Digital computer monitored and/or operated system or process which is structured for operation with an improved automatic programming process and system

• US 4,389,706 A
• Filed: 05/05/1972
• Issued: 06/21/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Brookfield Asset Management Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Brookfield Asset Management Incorporated)
• Inventors: Putman, Richard E., Gomola, John W., Jones, F. David, Wood, William G., Deliyannides, John S., Gilbreath, Rodney E., Giras, Theodore C., Cullen, Terry B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wise, Edward J.
• Application Number:
  US06/250,826
• Time in Patent Office: 4,064 Days
• Field of Search: 235/151.1, 444/1, 340/172.5, 72/7, 72/8, 364/103, 364/107, 364/118, 364/468, 364/472, 364/492, 364/550, 364/200
• US Class Current: 700/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 21/02 electric

Abstract

An industrial production or other operational system is established by connecting apparatus which implements system operation to a digital computer system using an interface system. Machine readable definitions of events, of executable jobs, and of system variables are prepared for computer entry and ultimately for configuration of the system apparatus into an entity having operational characteristics corresponding to the entered definitions.

The definitions of system variables may include definitions of signals which are coupled between the system apparatus and the computer through the interface system, and such signals may be put to system monitoring or control uses or both of these uses in the structured system. Some of the definitions may be computer programs, but most are preferably definitions of the system configuration written out in a language which a systems engineer can understand and use. Generally, definitions may include designators which are names or numbers.

Any definition may refer to an event, a job, or a variable by making reference to the designator that is included in the definiton of the event, the job or the variable. Executable job definitons may, by referring to event designators, specify specific events which are to trigger their execution--for example, variable scanning events or variable change-of-state events--or they may specify that they are to be periodically executed at a specified frequency or rate. The definitions are processed individually by an off-line preliminary processor which converts the systems engineer'"'"'s language into a numeric language intelligible to processing programs within the computer system or to the computer system itself. The definitions are then fed into the computer system.

Automatic programming means within the computer system establish all the necessary linkages between each new definition and previously entered definitions and other operative portions of the computer system so as to implement each definition relative to the system apparatus as soon as the definition is received and so as automatically to establish the desired system operating configuration through the controlled operation of the computer relative to the interfaced system apparatus.

Definitions may be deleted from the computer system at any time and in any order by the automatic programming means without shutting down the system, and the system operating configuration may thus be modified whenever necessary or desirable. Following such deletions, the automatic programming means eliminates linkages which are no longer required and compresses the tables in which such linkages may be stored so as to maximize the storage space which is avialable for additional new definitions and their associated linkages.

Claims

1. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

2. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to establish a directory within the computer system memory; and

means for maintaining within the directory a record of the designations and computer system memory addresses of definitions which have been loaded into the computer system memory and which contain the corresponding designations.

3. A system in accordance with claim 2 wherein means are provided for operating said computer system to establish an alphanumerically-ordered linkage of the directory entries, and wherein means are also provided for retrieving the status data corresponding to signals in alphanumeric order by following said linkage from a first entry containing a designated signal-name designation.

4. A system in accordance with claim 2 wherein directory entries whose designations have some mathematical property in common are chain-linked to a location whose address is determined in part by the same mathematical property.

5. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event a change in the state of at least one sensor signal which definition includes a designation which serves both as a name for the defined event and as a name for the signal;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

6. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means asssociated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event the scanning of at least one sensor signal which definition contains a designation which serves both as a name for the defined event and as the name for the signal;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

7. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one job definition which contains a frequency-of-execution designation; and

means for operating said computer system in response to the acceptance of a definition containing a frequency-of-execution designation to periodically execute the job definition at the designated execution frequency.

8. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one reference to a signal status by designations in one of said job definitions; and

means for operating said computer system to use the designation to locate the memory address of the signal status data and to place the status-data address into the job definition in place of the reference to the variable by designation.

9. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indictive of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger reference to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one definition which contains a reference to the status of a signal by designation or signal name and not by memory address; and

means for operating said computer system in response to the acceptance of a first definition which refers to the status of a signal by designation or name for locating a second signal-name definition containing the same designation, for retrieving the variable status memory address from the second definition, and for transferring the variable signal status memory address into the first definition.

10. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein at least one event definition contains the memory address of an internal computer system variable which does not correspond to a sensor signal.

11. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein at least one event definition contains the memory address of a logical bit representing the state of a logical variable.

12. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein at least one memory-location address reference within an event definition is the computer system address of a location containing a number proportional to the magnitude of a continuous variable.

13. A system in accordance with claim 9 wherein at least one signal-name designation is included in at least one job definition as a reference to the status of the signal and is also included in at least one other job definition as a reference to the triggering event defined by the periodic scanning or change in the state of that signal.

14. A system in accordance with claim 13 wherein at least one event definition includes a logical variable memory address and a designation which serves as a name for the logical variable, and which definition defines as an event a change in the state of the logical variable.

15. A system in accordance with claim 13 wherein at least one definition containing a memory address and a designation is a combined job definition defining how a variable is to be periodically monitored and event definition defining the periodic monitoring of the variable as an event which may trigger execution of other definitions.

16. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one job definition which contains a reference to a computer-system variable by designation which variable and which designation are not otherwise defined elsewhere within the computer system; and

means for operating the computer system in response to the acceptance of said definition to assign a memory storage location to the variable so that a record of the variable status may be maintained in the memory to record the variable designation together with the storage location address, and to supply the storage space address to all other definitions which refer to the same variable by using the same designation.

17. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to schedule the execution of job definitions, said scheduling means including at least one table relating the memory address of each group of at least one job definition to an identifier of each group of at least one job definition; and

means for updating said table as job definitions are loaded into the computer system memory.

18. A system in accordance with claim 17 which includes means for establishing a trigger linkage to at least one job definition is established by linking the identifier for that job definition to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated triggering signals, and wherein means for initiating execution include means for transferring the identifiers linked to the event definition and status data for a signal to means for scheduling the execution of job definitions.

19. A system in accordance with claim 18 wherein means for chain-linking job-definition identifiers to the definitions of triggering event.

20. A system in accordance with claim 18 wherein the memory address of the status data for a signal may be used to compute where within a separate memory storage location a linkage of identifiers linked to that variable data begins in the system memory.

21. A system in accordance with claim 18 wherein at least one of the groups of job definitions contains at least one executable program, wherein the scheduling means includes means for maintaining a record of which job definition groups contain executable programs, and wherein the scheduling means includes means for transferring program control directly to the address of a program within such a group when program execution is to begin.

22. A system in accordance with claim 17 wherein the system memory contains tables of job definition identifiers and execution frequencies, and wherein the system includes means for supplying the identifier and execution frequency of any job definiton assigned an identifier and containing an execution frquency to said tables, and means for causing the identifiers in said tables to be supplied to the scheduler means at the freqencies specified in said tables, whereby arbitrary periodic execution of system tasks may be realized.

23. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generatig signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in the at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to remove a definition from the computer system and to remove any linkages between that definition and locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the signals which are to trigger execution of that definition.

24. A system in accordance with claim 23 wherein linkages are located for removal by means for scanning all of the linkages of the same type as the linkages which are to be removed.

25. A system in accordance with claim 24 in which a particular class of linkages are stored in a table and which system includes means for operating the computer system to compress entries in the table after a linkage has been removed to maximize the space within the table that is available for additional linkages.

26. An automatically programmable signal monitoring or process control system for controlling an industrial system or the like comprising:

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of said signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particualr change in the state of at least one sensor signal including a designatino which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation whch serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is included in at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions, but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for preliminary translating at least some definitions from a first coding which is intelligible to and easily generatable by human beings into a second coding which is suitable for on-line interpretation and execution of the definitions; and

at lease one processing program which includes means for interpreting and executing definitions using said second coding.

27. A system in accordance with claim 26 wherein at least some of the definitions which are translated by the means for translating are definitions of variable monitoring functions including designations that serve as names for system variables which designations are not translated and which designations may be referred to by other definitions for the purpose of establishing either a trigger connection or a reference to the variable.

28. A system in accordance with claim 26 wherein at least some of the definitions which are translated define executable jobs and are written in a first coding the terminology of which is at least in part selected to suit the nature of the programming and the vocabulary of the humans who are programming the system, to which is added a machine readable macro specification containing instructions to control the translation of said first coding into said second coding, and wherein the means for preliminarily translating includes means for accepting said macro specification and for using said macro specification to control the translation procedure.

29. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

30. A system comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

a digital computer system;

means for conveying signals between said apparatus and said computer system;

at least one machine readable event definition including a designation which serves as a name for the event;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to establish a directory within the computer system memory; and

means for maintaining within the directory a record of the designations and computer system memory addresses of definitions which have been loaded into the computer system memory and which contain the corresponding designations.

31. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event a change in the state of at least one sensor signal which definition includes a designation which serves both as a name for the defined event and as a name for the signal;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

32. A system in accordance with claim 31 wherein at least one event definition contains a designator for an internal variable that is stored within the computer system memory and that does not correspond to a sensor-generated signal.

33. A system in accordance with claim 31 wherein, and wherein for variables a change in the state of which are defined as events a separate table is maintained within said memory of linkages from the status data of such variables to any definitions the execution of which that event is to trigger.

34. A system in accordance with claim 31 wherein at least one of the event definitions defines as an event a change in the state of a logical variable, and wherein means are included for operating said computer system to link a location in said memory to the designator for said logical variable, whereby the logical variable is established not only as a system variable but also as a job-execution trigger.

35. A system in accordance with claim 31 wherein a definition which is to be executed after a change in the state of a signal is assigned an identifier, and which includes means for storing said job-definition identifier in said memory and means for linking said job-definition identifier to the signal status data.

36. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event the scanning of at least one sensor signal which definition contains a designation which serves both as a name for the defined event and as the name for the signals;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals; and

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event.

37. A system in accordance with claim 36 wherein at least one event definition referring a signal is also a job definition which defines how the signal is to be scanned.

38. A system in accordance with claim 37 wherein a job definition may specify a frequency at which the defined job is to be executed and which includes means for operating said computer system to periodically execute each such job definition at the specified frequency, whereby varying-frequency signal scanning operations may be automatically established.

39. A system in accordance with claim 36 wherein at least one variable referred to by an event definition is an internal computer-system variable within the computer system, and wherein the computer system includes means for operating the computer system to periodically scan such internal variables.

40. A system in accordance with claim 36 wherein means are provided for operating said computer system to link a definition which is to be executed after processing of a signal to the definition that contains and defines the signal name.

41. A system in accordance with claim 36 wherein a definition which is to be executed after the scanning of a signal is assigned an identifier, and wherein means are provided to operate said computer system to store the identifier in the memory and to link the identifier to the definition that defines the scanning of the signal as an event.

42. A system in accordance with claim 36 wherein at least one of the sensor signals is an analog signal the magnitude of which is represented digitally within the computer memory.

43. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one job definition which contains a frequency-of-execution designation; and

means for operating said computer system in response to the acceptance of a definition containing a frequency-of-execution designation to periodically execute the job definition at the designated execution frequency.

44. A system in accordance with claim 43 wherein the frequency-of-execution designation is a number proportional to the time which is to elapse between successive executions of the job definition containing the designations, and wherein the periodic execution means includes means for establishing in said memory a counter proportional to said number which is periodically advanced and which signals that it is time for a job to be executed when a predetermined count value is reached.

45. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one reference to a signal status by designation in one of said job definitions; and

means for operating said computer system to use the designation to locate the memory address of the signal status data and to place the status-data address into the job definition in place of the reference to the variable by designation.

46. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one definition which contains a reference to the status of a signal by designation or signal name and not by memory address; and

means for operating said computer system in response to the acceptance of a first definition which refers to the status of a signal by designation or name for locating a second signal-name definition containing the same designation, for retrieving the variable status memory address from the second definition, and for transferring the variable signal status memory address into the first definition.

47. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least one job definition which contains a reference to a computer-system variable by designation which variable and which designation are not otherwise defined elsewhere within the computer system; and

means for operating the computer system in response to the acceptance of said definition to assign a memory storage location to the variable so that a record of the variable status may be maintained in the memory to record the variable designation together with the storage location address, and to supply the storage space address to all other definitions which refer to the same variable by using the same designation.

48. A system in accordance with claim 47 in which a directory of all variable designations, including signal-name designations, is maintained within the computer system.

49. A system in accordance with claim 47 wherein at least one job definition contains a trigger reference to the designation for a variable of the type described in claim 88 and wherein the system trigger-connect means includes means for operating the computer system to link such a definition to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the status data for the designated variable.

50. A system in accordance with claim 49 wherein a change in the state of at least one variable of the type described in claim 88 is the triggering event which is to trigger execution of a definition linked to the variable in the manner set forth in claim 90.

51. A system in accordance with claim 47 wherein at least one variable of the type described in claim 47 is a logical variable.

52. A system in accordance with claim 47 wherein at least one variable of the type described in claim 47 is a continuous variable whose magnitude is represented within the computer system memory by a number.

53. A system in accordance with claim 47 wherein at least one global storage area is established within the computer system memory to contain the status data for all variables of the type described in claim 47.

54. A system in accordance with claim 53 and further including means for allocating global storage locations to each variable when a definition containing a reference to and a designator for the variable is first received by the computer system.

55. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to schedule the execution of job definitions, said scheduling means including at least one table relating the memory address of each group of at least one job definition to an identifier of each group of at least one job definition; and

means for updating said table as job definitions are loaded into the computer system memory.

56. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

at least some job definitions which contain data specifying how often they are to be executed;

means for linking together within said memory at least some job definitions which are to be executed at the same rate; and

means for periodically executing the jobs defined by all definitions in such a linkage which means follows the linkage from one definition to the next.

57. A system in accordance with claim 56 wherein at least one job definition in a linkage defines how frequently a signal is to be scanned and defines its own execution as a signal-related event which may trigger execution of another job definition.

58. A system in accordance with claim 57 and including means for linking a triggered job definition immediately following a triggering event and job definition in a linkage of periodically-executed job definitions.

59. A system in accordance with claim 56 wherein at least some executable definitions are assigned identifiers;

wherein scheduling means are provided to schedule execution of job definitions when supplied with job definition identifiers; and

wherein a trigger linkage between a combined event and job definition in a linkage and a job definition to which an identifier is assigned is established by means which establish a linkage between the identifier and memory data relating to the combined event and job definition.

60. A system in accordance with claim 59 which includes means for establishing identifiers and combined event and job definitions in linkages which means functions by linking the identifiers into the combined event and job definition linkages following the triggering event definitions in the definition linkages.

61. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

a plurality of definitions which are combined event and job definitions each of which defines how a system signal or other variable is to be monitored, each of which may specify the frequency at which monitoring may occur, and each of which defines the monitoring of a signal or other variable as an event;

means for linking together at least some of said definitions all of which specify the same frequency of execution;

means for adding definitions containing job-execution triggering references to designations contained within such linked definitions to the linkage immediately following the definitions containing the triggering designations; and

means for operating said computer system to periodically execute the jobs defined by all definitions in a linkage by following the linkage from one definition to the next.

62. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for a signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for operating said computer system to remove a definition from the computer system and to remove any linkages between that definition and locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the signals which are to trigger execution of that definition.

63. A system in accordance with claim 62 wherein linkages are located for removal by means for scanning all of the linkages of the same type as the linkages which are to be removed.

64. A system in accordance with claim 63 in which a particular class of linkages are stored in a table and which system includes means for operating the computer system to compress entries in the table after a linkage has been removed to maximize the space within the table that is available for additional linkages.

65. An industrial system or the like comprising:

apparatus for implementing system operations;

sensor means associated with the apparatus for generating signals indicative of the state of the system;

a digital computer system having a memory;

signal scanning means associated with said computer system and connecting to said sensor means for scanning said sensor signals periodically and including means for transferring a digital record of the status of the signals into the memory of said digital computer system;

at least one machine readable signal-related event definition defining as an event either the periodic scanning or a particular change in the state of at least one sensor signal, including a designation which serves as a name for the event and also as a name for the signal, and including a reference to the location in said memory where the status record of the corresponding signal variable is stored;

at least one machine readable job definition including at least one triggering reference to a designation which serves as a name for an event and for signal and which is at least one event definition;

loader means for operating said computer system to accept said event and job definitions and to store said definitions in said memory;

trigger-connect means for operating said computer system to link job definitions but only those containing trigger references to designations, to locations in said memory that are in turn linked to the event definition and status data for the designated signals;

means for operating said computer system to respond to the occurrence of a signal-related event by initiating execution of any and all job definitions which are linked to the status data and definition corresponding to that event;

means for preliminarily translating at least some definitions from a first coding which is intelligible to and easily generatable by human beings into a second coding which is suitable for on-line interpretation and execution of the definitions; and

at least one processing program which includes means for interpreting and executing definitions using said second coding.

66. A system in accordance with claim 65 wherein at least some of the definitions which are translated by the means for translating are definitions of variable monitoring functions including designations that serve as names for system variables which designations are not translated and which designations may be referred to by other definitions for the purpose of establishing either a trigger connection or a reference to the variable.

67. A system in accordance with claim 65 wherein at least some of the definitions which are translated define executable jobs and are written in a first coding the terminology of which is at least in part selected to suit the nature of the system and vocabulary of the humans who are configuring the system, to which is added a machine readable macro specification containing instructions to control the translation of said first coding into said second coding, and wherein the means for preliminarily translating includes means for accepting said macro specification and for using said macro specification to control the translation procedure.

68. An automated system in which the execution of systems operations defined by machine-readable job definitions is initiated by the scanning of signals whose names are contained within the job definitions, said system comprising:

an operating system, including all the necessary machinery for carrying out system operations;

sensor means associated with the operating system for generating a plurality of system-status signals indicative of the state of the system and the system machinery;

controller means associated with the operating system for responding to control signals by altering the state of the system and the system machinery;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

means connecting to said sensor means for periodically scanning said system-status signals, including means for storing a record of the status of each system-status signal in said memory;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for linking job definitions into the system by establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for generating control signals for said controller means;

means for executing the system operations defined by a machine-readable job definition, including means for causing said means for generating to alter the state of said control signals under the control of said job definitions; and

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning of a signal by said periodically-scanning means for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of a scanned signal.

69. A system for monitoring the state of a system, process, or apparatus wherein the steps involved in the processing of gathered data are defined by machine-readable job definitions whose execution is initiated by the scanning of signals the names of which are contained within the job definitions, said system comprising:

sensor means associated with the system, process, or apparatus for generating a plurality of signals indicative of the state of the apparatus and of the system or process operation;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions and records of signal status may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for linking a job definition to the system, process or apparatus by establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for executing the data-processing steps defined by a job definition;

means for periodically scanning the signals supplied by said sensor means and including means for recording the status of each signal in memory locations linked to the name of each signal; and

trigger check means responsive to the scanning of a signal for causing said means for executing to execute any job definitions linked to the storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the signal scanned.

70. A feedback control system for controlling the operation of a plurality of motors, heaters, and other similar devices in accordance with feedback control instructions set forth in a plurality of machine-readable job definitions that contain the names of feedback signals which are to trigger the execution of each job definition, said system comprising:

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

sensor means associated with the motors, heaters, or other devices for developing feedback signals indicating the result of any given control action;

controller means responsive to control signals for altering the state of the motors, heaters, or other devices;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting the signal-name-storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

means for periodically scanning the feedback signals and including means for recording the status of each scanned signal in memory locations linked to the name of the signal;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of feedback signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for executing the control action defined by a machine-readable job definition, including means for generating control signals whose states are some functions of the stored-feedback-signal status, said functions being defined by said job definition; and

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning of a signal for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to the storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the scanned signal.

71. A feedback-controlled apparatus in which controlled operations are defined by machine-readable job definitions the execution of which is initiated by the scanning of feedback signals whose names are contained within the job definitions, said system comprising:

apparatus for carrying out the controlled operations;

sensor means associated with said apparatus for generating signals, including feedback signals, whose status indicates the state of the apparatus and operations;

controller means for altering the state of said apparatus under the control of control signals;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

means for periodically scanning the signals generated by said sensor means and including means for recording the status of each scanned signal in memory locations linked to the name of the signal;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions, thereby linking each job definition to the controlled apparatus;

means for generating control signals;

means for executing controlled operations defined by a machine-readable job definition, including means for causing said means for generating control signals to alter the state of the control signals at the request of any machine-readable job definition; and

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning of a signal for causing said means for executing to execute any job definitions linked to the storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the scanned signal and thereby to the controlled apparatus.

72. An automated system in which the execution of system operations defined by machine-readable job definitions is initiated by the fluctuation of signals whose names are contained within the job definitions, said system comprising:

an operating system, including all the necessary machinery for carrying out system operations;

sensor means associated with the operating system for generating a plurality of system status signals indicative of the state of the system and the system machinery;

controller means associated with the operating system for responding to control signals by altering the state of the system and the system machinery;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

means connecting to said sensor means for periodically scanning said system-status signals, including means for storing a record of the status of each system-status signal in said memory and means for detecting when a signal has fluctuated since it was last scanned;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for linking job definitions into the system by establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for generating control signals;

means for executing the system operations defined by a machine-readable job definition, including means for causing said means for generating to alter the state of said control signals under the control of said job definitions; and

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning by said periodically scanning means of a signal that has fluctuated for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the scanned and fluctuating signal by the directory.

73. An automated system in which the execution of system operations as defined by machine-readable job definitions is initiated by the fluctuation of signals or other system variables whose names are contained within the job definitions, said system comprising:

an operating system, including the necessary machinery for carrying out system operations;

sensor means associated with the operating system for generating a plurality of system-status signals indicative of the state of the system and the system machinery;

controller means associated with the operating system for responding to control signls by altering the state of the system and system machinery;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

means connecting to said sensor means for periodically scanning said system-status signals, including means for storing a record of the status of each system-status signal in said memory and means for detecting when a signal has fluctuated since it was last scanned;

directory means for establishing within said storage locations a directory of signal and other variable names and linkages connecting signal-and-other-variable-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for linking each job definition into the operating system by establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals and other variables designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for generating control signals;

means for executing system operations defined by a machine-readable job definition, including means for altering the status of system variables other than signals and means for causing said means for generating to alter the state of said control signals under the control of said job definitions; and

trigger-check means responsive to the fluctuations of a scanned signal and to the alteration of a system variable for causing said means for executing to execute any job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the signal or other variable which has altered its state.

74. An automated logic director system capable of controlling the execution of sequential operations by a system, process, or apparatus, said logic system comprising:

sensor means associated with the system, process, or apparatus for generating signals indicative of the present state of the system, process or apparatus;

controller means associated with the system, process, apparatus or the like and responsive to the receipt of control signals for altering the state of the system, process, or apparatus under the control of the control signals and of thereby causing sequential operations to be executed;

a memory including a plurality of addressable storage locations;

means connected to said sensor means for periodically scanning said sensor-generated signals, including means for storing a record of the status of each sensor-generated signal in said memory and means for detecting when a signal has fluctuated since it was last scanned;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for generating control signals which are fed to said controller means;

means for executing the control functions called for by a machine-readable job definition, including means for causing said means for generating to alter the state of said control signals under the control of the job definition at spaced-apart time intervals measured for moments in time when said sensor-generated signals enter particular states, thereby achieving sequential operations; and

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning by said periodically scanning means of a signal that has fluctuated for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the scanned and fluctuating signal by the directory.

75. An automated logic director system for controlling a system, a process, an apparatus, or the like, said logical director system comprising:

sensor means, such as switches, photocells, and the like, for generating a plurality of binary electrical signals indicative of the state of the system, process or apparatus;

controller means, such as motors, relays, solenoids, and the like associated with the system, process, apparatus or the like and responsive to the receipt of binary control signals for altering the state of the system, process, or apparatus;

a memory containing a plurality of addressable storage locations;

means connected to said sensor means for periodically scanning said sensor-generated binary electrical signals, including means for storing a record of the status of each sensor-generates signal in said memory and means for detecting when such a signal has fluctuated since it was last scanned by comparing its current status to its stored, prior status;

directory means for establishing within a portion of said storage locations a directory of signal names and linkages connecting signal-name-containing storage locations to other storage locations where linkages to job definitions may be established;

loader means for loading job definitions into said memory;

trigger-connect means for linking job definitions into the system, process, or apparatus by establishing linkages between each job definition and storage locations linked to the names of signals designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions;

means for generating binary control signals which are fed to said controller means;

means for executing the control functions called for by a machine-readable job definition, including means for causing said means for generating to alter the state of said binary control signals under the control of the job definition and in accordance with the stored status of the sensor-generated signals;

trigger-check means responsive to the scanning by said periodically scanning means of a signal that has fluctuated for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the scanned and fluctuating signal by the directory.

76. A logic director system in accordance with claim 75 wherein locations within said memory are allocated for the storage of status data relating to variables which do not correspond to signals, said variables having assigned names within the directory;

wherein the means for executing includes means for altering the status data for any such variable under the control of a job definition;

wherein the trigger-connect means includes means for linking job definitions to storage locations linked to the names of such variables which are designated as job execution triggers by the job definitions; and

wherein said trigger-check means includes means responsive to the alteration by said means for altering of the status data for any such variable for causing said means for executing to execute any and all job definitions linked to storage locations which are, in turn, linked to the name of the altered variable by the directory.