Integrated Programmer Reference For Industrial Control Device Data

• US 20080300695A1
• Filed: 11/15/2006
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Griesmer, Paul T., Bizily, James A., Pierce, Scott A., Law, Robert D., Telljohann, Patrick D., Wylie Jr, Dennis M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,050,784 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

A computer program to assist in programming an industrial control system provides a programmer with a functional description of the data of low-level devices in the industrial controller, as gleaned from electronic data sheets, whose data is extracted and combined with mapping data used during the configuration of the industrial controller. The functional description may be used to create a reference for the programmer that may be incorporated into the control program source file.

Claims

1. A computer program (60) providing a program variable reference (72) for programming an industrial controller (10), the industrial controller communicating with a variety of devices (18) for the control of an industrial process (20), the computer program comprising:

(a) a parser (62) for reading electronic data sheets (50) associated with the devices, the electronic data sheets describing device data (22) exchanged between the industrial controller and the device by providing a description of a function (54) of the data and a data type (56) of the data, the parser extracting the description and the data type identified to the device;

(b) a mapper (64) creating a map (58) relating the device data of a device communicating with the industrial controller to a location in a memory (38) of the industrial controller; and

(c) a reference generator (70) receiving data from the parser and the mapper to create a programmer'"'"'s reference (72) connecting variable names of device data used in a control program (14) executable by the industrial controller to corresponding;

(i) locations in a memory of the industrial controller where the device data is stored;

(ii) identification of the devices associated with the device data; and

(iii) data type of the device data.

2. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the mapper uses the data types extracted from the electronic data sheets to create the map.

3. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the reference generator further embeds the programmer'"'"'s reference into source code (74) of the control program accessible by a programmer modifying the control program.

4. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the variable names include human readable text selected by the programmer.

5. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the electronic data sheets further include configuration information (76) for the devices and wherein the reference generator further inserts the configuration information into source code of a control program executed by the industrial controller.

6. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the devices are input/output devices.

7. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the mapper outputs a tree structure showing relationships among the device data and the devices of the industrial control system.

8. The computer program of claim 7 wherein the mapper provides a proposed variable name based on the relationship of the tree structure.

9. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the reference generator further creates the programmer'"'"'s reference by connecting variable names of device data to functional descriptions of the data.

10. The computer program of claim 1 further including:

a program development program (80) for creating a control program and wherein the reference generator further displays the programmer'"'"'s reference to the programmer while the programmer is using the program development program.

11. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the parser, mapper and reference generator are independently executable programs.

12. The computer program of claim 1 wherein the parser, mapper and reference generator are an integrated program.

13. A method of generating a program variable reference (72) for programming an industrial controller (10), the industrial controller communicating with a variety of devices (18) for the control of an industrial process (20), the method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading electronic data sheets (50) associated with the devices, the electronic data sheets describing device data (22) exchanged between the industrial controller and the device by providing a description of a function (54) of the data and a data type (56) of the data, the reading extracting the description and the data type identified to the device;

(b) mapping device data of a device communicating with the industrial controller to a location in a memory (38) of the industrial controller; and

(c) creating a programmer'"'"'s reference (72) connecting variable names of device data used in a control program executable by the industrial controller to corresponding;

(i) locations in a memory of the industrial controller where the device data is stored;

(ii) devices of the device data;

(iii) data type of the device data.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the electronic data sheets have an open source structure and are created by a plurality of different device manufacturers.

15. The method of claim 13 further including the step of embedding the programmer'"'"'s reference into source code (74) of the control program to be accessible by a programmer modifying the control program.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein the variable names include human readable text selected by the programmer.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the electronic data sheets further include configuration information (75) for the devices and including the step of inserting the configuration information into a source code of a control program executed by the industrial controller.

18. The method of claim 13 including the step of outputting a tree structure showing relationships among the data elements and the devices of the industrial control system.

19. The method of claim 18 including the step of generating a proposed variable name for a variable based on the relationship of the tree structure.

20. The method of claim 13 further including the step of receiving programmer input to create a control program while displaying the programmer'"'"'s reference to the programmer for use in writing a control program.