Human machine interface

• US 7,555,706 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2001
• Issued: 06/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell Limited (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Mc Adam, Rohan J, Chapman, David John, Dowling, Andrew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): RUTLEDGE, AMELIA L
• Application Number:
  US10/297,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20040021679A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,944 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/234, 715/760
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/042 using digital processors G05B19/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/35582 Control format in browser, use of xtml and xslt
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

An industrial control user interface provides a flexible, extensible architecture for the provision of real-time process data to a state-of-the-art user interface, using MSHTML as the underlying rendering engine. The architecture of the interface provides a user interface that is designed to harness key industry standard technologies in an open, adaptable, architecture that facilitates the technological convergence of disparate HMI products. The preferred embodiments offer open display page architecture via the separation of the provision of data and server specific user interactions from the implementation of individual page elements. The only real assumption made about a page element is that it is part of the HTML display page and accessible via the Document Object Model.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, performed at a client terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) at the client terminal, loading, from a display page data storage terminal, display page data indicative of a display page for a human machine intepage, the display page data comprising first data indicative of presentation aspects for a display page element having one or more element properties, and second data indicative of data requirement aspects for the display page element;

(ii) at the client terminal, processing the second data thereby to identify a data source definition and a binding definition, wherein the data source definition references a data source that maintains data for use by the display page element, wherein the data source resides at a location that is both remote of the client terminal and remote of the display page data storage terminal;

(iii) at the client terminal, based on the data source definition, initializing the data source referenced by the data source definition to construct a data reference object model at the data source for the delivery of data indicative of one or more data references having respective data properties such that the data source constructs the object model and transitions into a running state wherein the data source delivers directly to the client terminal data indicative of property change notifications for the one or more data references having respective data properties; and

(iv) At the client terminal, based on the binding definition, applying to the one or more element properties, on a continuing basis, changes in the one or more data properties such that the display page element is updated corresponding to the changes in the one or more data properties.

2. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the first data comprises HTML data and the second data comprises XML data.

3. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the display page element comprises:

An ActiveX control;

A VML graphics element;

An HTML element;

An HTML scriptlet;

or

A Java Applet.

4. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein a step of reading the display page data for parsing and rendering the display page element is performed independent of step (i).

5. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the display page data comprises first data indicative of presentation aspects for a plurality of display page elements, each having a respective one or more element properties, and second data indicative of data requirement aspects for the plurality of display page elements.

6. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein step (i) is performed by a data source manager in response to the display page data being called up by a rendering engine.

7. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein step (iii) comprises:

(iiia) Parsing the data source definition;

(iiib) Instantiating the data source referenced by the data source definition;

(iiic) Passing the data source definition to the data source; and

(iiid) Instructing the data source to begin delivering data.

8. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the data source definition contains data source specific information required to allow the data source referenced by the data source definition to construct a data reference object model that contains the one or more data references.

9. A computer implemented method according to claim 8 wherein the data reference object model is used as input for step (iv).

10. A computer implemented method according to claim 9 wherein the binding definition defines how to map data from the data reference object model to the display page.

11. A computer implemented method according to claim 10 wherein a binding engine moves data between the data reference object model and the display page in either direction such that data changed in the display page is propagated back to the data reference object model and then on to an associated server system.

12. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein there is a one-to-one relationship between display page elements and binding definitions.

13. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein there is a one-to-one relationship between display pages and data sources such that a given data source only delivers data for a single display page.

14. A computer implemented method according to claim 13 operable for a plurality of display pages, comprising a single data source manager for managing multiple data sources for the plurality of display pages.

15. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein step (iv) comprises transforming one or more of the element properties.

16. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the method comprises:

(v) Receiving data indicative of a user-initiated change of the display page element that corresponds to a change in the one or more element properties;

(vi) Based on the binding definition, selectively applying to the one or more data properties, on a continuing basis, changes in the one or more element properties such that the one or more data properties are updated corresponding to the changes in the display page element.

17. A computer implemented method according to claim 16 wherein step (vi) provides command functionality to the display page element without explicitly coding of such functionality in the display page data.

18. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein each data reference is an object that refers to a named data item in a server system.

19. A computer implemented method according to claim 18 wherein changes in the named data item are delivered to the data reference using a server system specific mechanism.

20. A computer implemented method according to claim 19 wherein the data reference is responsive to delivery of a change in the named data item for then notifying a software-based binding engine responsible for step (iv) that a data property has changed.

21. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the one or more processors additionally render the display page for display to a user.

22. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein the one or more processors are provided by a middle tier platform that remotely communicates with a thin client platform that renders the display page for display to a user.

23. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein a software-based data source manager component is responsible for performing steps (i) to (iii) and a software-based binding engine is responsible for performing step (iv).

24. A computer implemented method according to claim 1 wherein only the second data of the display page data is read at step (i).

25. A computer implemented method, performed at a client terminal, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) at the client terminal, loading, from a display page data storage terminal, display page data indicative of a display page for a human machine intepage, the display page data comprising first data indicative of presentation aspects for a display page element having one or more element properties, and second data indicative of data requirement aspects for the display page element;

(ii) at the client terminal, processing the second data thereby to identify a data source definition and a binding definition, wherein the data source definition references a data source that maintains data for use by the display page element, wherein the data source resides at a location that is both remote of the client terminal and remote of the display page data storage terminal;

(iii) at the client terminal, based on the data source definition, initializing the data source referenced by the data source definition to transition into a running state such that, responsive to a property change at the data source, the data source delivers directly to the client terminal data indicative of property change notifications for one or more data references having respective data properties; and

(iv) At the client terminal, based on the binding definition, applying to the one or more element properties, on a continuing basis, changes in the one or more data properties such that the display page element is updated corresponding to the changes in the one or more data properties.