JP2004280585A - Ladder program editing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ladder program editing apparatus capable of displaying comments in a manner compatible with various users. <P>SOLUTION: A comment storage means 22 which is capable of storing a second comment as well as a first comment is provided so that, for example, a user can store comments in a second language as well as comments in Japanese. One kind of comment is selected by a comment selecting means 23 and displayed in the vicinity of symbols constituting a ladder program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ladder program editing device that edits a ladder program for a programmable controller.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Editing (including writing) of the ladder program in the programmable controller is performed by an externally connected ladder program editing device. A typical ladder program editing device is a personal computer, and a ladder program can be created by performing an operation of pasting symbols such as input / output contacts and output instructions on a screen by a tool operating on an operating system. . Also, a logical number can be displayed above the symbol, and a comment can be displayed below the symbol. To provide a user with a system controlled by a programmable controller, a manufacturer prepares a user program. At this time, comments are created in Japanese. When the system is delivered to an overseas user, it is difficult for the user to understand Japanese comments when viewing the ladder program to check the operation or change the program. However, writing comments in English is inconvenient for checking and debugging operations in Japan.
[0003]
Therefore, a ladder program editing device that incorporates a translation function and translates Japanese comments into English comments and displays the translated comments has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this device, Japanese-to-English translation is performed using a conversion table that maps Japanese words and English words that appear in the ladder program. Comments are converted from Japanese to English. In this way, convenience is provided for overseas users in English-speaking countries.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent No. 2585930 (page 3, FIG. 8)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above-described "Japanese-English comment conversion" in the conventional ladder program editing apparatus cannot handle foreign users who are not in English-speaking countries. However, it is troublesome to prepare the conversion table in a multi-language assuming various languages other than English, which is not practical.
[0006]
In view of the above-described conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a ladder program editing device capable of displaying comments that can respond to various users.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a ladder program editing device for editing a ladder program for a programmable controller, comprising: comment storage means for storing a plurality of types of comments input for each symbol constituting the ladder program; A comment selecting unit for selecting a type of comment from the plurality of types of comments; and a comment displaying unit for displaying the comment selected by the comment selecting unit near a symbol on a screen.
[0008]
In the ladder program editing device configured as described above, one type of comment can be selected by the comment selection unit from the plurality of types of comments stored by the comment storage unit and displayed near the symbol. Therefore, for example, when the user stores a comment in a desired language, the comment can be displayed.
[0009]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a personal computer 2 as a ladder program editing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a programmable controller (PLC) 1. The personal computer 2 and the programmable controller 1 are connected to each other via a communication cable 3 such as RS232C or Ethernet (registered trademark: Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.). The programmable controller 1 includes a CPU unit 11 having a built-in CPU, memory, and the like, and an extension unit 12 such as an I / O unit and a DA / AD conversion unit which are centrally arranged or distributed locally. Through 12, it is connected to equipment to be controlled, various input / output devices, meters, and the like. The personal computer 2 has a multitasking operation system, and a tool having a function of editing (including writing) a ladder program of the programmable controller and monitoring an operation state.
[0010]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing, of the functions of the personal computer 2 equipped with the above-mentioned tool, only those parts relevant to the present invention. In the figure, a personal computer 2 includes an input device (pointing device or keyboard) 21, a comment storage unit 22, a comment selection unit 23, and a comment display unit 24, which are functions achieved by the tool using hardware of the personal computer 2. , A display 25.
[0011]
The comment storage unit 22 stores a plurality of types of comments input by the input device 21 for each symbol constituting the ladder program. The comment selecting means 23 selects one type of comment to be displayed on the screen from a plurality of types of comments based on the input from the input device 21. Further, the comment display means 24 displays the comment selected by the comment selection means 23 in the vicinity of the symbol on the screen of the display 25.
Hereinafter, these means will be specifically described by taking an actual operation as an example.
[0012]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the user has displayed a part of the ladder program on the screen of the display 25 using a tool. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an IV section in FIG. Here, the user selects a symbol (in the illustrated example, the contact point of the logical number M237) with the pointing device of the input device 21 and double-clicks or presses the Enter key, as shown in FIG. A dialog box 30 showing the attributes opens.
[0013]
Displayed in this dialog box 30 are a command word 31, a logical number 32, and a comment 33. The comment 33 has a first column 331 and a second column 332. By entering a comment in each column and clicking the OK button 34, each comment is stored (operation of the comment storage unit 22). Here, a Japanese comment has already been entered in the first column 331 by the manufacturer.
In the second column 332, the user can arbitrarily input a comment. Therefore, for example, as shown in the figure, the user inputs a comment in a language desired to be used. The input comment is stored by clicking the OK button 34. In this way, a second comment can be input for each symbol. To cancel the comment input, the user may click the cancel button 35.
[0014]
After inputting and storing “comment 2” for each symbol as described above, if the user wants to display the stored “comment 2” on the screen, the user clicks “display” on the menu bar shown in FIG. Then, select "comment selection" from the pull-down menu, and select "comment 2". Thereby, the content of the comment 2 is selected as the comment to be displayed (operation of the comment selecting unit 23). However, "comment 1" was selected before that. As a result, the comments in the second column 332 can be simultaneously displayed instead of the comments stored in the first column 331 (operation of the comment display means 24). Thus, the comment can be displayed in the language that the user wants to display.
When the ladder program is printed, the tool prints the comment 1 and the comment 2 in two rows so that the correspondence between the comments 1 and 2 can be easily confirmed and the waste of paper is reduced. .
[0015]
In the above embodiment, the number of comment columns is two, but three or more may be provided as necessary. In this case, the comment selection function can be selected from a plurality of types.
In addition, a Japanese user can input an arbitrary second comment or the like in consideration of convenience in use, not limited to the second language.
[0016]
【The invention's effect】
In the ladder program editing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, one kind of comment can be selected by the comment selecting means from a plurality of kinds of comments stored by the comment storing means and displayed near the symbol. Therefore, for example, when the user stores a comment in a desired language, the comment can be displayed. In this way, it is possible to provide a ladder program editing device capable of displaying comments on the user side that can respond to various users.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a personal computer as a ladder program editing device according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a programmable controller (PLC).
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part of functions of a personal computer equipped with a tool.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which a user displays a part of a ladder program on a display screen of the display using a tool using a ladder program editing device.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of an IV section in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a dialog box indicating the attribute of a symbol of a ladder program is opened.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state where a pull-down menu for comment selection is opened.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Programmable controller 2 Ladder program editing device 22 Comment storage means 23 Comment selection means 24 Comment display means

Claims (1)

A ladder program editing device for editing a ladder program for a programmable controller,
Comment storage means for storing a plurality of types of comments input for each symbol constituting the ladder program,
Comment selecting means for selecting one type of comment to be displayed on the screen from the plurality of types of comments,
A ladder program editing device comprising: comment display means for displaying a comment selected by the comment selection means near a symbol on a screen.

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