display area 72 (message display area) and an individual monitoring screen display area 73. The individual monitoring screen display area 73 is an area for displaying an individual monitoring screen 74 such as a flow screen that displays the state of the plant and a trend graph screen that displays the time-series state of the equipment constituting the plant. The display control unit 43 displays the individual monitoring screen 74 based on the process information and message history information stored in the storage unit 42. The display upper limit number of the individual monitoring screen 74 is determined in advance.

  The display update unit 431 of the monitoring terminal 4 displays the latest two messages from the current time in the latest message display area 72. When a new message is generated due to the operation of the device and the message history information is updated, the display update unit 431 displays the latest two messages at that time in the latest message display area 72. At this time, the display update unit 431 displays messages in the latest message display area 72 in order of occurrence time so that the latest message is displayed in the uppermost line. Thus, when the message is updated, the display content of the latest message display area 72 is automatically updated, and the latest two messages from the present are always displayed. The display update unit 431 determines the background color of the message and the character color of the message according to the event type.

  Each time the display update unit 431 displays a new message in the latest message display area 72, the display update unit 431 writes the information of the displayed message in the buffer 432. The message information to be written in the buffer 432 may be information in which a style such as background color or message character color is added to the displayed message, image data of the displayed message, or message information acquired from the message history information.

  When the user wants to check the number of messages exceeding the latest two that are always displayed, the user performs an operation of selecting the latest message display area 72. Specifically, the user operates the mouse (operation input unit 45), moves the mouse pointer 75 over the latest message display area 72, and clicks. This operation corresponds to a predetermined instruction for switching the display target in the latest message display area 72. This instruction is referred to as a display object switching instruction.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a monitoring screen when the latest message display area is selected. When the user performs an operation of selecting the latest message display area 72 with the mouse, the display switching unit 433 performs display in a manner indicating that the latest message may not be displayed in the latest message display area 72. For example, in the figure, the display of the line surrounding the latest message display area 72 is changed to a red thick line. In other words, the bold line has a marking role indicating that the message content displayed in the latest message display area 72 may not be the one displaying the two latest messages. The display of the bold red line prevents the user from misunderstanding the state in which past messages that are not the latest are displayed in the latest message display area 72 as the state in which the latest messages are displayed.
In FIG. 4, as an example showing that there is a possibility that the latest message may not be displayed in the latest message display area 72, the case where the line surrounding the latest message display area 72 is changed is shown as an example. It may be. For example, the display switching unit 433 may display the monitor screen 71 other than the latest message display area 72 by changing the color or brightness other than the latest message display area 72 such as graying out the display.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a monitoring screen when a display object switching instruction is input.
The user operates the mouse wheel 6 in a state where the latest message display area 72 is selected, that is, the line surrounding the latest message display area 72 is displayed as a bold red line. The display switching unit 433 scrolls the display contents in the latest message display area 72. The target to be displayed in the latest message display area 72 when scrolling is the past predetermined number of messages (for example, 20 messages) buffered in the buffer 432 by the display control unit 43. When the user rotates the wheel 6 downward, the display switching unit 433 reads past message information corresponding to the amount of wheel operation from the buffer 432 and sequentially scrolls and displays the information.

  For example, it is assumed that a message based on the message information 5-1 and 5-2 is displayed in the latest message display area 72. When the user rotates the wheel 6 downward, the display switching unit 433 displays a message based on message information 5-2 and 5-3, a message based on message information 5-3 and 5-4, and message information 5-4 and 5 The message based on −5,... Even when the display object is switched, the display switching unit 433 displays the message of the new occurrence time in the upper line while being displayed in the latest message display area 72. As a result, it is possible to check the past messages for the number of messages buffered in the buffer 432 without separately displaying a dedicated screen for the user to display history messages.

When the user rotates the wheel 6 upward, the display switching unit 433 sequentially scrolls past messages in a direction close to the present according to the amount of wheel operation. For example, it is assumed that messages based on the message information 5-10 and 5-11 are displayed in the latest message display area 72. When the user rotates the wheel 6 upward, the display switching unit 433 displays messages based on the message information 5-9 and 5-10, messages based on the message information 5-8 and 5-9, and message information 5-7 and 5 Switch between messages based on -8, and so on.
As described above, when the display object switching instruction indicating the movement in the past direction is input, the display switching unit 433 sequentially moves the generation time in the past direction from the currently displayed message to the latest message display area 72. Display messages in chronological order. When a display object switching instruction indicating movement in the current direction is input, the display switching unit 433 moves the time of occurrence from the currently displayed message in the current direction to the latest message display area 72 in order. Display in series. Instead of the operation of rotating the mouse wheel 6, an operation of pressing the up arrow key or the down arrow key of the keyboard may be used.

  When the user clicks outside the latest message display area 72, the display switching unit 433 deletes the bold line surrounding the latest message display area 72. The display update unit 431 displays the latest two messages from the current time in the latest message display area 72.

Next, the operation of the monitoring control system will be described.
The process value receiving unit 32 of the monitoring control server 3 receives a process value notification signal from the controller 2 at any time. The process value receiving unit 32 converts the process value indicated by the received process value notification signal into an engineering value, and writes it into the process value information stored in the storage unit 31 in association with the type of the process value. When the message generation unit 34 generates a message based on the process value written in the process value information and the type of the process value, the message generation unit 34 stores the message content, the generation time, the message type, and the target device in association with each other. The message history information stored in the message 31 is written.

  Moreover, the control instruction | indication part 33 of the monitoring control server 3 receives the control instruction | indication based on user operation from the control instruction | indication transmission part 46 of the monitoring terminal 4 at any time, and the control which instruct | indicates to control the plant apparatus 1 according to the received control instruction | indication. An instruction signal is transmitted to the controller 2. When the message generation unit 34 generates a message based on the control instruction received from the monitoring terminal 4, the message history stored in the storage unit 31 in association with the message content, the generation time, the message type, and the target device Write information.

  The data transmission unit 35 of the monitoring control server 3 periodically receives the request from the monitoring terminal 4 every time the information is updated, and receives process value information, message history information, and equipment from the storage unit 31. Information is read out and output to the monitoring terminal 4. The data acquisition unit 41 of the monitoring terminal 4 writes the process value information, message history information, and facility information received from the monitoring control server 3 in the storage unit 42. The data acquisition unit 41 can acquire these pieces of information asynchronously.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing display control processing of the latest message display area by the monitoring terminal 4.
The display update unit 431 of the monitoring terminal 4 displays a message based on the latest two pieces of message information registered in the message history information in the latest message display area 72 (step S110). For example, when a new message is generated and message information is added to the message history information stored in the storage unit 42, the display update unit 431 adds an additional message that has not yet been displayed from the updated message history information. Read message information. The display update unit 431 deletes the message with the oldest occurrence time from the messages currently displayed in the latest message display area 72, and displays the remaining displayed messages shifted downward by one line. The display update unit 431 displays a message based on the read message information in the uppermost line of the latest message display area 72. The display update unit 431 writes the latest message information displayed in the buffer 432. If the information on the upper limit number of messages to be buffered is already stored in the buffer 432, the display update unit 431 erases the information on the message with the oldest occurrence time and then writes the information on the latest message.
When there are a plurality of additional message information that does not display a message, the display update unit 431 performs the above processing in order from the additional message information with the oldest occurrence time.

  While the selection operation of the latest message display area is not performed (step S115: NO), the display update unit 431 repeats the process of step S110. When the user operates the mouse to move and click the mouse pointer 75 on the latest message display area 72 (step S115: YES), the display switching unit 433 performs an operation for inputting a display target switching instruction. Detect that. The display switching unit 433 changes the display of the line surrounding the latest message display area 72 to a thick red line (step S120).

  When the user operates the mouse wheel 6 (step S125: YES), the display switching unit 433 scrolls the display content in the latest message display area 72. The display switching unit 433 acquires messages that have been displayed in the latest message display area 72 in the past from the buffer 432 according to the operation amount and operation direction of the wheel 6 and sequentially scrolls and displays them (step S130).

  When the scroll operation is not performed (step S125: NO), or after displaying a past message according to the scroll operation (step S130), the display switching unit 433 performs the process of step S135. That is, the display switching unit 433 determines whether or not an operation for finishing selection of the latest message display area 72 has been performed (step S135). If it is determined that the selection end operation has not been performed, the display switching unit 433 repeats the processing from step S125. When the user clicks outside the latest message display area 72, the display switching unit 433 determines that the selection end operation has been performed (step S135: YES), and deletes the bold line surrounding the latest message display area 72 (step S140). . The display control unit 43 causes the latest message display area 72 to display the message displayed when the latest message display area is selected in step S115, and then repeats the processing from step S110.

The monitoring terminal 4 may expand the message display area and display the message history.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display screen when a display area is enlarged and a message is displayed.
When the user moves and clicks the mouse pointer 75 on the latest message display area 72 of the monitoring screen 71, the display switching unit 433 displays a drop-down list 76 below the latest message display area 72. The display switching unit 433 arranges the past messages read from the buffer 432 in the drop-down list 76 in order of occurrence time and displays them in time series. When the user operates the mouse wheel 6, the display switching unit 433 scrolls the display content in the drop-down list 76. The display switching unit 433 sequentially scrolls and displays messages previously displayed in the latest message display area 72 according to the operation amount and operation direction of the wheel 6.

Note that the user may input a message type to be displayed through the operation input unit 45. The display update unit 431 and the display switching unit 433 display only the message based on the message information in which the message type to be displayed is set in the latest message display area 72 or the drop-down list 76.
In addition, the user may input a display target category by the operation input unit 45. The display update unit 431 and the display switching unit 433 display only messages based on message information in which the plant device 1 belonging to the display target category is the target device in the latest message display area 72 or the drop-down list 76. The display update unit 431 and the display switching unit 433 refer to the facility information stored in the storage unit 42 and determine whether or not the target device set in the message information belongs to the display target category.

  According to the above-described embodiment, the user can check a message that has occurred in the past by using the latest message display area on the HMI screen that is always displayed without displaying a dedicated screen.

  According to at least one embodiment described above, by having a display switching unit, a dedicated screen is displayed for a history of messages exceeding the conventional number without expanding the area occupied by the latest message display function. It can be easily confirmed without any problem. Further, since the message history is not displayed on the dedicated screen, the individual monitoring screen can be displayed up to the upper limit number.

  A part or all of the functions of the monitoring control server 3 and the monitoring terminal 4 in the above-described embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing the functions of the monitoring control server 3 and the monitoring terminal 4 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. It may be realized. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory inside a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case may be included and a program held for a certain period of time. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Plant equipment, 2 ... Controller, 3 ... Monitoring control server, 4 ... Monitoring terminal, 31 ... Memory | storage part, 32 ... Process value receiving part, 33 ... Control instruction | indication part, 34 ... Message production | generation part, 35 ... Data transmission part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Data acquisition part, 42 ... Memory | storage part, 43 ... Display control part, 44 ... Image display part, 45 ... Operation input part, 431 ... Display update part, 432 ... Buffer, 433 ... Display switching part

Claims (7)

A message acquisition unit that acquires time-series messages related to the status of monitored devices;
In the message display area in the screen of the monitoring terminal, a predetermined number of the messages are displayed in order from the newest message, and when a predetermined instruction is input, the message display area displays the message being displayed. A display control unit for displaying the messages displayed in the message display area in the past in time series,
A message display device comprising: The display control unit performs display in a mode indicating that the latest message may not be displayed in the message display area when an operation for inputting the predetermined instruction is performed.
The message display device according to claim 1. When an instruction indicating movement in the past direction is input, the display control unit displays the messages in time series in the message display area by sequentially moving the generation time in the past direction from the message being displayed. When an instruction indicating movement in the current direction is input, the message is displayed in chronological order in the message display area by sequentially moving the generation time in the current direction rather than the message being displayed.
The message display device according to claim 1 or 2. When the predetermined instruction is input, the display control unit displays the message displayed in the message display area in the past than the message being displayed in time series in the enlarged message display area.
The message display device according to claim 1. A receiver that receives data representing the status of the monitored device;
A message generation unit that generates a message related to the status of the monitored device based on the data;
In the message display area in the screen of the monitoring terminal, a predetermined number of the messages are displayed in order from the newest message, and when a predetermined instruction is input, the message display area displays the message being displayed. A display control unit for displaying the messages displayed in the message display area in the past in time series,
A monitoring system comprising: A message acquisition step for acquiring time-series messages related to the status of monitored devices;
In the message display area in the screen of the monitoring terminal, a predetermined number of the messages are displayed in order from the newest message, and when a predetermined instruction is input, the message display area displays the message being displayed. A display control step for displaying the messages displayed in the message display area in the past in time series,
A message display method. On the computer,
A message acquisition step for acquiring time-series messages related to the status of monitored devices;
In the message display area in the screen of the monitoring terminal, a predetermined number of the messages are displayed in order from the newest message, and when a predetermined instruction is input, the message display area displays the message being displayed. A display control step for displaying the messages displayed in the message display area in the past in time series,
A program that executes

Images