JPH10312204A - Display device and display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device capable of automatically arranging and rearranging steps and subcharts at the time of parallel execution processing and selective execution processing displayed on the display of a data processor such as a personal computer in an easy retrieval state. SOLUTION: The steps and the subcharts at the time of parallel execution processing and selective execution processing among SFC programs displayed on the display of the personal computer are automatically rearranged in a newest editing order based on its editing time and data such as from a chart C before editing 56 on a display to a chart C after editing 58. Thereby, the retrieval, etc., of the SFC programs after preparing is facilitated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device and a display method, and more particularly, to a display device and a display of a data processing device for creating and editing an SFC (Sequential Function Chart) program among programs for defining the operation of a PLC. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, programmable controllers (hereinafter, referred to as PLCs) have become widespread and used for controlling various devices. Conventionally, when an SFC program used for such a PLC is created and edited, as shown in FIG. 8, the SFC program is visually and graphically displayed on a display of a data processing device, for example, a personal computer.

Here, in the sequential execution process 10, a process A
Steps and subcharts are executed from top to bottom in the order of 1, A2, A3. On the other hand, in the case of a parallel execution process in which a plurality of processes are executed at the same time, the process is described as 12 in FIG. 8, indicating that processes B1 and B2 are executed simultaneously. Further, in the case of a selective execution process in which a plurality of processes are selectively executed, the process is described as 14 to indicate that one of the processes C1 and C2 is executed.

[0004] At this time, the arrangement and rearrangement of rectangular steps and subcharts, which are one of the elements of the SFC, on the display are shown in FIG.
1, A2, A3, B1, B2 of the parallel execution processing 12, and C1, C2 of the selection execution processing 14, the creator of the program manually performed the processing using a mouse or a keyboard.

[0005]

However, the SFC
Stipulates that the processing of the PLC is represented by flowing from top to bottom by a figure, but the part where the processing of the PLC separates, that is, as shown in FIG.
2 (B1, B2) and the order of the selection execution processing 14 (C1, C2) are not particularly defined in SFC, and the creator of the program must arbitrarily rearrange the order. For this reason, there is a problem that the arrangement of the displayed SFC programs is not uniform, and the search of the created SFC program is very complicated.

In particular, when describing parallel execution processing and selection execution processing, the steps and subcharts are arranged in a horizontal line on the screen of the personal computer, and the steps and subcharts per one parallel execution processing and selection execution processing are described. When the number increases, it becomes difficult for the creator to quickly identify steps and subcharts to be edited and corrected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object the parallel execution processing and the parallel execution processing displayed on a display device (display) of a data processing device such as a personal computer. An object of the present invention is to provide a display device and a display method capable of automatically arranging and rearranging steps and subcharts at the time of selection execution processing in a state where retrieval and the like are easy.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a display device of a data processing device used when writing an SFC program in a programmable controller. An editing time storing means for storing an editing time, a program storing means for storing an edited SFC program, and an SFC program stored in the program storing means based on the editing time stored in the editing time storing means are arranged. And a program display management means for alternately displaying the program.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the program display management means edits the parallel execution processing or the selection execution processing program among the SFC programs stored in the program storage means. It is characterized by rearranging in the latest editing order based on the last editing time stored in the time storage means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in a display method of a data processing device used when writing an SFC program in a programmable controller, a time at which the SFC program is edited is stored, and based on the stored time. It is characterized in that the edited SFC programs are rearranged in the order of the latest editing time on the display device of the data processing device.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a data processing apparatus for creating and editing an SFC and a PLC according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.
Is shown schematically. The data processing device includes a personal computer body 20, a display 22, a keyboard and a mouse 2.
4, and a peripheral device such as a hard disk drive 26.

The personal computer body 20 includes an MPU 32, a RAM,
34, a ROM 36 and the like. MPU32
Is composed of a microprocessor and controls the entire processing device. The RAM 34 stores software for creating and editing an SFC, and stores an editing time and date of the SFC program, an editing time storage unit, and a program display for managing the display of the SFC program on the display 22. It also has a role as management means. Further, the ROM 36 stores software for starting the personal computer 20 and managing hardware resources.

A PLC main body 28 is connected to the personal computer main body 20 via a serial interface 30. The display 22 is a display unit that displays an SFC chart or a window for editing the SFC. A keyboard and a mouse 24 are input devices that specify a chart to be edited by the SFC program creator and input a program. is there. The hard disk drive 26 stores the created S
It reads and writes FC programs, of which the hard disk is program storage means. The created program is downloaded to the PLC main body 28 via the serial interface 30.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a software configuration when software for creating and editing an SFC is developed on the RAM 34. In FIG. 2, the software includes a chart data management unit 38 for storing SFC information, a chart display unit 40 for displaying stored chart data on a screen, a chart editing unit 42 for editing SFC, It is composed of a window management unit 44 for managing the display and editing of the chart.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of a window shown on the display 22 when an SFC is created and edited. As shown in the figure, the display layout on the display 22 includes a main window 46 for displaying the entire flow of the SFC, and a sub-window 48 for displaying details of individual charts (sub-charts, steps, etc.) in the main window 46. Consists of The sub window 48
Open it by moving the mouse pointer to the chart for which you want to see detailed information and selecting the edit function. On the other hand, by performing an editing operation in the sub-window 48 and selecting the editing end function, the sub-window 48 is closed.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the flow of the processing of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 shows the flow of the editing processing of the sub-window, and FIG. 5 shows the flow of the processing of displaying the main window. FIG. 6 shows a change in data (chart management data) on the RAM 34, and FIG. 7 shows a display 22 before and after editing a chart C to be described later.
The upper display state is shown.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the entire apparatus including the personal computer body 20 is started, in step 100, the SF is displayed on the main window by the hard disk drive 26.
The chart data is read according to the C data, and the chart data is displayed on the display 22 in step 101. At this time, if one of the parallel execution processes is in a state before editing the chart C shown by 56 in FIG.
The data on M34 is in the state indicated by 50 before editing of the chart C in FIG.

When the editing of step C is designated, the process proceeds to step 102, where a sub-window showing the detailed information of the chart C is opened on the display 22, and the editing of the chart C is executed on the window. Step 103
Then, it is determined whether the editing has been completed. If the editing has not been completed, the process returns to step 101. On the other hand, if the editing has been completed, immediately before closing the window, the current date and time at the time of editing are stored in the RAM 34 as internal processing, and the date and time of the chart C are stored as indicated by 52 in FIG. After rewriting to the one at the end of editing, the editing is ended.

On the other hand, the display on the display 22 is as follows.
After reading the chart data in step 200 in FIG. 5, it is determined whether the content displayed in step 201 is a parallel execution process or a selection execution process. Load chart data. On the other hand, when neither the parallel execution process nor the selection execution process is performed, the process proceeds to the normal process without reading the data of the step or the subchart. Then, in step 203, the chart is rearranged in the order of the latest editing time. Then, on the RAM 34, the state shifts from the state of 52 in FIG. Further, proceeding to step 204, as shown in FIG.
On the display 22, the state changes from 56 before the editing of the chart C to 58 after the editing of the chart C, and the chart is displayed from left to right in the order of the last editing time.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, regarding the display of the charts of the parallel execution processing and the selection execution processing of the SFC on the display 22, the most recently edited chart, that is, the chart that is most noticed is Since it is located on the left, it is easy to search for charts required by the SFC creator. This is particularly effective when the number of branches per parallel execution process and selection execution process increases.

Further, the complicated operation for adjusting the positional relationship of the chart, which has been manually performed by the creator of the SFC in the past, is not required.

In the present embodiment, the most recently edited chart is rearranged so as to be located on the leftmost side on the display 22, but the present invention is not limited to this. It may be displayed.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the steps and sub-charts of the parallel execution processing and the selection execution processing displayed on the display device such as a personal computer can be easily searched based on the editing time. Since the data is automatically rearranged, it is easy to search the created SFC program. In addition, since the steps and subcharts are rearranged in the latest editing order, the creator can quickly specify the steps and subcharts to be edited and corrected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a device configuration of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of software for creating and editing an SFC.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a display layout of a window shown on a display when creating and editing an SFC.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a change in data on a RAM.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display state of an SFC on a display.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a description example of an SFC.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 PC body 22 Display 26 Hard disk drive 28 PLC body 30 Serial interface 32 MPU 34 RAM 36 ROM

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display device of a data processing device used when writing an SFC program in a programmable controller, comprising: an editing time storing means for storing an editing time of the SFC program; and a program storing means for storing an edited SFC program. And a program display management means for rearranging and displaying SFC programs stored in the program storage means based on the editing time stored in the editing time storage means. 2. The program display management means according to claim 2, wherein, among the SFC programs stored in said program storage means, a parallel execution processing or a selection execution processing program is executed based on the last editing time stored in said editing time storage means.
The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display is rearranged in the latest editing order. 3. A display method of a data processing device used when writing an SFC program in a programmable controller, wherein a time at which the SFC program is edited is stored, and the SFC program edited based on the stored time is stored in a data storage device. A display method characterized by rearranging in the order of the latest editing time on a display device of a processing device.