CN113518947B - Program creation support device, program creation support method, and recording medium storing program creation support program - Google Patents

Abstract

A program creation assisting device (1) includes a common determination unit (13) that extracts a common logic portion from the entire circuit in the sequencer program, and generates a representation for the same position for circuit components included in the extracted common logic portion Attachment information on whether the device assignments made by the circuit components are consistent in all the common logic parts; a program component generation part (program component registration part (17)), which generates a program component based on the common logic part and the attached information; and replacement A part (componentization processing part (19)) that replaces the common logic parts in the sequence program with program components and circuit components connected to the input and output parameters of the program components, and the program component generation unit is configured to Devices created by circuit components at the same location are assigned to circuit components that are identical in all common logic sections, and whether or not to generate input and output parameters can be selected by the user.

Description

Program creation aid device, program creation aid method, and program creation aid stored therein auxiliary program recording medium

technical field

The present invention relates to a program creation assistance device, a program creation assistance method, and a program creation assistance program for assisting the creation of a sequence program.

Background technique

A programmable logic controller (PLC: Programmable Logic Controller) is a control device that operates according to a sequence program and controls a controlled device installed in a factory or the like.

As a main description language of sequence programs, there is a ladder language. Ladder language is a programming language implemented by simulating the graphical representation of relay circuits. It is possible to create programs by configuring circuit components such as contacts and coils that transmit control signals, and specifying their connection relationships. Also, the control signals are distributed to the PLC's internal memory, but this internal memory is called "device". In addition, a sequence program written in a ladder language is called a ladder program. In a ladder program, a device is represented by combining symbols and numerical values such as X and Y, and a device is assigned to a contact and a coil, thereby representing signal transmission.

Here, in recent years, the large-scale production equipment has progressed, and the number of controlled devices controlled by PLC has increased, and the sequence program has also increased in scale. Therefore, techniques for enabling efficient creation of sequenced programs have been proposed.

For example, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the sequence program can be efficiently created by focusing on the fact that the same circuit pattern is used a plurality of times in one sequence program. Specifically, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a common circuit pattern is extracted from an already created sequencer program to be componentized, and the componentized circuit pattern can be reused in the creation of a subsequent sequencer program, etc. the program component.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5769900

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the definitions of the program components, that is, the definitions of the input and output parameters are automatically determined. Specifically, the input and output parameters of the program components are defined as the transmitter of all device assignments made to circuit components (contacts, coils, etc.) in the common circuit pattern from the input and output parameters. Therefore, for example, when there are 5 contacts and 3 coils in the common circuit pattern, the program part generated from the common circuit pattern has 5 input parameters (= number of contacts) and 3 output parameters (= number of coils) ).

In addition, among a plurality of circuits serving as extraction sources of a common circuit pattern, the same circuit components are assigned to the device, and the device assignment need not be transmitted as a parameter from the outside, and the parameter of the program component can be omitted. In addition, in the sequence program, the smaller the number of input and output parameters of the program components used, the higher the readability and maintainability, and the program capacity can be reduced. However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, the reduction in the number of input and output parameters of the program components, that is, the improvement of the readability and maintainability of the sequence program is not considered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to obtain a program creation assistance device capable of improving the readability and maintainability of a sequence program.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, a program creation assisting device according to the present invention includes a common determination unit that extracts a common logic portion from the entire circuit in the sequence program, and provides a common logic portion for the extracted common logic portion. The circuit components generate additional information indicating whether or not the device assignments made to the circuit components at the same position are consistent in all the common logic sections. In addition, the program creation assisting device includes: a program component generation unit that generates a program component based on the common logic part and the attached information extracted by the common determination unit; and a replacement unit that replaces each of the common logic parts in the sequence program Replace with program components and circuit components connected to the input and output parameters of the program components. The program component generation unit generates an input/output parameter for device allocation to a first circuit component designated by a user among the first circuit components, and an input/output parameter for device allocation to a second circuit component, which is a circuit component that does not belong to the first circuit component In the program component of the parameter, the first circuit component is a circuit component in which device assignments made to circuit components at the same position are consistent in all common logic sections.

effect of invention

The program creation assisting device according to the present invention achieves the effect of improving the readability and maintainability of the sequence program.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a program component generation operation of the program creation assisting device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program creation system including the program creation support device according to the embodiment.

3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the program creation assisting device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for specifying generation of input and output parameters of a program component.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for checking the sequence program after the replacement process has been executed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the program creation assisting device according to the embodiment.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, the program creation assistance device, the program creation assistance method, and the program creation assistance program according to the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to this embodiment.

In the following embodiments, the "common circuit pattern G" and the "common logic part H" are distinguished and described as follows.

• Common circuit pattern G: A pattern of logic that appears in common in sequence programs.

• Common logic portion H: A portion (region) where the sequence program of the common circuit pattern G appears.

In the following description, the sequence program to be handled by the program creation assisting device is a ladder program.

implementation.

First, the outline of the operation of the program creation assisting device according to the present embodiment will be described. The program creation assisting device according to the present embodiment has at least two functions shown below, and uses these functions to assist the creation of a sequence program by a user.

The first function is a function of searching and displaying the common logic part H that can be componentized from the entire circuit of the sequence program. A sequence program, that is, a ladder program is composed of commands corresponding to contacts or coils and application commands corresponding to numerical operations. Therefore, the program creation assisting device only logically shares the common circuit pattern G and the The program part (common logic part H) is searched and displayed. The retrieved common circuit pattern G is a candidate for a program component, that is, a program component (macro, subroutine, etc.).

The second function is a function of converting the selected common circuit pattern G into a program component (executing componentization) and registering when the user selects one of the common circuit patterns G retrieved by the first function. In addition, the second function replaces the common logic part H retrieved by the first function with an instance of the registered program component, thereby automatically componentizing the sequence program.

Here, in the above-mentioned first function, when searching for the common logic part H, the program creation assisting device stores information on whether or not the device assignments made to the respective circuit components such as contacts and coils in the circuit are consistent or not. down. That is, in the extracted common circuit pattern G, whether or not the device assignments made to circuit components arranged at the same coordinates in the common logic portion H which is the origin of all of them are stored as attached information. The coordinates here show the position within the circuit pattern of the circuit component. Therefore, the circuit components arranged at the same coordinates refer to the circuit components arranged at the same position within the common circuit pattern G.

In addition, when the program component is generated in the second function, the program creation assisting device determines the parameters of the program component based on the attached information saved when the common logic part H is searched by the first function. Specifically, when there is a circuit component whose device assignment is inconsistent despite being arranged at the same coordinates among the common logic portions H, the program creation assisting apparatus generates a program component having a parameter for assigning a device to the circuit component .

Thereby, the input and output parameters of the program components generated by the program creation assisting device can be prevented from exceeding the required amount, and the readability and maintainability of the sequence program can be improved. In addition, the capacity of the sequencer program can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a program component generation operation of the program creation assisting device according to the embodiment.

As shown in stage (A) of FIG. 1 , the program creation assisting apparatus extracts the common logic portion H from the sequencer program. Here, the program creation assisting apparatus extracts, as the common logic portion H, the modules in which the circuit modules 2a to 4a are arranged.

Then, as shown in stage (B) of FIG. 1 , the program creation assisting device sets the common circuit pattern G that can be componentized based on the logic of the circuit modules 2 a to 4 a. In other words, the program creation assisting device sets logic common to the circuit modules 2a to 4a to the common circuit pattern G. Thereby, the program creation assisting device treats the circuit modules 2a to 4a as the common circuit pattern G.

At this time, the program creation assisting device checks whether the device assignments made to the circuit components having the same coordinates in the extracted circuit modules 2a to 4a match, and stores information indicating the result of the check (information indicating whether the device assignments match) . In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the coordinates of the circuit components located at the upper left of the circuit blocks 2a to 4a are set to (0, 0), and the coordinates of the circuit components located adjacent to the right side of the component are set to ( 1, 0), the coordinates of the circuit component located next to the right side of the component are set to (2, 0). In addition, let the coordinates of the circuit component next to the circuit component located on the upper left be (0, 1), the coordinates of the circuit component located adjacent to the right side of the component are set to (1, 1), and the component located on the The coordinates of the circuit component next to the right adjacent to (2, 1). In addition, the determination method of the coordinate which shows the position of each circuit component is not limited to this. In addition, the arrangement of each circuit component does not necessarily have to be represented by coordinates. As long as the arrangement of each circuit component in the circuit module can be known, the arrangement of each circuit component may be expressed using information other than coordinates.

In the example shown in FIG. 1 , the device assignments made to the circuit components with coordinates (0, 0) and (1, 1) do not match among the circuit modules 2a to 4a, and the device assignments made to the circuit components with other coordinates It is consistent among the circuit modules 2a to 4a. Therefore, the program creation assisting device generates and saves, in the stage (B), information indicating that the device assignments made to the circuit components with coordinates (0, 0) and (1, 1) are in the circuit modules 2a to 4a Inconsistent among them, the device assignments made to the circuit components whose coordinates are (1,0), (2,0), (0,1), and (2,1) are consistent among the circuit modules 2a to 4a. In addition, in the following description, as necessary, a circuit component in which devices are assigned to all of the common logic sections H (circuit blocks 2a to 4a in FIG. 1 ) that match each other is referred to as a first circuit component, and does not belong to a first circuit component. A circuit part of the first circuit part is referred to as a second circuit part.

Next, as shown in stage (C) of FIG. 1 , the program creation assisting device displays a screen 101 that is a generation designation screen for input and output parameters of program components on the display device based on the information generated and stored in stage (B). Also, the program creation aid receives from the user a selection of circuit components that generate input and output parameters. Here, it is necessary to generate input/output parameters for the circuit components whose device assignments do not match, that is, the second circuit components whose device assignments do not completely match among the circuit modules 2a to 4a. Therefore, on the screen 101 shown in FIG. 1 , a configuration is set such that the circuit component with coordinates (0, 0) and the circuit component with coordinates (1, 1) are configured to let the user know that input and output parameters must be generated. , does not accept selections made by the user.

When the selection of the first circuit component for generating the input/output parameters by the user is completed, the program creation assisting apparatus moves to the stage (D). That is, when the program creation assisting device receives an operation to end the selection of the first circuit component for generating input/output parameters from the user, it displays the screen 102 , which is a screen 102 , which is an overview image confirmation screen after replacement of the program component. In the screen 102 illustrated in FIG. 1 , the sequence program before the replacement to the program part is displayed on the left, and the sequence program after the replacement with the program part is displayed on the right. In addition, the screen 102 is a display content in which program components and circuit modules are associated so that it is possible to know which circuit module is replaced with the program component. The display content on the right side of the screen 102 follows the operation content received from the user in stage (C). The screen 102 illustrated in FIG. 1 displays a program component when the user selects the generation of parameters corresponding to the coil, which is a circuit component with coordinates (2, 0).

After confirming the screen 102 , the user presses the “OK (execute)” button at the lower right of the screen 102 when generating a program part and replacing the circuit module with the program part. In addition, after checking the screen 102 , the user presses the “Cancel” button at the lower right of the screen 102 when selecting the circuit components for generating the input/output parameters again. If the "Cancel" button is pressed, the program creation aid returns to stage (C).

When the "OK (execute)" button on the screen 102 is pressed, the program creation support apparatus moves to the stage (E) in FIG. 1 and generates FB (Function Block), which is a program component. At this time, the program creation assisting device generates a program component having a structure shown on the right side of the screen 102 displayed by the display device in stage (D).

Then, when the generation of the program components is completed, the program creation assisting device moves to the stage (F) in FIG. 1 , and replaces the circuit modules 2a to 4a extracted in the stage (A) with the programs generated in the stage (E). The components are used as circuit modules 2b to 4b.

Through such a flow, the program creation assisting apparatus generates program components from the sequence program, and replaces circuit modules that can be replaced with the generated program components among the circuit modules of the sequence program with program components. In addition, the program creation assisting device saves the generated program component so that it can be used when editing another sequencer program, developing another sequencer program, or the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program creation system including the program creation support device according to the embodiment. The program creation system 100 includes a program creation support device 1 , a sequencer program creation device 2 , a sequencer program editing device 3 , and a display device 5 . In addition, in this embodiment, the program creation assisting device 1 , the sequencer program creation device 2 , the sequencer program editing device 3 , and the display device 5 are described as separate devices, but each of the above-mentioned devices may be used. The functions are realized in one device, for example, a computer system such as a personal computer.

As described above, the program creation support apparatus 1 extracts the common logic portion H from the sequence program, and generates program components in accordance with an instruction from the user.

The sequencer program creation device 2 is a device that creates a sequencer program to be run in a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) system also called a sequencer. The sequencer program creation device 2 inputs the created sequencer program to the program creation support device 1 .

The sequencer program editing device 3 is a device that edits the sequencer program using the sequencer program replaced by the program component in the program creation support device 1 . The display device 5 is a liquid crystal monitor or the like, and displays a sequence program, a common circuit pattern G, program parts, and the like in accordance with an instruction from the program creation support device 1 .

The program creation assistance device 1 includes a program input unit 11 , a program storage unit 12 , a common determination unit 13 , a search result storage unit 14 , a search result display processing unit 15 , an instruction input unit 16 , a program component registration unit 17 , and a program component storage unit 18 , a componentization processing unit 19 , an output unit 20 , a component definition display processing unit 21 , and a componentization overview image display processing unit 22 .

The program input unit 11 receives the sequence program input from the sequence program creation device 2 and transmits the received sequence program to the program storage unit 12 .

The program storage unit 12 is a memory or the like that stores a sequence program (a program to be componentized) for which the common logic part H is searched. When the program storage unit 12 receives the sequence program from the program input unit 11, it stores the received sequence program. In addition, the program storage unit 12 outputs the requested sequence program to the output unit 20 when receiving a request or the like from the sequence program editing device 3 . The sequence program output to the output unit 20 is transmitted from the output unit 20 to the sequence program editing device 3 . In addition, the program storage unit 12 stores the sequence program after the replacement process, which is used for generation of program components among the circuit modules constituting the stored sequence program, when the replacement process is performed. The circuit modules are replaced by the processing of program components by the componentization processing unit 19 to be described later.

The common determination part 13 reads the sequence program stored in the program storage part 12, and determines whether there exists a common logic part H in it. The common determination unit 13 extracts the common logic in the common logic part H as the common circuit pattern G when the common logic part H exists. In other words, the common determination unit 13 extracts, as the common circuit pattern G, a pattern of logic that is commonly represented by the circuit patterns arranged in the common logic portion H. In addition, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 uses a known code clone detection method or the like when judging whether or not the common logic portion H exists in the sequence program. The code clone detection method refers to a method of finding similar code blocks from the source code representing the program. Similar blocks of code that make up source code are called code clones.

In addition, the common determination unit 13 confirms whether the device assignments made to the circuit components arranged at the same coordinates in all the common logic parts H are consistent, and generates auxiliary information of the common circuit pattern G as information indicating the confirmation result. The common determination unit 13 , for each of the plurality of circuit components included in the plurality of common logic sections H, checks whether the device assignments are consistent in all the common logic sections H, and generates attached information indicating the check result. The attached information shows the respective confirmation results for a plurality of circuit components included in the common logic portion H. For example, when the common logic part H includes four circuit parts #1 to #4, the attached information is configured to include information on whether or not the device assignment for the circuit part #1 is consistent with all the common logic parts H , information on whether the device assignments made to circuit component #2 are consistent in all common logic sections H, information on whether the device allocations made to circuit component #3 are consistent in all common logic sections H, and information for circuit component #4 Information on whether or not the device assignments made are consistent with all the common logical parts H.

The retrieval result storage unit 14 is a memory or the like that stores the information of the common circuit pattern G and the attached information extracted by the common determination unit 13 as a retrieval result. That is, when the common circuit pattern G is extracted by the common determination unit 13 , the search result storage unit 14 receives the information indicating the structure of the extracted common circuit pattern G and the attached information, and stores each received information as a search result. . Hereinafter, the information indicating the structure of the common circuit pattern G is referred to as structure information.

The retrieval result display processing unit 15 displays the retrieval results stored in the retrieval result storage unit 14 on the display device 5 in a list format. When the user selects the common circuit pattern G to be componentized from the displayed search results, the search result display processing unit 15 sets the configuration information and the attached information of the selected common circuit pattern G as the common circuit pattern G related to the common circuit pattern G. The information is sent to the component definition display processing unit 21 .

The instruction input unit 16 receives an instruction input by the user, and outputs information indicating the contents of the instruction to a part or all of the retrieval result display processing unit 15 , the component definition display processing unit 21 , and the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 . The user's instruction is a retrieval instruction, which is an instruction related to retrieval, a component specification instruction, which is an instruction related to componentization, a parameter generation instruction, and a componentization determination instruction, or an output instruction, which is an output instruction.

The search instruction is an instruction to search for the common circuit pattern G from within the sequence program, and is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the common determination unit 13 . The component designation instruction is an instruction to designate the common circuit pattern G to be componentized from among the search results, and is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the search result display processing unit 15 . The parameter generation/absence instruction is an instruction to specify whether or not to generate input/output parameters of the program components corresponding to the common circuit pattern G, and is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the component definition display processing unit 21 . The componentization determination instruction is an instruction to determine whether to perform the componentization or cancel the componentization based on the confirmation result of an overview image (image) obtained by replacing a part of the circuit modules in the sequence program with the program components. The componentization determination instruction is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 . The output instruction is an instruction to output the sequence program to an external device, that is, the sequence program editing device 3 or the like, and is transmitted from the instruction input unit 16 to the output unit 20 .

When definition information of a program component is transmitted from the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 to be described later, the program component registration unit 17 converts the common circuit pattern G into a program component and performs componentization based on the transmitted definition information. That is, the program component registration unit 17 is a program component generation unit that generates a program component, that is, a program component based on the common circuit pattern G and the definition information. In addition, the program component registration unit 17 registers the generated program component in the program component storage unit 18 .

The program component storage unit 18 is a memory or the like that stores program components in accordance with an instruction from the program component registration unit 17 . The program component storage unit 18 stores the program components received from the program component registration unit 17 . The program component storage unit 18 outputs the stored program components to the componentization processing unit 19 when the componentization processing unit 19 performs the process of replacing the circuit modules of the sequence program with the program components.

The componentization processing unit 19 replaces the common logic part H in the sequence program stored in the program storage unit 12 with the program components stored in the program component storage unit 18 . The componentization processing unit 19 stores the replaced sequence program in the program storage unit 12 .

When an output instruction is sent from the instruction input unit 16 , the output unit 20 reads the sequence program specified by the output instruction from the program storage unit 12 and outputs it to the sequence program editing device 3 , which is an external device. When an external device other than the sequence program editing device 3 is connected to the output unit 20, the output unit 20 outputs the sequence program specified by the output instruction to the external device specified by the output instruction.

The part definition display processing unit 21 displays the generation designation screen (corresponding to the screen 101 shown in FIG. 1 ) for the input and output parameters of the program parts on the basis of the information on the common circuit pattern G sent from the retrieval result display processing unit 15 Display device 5. The component definition display processing unit 21 receives the specification of the input/output parameter to be generated by the user in a state where the generation specification screen for the input/output parameter of the program component is displayed. When the specification of the input and output parameters to be generated by the user is completed, the component definition display processing unit 21 generates definition information of the program component based on the result of the specification by the user, and transmits the generated definition information to the componentization overview image display process Section 22.

The componentization overview image display processing unit 22 creates an image (a confirmation screen) of the sequence program in which the common logic part H is replaced by the program component based on the definition information of the program component sent from the component definition display processing unit 21, It is displayed on the display device 5 . Specifically, the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 causes the display device 5 to display a screen corresponding to the screen 102 shown in FIG. 1 . In addition, the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 receives input from the user of the judgment result of whether the replacement is actually performed in a state where the screen for checking the sequence program after replacement is displayed on the display device 5 . The componentization overview image display processing unit 22 transmits the program component definition information received from the component definition display processing unit 21 to the program component registration unit 17 upon receiving an input indicating the result of determination to perform replacement. On the other hand, the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 notifies the component definition display processing unit 21 of the determination result when receiving an input indicating that the replacement is not to be performed. The component definition display processing unit 21 that has received the notification causes the display device 5 to display the input/output parameter generation specification screen of the program component again on the display device 5, and receives specification of the input/output parameter to be generated from the user.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the program creation assisting device 1 according to the embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows the flow of processing when the program creation assisting apparatus 1 creates a program component from a sequence program and generates a sequence program in which the common logic portion H is replaced by the program component.

In the program creation assisting device 1 , it is assumed that a sequence program is stored in the program storage unit 12 . That is, the program input unit 11 of the program creation assisting device 1 receives the sequence program from the sequencer program creation device 2 and stores the received sequence program in the program storage unit 12 .

The program creation support apparatus 1 receives the search instruction of the common logic part H, and starts the program componentization process (step S1). That is, when a search instruction for the common circuit pattern G (common logic part H) is input from the instruction input unit 16 by the user, the search instruction is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the common determination unit 13 . Thereby, the program creation support apparatus 1 starts the program componentization process.

When receiving the search instruction from the instruction input unit 16 , the common determination unit 13 extracts the common circuit pattern G from the sequence program stored in the program storage unit 12 . The common determination unit 13 extracts, for example, a common logic part H from a sequence program, and extracts a common circuit pattern G from the circuit blocks (circuit blocks 2a to 4a shown in FIG. 1 , etc.) arranged in the common logic part H (step S2 ). ). In addition, the common determination unit 13 confirms whether the device assignments made to the circuit components are consistent with all the common logic parts H for each circuit component constituting the extracted common logic part H, and generates attached information indicating the confirmation result. The attached information is information indicating which one of the first circuit component and the second circuit component each of the circuit components constituting the common logic portion H belongs to.

When the extraction of the common circuit pattern G and the generation of the attached information are completed, the common determination unit 13 stores the extracted configuration information and the attached information of the common circuit pattern G in the retrieval result storage unit in association with the number of the common circuit patterns G. 14 (step S3).

Also, the common determination unit 13 transmits the position of the common logic portion H to the componentization processing portion 19 in association with program identification information that identifies the sequence program from which the common logic portion H is extracted. The position of the common logic part H is, for example, the line number of the ladder program.

The retrieval result storage unit 14, upon receiving information from the common determination unit 13, stores the received information. When the information output from the common determination unit 13 is stored in the search result storage unit 14 , the search result display processing unit 15 makes the common circuit pattern G extracted by the common determination unit 13 , based on the information stored in the search result storage unit 14 . A list of the structure and the number of items is displayed on the display device 5 . The display device 5 displays, for example, the common circuit pattern G shown in FIG. 1 and its number (three in FIG. 1 ) (step S4 ). Whether or not the information output from the common determination unit 13 has been stored in the retrieval result storage unit 14 is grasped by, for example, the retrieval result display processing unit 15 periodically checking the state of the retrieval result storage unit 14 . In addition, the common determination unit 13 may notify the search result display processing unit 15 that the information has been stored in the search result storage unit 14 .

After step S4 is executed, the program creation assisting device 1 waits for the common circuit pattern G to be selected by the user for componentization. Upon receiving the selection of the common circuit pattern G to be componentized from the user (step S5 ), the instruction input unit 16 generates a component designation instruction indicating the selected common circuit pattern G and sends it to the search result display processing unit 15 . The retrieval result display processing unit 15 reads the configuration information and the attached information of the common circuit pattern G indicated by the part specification instruction from the retrieval result storage unit 14 , and sends it to the part definition display processing unit 21 .

The component definition display processing unit 21, upon receiving the configuration information and the attached information of the common circuit pattern G from the search result display processing unit 15, matches the common circuit pattern G selected by the user in step S5 based on the received information. The generation designation screen of the input and output parameters of the program component is displayed on the display device 5 (step S6). In step S6, the part definition display processing unit 21 causes the display device 5 to display, for example, a screen of the content shown in FIG. 4 as a screen for specifying the generation of input and output parameters of the program parts. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for specifying generation of input and output parameters of a program component. The generation designation screen of the input/output parameters of the program part is displayed when the user designates the parameters to be generated as the input/output parameters of the program part. That is, the program creation support apparatus 1 displays the generation designation screen of the input/output parameters of the program components on the display device 5 when the specification of the parameters to be generated as the input/output parameters of the program components is received from the user. The generation designation screen (hereinafter, referred to as screen 101) of the input and output parameters of the program component illustrated in FIG. 4 includes "coordinates", "circuit symbols", "match/mismatch of device allocation", and "whether input and output parameters are generated or not. ". The "coordinates" show the positions of the circuit components included in the common circuit pattern G in the common circuit pattern G. "Circuit Symbol" shows the kind of circuit component present at the position indicated by "Coordinates" on the same row. "Consistency/inconsistency of device assignment" shows whether or not the device assignments for circuit components existing at the positions indicated by the "coordinates" in the same row are identical in all the common logic parts H. That is, "equipment assignment matching/non-conformity" indicates which of the first circuit component and the second circuit component the circuit component existing at the position indicated by the "coordinates" in the same row belongs to. For a circuit component (a first circuit component) for which "agreement/inconsistency in device assignment" is "matched", the devices assigned to the circuit component are displayed together. For example, the device assigned to the circuit component with coordinates (1, 0) is "M2". "Generation of input and output parameters" shows whether or not input and output parameters for allocating devices to circuit components existing at the positions indicated by "coordinates" in the same row are generated. When the screen 101 is displayed on the display device 5, the user operates an input device such as a mouse to check or uncheck the item "Generation of input and output parameters", thereby setting the input and output to be generated. The parameter specification is changed. However, for a circuit component (a second circuit component) whose "match/mismatch in device allocation" is "unmatched", generation of input/output parameters is required. Therefore, the program creation assisting device 1 fixes the "I/O parameter generation" of the circuit components whose "equipment assignments match/inconsistency" is "inconsistent" to the checked state, and does not accept the check by the user. Select the action to remove.

After step S6 is executed, the program creation assisting device 1 waits for the user to select the input/output parameters to be generated of the program component and to complete the selection operation with the screen 101 shown in FIG. 4 displayed on the display device 5 . When the selection operation by the user is completed, that is, the selection of the input/output parameter to be generated is received from the user (step S7), the instructing input unit 16 generates a parameter generation instruction indicating the selected input/output parameter, and transmits it to the The part definition display processing unit 21 . The instruction input unit 16 generates a parameter generation/non-instruction instruction when, for example, the user presses a selection operation end button whose description is omitted in FIG. 4 . Here, the description will be continued on the assumption that a parameter generation or not instruction is generated in accordance with the content of the screen 101 shown in FIG. 4 . That is, the description will be continued assuming that the user has designated generation of input and output parameters for the coil assignment device to the coordinates (2, 0). In this case, whether the parameter is generated or not indicates that the device is used to assign the device to the a-contact at coordinates (0, 0), the coil at coordinates (2, 0), and the b-contact at coordinates (1, 1), respectively. Generation of input and output parameters specifies information. In addition, the component definition display processing unit 21 and the instruction input unit 16 that execute the above-mentioned steps S6 and S7 constitute a selection receiving unit for the user to select from the first circuit components. The common logic part H is replaced with a program component. After that, the first circuit part for device assignment using input and output parameters is required.

When the component definition display processing unit 21 receives the parameter generation instruction, it transmits the received parameter generation instruction and the configuration information of the common circuit pattern G received and saved from the retrieval result display processing unit 15 to the componentization overview image. The processing unit 22 is displayed.

The componentization overview image display processing unit 22 stores the received information upon receiving the parameter generation instruction and the configuration information of the common circuit pattern G from the component definition display processing unit 21 . In addition, the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 replaces the common logic portion H with the program component based on the information received from the component definition display processing unit 21 and the sequence program stored in the program storage unit 12 . A screen for program confirmation is displayed on the display device 5 (step S8). In step S8 , the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 displays, for example, the screen of the content shown in FIG. 5 on the display device 5 as a screen for checking the sequence program after the replacement process has been executed. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for checking the sequence program after the replacement process is executed. The confirmation screen of the sequence program after the replacement process is executed is a screen for confirming the structure of the sequence program in which the common logic part H is replaced with the program component. That is, the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 is a confirmation display processing unit that causes the display device 5 to display a screen for confirming the structure of the sequence program substituted with the program components. The screen for checking the sequence program after the replacement process shown in FIG. 5 (hereinafter, referred to as a screen 102 ) is a configuration in which the sequence program before replacement and the sequence program after replacement are arranged horizontally. The left side of the screen 102 is the sequence program before replacing the common logic part H with the program parts (the program before replacement), and the right side of the screen 102 is the sequence program after replacing the common logic part H with the program parts ( replacement program). The componentized overview image display processing unit 22 may calculate the size of the sequence program before replacement and the size of the sequence program after replacement, and display them on the screen 102 . In this case, the user can know in advance the effect of reducing the program size by replacing the common logic part H with the program component, and this can be used as a judgment material for whether or not to perform the replacement. FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen that displays the structure of the sequence program after replacement with program components for one common logic part H, but it is also possible to replace a plurality of common logic parts H with Displays the structure of the sequencer program after the program part. In addition, the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 may scroll the display of the screen 102 up and down in accordance with the operation from the user, and the user can confirm the structure of the sequence program after replacing all the common logic parts H with program components.

After step S8 is executed, the program creation assisting device 1 waits for the user to select whether or not to execute the replacement of the common logic portion H by the program components with the screen 102 shown in FIG. 5 displayed on the display device 5 (step S8). S9). When the "OK (execute)" button at the lower right of the screen 102 is pressed, that is, when the replacement of the common logic part H by the program component is selected (step S9: Execute), the input unit 16 is instructed to generate a component The componentization determination instruction is sent to the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 . In addition, when the "Cancel" button at the lower right of the screen 102 is pressed, that is, when it is selected not to perform replacement of the common logic part H by program components (step S9: cancel), the input unit 16 is instructed to generate a cancel The instruction is sent to the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 .

When the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 receives the cancellation instruction, it transmits the received cancellation instruction to the component definition display processing unit 21 and ends the display of the screen 102 on the display device 5 . The component definition display processing unit 21 displays the screen 101 on the display device 5 when a cancellation instruction is received via the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 . Then, the component definition display processing unit 21 waits again for the user to select the input/output parameters to be generated for the program component and for the selection operation to end. In this way, when the "Cancel" button on the lower right of the screen 102 shown in FIG. 5 is pressed by the user, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 returns to step S7.

On the other hand, when the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 receives the componentization determination instruction, the information received and saved from the component definition display processing unit 21, specifically, the parameter generation or absence instruction and the common circuit pattern. The configuration information of G is sent to the program component registration unit 17 .

The program component registration unit 17 converts the common circuit pattern G selected in step S5 into a program component (step S10). Specifically, the program component registration unit 17 converts the common circuit pattern G indicated by the configuration information of the common circuit pattern G received from the componentization overview image display processing unit 22 into the input and output indicated by the parameter generation/non-indication instruction. A program part of the parameters, thereby creating a program part. The program component registration unit 17 stores the converted program component in the program component storage unit 18 (step S11). In this way, the common circuit pattern G selected by the user is stored in the program component storage unit 18 as a program component.

When the program component storage unit 18 receives the program component from the program component registration unit 17, it stores the received program component. When the program component created by the program component registration unit 17 is stored in the program component storage unit 18, the componentization processing unit 19 replaces the common logic portion H existing in the sequence program stored in the program storage unit 12 with the Program components stored in the program component storage unit 18 (step S12). The componentization processing unit 19 performs assignment of input and output parameters of the replaced program components when replacing the common logic part H with the program components. At this time, the componentization processing unit 19 is based on the information received and stored from the common determination unit 13 , specifically, based on the position of the common logic portion H and the program identification information of the sequence program from which the common logic portion H was extracted. , and replace the common logic part H of the sequence program indicated by the program identification information with the program component. Specifically, the componentization processing unit 19 extracts, based on the program identification information, the sequence program to be componentized from the program storage unit 12 . Then, the componentization processing unit 19 replaces the circuit pattern existing in the common logic portion H of the extracted sequence program with the program component stored in the program component storage unit 18 . Whether or not the program component has been stored in the program component storage unit 18 is grasped by, for example, the componentization processing unit 19 periodically checking the state of the program component storage unit 18 . In addition, the program component registration unit 17 may notify the componentization processing unit 19 that the program component has been stored in the program component storage unit 18 .

After at least a part of the sequence program is replaced by the program components, the replaced sequence program is stored in the program storage unit 12 . Then, when the user inputs an output instruction to the instruction input unit 16 , the output instruction is sent from the instruction input unit 16 to the output unit 20 . The output unit 20 extracts the sequence program specified by the output instruction from the program storage unit 12 and transmits it to the sequence program editing device 3 . Thereby, in the sequencer program editing device 3, the sequencer program is edited in accordance with the user's instruction.

The program creation assisting device 1 may return to step S4 after executing step S12 in FIG. 3 and continue the operation. In this case, when the search result display processing unit 15 causes the display device 5 to display the configuration and number of the common circuit patterns G in a list in step S4, the selection in step S5 executed in the past is not included in the list display. The resulting common circuit pattern G, that is, the common circuit pattern G that has been componentized into program components.

In addition, in this embodiment, the common circuit pattern G designated by the user is componentized, but the program component registration unit 17 may componentize all the common circuit patterns G extracted by the common determination unit 13 . In this case, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 repeatedly executes the processing of steps S6 to S9 shown in FIG.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the program creation support apparatus 1 allows the user to select the input and output parameters of the program components in the above-described steps S6 and S7, but may be configured to not accept the selection made by the user. That is, a circuit part (first circuit part) that matches all the common logic parts H may be allocated to the devices in the circuit parts included in the common circuit pattern G, the input/output parameters may not be generated, and the input/output parameters of the program parts may be The number of output parameters is minimal. In this case, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 executes step S10 after the above-described step S5. At this time, the retrieval result display processing unit 15 reads the configuration information and the attached information of the common circuit pattern G selected by the user in step S5 from the retrieval result storage unit 14 and transmits it to the program component registration unit 17 .

In addition, in this embodiment, the example in the case where the sequence program processed by the program creation support apparatus 1 is a ladder program has been described, but the sequence program is not limited to the ladder program.

In addition, in the program creation assisting device 1 , like the invention described in Patent Document 1, the size of the block to be extracted as the common circuit pattern G may be designated by the user.

As described above, the program creation assistance device 1 according to the present embodiment analyzes the sequence program to check whether a plurality of circuit patterns with the same structure exist, extracts the common circuit pattern G that is a circuit pattern with the same structure, and generates a representation of the The program component of the extracted common circuit pattern G. Then, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 replaces the common circuit pattern G included in the sequence program with the generated program component. In addition, after extracting the common circuit pattern G, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 , for each circuit component included in the common circuit pattern G, confirms whether or not the device assignments match among all the extracted common circuit patterns G, and generates Indicates the attached information of the confirmation result. In addition, the program creation assisting apparatus 1 does not generate an input for device assignment to the first circuit component that matches all the common circuit patterns G when the program component is generated, unless instructed by the user. Output parameters. Thereby, the number of input and output parameters of the program component can be reduced. As a result, the readability and maintainability of the sequencer can be improved.

Next, the hardware configuration of the program creation assisting device 1 will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the program creation support apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The program creation assisting device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 , a ROM (Read Only Memory) 92 , a RAM (Random Access Memory) 93 , a communication interface 94 , and an input unit 95 . In the program creation assisting apparatus 1, the above-mentioned CPU 91, ROM 92, RAM 93, communication interface 94, and input unit 95 are connected via bus B. The input unit 95 is configured to include a mouse and a keyboard. In addition, the program 90 is stored in the ROM 92 . The program 90 is executed by the CPU 91 as the common determination unit 13 , the retrieval result display processing unit 15 , the program component registration unit 17 , the componentization processing unit 19 , the component definition display processing unit 21 , and the componentized overview image display processing unit 22 . Action program. The communication interface 94 is a processing circuit for transmitting and receiving signals for communication between the program creation assisting device 1 and other devices such as the sequencer creating device 2 and the sequencer editing device 3, and is, for example, a network interface card. A display device 5 is also connected to the bus B.

The common determination unit 13 , the retrieval result display processing unit 15 , the program component registration unit 17 , the componentization processing unit 19 , the component definition display processing unit 21 , and the componentization overview among the components of the program creation assisting device 1 shown in FIG. 2 The image display processing unit 22 is realized by the CPU 91 and the ROM 92 . That is, the CPU 91 realizes each of the above-described components by reading and executing the program 90 stored in the ROM 92 from the ROM 92 .

In addition, the program storage unit 12 , the retrieval result storage unit 14 , and the program component storage unit 18 of the program creation support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 are realized by the RAM 93 . The program input unit 11 and the output unit 20 of the program creation support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 2 are realized by the communication interface 94 . The instruction input unit 16 of the program creation assisting device 1 shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the input unit 95 .

Here, the common determination unit 13 , the retrieval result display processing unit 15 , the program component registration unit 17 , the componentization processing unit 19 , the component definition display processing unit 21 , and the componentized overview image display processing are used as the program creation assisting device 1 . The program (program 90 ) that operates the unit 22 is stored in the ROM 92 in advance, but is not limited to this. The above-mentioned program 90 may be supplied to the user in a state written in a storage medium such as CD (Compact Disc)-ROM and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)-ROM, and the user may execute the program creation support device 1 by the hardware. the way to install. In this case, the hardware that realizes the program creation assisting device 1 is a configuration including a reading device for reading the program from a storage medium, or an interface circuit for connecting with the reading device. In addition, the above-mentioned program 90 may be provided via a communication line such as the Internet.

The configuration shown in the above-described embodiment is an example of the content of the present invention, and can be combined with other known technologies, and a part of the configuration can be omitted or changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Description of the label

1 Program creation auxiliary device, 2 Sequence program creation device, 3 Sequence program editing device, 5 Display device, 2a~4a, 2b~4b circuit modules, 11Program input part, 12Program storage part, 13Common judgment part, 14 Search result storage unit, 15 Search result display processing unit, 16 Instruction input unit, 17 Program component registration unit, 18 Program component storage unit, 19 Componentization processing unit, 20 Output unit, 21 Component definition display processing unit, 22 Componentization overview Image Display Processing Section, 100 Program Creation System.

Claims (7)

1. A program creation assistance apparatus comprising:

a common determination unit that extracts a common logic portion from the entire circuit within the sequence program, and generates, for circuit components included in the extracted common logic portion, auxiliary information indicating whether or not device assignments made for circuit components at the same position match in all the common logic portions;

A program component generation unit that generates a program component based on the common logical part extracted by the common determination unit and the accessory information; and

a replacing unit that replaces the common logic portions in the sequence program with the program modules and circuit components connected to input/output parameters of the program modules,

the program component generation unit generates a program component having an input/output parameter for device assignment to a 1 st circuit component designated by a user among the 1 st circuit components and an input/output parameter for device assignment to a 2 nd circuit component that is a circuit component not belonging to the 1 st circuit component, the 1 st circuit component being a circuit component in which device assignments made for circuit components at the same position coincide in all the common logic portions.

2. The program creation assistance apparatus according to claim 1,

a search result display processing unit for displaying the common logical part extracted by the common determination unit on a display device as a candidate for a program element,

the program component generation unit generates a program component based on the common logical part and the attached information selected by the user from among the program component candidates.

3. The program creation assistance apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the apparatus includes a selection receiving unit for a user to select, from among the 1 st circuit components, the 1 st circuit component which is required to be assigned to a device using input/output parameters after the common logic portion is replaced with the program component generated by the program component generating unit.

4. The program creation assistance apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the program module generation unit generates the program module, and the replacement unit replaces the common logic portion with the program module, and displays, on a display device, a screen for confirming a configuration of the sequence program in which the common logic portion is replaced with the program module and a circuit component connected to an input/output parameter of the program module, before the program module generation unit generates the program module.

5. The program creation assistance apparatus according to claim 3,

the program module generation unit generates the program module, and the replacement unit replaces the common logic portion with the program module, and displays, on a display device, a screen for confirming a configuration of the sequence program in which the common logic portion is replaced with the program module and a circuit component connected to an input/output parameter of the program module, before the program module generation unit generates the program module.

6. A program creation support method executed by a program creation support device for supporting creation of a sequence program,

the program creation assistance method is characterized by including:

a step 1 of extracting a common logic portion from the entire circuit in the sequence program;

a 2 nd step of generating, for the circuit components included in the common logical parts extracted in the 1 st step, accessory information indicating whether or not the device assignments made for the circuit components at the same position in each common logical part match in all the common logical parts;

a 3 rd step of generating a program component based on the common logical part and the auxiliary information extracted in the 1 st step; and

a 4 th step of replacing the common logic portion in the sequence program with the program module and a circuit component connected to an input/output parameter of the program module,

in the 3 rd step, a program component having input/output parameters for a 1 st circuit component assignment device specified by a user among the 1 st circuit components and input/output parameters for a 2 nd circuit component assignment device which is a circuit component not belonging to the 1 st circuit component is generated, the 1 st circuit component being a circuit component whose device assignment made for circuit components at the same position coincides in all the common logic sections.

7. A recording medium storing a program creation assistance program, the program creation assistance program being characterized by causing a computer to execute the steps of:

a step 1 of extracting a common logic portion from the entire circuit in the sequence program;

a 2 nd step of generating, for the circuit components included in the common logical parts extracted in the 1 st step, accessory information indicating whether or not the device assignments made for the circuit components at the same position in each common logical part match in all the common logical parts;

a 3 rd step of generating a program component based on the common logical part extracted in the 1 st step and the auxiliary information; and

a 4 th step of replacing the common logic portion in the sequence program with the program module and a circuit component connected to an input/output parameter of the program module,

the 3 rd step includes a process of generating a program component having input/output parameters to the 1 st circuit component assignment device specified by the user in the 1 st circuit component and input/output parameters to the 2 nd circuit component assignment device which is a circuit component not belonging to the 1 st circuit component, the 1 st circuit component being a circuit component whose device assignment made for circuit components at the same position coincides in all the common logic portions.

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