JP4859601B2 - Programmable display and drawing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to data communication between a programmable display and an external device, and particularly relates to facilitating development of the communication program.

  A programmable display is used to give a control instruction to an external device such as a programmable logic controller (PLC) or a robot, or to display data of the external device.

  Programmable displays are highly versatile, such as displays and buttons, but on the other hand, an interface program for exchanging data with external devices (communication) must be prepared. Creation of this interface program is not always easy, and various ideas have been made in the past.

  In Patent Document 1, an interface program for a plurality of PLCs is prepared in advance in a creation support apparatus, and the user selects these interface programs and transfers them from the creation support apparatus to a programmable display for use. . There is an advantage that the user only has to select an interface program corresponding to the PLC model.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a creation device that automatically analyzes a communication protocol and generates an interface program. There is an advantage that the user can create an interface program without knowing the PLC protocol or the like.

  Patent Document 3 discloses a protocol creation method in which addresses are automatically assigned to constants and variables described in a protocol macro. There is an advantage that a protocol macro can be created efficiently.

Patent 3356530

JP 2002-300226

JP 2002-189505 A

  However, the above prior art has the following problems.

  The one in Patent Document 1 has a problem that a new interface program has to be created for a PLC that is not registered in advance.

  With the thing of patent document 2, although it can respond to a simple protocol in which each instruction is constituted by one frame, a case where a macro instruction is constituted by a plurality of frames, or a complicated program having a branch or the like Could not respond.

  In Patent Document 3, although an address can be automatically assigned, an interface program is not automatically generated according to the PLC model.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide a programmable display and a drawing device that can easily create an interface program regardless of the type of an external device such as a PLC.

(1) A programmable display according to one aspect of the present invention is a programmable display that performs data communication with an external device having a device, and includes an interface basic command that performs basic processing of communication with the external device, and a device of the external device. A recording unit that is provided for each type and records device information data including at least the number of data digits, the number of address digits, and a type code, and communication command common attribute data including at least the data format of the address and data, and the interface basic command Accordingly, the specific device includes communication means for communicating with the external device based on the device information data corresponding to the communication partner device and the communication command common attribute data.

  Therefore, based on the device basic data and the communication command common attribute data and the device information data provided for each device of the external device, data exchange with the external device is realized and the versatility is high. If these communication command common attribute data and device information data are provided, an operation program for interfacing with an external device can be created with less dependence on the model of the external device.

(2) In the programmable display device according to one aspect of the present invention, the communication means analyzes the received frame based on the device information data, the communication command common attribute data, and the frame format in the case of reading, and in the case of writing. The method is characterized in that a frame is generated based on device information data and communication command common attribute data and transmitted to an external device.

  Therefore, data can be transmitted and received regardless of the type of external device.

(3) The programmable display device according to one aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the specific device is a device registered in the screen reading device table or the screen writing device table.

(4) A drawing device according to one aspect of the present invention is a drawing device that generates and outputs project data of a programmable display, and a recording unit that records an interface basic command for performing basic processing of communication with an external device; , A dialog generation means for generating a communication protocol including a command including transmission / reception of data with an external device by a dialog with a user, and at least the number of data digits and an address for each type of the device of the external device Input means for a user to input device information data including the number of digits, type code, and communication command common attribute data including at least address and data format, communication protocol, interface basic command, device information data and communication Output project data including command common attribute data And a means.

  Therefore, by separating the interface basic commands, communication protocol data, device information data, communication command common attribute data that depend on the model of the external device, and operation programs that are less dependent on the model of the external device, It becomes easy to handle. That is, once the interface basic command, device information data, and communication command common attribute data are stored, an interface can be easily realized by generating an operation program with little model dependence of the external device. In addition, if the interface basic command, device information data, and communication command common attribute data are prepared, the created operation program can be used as it is for an external device of another model or with a slight modification.

(a) A man-machine interface device according to one aspect of the present invention is a man-machine interface device that is connected to a programmable controller and exchanges data with the programmable controller. When receiving data from a specific device of a programmable controller and a recording unit that records device information data including at least the number of data digits for each device, based on the device information recorded corresponding to the specific device When data is transmitted to the specific device of the programmable controller and the reception processing means for interpreting the data content, transmission data for the programmable controller is generated based on the device information recorded corresponding to the specific device. Then send And a that transmission processing means.

(b) The man-machine interface program according to the present invention is a program for realizing, by a computer, a man-machine interface device that is connected to the programmable controller and exchanges data with the programmable controller. When receiving data from a specific device of the programmable controller, a reception processing means for interpreting the data content based on device information recorded in the recording unit corresponding to the specific device, and the programmable controller When transmitting data to a specific device, the computer generates transmission processing means for generating and transmitting transmission data to the programmable controller based on the device information recorded in the recording unit corresponding to the specific device. Realize It is a man-machine interface program for.

(c) In the man-machine interface device according to the present invention, the recording unit further records communication command common attribute data including at least an address and a data format of the data, and the reception processing means includes each device Analyzing the received frame based on the common communication command common attribute data and the frame format, analyzing the content of the received data based on the device information corresponding to the specific device, the transmission processing means, Based on device information corresponding to the specific device, data that can be understood by the programmable controller is constructed, and a frame to be transmitted is constructed on the basis of common communication command attribute data and frame format common to each device ( (Created) and transmitted.

(d) In the man-machine interface device according to the present invention, the device information further includes a type indicating whether the device is for writing or reading, and the number of address digits of the device. .

(e) The man-machine interface device according to the present invention is characterized in that the communication command common attribute further includes an address and data storage method and a parity check method.

(f) A data communication method according to the present invention is a data communication method between a programmable controller and a man-machine interface device, and the man-machine interface device includes at least data for each device of the programmable controller. When device information data including the number of digits is recorded and data is received from a specific device of the programmable controller in the man-machine interface device, the device information is recorded based on the device information recorded corresponding to the specific device. When interpreting data contents and transmitting data to a specific device of a programmable controller in a man-machine interface device, the data is recorded in the programmable controller based on the device information recorded corresponding to the specific device. Against It is characterized by generating and transmitting transmission data.

(g) A data communication method according to the present invention is a method in which a man-machine interface device performs data communication with a programmable controller having a device, and the man-machine interface device has a basic communication with the programmable controller. The basic interface program for processing, device information data provided for each programmable controller device, including at least the number of data digits, and communication command common attribute data including at least the address and data format are recorded and programmable. When receiving data from a specific device of the controller, the interface basic program reads device information data corresponding to the communication partner device, communication command common attribute data, and frame format. When the data from the programmable controller is interpreted based on the above and the data is transmitted to the specific device of the programmable controller, the interface basic program communicates with the device information data corresponding to the communication partner device, Based on the command common attribute data and the frame format, data is generated and transmitted to the programmable controller.

(h) A drawing device according to the present invention is a drawing device that generates project data and transmits it to a man-machine interface device, and records a basic interface command for performing basic processing of communication with a programmable controller. And a communication generating means for generating a communication protocol comprising instructions including interface basic commands by interaction with the user, device information data including at least the number of data digits for each device of the programmable controller, and at least an address And project data including input means for a user to input communication command common attribute data including the data format of the data, the communication protocol, interface basic command, device information data, and communication command common attribute data. - and a transmitting means for transmitting to the machine-interface devices.

  In the present invention, the “man-machine interface device” means a device for taking an interface between a machine and a human, and a programmable display or the like corresponds to this.

  The “programmable display” means a device that can confirm at least the state of the PLC or the like, and may give a command to the PLC or the like. Further, not only the PLC but also a robot or the like may be targeted.

  The “recording unit” refers to a unit that can record at least device information data, and may be in any form such as a memory, a hard disk, or a CD-ROM. In the embodiment, the P-ROM 30 and the memory 28 correspond to this.

  “Communication means” means means capable of receiving at least data from the PLC. In the embodiment, step S3 in FIG. 12 corresponds to this.

  The “program” is a concept that includes not only a program that can be directly executed by the CPU, but also a source format program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

1. Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a programmable display 2 as a man-machine interface device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transmission processing means 8 receives a command from the operation program and transmits data to any one of the devices D1, D2,... Dn of the PLC 4 (external device) designated directly or indirectly by the operation program. And write. At this time, the transmission processing means 8 refers to the interface basic command 12, the common attribute data 14, and the device information data 16 for data exchange with the PLC 4, and communicates with the designated devices D1, D2,. I do.

  Here, the interface basic command 12 is a basic command for communication with the PLC 4. Specifically, a write request transmission command to the PLC 4 device (requests data writing to the device), a write response reception command (notification of writing completion from the device), a read request transmission command (device data) The frame format of the command such as a read response reception command (reception of data from the device) is recorded as the interface basic command 12. The interface basic command 12 varies depending on the type of PLC. Therefore, it is preferable to prepare for each model of PLC.

  The common attribute data 14 is an attribute necessary for exchanging the interface basic command 12 with the PLC 4. Attributes such as address and data format (ASCII code or BIN code, etc.), address and data storage system (whether stored from upper byte or lower byte, etc.), parity check system, etc. are described. This attribute is an attribute common to each command and is usually different for each PLC model. Therefore, it is preferable to prepare for each model of PLC.

  The device information data 16 describes the number of address digits, the number of data digits, and the like when communicating with a device. The device information data 16 is different for each type of device even in the same PLC. Therefore, it is preferable to prepare for each type of device.

  The transmission processing means 8 refers to the interface basic command 12, the common attribute data 14, and the device information data 16, and writes to the designated devices D1, D2,.

  On the other hand, the reception processing means 6 similarly reads the data from the designated devices D1, D2,... Dn with reference to the interface basic command 12, common attribute data 14, and device information data 16. The read data is given to the operation program.

  In this embodiment, the transmission processing means 8 and the reception processing means 6 constitute a communication means.

2. Hardware Configuration and Data FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the programmable display 2. A touch screen 22, an input / output interface (I / F) 24, an input key 26, a memory 28, a P-ROM 30, and an input / output interface (I / F) 32 are connected to the CPU 20. The input / output interface 24 connects to the PLC 4. The input / output interface 32 is connected to a drawing device 5 (described later) which is an interface program creation device.

  The touch screen 22 is configured such that a transparent electrode is arranged on the screen of the display, and not only the display but also the user can input. The input key 26 is an input button as hardware. The memory 28 functions as a work area for the CPU 20.

  The program ROM (P-ROM) 30 includes a system processing program 34, screen data 36, a screen device table 38, a communication protocol program 40, an interface basic command 12, communication command common attribute data 14 (common attribute data), and a device information table. 16 (device information data) and an operation program 42 are recorded. The communication command common attribute data 14 and the device information table 16 correspond to the common attribute data 14 and the device information data 16 in FIG.

  An example of the communication command common attribute data 14 recorded in the P-ROM 30 is shown in FIG. The address conversion format “BCD-> ASCII” indicates that the address data uses the BCD code in the programmable display 2 and uses the ASCII code in communication with the PLC 4. Thereby, when sending address data from the programmable display 2 to PLC4, it turns out that it is necessary to convert into ASCII code and to transmit.

  Also, depending on the type of PLC, the address storage method may be from the upper byte or from the lower byte. The address storage method shows this.

  The data conversion format and data storage method are also recorded in the same manner.

  In the BCC calculation, a parity value calculation method in communication with the PLC 4 is described.

  An example of the interface basic command 12 recorded in the P-ROM 30 is shown in FIG. FIG. 4A shows a read request command for reading data from the device. The constant part at the head is a code indicating that this command is a read request command. The last constant part indicates the end of this command. In the “type”, “address”, “number”, and “BCC” portions, only variable length items are set, and the command is not completed. This is because, at the time of execution, the system processing program 34 generates and completes the contents of the “type”, “address”, “number”, and “BCC” portions based on information such as the device information table 16 and executes them. is there. That is, the read request command is a skeleton (a virtual skeleton structure of the command (frame format)) prepared for generating the command. “Number” indicates the number of addresses to be read continuously, and “BCC” indicates parity.

  FIG. 4B shows a data read command when data is received from the device. When reading data from the device, the read request shown in FIG. 4A is given to the device, and in response to this, data sent as a command shown in FIG. 4B is received from the device. Similarly to the read request command, a code indicating that the data read command is a data read command is described in the head portion. Following this, items of “data” and “BCC” are prepared. The system processing program 34 interprets the data received from the device according to the data read command, the device information table 16 and the like, and acquires necessary data.

  FIG. 5A is a skeleton of a write request command when data is written to the device. FIG. 5B shows a data write completion command sent from the device.

  Commands other than those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are recorded, but are omitted here because they have the same format. It should be noted that the code of each command and what items (“type”, “address”, “number”, “BCC”, etc.) follow in what order are different depending on the PLC. Therefore, the interface basic command 12 may be recorded in the P-ROM 30 for each PLC to be used by selecting it.

  An example of the communication protocol program 40 recorded in the P-ROM 30 is shown in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6A shows a series of procedures for reading data from the device. First, the system processing program 34 transmits a read request command to the PLC 4 in step 1. The read request command is generated with reference to the skeleton of FIG. 4A. In step 2, a data read command from the PLC 4 is received to obtain device data. When extracting device data from the received data read command, the information of the data read command in FIG. 4B is referred to.

  As described above, the communication protocol is a description (macro) describing a series of processes for reading and writing by combining the interface basic commands 12. In FIG. 6A, only the communication protocol for reading is shown, but writing and other communication protocols are recorded in the P-ROM 30 in the same manner.

  An example of the device information table 16 recorded in the P-ROM 30 is shown in FIG. Each device of the PLC 4 has different data recording methods depending on the type. This is shown in the device information table 16. Specifically, the number of address digits, the number of data digits, and the like are described for each type of device. Although only “data register” and “internal relay” are shown as device types in FIG. 7, there are actually many types of devices.

  3 to 7 show the screens for inputting each data, the data recorded in the P-ROM 30 has the same format.

  An example of the operation program 42 recorded in the P-ROM 30 is shown in FIG. The operation program 42 is a program that determines the operation of the display screen of the programmable display device 2. The operation program 42 shown in FIG. 8 is for operating as shown in FIG. First, the screen of FIG. 9A is displayed on the touch screen 22 first. When the target number is input from the input key 26 by the user and the “Next” button is pressed, the display changes to the screen 2. On the screen 2, the production number data is received from the PLC 4 and displayed.

  In order to perform the screen display as shown in FIG. 9, the screen data 36 shown in FIG. 10 and the screen device table 38 shown in FIG. 11 are necessary in addition to the operation program 42 shown in FIG. It is recorded.

3. Operation of System Processing Program 34 FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of the system processing program. First, in step S1, the CPU 20 initializes the system. Next, the screen Start command on the first line of the operation program 42 (see FIG. 8) is acquired, and the screen data of the screen specified by the screen Start command is read and displayed (step S1). Here, since the first line is “Screen 1 Start”, the screen data for the screen 1 is read and displayed on the touch screen 22.

  In the screen 1 data of FIG. 10, it is specified that the character “target number” is displayed at a position of 150 for the X coordinate and 100 for the Y coordinate. As a result, the CPU 20 displays the “target number” on the designated X and Y coordinates as shown in FIG. 9A (the basic position (such as the upper left corner) of the target number of characters is set to the X and Y coordinates). indicate). Further, the functional component indicated in the functional component data item of the screen 1 data is displayed. First, the “screen switch” is displayed. This is displayed as the “Next” button in FIG. 9A. In addition, a “numerical value input device” is displayed. In FIG. 9A, the area 50 for input displayed on the right side of the “target number” corresponds to this.

  Next, the CPU 20 reads the contents of the screen device table of the designated screen from the P-ROM 30 (step S3). Here, a screen 1 device table (see FIG. 11), which is a device table corresponding to screen 1, is read. The CPU 20 communicates with the device of the PLC 4 described in the “read device” of the screen 1 device table, and acquires the value of the device. Here, since the device is designated with the address “7” in the read device column of the screen 1 device table, communication is performed based on this address. The communication method that is a feature of the present invention will be described in detail later.

  Next, the CPU 20 stores the read device value in the screen 1 device table (step S4). If the read value is “0”, “0” is stored in the value column as shown in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 20 displays the value of the reading device acquired in steps S3 and S4 at a designated position on the touch screen 22 (step S5). In the screen 1 data of FIG. 10, since the display of the reading device value is not specified, the reading device value is not displayed here. Subsequently, the input numerical value is stored in the “value” column of the screen 1 device table for the numerical value input device (input area 50 in FIG. 9A) set on the screen. For example, if “3521” is input to the input area 50 by the input key 26 on the screen of FIG. 9A, “3521” is stored as shown in the “value” column of “write device” in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 20 executes a macro instruction of the operation program (FIG. 8). Here, the instruction on the next line is “SW1 JUMP screen 2”, which is a macro instruction. Accordingly, the process proceeds to step S6 to execute the macro instruction. “SW1 JUMP screen 2” means that if the screen changeover switch SW1 (“next” button in FIG. 9) is pressed and “ON”, the screen jumps to screen 2. If the screen switch SW1 is not pressed and is “OFF”, the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S8, a “screen 1 End” command is processed. That is, for the device described in the writing device of the screen 1 device table, the stored “value” is communicated with the PLC 4 and written to the device. Here, the value “3521” is transmitted to the device designated as the address “7” and recorded. In this way, the data input by the user in step S6 is transmitted to the PLC4 device and recorded.

  When the process of “screen 1 End” is completed as described above, the CPU 20 executes step S2 and subsequent steps again.

  When the screen changeover switch SW1 is pressed by the user, the value of the screen changeover switch SW1 changes from “OFF” to “ON” (note that the value of SW1 is stored in the memory 28). When the value of the screen changeover switch SW1 changes to “ON”, the CPU 20 jumps from the second line to the fourth line of the operation program. Thereby, the process for the screen 2 is executed in step S2 and subsequent steps.

  When the process for the screen 2 is executed, the CPU 20 refers to the screen 2 device table (FIG. 11) and the screen 2 data (FIG. 10) and displays a screen as shown in FIG. 9B on the touch screen 22. . In the screen 2 of FIG. 9B, the values of the registers D1, D2, D3, and D4, which are the numerical value indicators of the PLC 4, are read and displayed in order from the top. In the numerical value display D1, the value (target number) written in the numerical value input device D7 is copied as it is. The numerical value display D2 is a device that records the number of production based on the output of a sensor connected to the PLC4. The numerical display D3 is a device that records the number of defects based on the output of a sensor connected to the PLC4. The numerical value display D4 is a register in which a value obtained by subtracting the values of the registers D2 and D3 from the value of the register D1 is recorded.

  As described above, the values of the registers D1, D2, D3, and D4 of the PLC 4 are read and displayed on the touch screen 22. Thereby, the user can know the progress of production.

  As described above, the user prepares the operation program 42, the screen data 36, and the screen device table 38, thereby displaying the values of the devices (such as the registers) of the PLC 4 on the touch screen 22, and from the touch screen 22 to the PLC 4 The operation can be controlled.

4). Details of Communication Processing In order to perform each of the above processes, the CPU 20 needs to communicate with the PLC 4. For example, in step S3, it is necessary to communicate with the PLC 4 to obtain the value of each reading device described in the screen device table 38. In step S6, it is necessary to communicate with the PLC 4 and record a value in each writing device described in the screen device table 38. Details of these communication processes, which are the features of this embodiment, will be described below.

  First, communication processing (reading of device data) with the PLC 4 in step S3 will be described. In step S <b> 3, the CPU 20 communicates with the PLC 4 and acquires data from the reading device of the PLC 4 described in the screen device table 38. For example, in the case of the screen 1 device table of FIG. 11, data is read from the register assigned to the address “7” of the PLC 4. In the case of the screen 2 device table, data is read from the registers assigned to the addresses “1”, “2”, “3”, and “4”.

  At the time of the above reading, the CPU 20 first reads the communication protocol 40 (device reading) shown in FIG. 6A from the P-ROM 30. Then, the read device reading communication protocol is executed from the top. As shown in FIG. 6A, in the device read communication protocol, first, the CPU 20 designates a device to the PLC 4 and transmits a read request, and subsequently receives data from the device of the PLC 4.

  The CPU 20 acquires the read request command and the data read command shown in FIG. 4 among the interface basic commands recorded in the P-ROM 30 at the time of the read request and data read. However, in the read request command stored in FIG. 4, the type, address, and the like are blank and are skeletons.

  Next, the device type to be read is acquired from the screen device table 38. For example, in the screen 1 device table, it is indicated that there is a device of type code “44” in the column of read device. Therefore, the CPU 20 acquires the number of address digits, the number of data digits, and the like for the device having the type code “44” from the device information table of FIG. Then, the blank of the skeleton of the acquired read request command is completed using these pieces of information. “44” is described in the “Type” column, “7” is described in the “Address” column, and “1” (“Point” in the screen 1 device table) is described in the “Number” column. To do. Here, the number is the number of read devices (or write devices) designated on the screen.

  At this time, with reference to the information in the device information table (FIG. 7), a numerical value is determined according to the number of digits of the address and the number of digits. Specifically, since “7” is described in four digits in the “address” column, “0007” is described. Since “1” is described in two digits in the “number” column, “01” is described.

  As described above, the CPU 20 refers to the communication command common attribute and converts the address into the ASCII code according to the format indicated as the address conversion format. That is, the address “0007” is converted to “30 30 30 37”. Here, “05 30 30 30 44 44 30 30 37 30 31 —0D” (hexadecimal notation) is completed as the read request command. Here, “4 digits” means “4 bytes”. In the above command, the “-” part is the part where the BCC for parity check is to be described. Therefore, the CPU 20 refers to the communication command common attribute in FIG. 3 to acquire the BCC calculation method, calculates the BCC, and describes it in the “-” part. For example, if BCC is “25”, this is described and the command “05 30 30 30 44 44 30 30 37 30 31 32 35 0D” is completed.

  Furthermore, when transmitting this to PLC4, CPU20 refers to a communication command common attribute, and converts this command into an ASCII code. Also, the upper and lower digits of the address are exchanged according to the method indicated as the address storage method. Here, since the address is originally shown from the upper byte, nothing is changed. However, if “from the lower byte” is indicated in the communication command common attribute, the order of the address part is reversed to “05 30 30 30 52 44 37 30 30 30 30 31 32 35 0D”. In this manner, the completed read request command is converted into the PLC4 format and transmitted.

  When the read request command is transmitted to the PLC 4 as described above, the PLC 4 returns the data of the device designated by the read request command as a data read command in response thereto. For example, a data read command such as “06 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 33 36 0D” is returned. CPU 20 refers to the communication protocol of FIG. 6A and knows that a data read command is returned following the read request command. Further, the contents are interpreted with reference to the data read command in FIG. 4B.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the first four digits (four bytes) “06 30 30 30” are constants indicating data read commands. Subsequent to this, it can be seen from FIG. 4B that data is being transmitted. However, the number of digits of data is unknown only by this. Therefore, referring to the screen 1 device table (FIG. 11), the type “44” of the device to be read is acquired, and the number of data digits “4 digits” for the device of the type from the device information table of FIG. Is obtained. Thereby, CPU20 knows that the number of digits of data is four digits. Therefore, the four digits “30 30 30 30” following “06 30 30 30” are acquired as data.

  At this time, the CPU 20 refers to the communication command common attribute in FIG. 3 and determines whether the data storage method is “from the upper byte” or “from the lower byte”. If it is “from lower byte”, the upper byte and the lower byte are exchanged. Here, since “from the upper byte”, the data is not rearranged.

  Subsequently, the CPU 20 calculates BCC with reference to the communication command common attribute. Since the number of digits of the BCC is “2 digits”, the calculated BCC is expressed by 2 digits, and an error check is performed compared to the 2 digits “33 36” following the data “00 00”. If they do not match, the PLC 4 is requested to retransmit data. If the BCC is correct, the acquired data is stored in the screen 1 device table (step S4 in FIG. 12).

  Communication with the PLC 4 is performed as described above. In addition, although the process about the screen 1 was demonstrated above, it is the same also about another screen. In the above description, the data read is described, but the same applies to the data write to the PLC 4. That is, a communication protocol for writing as shown in FIG. 6B is recorded in the P-ROM 30. In the writing process to the device, a writing request is transmitted to the PLC 4 by designating the device, data and the like. When the writing is completed, the PLC 4 returns a writing completion.

  The write request is recorded as a command as shown in FIG. 5A. The completion of writing is recorded as a command as shown in FIG. 5B. The CPU 20 transmits and receives data with reference to the device information table 16 and the communication command common attribute 14 in the same manner as described above.

  According to this embodiment, by preparing the interface basic command (FIGS. 4 and 5) and the device information table 16 in accordance with the PLC 4 model, various PLCs 4 can be supported.

5. Creation of Project Data In the above, the screen data 36, the screen device table 38, the communication protocol program 40, the interface basic command 12, the communication command common attribute 14, the device information table 16, the operation program 42 (the above are collectively stored in the P-ROM 30) The operation after recording data) was explained. Below, the process which produces this project data with the drawing apparatus 5 (refer FIG. 2) is demonstrated. The drawing device is a so-called personal computer, and includes a CPU, a hard disk, a display, a keyboard, a mouse (not shown), and the like.

  FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the project data generation program recorded on the hard disk. Assume that the project data generation program is started up and, for example, “Create interface basic command” is selected from the initial menu.

  First, the CPU displays a screen (FIG. 5A) for inputting an interface basic command on the display. When the pull-down button 40 is clicked with a mouse or the like, command names such as write request transmission, write completion reception, read request transmission, and data read reception are displayed in a list. The user selects a command to be input. For example, when write request transmission is selected, a screen as shown in FIG. 5A is displayed. However, “05 30 30 30 57” and “0D” in the figure are initially displayed as blanks. The user views the manual of the PLC 4 that he / she wishes to use and inputs a command for writing request transmission from the keyboard or the like (step S21 in FIG. 13).

  When the completion button 42 is clicked, the CPU proceeds to step S23 and records the inputted write request command on the hard disk. In this way, a write request transmission command can be set. Other commands can be set by similar processing.

  The communication protocol, communication command common attribute, and device information table can also be set and recorded on the hard disk by the same process. FIG. 6 shows a screen for setting a communication protocol, FIG. 3 shows a screen for setting a communication command common attribute, and FIG. 7 shows a screen for setting a device information table.

  Thus, the user can set the communication command common attribute, the interface basic command, the communication protocol, and the device information table so as to match the desired PLC. Therefore, once these are set, the user needs to be aware of the communication protocol specific to the PLC when creating the operation program (FIG. 8), screen data (FIG. 10), and screen device table (FIG. 11). It is easy to create a control program for a programmable display.

  The project data created as described above is transferred to the programmable display device via the I / F 32 (FIG. 2).

  In this embodiment, the user inputs a communication command common attribute, an interface basic command, a communication protocol, and a device information table. However, various PLCs may be recorded in advance on a hard disk so that they can be selected and used.

6). Others In the above embodiment, the PLC is used as the external device, but a robot or the like may be used as the external device.

  In the above embodiment, each means is realized by a program, but a part or all of the means may be realized only by hardware.

It is a functional block diagram of the programmable display by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a hardware structure of a programmable display. It is an example of a communication command common attribute. It is an example of an interface basic command. It is an example of an interface basic command. It is an example of a communication protocol. It is an example of a device information table. It is an example of an operation program. It is an example of a display screen. It is an example of screen data. It is an example of a screen device table. It is a flowchart of a system processing program. It is a flowchart of a production | generation program.

Explanation of symbols

2 ... Programmable display 4 ... PLC
6 ... Reception processing means 8 ... Transmission processing means 10 ... Recording section 12 ... Interface basic command 14 ... Common attribute data 16 ... Device information data

Claims (4)

A programmable display for data communication with an external device having a device,
A device that includes at least the number of data digits, the number of address digits, and the type code provided for each type of device of the external device and the interface basic command that describes the frame format of the command for performing basic processing for communication with the external device A recording unit that records information data and communication command common attribute data including information indicating at least the data format of the address and the data format of the data;
In accordance with the interface basic command, for a specific device, communication means for communicating with an external device based on device information data corresponding to a communication partner device and communication command common attribute data;
Programmable display with The programmable display of claim 1,
The communication means analyzes the received frame based on device information data, communication command common attribute data, and frame format in the case of reading, and device information data, communication command common attribute data, and frame format in the case of writing. Based on the above, a frame is generated and transmitted to an external device. The programmable display of claim 1,
The specific device is a device of an external device to be read for display on the screen of the programmable display or a device of an external device to which data input from the screen of the programmable display is to be written. thing. A drawing device that generates and outputs project data for a programmable display,
For a command for performing basic processing of communication with an external device, a recording unit that records an interface basic command describing its frame format ,
Dialog generating means for generating a communication protocol including instructions including transmission and reception of data with an external device by dialog with a user;
For each device type of external device, the user inputs communication command common attribute data including at least device information data including the number of data digits, the number of address digits, and a type code, and at least information indicating the data format of the address and the data format of the data. Input means for,
Output means for outputting project data including the communication protocol, interface basic command, device information data, and communication command common attribute data;
A drawing device with

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