Method and device for interactive control of a machine

An apparatus for interactive control of a plastics material injection molding machine, the apparatus comprising:

• a display unit;
• a data processing unit;
• an input unit with fields arranged on a graphical user interface for manual input and/or for input by means of a manipulator, by means of which fields, in a form which prompts an operator, operating parameters necessary for an operating sequence of the machine can be input into the data processing unit which stores the operating parameters for subsequently carrying out one or more operating sequences in accordance with the stored operating parameters, wherein the fields are actuating fields for navigation on a navigation surface statically arranged on the graphical user interface, and
• a data set recorded in the data processing unit and covering basic rules of the operating sequence of the machine;
• wherein the data set provides a selected choice of possible input possibilities for additional parts of the operating sequence, said possible input possibilities being offered to the operator, displayed on-surface the graphical user interface, and based on machine configuration and machine environment, such that the additional parts of the operating sequence can be added in a compatible manner into existing parts of the operating sequence;
• wherein the navigation surface comprises at least three lines or three columns of actuating and input fields that are hierarchical from line to line or column to column and are represented in the graphical user interface with a plurality of navigation levels associated with one another such that the operator is able to visualize a path through the at least three lines or three columns of actuating and input fields;
• and
• wherein, when the operator's input is made, even at a hierarchically higher level possible input paths are visualized as a selected choice based on the operator's input.