Configuration of machine processes

Method enabling a user to create, edit, monitor and/or optimize the overall machine process of a programmable machine or system with the assistance of a graphics editor, which machine or system is sub-divided into a plurality of machine units which can be activated separately for control purposes, the machine units being respectively assigned a number of predefined partial machine processes, for at least one of which partial machine processes parameters can be set, and the graphics editor refers to each partial machine process by means of a graphic process symbol, at least one synchronization instant is defined for every partial machine process and the user sets up the overall machine process by selecting a partial quantity from all the partial machine processes predefined for the programmable machine or system and linking synchronization instants of these partial machine processes, and at least some of the control signals for operating the programmable machine or system are derived from a process diagram displayed to the user by the graphics editor to enable the user to run the configuration set-up and monitoring tasks, which process diagram comprises a two-dimensional diagram area with an imaginary or visualized machine system axis corresponding to a machine component dimension and with an imaginary or visualized process time axis corresponding to a time dimension, in which diagram area all of the partial machine processes involved in the overall machine process are plotted by a fully automated or user-initiated, partially automated positioning of the assigned process symbols and/or from which process symbols of partial machine processes that are not needed can be removed again, and every process symbol comprises at least one linking point corresponding to at least one synchronization instant of the displayed partial machine processes and, when defining other synchronization instants of the displayed partial machine processes, at least one other linking point for each of these synchronization instants, which linking instants are linked by means of a synchronization line parallel with the machine system axis to a linking point of a partial machine process of the same machine unit and/or another machine unit, and the process symbols are positioned or repositioned on the diagram area by the graphics editor so that they are arranged in the machine component dimension corresponding to their assignment to a machine unit and in the time dimension based on the synchronization of their assigned partial machine processes with other partial machine processes of the same machine unit or with partial machine processes of other machine units, wherein a two-value process option is displayed for at least one partial machine process, in particular the selection of a machine movement or its opposing movement, due to the possibility of being able to orient the associated process symbol in each of the two opposing directions parallel with the process time axis, and every process symbol of such a pair of process symbols is created from the respective other one, in particular due to a mirror image on an axis in mirror image parallel with the machine system axis.