Method and apparatus for checking a control program in an industrial system

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rules are plausibility rules and rule infringements are implausibilities.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test routine (24) checks whether values assigned to system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2) are plausible in respect of system element data.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test routine (24) compares value ranges of output signals of system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2) with level values, which are assigned to these output signals.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

• the test routine (24) checks several system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2) emitting the same signal to determine whether they are adequately separated from one another in respect of a defined property.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

• the test routine (24) checks level values at signal outputs of system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2), which are connected to a signal input of another system element (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2), to determine whether the level values are activated.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test routine (24) checks level values at signal outputs of system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2), which were set to another value from a preset value, to determine whether the level values are activated.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test routine (24) compares documented specifications relating to output signals of system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system with level values, which are assigned to these output signals.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test routine (24) checks alarm messages relating to operating faults in the industrial system (2) which are provided by the control program (12) for displaying to a user, to determine whether a graphic display for visualizing a localization of the fault is stored in the control program (12) for the alarm message.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

• the control program (12) is tested by the test routine (24) to determine whether an archiving routine of the control program (12) is prepared to archive values of such output signals of system elements (4, 6, 8) of the industrial system (2) which are assigned level values.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that rule infringements are eliminated on a control basis with the aid of the test routine (24) and the data is changed accordingly.

The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

• a control program (12) for controlling a first industrial system (2) and then a control program (12) for controlling a second industrial system which differs from the first industrial system (2) are initially checked, with the aid of the test routine (24), for compliance with the same defined rules.

A testing apparatus (14) for checking a control program (12) for controlling an industrial system (2), comprising a database (20), a reading-in routine (18) for reading data from the control program (12) into the database (20) and a test routine (24), which is provided in conjunction with a processor-controlled computing means (22) for checking the control program (12), on the basis of data, for compliance with defined rules and for displaying rule infringements.