Method and apparatus for displaying sequential function chart elements
AssigneeOMRON Corporation
InventorsYoshiyuki Miyake, Tadashi Sakaguchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A programmable monitoring unit which is adapted for simplifying the programming and display of user programs in a programmable controller using a sequential function charting technique. In a first embodiment, the display of the SFC data is easily compressed such that a combined display element chart is accessed by inputting a first and a second display element and a combined element representing the first and second inputs are displayed in a single display area. In a second embodiment, the present invention provides a means for readily displaying the functional status and changes of transactions based on a program's operational cycles in order to facilitate the debugging of the program.
Claims9
A programmable monitor unit which is adapted to display a sequential function chart made up of sequential function chart display elements, comprising:
- display means segmented into a plurality of display areas each said display area having a plurality of areas of a predetermined vertical dimension;
- input means for providing designations of said sequential function chart display elements;
- memory means for storing a plurality of said designated sequential function chart display elements provided from said input means in a combination table;
- comparing means wherein elements in said combination table are defined by matching first inputted sequential function chart display element with an identical element in a first column of said combination table, by matching a second inputted sequential function chart display element with an identical element in a first row of said combination table, and by designating a compressed sequential function chart display element that is at an intersection of the row and column of said matched identical elements;
- and
- selecting means for selecting said compressed sequential function chart display element from said table and providing said compressed sequential function chart display element to a respective one of said display areas of said display means such that said display means produces a compressed display of said designated sequential function chart display element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.