Component object model communication method for a control system
First Claim
1. In a method of process, factory-floor, environmental, or computer aided manufacturing-based control, the improvement comprising:
- executing a workflow that defines one or more actions to he taken in response to one or more triggering events that occur with respect to control equipment for a process, and/or an operator for such control equipment,monitoring the process and/or the control equipment to detect one or more of said triggering events,responding to detection of one or more of said triggering events by executing one or more actions associated therewith in the workflow and thereby invoking, via one or more component object model (COM) component interfaces, one or more respective control applications that interface with the control equipment and/or the operator, andcalling the COM component interface for at least one said control application with (i) a first method in order to identify any of input and output arguments for that interface, and (ii) a second method in order to execute a task associated with the interface using arguments identified by calling the first method.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides improved methods and apparatus for workflow editing. Such methods and apparatus permit, for example, user-defined and/or other tasks to be combined in any combination or combinations to specify a workflow. The tasks can be linked for direct, serial processing and/or for conditional processing that includes branching and/or looping. The invention also improved methods and apparatus of workflow definition and processing with extensible actions. The invention provides, further, improved methods and apparatus for workflow definition and processing which utilize workflow variables for communication of data and control information among tasks within a workflow. The invention provides, still further, improved methods and apparatus of workflow definition and processing with enhanced messaging. The invention provides, still yet further, improved methods and apparatus for workflow definition and processing which permit definition of hierarchically enumerated data types and for definition of “plans” to collect, e.g., for storage, data such as the aforementioned hierarchical data types.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. In a method of process, factory-floor, environmental, or computer aided manufacturing-based control, the improvement comprising:
-
executing a workflow that defines one or more actions to he taken in response to one or more triggering events that occur with respect to control equipment for a process, and/or an operator for such control equipment, monitoring the process and/or the control equipment to detect one or more of said triggering events, responding to detection of one or more of said triggering events by executing one or more actions associated therewith in the workflow and thereby invoking, via one or more component object model (COM) component interfaces, one or more respective control applications that interface with the control equipment and/or the operator, and calling the COM component interface for at least one said control application with (i) a first method in order to identify any of input and output arguments for that interface, and (ii) a second method in order to execute a task associated with the interface using arguments identified by calling the first method. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method of process, factory-floor, environmental, or computer aided manufacturing-based control, comprising
providing one or more control applications that interface with control equipment for a process and/or an operator for such control equipment, each control application having at least one component object module (COM) component interface, registering at least selected ones of the COM interfaces with a digital data processing system on which the control applications are to be executed, detecting with a further application the registered interfaces and executing one or more workflows by selectively invoking methods associated with those interfaces in order to execute tasks provided by the control applications, and calling, for at least a selected interface, a GET_ARGUMENTS method in order to identify any of input and output arguments for that interface.
-
9. A method of process, factory-floor, environmental, or computer aided manufacturing-based control, comprising:
-
providing one or more control applications that interface with control equipment for a process and/or an operator for such control equipment, each control application having at least one component object module (COM) component interface, manipulating graphical icons to define a workflow for the process control system, the workflow determining one or more actions to be taken using the control applications in response to one or more triggering events occurring with respect to the process and/or the control applications, monitoring the process and/or the control applications to detect occurrence of the triggering event, responding to such a detected triggering event by invoking methods associated with one or more of the COM interfaces to execute tasks provided by the respective control applications in accord with the defined workflow, and presenting in a first display pane a first plurality of icons representing triggering events that can occur with respect to the process and/or the control applications, and a second plurality of icons representing actions that can be taken using the control applications. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method of process, factory-floor, environmental, or computer aided manufacturing-based control, comprising
providing one or more control applications that interface with control equipment for a process and/or an operator for such control equipment, each control application having at least one component object module (COM) component interface, executing a workflow processing engine to process one or more workflows, each defining one or more actions to be taken in response to events occurring with respect to the process and/or control applications, responding to events occurring with respect to the process and/or control applications by invoking one or more of the COM interfaces that execute tasks provided by the control applications in accord with the defined workflow, and calling, for each COM interface, (i) a first method in order to identify any of input and output arguments for that interface, and (ii) a second method in order to execute a task associated with the interface using arguments identified by calling the first method.
Specification