METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR A DATA DRIVEN INTERFACE BASED ON RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PROCESS CONTROL TAGS

• US 20110230980A1
• Filed: 03/22/2010
• Published: 09/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Original Assignee: Fisher-Rosemount Systems Incorporated (Emerson Electric Company)
• Inventors: Campney, Bruce Hurbert, Hammack, Stephen Gerard, Zhou, Ling
• Granted Patent: US 8,825,183 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/17
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/409 characterised by using manual data input [MDI] or by using control panel, e.g. controlling functions with the panel; characterised by control panel details or by setting parameters G05B19/408, G05B19/4093 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32128 Gui graphical user interface
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32154 Object, attribute for geometry, technology, function oop
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/32155 Editor and library for objects

Abstract

Navigation between process control graphics representative of process control entities in an operator display includes a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference. Each process control graphical element identification uniquely identifies a process control graphical element of the operator display, each relationship is between various physical/logical entities and each relationship value reference uniquely identifies a logical and/or physical relationship between two or more entities within the process plant. One or more relationships are associated with a graphical object. Each relationship value reference is bound to two or more process control graphical elements of the operator display based on associated process control graphical element identifications.

Claims

1. A computer program comprising a computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method for navigation in an operator display in a process control system for use in a process plant, the method comprising:

receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference, wherein each process control graphical element identification uniquely identifies a process control graphical element of the operator display;

binding each relationship value reference to two or more process control graphical elements of the operator display based on the associated process control graphical element identifications, wherein each process control graphical element graphically illustrates an entity within the process plant and each relationship value reference uniquely identifies a logical and/or physical relationship between two or more entities within the process plant;

displaying a first process control graphical element in the operator display;

reading, in response to a user selection of the first process control graphical element, a relationship value reference bound to the first process control graphical element; and

displaying a second process control graphical element linked to the first process control graphical element by the relationship value reference binding the first and second process control graphical elements.

2. The program of claim 1, wherein binding each relationship value reference to two or more process control graphical elements of the operator display based on the associated process control graphical element identifications comprises creating a navigation link between the two or more process control graphical elements of the operator display, the program further comprising:

driving navigation of the operation display from the first process control graphical element to the second process control graphical element using the relationship value reference.

3. The program of claim 1, wherein receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference comprises receiving relationship data defining a relationship between process control tags, wherein each process control tag uniquely identifies a process control entity amongst the plurality of process control tags.

4. The program of claim 3, wherein each relationship value reference in the list of relationship value references comprises:

a relationship key comprising information pertaining to the relationship of the first process control entity with the second process control entity in the process plant; and

the relationship value comprising a unique identification of the relationship between the first and second process control entities, wherein the relationship value is unique among the process control tags.

5. The program of claim 4, wherein the relationship key comprises:

an identification of the first process control entity, wherein the identification uniquely identifies the first process control entity among the process control tags;

a process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the first process control entity; and

a related process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the second process control entity.

6. The program of claim 4, wherein each relationship value reference in the list of relationship value references further comprises metadata, the metadata comprising:

a relationship type describing the relationship between the first and second process control entities; and

the cardinality of the relationship between the first and second process control entities.

7. The program of claim 6, wherein the relationship type comprises one of:

a hierarchical relationship or a lateral relationship.

8. The program of claim 1, wherein the relationship between the first and second process control entities comprises more than one degree of separation based on the configuration of the process control entity in the process control system.

9. The program of claim 1,

wherein the first process control graphical element in the operator display comprises a graphical sub-element associated with the relationship value reference if the process control graphical element is bound to a relationship value reference, and

wherein reading, in response to a user selection of the first process control graphical element, a relationship value reference bound to the first process control graphical element comprises reading, in response to a user selection of the graphical sub-element, the relationship value reference associated with the graphical sub-element.

10. The program of claim 1,

wherein displaying a first process control graphical element in the operator display comprises displaying a first faceplate associated with the first process control graphical element, and

wherein displaying a second process control graphical element linked to the first process control graphical element by the relationship value reference binding the first and second process control graphical elements comprises displaying a second faceplate associated with the second process control graphical element.

11. The program of claim 1, wherein receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference comprises receiving the list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications without accessing process control system runtime data.

12. The program of claim 1, wherein receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference comprises:

receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference from a relationship storage database;

replicating the list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference on an operator workstation running the operator display.

13. The program of claim 1, further comprising:

configuring a relationship value reference and two or more process control graphical element identifications associated with the relationship value reference;

publishing the relationship value reference and the two or more process control graphical element identifications; and

binding each configured relationship value reference to two or more process control graphical elements of the operator display based on the two or more configured process control graphical element identifications.

14. The program of claim 1,

wherein the entity associated with the first process control graphical element comprises one of the groups consisting of:

a control algorithm, a function block, a function block parameter, a process control module, an equipment module, a process control module step, a process control module transition, a process control module action, a process control device, a process controller, a process control loop, a process control unit, a process control area, an alarm, a faceplate display, a detail display, a primary control display, a user-defined display, a diagnostic display, a standard operating procedure for a device, a material safety data sheet, a process control recipe, and a process control system node, and

wherein the entity associated with the first process control graphical element comprises one of the groups consisting of;

a control algorithm, a function block, a function block parameter, a process control module, an equipment module, a process control module step, a process control module transition, a process control module action, a process control device, a process controller, a process control loop, a process control unit, a process control area, an alarm, a faceplate display, a detail display, a primary control display, a user-defined display, a diagnostic display, a standard operating procedure for a device, a material safety data sheet, a process control recipe, and a process control system node.

15. A graphic display editor for use in a process plant to navigate between process control graphical elements that represent entities within a process plant, the graphic display editor comprising:

a library of relationships, wherein each of the relationships includes a different relationship between a physical or a logical entity within the process control plant and another physical or logical entity within the process control plant;

a graphically based navigational editor routine that enables a user to define an executable graphic display by placing indications of one or more graphic objects from a library of graphic objects onto an edit view to define a manner in which visual representations of the one or more graphic objects will be displayed on a display device to a user during execution of the graphic display, the graphic objects being representative of physical or logical entities within the process control plant;

a relationship routine that enables the user to associate one or more relationships from the library of relationships with a graphical object, wherein the relationship routine enables the user to control navigation from the graphic object to another graphical object based on the relationship; and

a graphically based navigational editor routine that enables a user to further define the executable graphic display by placing indications of one or more relationship graphic objects onto an edit view to define a manner in which visual representations of the one or more relationships will be displayed on a display device to a user in conjunction with the visual representations of the one or more graphic objects associated with the relationships during execution of the graphic display.

16. The graphic display object of claim 15, further comprising a relationship editor routine that enables a user to define relationships between physical or logical entities within the process control plant and publish the relationships to the library of relationships.

17. The graphical display object of claim 16, wherein the relationship editor routine enables the user to define relationship value references for the physical or logical entities within the process control plant, wherein each relationship value references is associated with a first physical or logical entity within the process control plant and describes a relationship with a second physical or logical entity within the process control plant.

18. The graphical display object of claim 17, wherein the relationship editor routine enables the user to define relationship value references for the physical or logical entities within the process control plant to include:

a relationship key comprising information pertaining to the relationship of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant with the second physical or logical entity within the process control plant; and

a relationship value comprising a unique identification of the relationship of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant with the second physical or logical entity within the process control plant, wherein the relationship value is unique among the relationship value references.

19. The graphical display object of claim 18, wherein the relationship editor routine enables the user to define relationship keys to include:

a process control tag of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant, wherein the identification uniquely identifies the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant among a plurality of process control tags;

a process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant; and

a related process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the second physical or logical entity within the process control plant.

20. The graphical display object of claim 17, wherein the relationship value reference data for a physical or logical entity within the process control plant further comprises metadata, the metadata comprising:

a relationship type describing the relationship between the first and second physical or logical entities within the process control plant; and

the cardinality of the relationship between the first and second physical or logical entities within the process control plant.

21. The graphic display object of claim 15, wherein the first physical or logical entity in the process control plant comprises a higher level entity and the second physical or logical entity in the process control plant comprises a lower level entity.

22. The graphical display object of claim 15, wherein the first physical or logical entity in the process control plant is lateral to the second physical or logical entity in the process control plant.

23. The graphical display object of claim 15, wherein one of the first and second physical or logical entities in the process control plant comprises a document.

24. The graphical display object of claim 15, wherein one of the first and second physical or logical entities in the process control plant comprises a control routine.

25. The graphical display object of claim 15, wherein one of the first and second physical or logical entities in the process control plant comprises a process control device.

26. The graphical display object of claim 15, wherein one of the first and second physical or logical entities in the process control plant comprises a display faceplate.

27. A computer system for use in a process control system including a memory for storing computer-executable instructions, a processor for executing the instructions, and a display for displaying one or more visual relationship representations in a graphical representation of the process control plant, each visual relationship representation representing a relationship between two entities within the process control system, the system comprising:

a database including one or more relationships between a physical or a logical entity within the process control plant and another physical or logical entity within the process control plant; and

a graphical human-machine interface for displaying the graphical representation of the process plant, the interface including a relationship module having computer-executable instructions for;

configuring a relationship value reference and two or more process control graphical element identifications associated with the relationship value reference;

binding each configured relationship value reference to two or more process control graphical elements of the graphical human-machine interface based on the two or more configured process control graphical element identifications; and

driving navigation of the operation display from the first process control graphical element to the second process control graphical element using the relationship value reference.

28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the relationship module further includes computer-executable instructions for:

defining a relationship value reference and two or more process control graphical element identifications associated with the relationship value reference; and

publishing the relationship value reference and the two or more process control graphical element identifications to the database.

29. The computer system of claim 27, wherein binding each configured relationship value reference to two or more process control graphical elements of the graphical human-machine interface comprising creating a navigation link between the two or more process control graphical elements of the graphical human-machine interface.

30. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the relationship module further includes computer-executable instructions for:

receiving a list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference from the database; and

replicating the list of relationship value references and process control graphical element identifications associated with each relationship value reference to a data storage of the operator workstation executing the graphical human-machine interface.

31. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the relationship value reference and process control graphical element identifications associated with the relationship value reference comprises relationship data defining a relationship between process control tags, wherein each process control tag uniquely identifies a physical or logical entity within the process control plant amongst the plurality of process control tags.

32. The computer system of claim 31, wherein each relationship value reference for a physical or logical entity within the process control plant comprises:

a relationship key comprising information pertaining to the relationship of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant with the second physical or logical entity within the process control plant; and

the relationship value comprising a unique identification of the relationship between the first and second physical or logical entities within the process control plant, wherein the relationship value is unique amongst the process control tags.

33. The computer system of claim 32, wherein the relationship key comprises:

an identification of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant, wherein the identification uniquely identifies the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant among the process control tags;

a process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the first physical or logical entity within the process control plant; and

a related process control tag type pertaining to a definition of the second physical or logical entity within the process control plant.

34. The computer system of claim 32, wherein each relationship value reference further comprises metadata, the metadata comprising:

a relationship type describing the relationship between the first and second physical or logical entities within the process control plant; and

the cardinality of the relationship between the first and second process control entities.