JP7380376B2 - Program for displaying information processing equipment and ladder programs - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device that displays a ladder program and a program for displaying the ladder program.

Control devices such as PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) have been introduced at various manufacturing sites. Such a control device is a type of computer, and executes a user program designed according to a manufacturing device, manufacturing equipment, or the like. Such a user program is created in a development environment prepared separately from the control device.

A programming language for writing a user program includes a ladder diagram (LD) that can be displayed in a circuit form in which a plurality of instruction elements are interconnected. A program written in a circuit format in which a plurality of instruction elements are interconnected is also called a "ladder program."

As a development support device that provides an environment for developing user programs, it is known that when creating a ladder program, comment lines are provided as appropriate in the ladder program to make it easier to understand the contents of each ladder program. (For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP2017-059046A

A ladder program has a configuration in which a logic circuit expressed by combinations of contacts, coils, etc. is drawn in a ladder shape. The coil indicates the output destination of the result of a logical operation using a combination of contacts. Additionally, a ladder program may be written in a hierarchical manner such that one logic circuit receives the results of another logic circuit, and the other logic circuit receives the results of another logic circuit. .

Although the display method of ladder programs by conventional development support equipment made it easier to understand the contents of the logic circuits that are executed sequentially, the representation without hierarchy made it difficult to understand the overall structure of the ladder program.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to display the hierarchical structure of a ladder program in an easy-to-understand manner.

According to an example of the present disclosure, an information processing device that displays a ladder program is provided. The information processing device includes a ladder screen generation section, a reception section, a definition section, and a hierarchical screen generation section. The ladder screen generation unit generates a ladder screen for displaying the ladder program in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits. A plurality of ladder circuits are displayed on the ladder screen, and text information registered for each ladder circuit is displayed in correspondence with the corresponding ladder circuit. The reception unit receives input of parent-child information indicating a parent-child relationship between one ladder circuit and another ladder circuit in response to an operation on the ladder screen. The definition unit defines a hierarchical structure of the plurality of ladder circuits included in the ladder program based on the parent-child information received by the reception unit. The hierarchical screen generation section generates a hierarchical screen for displaying the hierarchical structure defined by the definition section as text information.

According to this disclosure, in the case of text information, a hierarchical structure can be easily expressed by providing indentation or connecting text information with ruled lines. As a result, the information processing device can display the entire structure of the ladder program in an easy-to-understand manner.

In the above disclosure, each piece of text information included in the hierarchical screen may be associated with position information indicating the position of the corresponding ladder circuit on the ladder screen. In this case, in response to text information being selected via the hierarchical screen, a ladder circuit corresponding to the selected text information may be displayed within the area where the ladder screen is displayed.

According to this disclosure, since the display range of the ladder screen can be changed by operation via the hierarchical screen displaying the hierarchical structure, the desired ladder circuit can be easily displayed.

In the above disclosure, the definition unit defines the hierarchical structure based on position information indicating the position of the ladder circuit on the ladder screen and parent-child information, and defines the hierarchical structure in response to a change in the position information being accepted. You may try again.

According to this disclosure, since a hierarchical structure can be arbitrarily defined according to the positional relationship between ladder circuits on the ladder screen, the user can input parent-child information while confirming the contents of each ladder circuit that is in a parent-child relationship.

In the above disclosure, the reception unit may accept a change in location information in response to an operation on a hierarchical screen.

According to this disclosure, the positional relationship between ladder circuits can be changed by operation via the hierarchical screen displaying the hierarchical structure, and the hierarchical structure can also be changed in accordance with the change in the positional relationship. Therefore, the hierarchical structure can be easily changed.

In the above disclosure, when a ladder circuit addition operation is performed with one ladder circuit selected, the definition unit creates a hierarchical structure based on a predetermined addition rule and the hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit. may be redefined.

According to this disclosure, when a ladder program is developed by adding a ladder circuit, a hierarchical structure can be easily defined.

In the above disclosure, the information processing device may further include a creation unit that edits or creates text information. In this case, when a change in position information is accepted in response to the addition of a ladder circuit, the creation unit updates the redefined hierarchical structure and the ladder circuit of the hierarchy to which the added ladder circuit belongs. Text information corresponding to the added ladder circuit may be created based on the corresponding text information.

According to this disclosure, text information indicating the hierarchy of a newly added ladder circuit can be generated.

In the above disclosure, when a ladder circuit deletion operation is performed with one ladder circuit selected, the selected ladder circuit and the ladder circuits included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit are deleted. Good too.

According to this disclosure, convenience in developing a ladder program is improved.
In the above disclosure, the reception unit may accept the selection of one ladder circuit, and may also accept the selected ladder circuit and the ladder circuits included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit as components of one management unit. good.

According to this disclosure, an arbitrary hierarchical structure can be defined by inputting parent-child information, and reusable parts can be created at the same time.

In the above disclosure, when a ladder circuit is selected, the ladder screen generation unit may generate a ladder screen in which ladder circuits included in child layers of the selected ladder circuit are omitted.

According to this disclosure, the entire structure of a ladder program can be displayed more clearly.
In the above disclosure, when a ladder circuit is selected, the hierarchical screen generation unit may generate a hierarchical screen in which text information corresponding to a ladder circuit included in a child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit is omitted.

According to this disclosure, the entire structure of a ladder program can be displayed more clearly.
In the above disclosure, the ladder screen generation unit generates a ladder screen in which ladder circuits included in the same hierarchy and ladder circuits included in different hierarchies are displayed in different display modes based on the hierarchical structure defined by the definition unit. You may.

According to this disclosure, it is possible for the user to easily understand the divisions between layers simply by checking the ladder screen.

In the above disclosure, a ladder program may include one or more call instructions that call blocks made up of groups of program elements. The hierarchical screen generation unit may generate a hierarchical screen such that a block called by the calling command is included in a child hierarchy of the ladder circuit including the calling command.

According to this disclosure, what kind of block is called in each ladder circuit can be displayed on the hierarchical screen.

According to another example of the present disclosure, a support program for displaying a ladder program is provided. The support program displays the ladder program in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits, and generates a ladder screen for displaying text information registered for each ladder circuit in correspondence with the corresponding ladder circuit; a step of receiving input of parent-child information indicating a parent-child relationship between one ladder circuit and another ladder circuit in response to an operation on the ladder screen; and a step of receiving input of parent-child information indicating a parent-child relationship between one ladder circuit and another ladder circuit, and inputting multiple ladder circuits included in the ladder program based on the received parent-child information; and a step of generating a hierarchical screen for displaying the defined hierarchical structure as text information.

According to this disclosure, in the case of text information, a hierarchical structure can be easily expressed by providing indentation or connecting text information with ruled lines. As a result, the information processing device can display the entire structure of the ladder program in an easy-to-understand manner.

According to an example of the present disclosure, the entire structure of a ladder program can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a support device 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a control system 1 to which a support device 10 can be applied. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a support device 10. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a software configuration of a support device 10. FIG. This is an example of a user interface screen 140. 5 is a flowchart showing display processing executed when displaying the ladder program 42 on the display 114. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing additional processing executed when adding a ladder circuit 420. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of an insertion rule. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of insertion rules. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of insertion rules. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of insertion rules. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an insertion rule that does not take hierarchy into account. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a rule for creating text information 460. FIG. This is an example of screen transition when copying and pasting. 7 is a flowchart showing a deletion process executed when a ladder circuit 420 is deleted. It is a figure which shows an example of a deletion rule. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of deletion rules. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an update rule for parent-child information 480. 7 is a flowchart showing a movement process executed when moving the ladder circuit 420. FIG. It is a figure showing an example of screen transition by movement operation. 3 is a flowchart showing a layering process for defining a hierarchical structure 160. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of abbreviated display and expanded display. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of abbreviated display and expanded display. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a ladder screen 120 showing a hierarchical structure 160. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the range of the ladder screen 120 displayed in the first area 142 is changed. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing how one or more ladder circuits 420 are registered as one component. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen in which a POU is displayed as a child layer of a calling ladder circuit. It is a flow chart which shows hierarchization processing concerning a modification. It is a figure which shows an example of the hierarchical structure 160 defined according to the hierarchical processing according to a modification.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding parts in the figures are given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will not be repeated.

<A. Application example>
An example of a scene to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a support device 10 according to the present embodiment.

The support device 10 is an example of an information processing device for displaying the ladder program 42. Support device 10 is typically configured with a general-purpose computer. The support device 10 is used in situations such as creating a ladder program 42, checking the operation of the ladder program 42, or correcting bugs in the ladder program 42.

The ladder program 42 is a type of control program executed by a control device such as a PLC that controls various devices used in the FA field. "Control programs" include programs that provide the basic functions of control devices that control various devices used in the FA field, and programs that are arbitrarily designed depending on the control target (also called "user programs"). ).

The ladder program 42 is a program written in a programming language that can be displayed in a circuit form in which a plurality of instruction elements are interconnected. Typically, the ladder program 42 is a program written in ladder diagram (LD), which is one of the PLC application programming languages defined in the international standard IEC61131-3. In addition, when adopting a method of writing the entire program in multiple languages, function block diagrams (FBDs), sequential function charts (SFCs), instruction lists (ILs), structured The ladder program 42 may include a program written in structured text (ST), a language unique to each manufacturer, or a procedural programming language such as C language.

Referring to FIG. 1, the support device 10 includes a ladder screen generation section 12, a reception section 14, a definition section 16, and a hierarchical screen generation section 18.

The ladder screen generation unit 12 generates a ladder screen 120 for displaying the ladder program 42 in a circuit format including one or more ladder circuits 420. The ladder screen generation unit 12 generates the ladder screen 120 so as to display the ladder circuits 420 side by side and to display the text information 460 registered for each ladder circuit 420 in association with the corresponding ladder circuit 420.

Each ladder circuit 420 is a logic circuit (hereinafter simply referred to as “circuit ). The circuit elements include, for example, a contact 423 that turns on/off based on an input signal, and a coil 424 that outputs a calculation result within the circuit. Note that in FIG. 1, some symbols are omitted.

Text information 460 is information consisting of characters. Note that the characters may also include symbols and numbers. Text information 460 is typically the name of ladder circuit 420. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the text information 460 includes the name of the ladder circuit 420 (for example, the characters "Circuit 1" in FIG. 1) and the order of the ladder circuit 420 (for example, the characters "0" in FIG. ) is displayed on the ladder screen 120. Note that a comment indicating the content of the ladder circuit 420 may be registered as the text information 460. Further, the text information 460 may be automatically generated or may be generated by input by the user.

The reception unit 14 receives input of parent-child information 480 indicating a parent-child relationship between one ladder circuit 420 and another ladder circuit 420 for each ladder circuit 420 in response to an operation on the ladder screen 120. A parent-child relationship means a dependent relationship. The ladder circuit 420 in the upper layer is the parent, and the ladder circuit 420 included in the lower layer in that layer is the child. For example, when writing a ladder program so that one ladder circuit 420 receives the output results of another ladder circuit 420, the user must subordinate the other ladder circuit 420 (child) to the one ladder circuit 420 (parent). The parent and child information 480 can be input as shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, by inputting the special symbol "#" in the area where text information 460 is displayed on the ladder screen 120, parent-child information 480 is input in association with the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the text information 460. is accepted. Furthermore, the user can delimit the hierarchy by inputting the special symbol "#", and the depth of the hierarchy can be expressed by the number of special symbols "#".

For example, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1" has a variable "a" which is the output result of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-1", and a variable "a" which is the output result of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-2". The output result changes depending on the variable "b" which is the output result of the ladder circuit 420 shown. In this case, the user assigns the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1" as a parent, and the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-1" and the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-2" as "Circuit 1". Parent-child information 480 can be input so that the ladder circuit 420 shown in FIG.

The definition unit 16 defines a hierarchical structure 160 of the plurality of ladder circuits 420 included in the ladder program 42 based on the parent-child information 480 received by the reception unit 14. For example, the definition unit 16 defines the hierarchical structure 160 based on the input parent-child information 480 and a predetermined rule for inputting the parent-child information 480.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the definition unit 16 defines the relationship between the 0th ladder circuit 420 and the 1st ladder circuit based on the parent-child information 480 (“#”) received for the 0th ladder circuit 420, for example. 420, the hierarchy is divided, and the number of "#" specifies that the 0th ladder circuit 420 is the top hierarchy. Then, the definition unit 16 defines that the first ladder circuit 420 is a child hierarchy of the 0th ladder circuit 420. Furthermore, since parent-child information 480 has not been input to the second ladder circuit 420, the definition unit 16 defines that the second ladder circuit 420 is in the same hierarchy as the first ladder circuit 420.

The hierarchical screen generation unit 18 generates a hierarchical screen 180 that displays the hierarchical structure 160 defined by the definition unit 16 using text information 460. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 expresses the hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the text information 460 by determining how many indentations are provided at the beginning of the text information 460. For example, the 0th ladder circuit 420 corresponding to "0. Circuit 1" is the topmost ladder circuit 420 because "0. Circuit 1" is not indented.

The ladder program 42 may be written in a hierarchical manner such that the result output by the coil 424 in one ladder circuit 420 is received by the contact 423 included in another ladder circuit 420.

The ladder program 42 written in a hierarchical manner is composed of a plurality of ladder circuits 420. Since there is a limit to the range in which the ladder screen 120 can be displayed, it is difficult to fit the entire ladder program 42 within the display, and it is difficult to express the entire structure of the ladder program 42.

Further, generally, when the ladder circuits 420 are displayed side by side, the position of the input side bus bar 421 is displayed in a fixed manner. It is also possible to express the hierarchical relationship by changing the position of the input side bus 421, but when the position of the input side bus 421 is changed, the display position of the ladder circuit 420 changes for each ladder circuit 420, making it difficult to see. There is.

Support device 10 according to the present embodiment receives input of parent-child information 480 in response to an operation on ladder circuit 420 . Therefore, the user can arbitrarily define the parent-child relationship between the ladder circuits 420 while checking the ladder circuits 420.

The support device 10 also includes a hierarchical screen generation unit 18 for generating a hierarchical screen 180 for displaying the hierarchical structure 160 defined based on the parent-child information 480 as text information 460. Unlike the ladder circuit 420, when it comes to text information 460, the hierarchical structure 160 can be easily expressed by providing indentation or connecting the text information 460 with ruled lines. Therefore, the support device 10 can display the entire structure of the ladder program 42 in an easy-to-understand manner.

Furthermore, when comparing the ladder circuit 420 and the text information 460, the area required to display the text information 460 is narrower than the area required to display the ladder circuit 420. Therefore, by representing the hierarchical structure 160 with text information 460, it becomes easy to fit the hierarchical structure 160 into one screen. As a result, the entire structure of the ladder program 42 can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner.

Hereinafter, as a specific example of the present invention, a more detailed configuration and processing of the support device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

<B. Control systems to which support devices can be applied>
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a control system 1 to which the support device 10 can be applied. Referring to FIG. 2, the control system 1 includes a plurality of PLCs 200-1, 200-2, 200-3, 200-4, ... (hereinafter also collectively referred to as "PLC 200"). Each of the PLCs 100 is an example of a control device that controls a control target that is a field device such as a relay or a sensor. The support device 10 is connectable to the PLC 200 and provides an environment that supports the development of a control program for the PLC 200. The control system 1 may include one PLC 200. Below, in order to simplify the explanation, a development environment targeting one PLC 200 will be explained.

The PLC 200 typically exchanges signals from the field with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) unit 20 that executes various programs including control programs, and a power supply unit 22 that supplies power to the CPU unit 20 and the like. and an I/O (Input/Output) unit 24. The I/O unit 24 is connected to the CPU unit 20 via a system bus 21.

The development support environment provided by the support device 10 may include a control program editor, debugger, simulator, and a monitor function for outputting their output information to a monitor such as a display. The support device 10 also has a function of acquiring the status value of the PLC 200 during operation and outputting it to a monitor such as a display.

By installing the support program, which is an application program stored in the optical recording medium 8, into the support device 10, various functions for the development support environment as described above are realized. Instead of the optical recording medium 8, the support program may be downloaded from an external server device or the like via a network. The support device 10 is connected to the CPU unit 20 of the PLC 200 via a connection cable, for example.

<C. Hardware configuration example of support device 10>
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the support device 10. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, support device 10 is typically configured with a general-purpose computer. Note that from the viewpoint of maintainability at the manufacturing site where the PLC 200 is placed, a notebook personal computer with excellent portability is preferable.

The support device 10 includes a storage unit 101 and a CPU 102 that executes various programs including an operating system (OS). The storage unit 101 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 104 that stores BIOS and various data, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 106 that provides a work area for storing data necessary for the execution of programs by the CPU 102. It includes a hard disk (HDD) 108 that non-volatilely stores programs and the like executed by the CPU 102. ROM 104 and HDD 108 are examples of non-transitory computer-readable media.

The support device 10 further includes an operation unit 103 including a keyboard 110 and a mouse 112 that are operated by the user to input instructions to the support device 10, and a display 114 for presenting information to the user. Support device 10 includes a communication interface 118 for communicating with PLC 200 (CPU unit 20) and the like. Communication interface 118 may include a USB communication module for communicating with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface (not shown) included in PLC 200.

The support device 10 includes an optical recording medium reading device 116 for reading a support program for providing a development support environment stored therein from the optical recording medium 8. Optical recording medium 8 is an embodiment of a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a configuration in which necessary functions are provided by a processor such as the CPU 102 executing a program. , ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), etc.). In this case, virtualization technology may be used to run multiple OSs for different purposes in parallel, and to run necessary applications on each OS.

<D. Software configuration of support device 10>
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the support device 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example of information stored in the storage unit 101 in association with the software configuration of the support device 10.

(d1. Information stored in the support device 10)
The information stored in the storage unit 101 includes the ladder program 42, text information 460, parent-child information 480, position information 440, hierarchical structure 160, parts information 430, setting information 450, object information 52, and a support program 54.

In this embodiment, the ladder program 42 will be described as being stored in the storage unit 101 in an uncompiled state described in a ladder diagram. Ladder program 42 includes a plurality of ladder circuits 420. Further, each ladder circuit 420 included in the ladder program 42 is edited and created by an editor 15, which will be described later.

Text information 460 is stored for each ladder circuit 420. Each text information 460 includes information that can specify which ladder circuit 420 it corresponds to. Although not shown, the text information 460 includes at least one of text information indicating the name of the ladder circuit 420 and text information indicating the order of the ladder circuit 420.

The parent-child information 480 is information input via the ladder screen 120, and is information indicating the hierarchical relationship between one ladder circuit 420 and another ladder circuit 420. Parent-child information 480 includes information that can specify which ladder circuit 420 the information is input to. In this embodiment, the parent-child information 480 includes information indicating a layer break and information indicating the depth of the layer.

Note that the parent-child information 480 is information that is input according to the input rules included in the setting information 450. The input rules may be predetermined or may be configured to be changeable by the user.

The position information 440 is information indicating the position of each ladder circuit 420 on the ladder screen 120. Note that the position information 440 only needs to indicate the position of each ladder circuit 420, and may indicate the order of the ladder circuits 420, for example.

The hierarchical structure 160 is information indicating the overall structure of the ladder circuit 420 included in the ladder program 42 defined by the definition unit 16 based on the parent-child information 480. In this embodiment, hierarchical structure 160 is defined based on input rules included in setting information 450, parent-child information 480, and position information 440.

The component information 430 includes function blocks called by a call instruction included in the ladder program 42. Furthermore, the component information 430 includes components made up of one or more arbitrarily selected ladder circuits 420.

The setting information 450 includes input rules for parent-child information 480, display rules for displaying the ladder screen 120 and hierarchy screen 180 on the display 114, rules for redefining the hierarchical structure 160, and adding or deleting a new ladder circuit 420. This includes rules for when doing so.

Object information 52 is used to visually display ladder program 42 on display 114. The object information 52 includes parts for visually indicating the contents of the ladder program 42. For example, the object information 52 includes an input bus 421, an output bus 422, a contact 423, a coil 424, and the like.

Support program 54 includes a program for displaying ladder program 42. Further, the support program 54 is a program for realizing various functions for developing a control program.

(d2. Module for displaying ladder program)
The various functions shown in FIG. 4 are realized by the CPU 102 executing the support program 54. Specifically, the support program 54 provides the functions of the reception section 14, editor 15, ladder screen generation section 12, definition section 16, creation section 17, hierarchical screen generation section 18, componentization section 19, and display section 11. do.

The reception unit 14 receives operation input from the operation unit 103. The reception unit 14 is typically an input interface. For example, the reception unit 14 receives input of parent-child information 480, change of position information 440, registration of parts information 430, input of text information 460, and the like. Note that changes in the position information 440 include changes based on addition of the ladder circuit 420 or deletion of the ladder circuit 420.

The editor 15 edits and creates the ladder program 42 according to user operations. The editor 15 may further provide an online editing function for rewriting (editing) a part of the control program executed while the PLC 200 is in operation.

The ladder screen generation unit 12 generates a ladder screen 120. As described above, a plurality of ladder circuits 420 are displayed side by side on the ladder screen 120, and the text information 460 registered for each ladder circuit 420 is displayed above the corresponding ladder circuit 420.

When the reception unit 14 receives input of information, the ladder screen generation unit 12 updates the display content of the ladder screen 120 according to the received content. For example, the ladder screen generation unit 12 displays the input parent-child information 480 on the ladder screen 120 when the reception unit 14 receives the input of the parent-child information 480.

The definition unit 16 defines the hierarchical structure 160 based on the parent-child information 480. In the present embodiment, the definition unit 16 defines the hierarchical structure 160 based on input rules included in the setting information 450, parent-child information 480, and position information 440.

Further, when the reception unit 14 receives input of information, the definition unit 16 redefines the hierarchical structure 160 according to the received content. For example, the definition unit 16 redefines the hierarchical structure 160 in response to parent-child information 480 being input or location information 440 being changed.

The creation unit 17 edits or creates text information 460. For example, the creation unit 17 edits or creates the text information 460 when the reception unit 14 receives the input of the text information 460. The creation unit 17 also updates or creates the text information 460 in response to the addition or deletion of the ladder circuit 420. Details will be described later.

The hierarchical screen generation unit 18 generates a hierarchical screen 180 that displays the hierarchical structure 160 defined by the definition unit 16 using text information 460. The method of expressing the hierarchical structure 160 is not limited to the method of providing an indent at the beginning of the text information 460 shown in FIG. An expression method such as inserting a slash to indicate a break may also be used.

When the reception unit 14 receives input of information, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 updates the display content of the hierarchical screen 180 according to the received content. For example, when the hierarchical structure 160 is redefined according to the content received by the reception unit 14 or the content of the text information 460 is updated, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 updates the display content of the hierarchical screen 180. do.

The componentization unit 19 registers the plurality of ladder circuits 420 as one component in the component information 430. For example, when the reception unit 14 receives the selection of one ladder circuit 420, the componentization unit 19 selects the selected ladder circuit 420 and all the ladder circuits 420 included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420. is registered in the parts information 430 as one part.

The display unit 11 displays the ladder screen 120 generated by the ladder screen generation unit 12 and the hierarchical screen 180 generated by the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 on the display 114. Further, the display unit 11 changes the display ranges of the ladder screen 120 and the hierarchy screen 180 displayed on the display 114 when the reception unit 14 receives a change in the display range. For example, the display unit 11 displays the ladder screen 120 so that when one piece of text information 460 is selected via the hierarchical screen generation unit 18, the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the text information 460 is displayed within the display 114. Change the display range.

<E. User interface screen>
FIG. 5 is an example of the user interface screen 140. User interface screen 140 is generated by display unit 11 and displayed on display 114.

Referring to FIG. 5, user interface screen 140 includes a first area 142 for displaying ladder screen 120 and a second area 144 for displaying hierarchy screen 180. Further, the ladder screen 120 is provided with a switching button 146 for omitting the display of the hierarchy screen 180 and widening the first area 142 for displaying the ladder screen 120. Further, the user interface screen 140 is provided with a scroll bar 148 for changing the display range of the ladder screen 120 displayed on the first area 142.

In this embodiment, the ladder screen 120 and the hierarchy screen 180 are displayed within one user interface screen 140. Note that the method of displaying the ladder screen 120 and the hierarchy screen 180 is not limited to this. For example, the ladder screen 120 and the hierarchy screen 180 may be displayed in separate windows.

<F. Display processing>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing display processing executed when displaying the ladder program 42 on the display 114. The display process shown in FIG. 6 is a process for displaying the user interface screen 140 on the display 114. The display process is called and executed from a main routine (not shown) at every predetermined process cycle when the user interface screen 140 is requested to be displayed, for example.

In S101, the CPU 102 generates a ladder screen 120. More specifically, the CPU 102 displays the ladder program 42 in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits 420, and also associates the text information 460 registered for each ladder circuit 420 with the corresponding ladder circuit 420. A ladder screen 120 for display is generated. The text information 460 may be generated according to the order in which the ladder circuit 420 is displayed. Further, in S101, the CPU 102 generates position information 440 indicating the position of each ladder circuit 420 on the ladder screen 120 when the ladder screen 120 is generated.

In S102, the CPU 102 receives input of parent-child information 480. More specifically, when the special symbol "#" is input on the ladder screen 120, the CPU 102 accepts the input.

In S104, hierarchization processing is executed. The layering process is a process that defines the hierarchical structure 160 of the plurality of ladder circuits 420 included in the ladder program 42. The hierarchization process is executed based on the position information 440 generated in S102 and the parent-child information 480 accepted in S102. The hierarchization process will be described later with reference to FIG. 21.

In S105, the CPU 102 generates a hierarchical screen 180. More specifically, CPU 102 generates hierarchical screen 180 in which hierarchical structure 160 is represented by text information 460, based on text information 460 and hierarchical structure 160.

In S106, the CPU 102 generates a user interface screen 140 including the ladder screen 120 generated in S101 and the hierarchical screen 180 generated in S105 and displays it on the display 114, and ends the display process.

<G. Operation to change location information 440>
As described above, the reception unit 14 accepts changes to the location information 440. In the present embodiment, the reception unit 14 is configured to change the position information 440 not only by an operation input via the ladder screen 120 but also by an operation performed based on an operation input via the hierarchy screen 180. accept.

Since the hierarchical structure 160 can be arbitrarily defined according to the positional relationship between the ladder circuits 420 on the ladder screen 120, the user can input the parent-child information 480 while confirming the contents of each ladder circuit 420 that has a parent-child relationship.

Further, the positional relationship between the ladder circuits 420 can be changed by operation via the hierarchical screen generation unit 18, and the hierarchical structure 160 can also be changed in accordance with the change in the positional relationship. Therefore, the hierarchical structure 160 can be easily changed.

The position information 440 is changed not only when the order of the ladder circuits 420 is changed, but also when a ladder circuit 420 is added or deleted. The position information 440 can be changed not only by changing the order of the ladder circuits 420 but also by adding a ladder circuit 420 or deleting a ladder circuit 420. The processing performed when each operation is accepted will be described in detail below.

(g1. Additional operation)
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the addition process executed when adding the ladder circuit 420. The addition process is a process performed by the CPU 102 when an operation for adding the ladder circuit 420 is accepted.

In S111, the CPU 102 determines the position where the ladder circuit 420 is inserted according to the insertion rule. The insertion rules are stored in advance in the storage unit 101 as setting information 450. The insertion rules may be predetermined by the vendor providing the support program 54, or may be changeable by the user.

In S112, the CPU 102 updates the position information 440. Specifically, the position information 440 of the newly added ladder circuit 420 is added, and the position information 440 of the ladder circuit 420 that is after the newly added ladder circuit 420 is updated.

In S113, the CPU 102 updates the newly added ladder circuit 420 and the parent-child information 480 of the ladder circuit 420 adjacent to the newly added ladder circuit 420. For example, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480 according to at least one of the ladder circuit 420 selected at the time of addition and the position at which the ladder circuit 420 is added. An example of updating the parent-child information 480 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

In S114, the CPU 102 executes hierarchization processing. The layering process is a process that defines the hierarchical structure 160 of the plurality of ladder circuits 420 included in the ladder program 42. The hierarchization process is executed based on the position information 440 updated in S112 and the parent-child information 480 updated in S113. The hierarchization process will be described later with reference to FIG. 21.

In S115, CPU 102 updates text information 460. In this embodiment, text information 460 includes information indicating the name of ladder circuit 420 and information indicating the order of ladder circuit 420. The CPU 102 updates information indicating the order of the ladder circuits 420 based on the position information 440 updated in S112. Further, the CPU 102 creates a name for the newly added ladder circuit 420.

That is, when the ladder circuit 420 is added, the creation unit 17 updates the information indicating the order of the ladder circuit 420 included in the text information 460 based on the updated position information 440, and also updates the information indicating the order of the ladder circuit 420 included in the text information 460. Create a name for the added ladder circuit 420.

Note that the name to be created may be a predetermined standard text (for example, "circuit comment"), or may be a text created according to a predetermined rule. For example, the creation unit 17 may create a name using text that indicates the hierarchy to which the newly added ladder circuit 420 belongs.

In S116, the CPU 102 updates the display on the ladder screen 120 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S111 to S115.

In S117, the CPU 102 updates the display on the hierarchical screen 180 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S111 to S115, and ends the additional process.

(g2. Screen transition due to additional operations)
With reference to FIG. 8, specific screen transitions due to additional operations will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an insertion rule. For example, by operating the operation unit 103, the user can move the cursor P and select one piece of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180. By selecting one piece of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180, the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the selected text information 460 is selected.

When an addition operation is performed with the ladder circuit 420 selected, the addition process shown in FIG. 7 is executed, and the screen shown on the left side of FIG. 8 changes to the screen shown on the right side. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the CPU 102 adds a new ladder circuit 420 according to the rule that the new ladder circuit 420 is inserted at the bottom of the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, a new ladder circuit 420 and text information 460 "2 circuit comment" are added to the second line on the ladder screen 120, and "2 circuit comment" is added on the hierarchy screen 180. Text information 460 "Comment" is added. Then, the positions of the ladder circuits 420 in the second and subsequent rows are shifted one by one, and the text information 460 is also updated. Furthermore, it is defined that the added new ladder circuit 420 is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1".

Note that the insertion rule is not limited to the rule shown in FIG. 8. 9 to 11 are diagrams showing other examples of insertion rules. Referring to FIG. 9, CPU 102 may add a new ladder circuit 420 according to the rule of inserting a new ladder circuit 420 at the top of the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420. According to this rule, as shown in FIG. 9, a new ladder circuit 420 and text information 460 are added to the first line on the ladder screen 120, and a text "1. Circuit comment" is added on the hierarchy screen 180. Information 460 is added. Then, the positions of the ladder circuits 420 from the first row onward are shifted one by one, and the text information 460 is also updated. Furthermore, it is defined that the added new ladder circuit 420 is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1".

Referring to FIG. 10, CPU 102 inserts a new ladder circuit 420 according to the rule that the ladder circuit 420 is inserted in the same hierarchy as the selected ladder circuit 420 and located one level below the selected ladder circuit 420. may be added. According to this rule, as shown in FIG. 10, a new ladder circuit 420 and text information 460 are added to the second line on the ladder screen 120, which is below the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1". At the same time, text information 460 "2. Circuit comment" is added on the hierarchy screen 180. Then, as the ladder circuits 420 in the second and subsequent rows are shifted one by one, the text information 460 is also updated. Furthermore, it is defined that the added new ladder circuit 420 is at the same level as the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "0.Circuit 1".

Referring to FIG. 11, the CPU 102 adds a new ladder circuit 420 according to the rule that the ladder circuit 420 is inserted at the same level as the selected ladder circuit 420 and at the bottom of the level of the selected ladder circuit 420. You may. According to this rule, as shown in FIG. 11, a new ladder circuit 420 and text information 460 are added to the 10th line on the ladder screen 120, and a text "10. Circuit comment" is added on the hierarchy screen 180. Information 460 is added. Furthermore, it is defined that the added new ladder circuit 420 is at the same level as the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "0.Circuit 1".

Note that when the ladder circuit 420 is inserted in consideration of the hierarchy, the parent-child information 480 is updated as necessary. Specifically, the parent-child information 480 is updated based on whether the parent-child information 480 has been input to the selected ladder circuit 420 and information on at least one of the insertion positions. For example, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, when adding a ladder circuit 420 to the same level as the selected ladder circuit 420 with the ladder circuit 420 input with parent-child information 480 being selected, the added ladder circuit 420 Parent-child information 480 is added to the circuit 420.

Note that the insertion rules are not limited to those shown in FIGS. 8 to 11. For example, the CPU 102 may add a new ladder circuit 420 according to the rule that the ladder circuit 420 is inserted at the top of the hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420 and in the same hierarchy as the selected ladder circuit 420.

When developing the ladder program 42 by adding text information 460, the hierarchical structure 160 can be easily defined because the hierarchical structure 160 is redefined each time a ladder circuit 420 is added, as described above.

Further, the CPU 102 may add the ladder circuit 420 without considering the hierarchy. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an insertion rule that does not take hierarchy into account. For example, the CPU 102 may add a new ladder circuit 420 one level above the selected ladder circuit 420 without considering the hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420. Since the CPU 102 does not consider the hierarchy, it does not execute the process of adding parent-child information 480. Note that even when the ladder circuit 420 is inserted according to any of the insertion rules described above, the CPU 102 does not need to perform the process of adding or changing the parent-child information 480.

With reference to FIG. 13, rules for creating text information 460 will be described. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of rules for creating text information 460. As described above, the creation unit 17 may create new text information 460 according to predetermined rules. For example, the creation unit 17 creates a map corresponding to the added ladder circuit 420 based on the redefined hierarchical structure 160 and the text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 of the hierarchy to which the added ladder circuit 420 belongs. Text information 460 may also be created.

In the example shown in FIG. 13, in the redefined hierarchical structure 160, the newly added ladder circuit 420 is a child hierarchy of circuit 1, and is the second ladder circuit from the top of the ladder circuits 420 included in the child hierarchy. To position. Furthermore, the text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 (parent ladder circuit 420) in the hierarchy to which the newly added ladder circuit 420 belongs is "Circuit 1." In this case, the creation unit 17 creates text information 460 called "circuit 1-2."

Text information 460 corresponding to the added ladder circuit 420 is created based on the redefined hierarchical structure 160 and the text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 of the hierarchy to which the added ladder circuit 420 belongs. Therefore, for the newly added ladder circuit 420, text information 460 indicating the hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 can be generated.

The above additional processing may be executed when copying and pasting the selected ladder circuit 420. FIG. 14 is an example of screen transition when copying and pasting is performed. If the pasting operation is accepted, the additional processing shown in FIG. 7 is performed. Note that if the pasting operation is accepted, the text information 460 corresponding to the newly added ladder circuit 420 may be a copy of the original text information 460, or the text information 460 corresponding to the newly added ladder circuit 420 may be copied by the creation unit 17. It may be newly created.

Note that when additional processing is performed, the CPU 102 may provide a mark on the ladder screen 120 and the hierarchy screen 180 to clearly indicate the added location.

(g3. Delete operation)
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the deletion process executed when the ladder circuit 420 is deleted. The deletion process is a process performed by the CPU 102 when an operation for deleting the ladder circuit 420 is received.

In S121, the CPU 102 determines deletion targets according to deletion rules. The deletion rule is stored in advance in the storage unit 101 as setting information 450. The deletion rules may be predetermined by the vendor providing the support program 54, or may be changeable by the user.

In S122, the CPU 102 updates the position information 440. More specifically, the position information 440 of the ladder circuit 420 that is later in order than the ladder circuit 420 to be deleted is updated.

In S123, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480. For example, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480 according to the ladder circuit 420 to be deleted. An example of updating the parent-child information 480 will be described later with reference to FIG. 18.

In S124, the CPU 102 executes hierarchization processing. The layering process is a process that defines the hierarchical structure 160 of the plurality of ladder circuits 420 included in the ladder program 42. The hierarchization process is executed based on the position information 440 updated in S122 and the parent-child information 480 updated in S123. The layering process will be described later with reference to FIG. 21. Note that the hierarchization process executed in the deletion process and the hierarchization process executed in the addition process in FIG. 7 are common processes.

In S125, CPU 102 updates text information 460. In this embodiment, text information 460 includes the name of ladder circuit 420 and information indicating the order of ladder circuit 420. The CPU 102 updates information indicating the order of the ladder circuits 420 based on the position information 440 updated in S122.

In other words, when the ladder circuit 420 is deleted, the creation unit 17 described above updates the information indicating the order of the ladder circuit 420 included in the text information 460 based on the updated position information 440.

In S126, the CPU 102 updates the display on the ladder screen 120 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S121 to S125.

In S127, the CPU 102 updates the display on the hierarchical screen 180 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S121 to S125, and ends the deletion process.

(g4. Screen transition due to deletion operation)
With reference to FIG. 16, specific screen transitions due to deletion operations will be described. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a deletion rule. For example, by operating the operation unit 103, the user can move the cursor P and select one or more pieces of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180. By selecting one or more pieces of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180, the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the selected text information 460 is selected. In the example shown in FIG. 16, one piece of text information 460 is selected, but a plurality of pieces of text information 460 may be selected.

When a deletion operation is performed with the ladder circuit 420 selected, the deletion process shown in FIG. 15 is executed, and the screen shown on the left side of FIG. 16 changes to the screen shown on the right side. In the example shown in FIG. 16, the CPU 102 deletes the ladder circuit 420 according to the deletion rule that the selected ladder circuit 420 is deleted, and executes the process of S123 according to the rule that the parent-child information 480 is not updated. As a result, the ladder circuits 420 from the seventh line onward on the ladder screen 120 are moved up, and the text information 460 is also updated. Furthermore, since the parent-child information 480 is not updated, the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-2-1" included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-2" to be deleted is " It is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-1".

Note that the deletion rule is not limited to the rule shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing another example of deletion rules. Referring to FIG. 17, CPU 102 may determine the selected ladder circuit 420 and the ladder circuits 420 included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420 to be deleted. More specifically, with reference to FIG. 17, when ladder circuit 420 indicated by "circuit 2-1-2" is selected, CPU 102 selects the deletion target as indicated by "circuit 2-1-2". The ladder circuit 420 and the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-2-1" defined in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-2" may be determined.

In this way, the selected ladder circuit 420 and the ladder circuits 420 included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420 are targeted for deletion, so that one ladder circuit 420 can be selected and multiple ladder circuits 420 can be deleted. can. As a result, editing of the ladder program 42 becomes easier, and convenience during development is improved.

Furthermore, in the example shown in FIG. 16, the parent-child information 480 is not updated. Note that the parent and child information 480 may be updated. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of an update rule for parent-child information 480. For example, when the ladder circuit 420 is included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420, the CPU 102 may move up the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 by one level. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, the CPU 102 executes the process indicated by "circuit 2-1-2-1" included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "circuit 2-1-2" to be deleted. "Circuit 2-1-2-1" so that the ladder circuit 420 is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1" which is the parent of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 2-1-2". The parent-child information 480 input to the ladder circuit 420 indicated by may be deleted.

(g5. Movement operation)
FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the movement process executed when moving the ladder circuit 420. The movement process is a process performed by the CPU 102 when an operation for moving the ladder circuit 420 is accepted.

In S132, the CPU 102 updates the position information 440. More specifically, the CPU 102 updates the position information 440 of the ladder circuit 420 that is after the moving target ladder circuit 420 and before the movement destination.

In S133, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480. For example, before and after moving the ladder circuit 420 to be selected, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480 so that the parent-child relationships of the ladder circuits 420 other than the selected ladder circuits do not change. The CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480 so that the parent-child relationship between the ladder circuit 420 to be selected and the ladder circuits 420 located before and after the insertion destination satisfies a predetermined rule. For example, the CPU 102 updates the parent-child information 480 so that the ladder circuit 420 to be selected becomes a child of the ladder circuit 420 located before the insertion destination. Note that the CPU 102 may update the parent-child information 480 so that the ladder circuit 420 to be selected is in the same hierarchy as the ladder circuit 420 located before or after the insertion destination.

In S134, the CPU 102 executes hierarchization processing. The layering process is a process that defines the hierarchical structure 160 of the plurality of ladder circuits 420 included in the ladder program 42. The hierarchization process is executed based on the position information 440 updated in S132 and the parent-child information 480 updated in S133. The hierarchization process will be described later with reference to FIG. 21. Note that the hierarchization process executed in the move process, the hierarchization process executed in the addition process of FIG. 7, and the hierarchization process executed in the deletion process of FIG. 15 are common processes.

In S135, CPU 102 updates text information 460. In this embodiment, text information 460 includes the name of ladder circuit 420 and information indicating the order of ladder circuit 420. The CPU 102 updates information indicating the order of the ladder circuits 420 based on the position information 440 updated in S132.

In other words, when the ladder circuit 420 is moved, the creation unit 17 described above updates the information indicating the order of the ladder circuit 420 included in the text information 460 based on the updated position information 440.

In S136, the CPU 102 updates the display on the ladder screen 120 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S132 to S135.

In S137, the CPU 102 updates the display of the hierarchical screen 180 based on the various information updated by executing the processes in S132 to S135, and ends the deletion process.

(g6. Screen transition by movement operation)
With reference to FIG. 20, specific screen transitions due to movement operations will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transitions due to movement operations. For example, by operating the operation unit 103, the user can move the cursor P and select one or more pieces of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180. By selecting one or more pieces of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180, the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the selected text information 460 is selected. In the example shown in FIG. 16, one piece of text information 460 is selected, but a plurality of pieces of text information 460 may be selected.

When a moving operation (drag and drop) is performed with the ladder circuit 420 selected, the moving process shown in FIG. 19 is executed, and the screen shown on the left side of FIG. 20 changes to the screen shown on the right side. In the example shown in FIG. 20, the CPU 102 inserts the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-1" in the first row between the seventh and eighth rows.

By inserting the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-1" in the first row between the seventh and eighth rows, the CPU 102 inserts the ladder circuit 420 in the second to seventh rows. The corresponding text information 460 is updated. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 19, the CPU 102 inputs parent-child information 480 to the selected ladder circuit 420 so that it becomes a child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 located before the insertion destination. More specifically, the CPU 102 inputs parent-child information 480 "#####" to the ladder circuit 420 on the seventh line. Note that the CPU 102 may provide a mark 124 on the ladder screen 120 so that the ladder circuit 420 to be moved can be identified.

<H. Layering process>
FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the layering process for defining the layered structure 160. Note that the layering process shown in FIG. 21 is an example, and the hierarchical structure 160 may be defined using other processing procedures. Further, the hierarchization process shown in FIG. 21 is executed in the display process, addition process, deletion process, and movement process described above. Note that the hierarchization process executed in each of the display process, addition process, deletion process, and movement process may be a common process, or may be a hierarchization process specific to each process. In this embodiment, the explanation will be given assuming that the hierarchization processing executed in each of the display processing, addition processing, deletion processing, and movement processing is a common processing.

Referring to FIG. 21, in S141, CPU 102 sets ladder circuit 420 in the first row as the target ladder circuit.

In S142, the CPU 102 determines whether parent-child information 480 has been input to the target ladder circuit 420. If it is determined that parent-child information 480 has not been input to the target ladder circuit 420 (NO in S142), the CPU 102 sets the target ladder circuit 420 to the same hierarchy as the previous ladder circuit 420 in S144.

If it is determined that the parent-child information 480 has been input to the target ladder circuit 420 (YES in S142), the hierarchical depth of the target ladder circuit 420 and the ladder circuit 420 that is the parent of the target ladder circuit 420 are determined in S146. Set.

For example, if the input parent-child information 480 indicates the top layer (first layer), the CPU 102 sets the layer of the target ladder circuit 420 to the top layer. On the other hand, if the parent-child information 480 that has been input is not at the top level (second level or lower), the depth of the hierarchy is set based on the parent-child information 480 that has been input. Then, based on the position information 440, the CPU 102 selects among the ladder circuits 420 that are previous to the target ladder circuit 420 and are set to one level higher than the level of the set depth. The ladder circuit 420 closest to the target ladder circuit 420 is set as the parent.

After executing the process of S144 or S146, the CPU 102 determines in S148 whether or not there is a ladder circuit 420 behind based on the position information 440.

When the CPU 102 determines that there is a ladder circuit 420 behind it (YES in S148), in S150, the CPU 102 changes the target ladder circuit 420 to the ladder circuit 420 immediately behind, and executes the processes of S142 to S148.

The CPU 102 executes S150 and repeats the processes of S142 to S148 until it determines that there is no ladder circuit 420 behind it. If the CPU 102 determines that there is no ladder circuit 420 behind it (NO in S148), it ends the hierarchization process.

<I. Display mode of ladder circuit 420 included in child hierarchy>
The hierarchical screen generation unit 18 displays, on the hierarchical screen 180, text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 included in the child hierarchy of one ladder circuit 420 selected via the hierarchical screen 180, or omit it. You can

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of an abbreviated display and an expanded display. The hierarchical screen generation unit 18 provides, for example, a tab 182 on the hierarchical screen 180 for switching between abbreviated display and expanded display. When the tab 182 is selected with the cursor P, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 displays (expanded display) the text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 of the child hierarchy on the hierarchical screen 180, or omits it (omitted). indicate. The screen shown on the left side of FIG. 22 is an example of a screen during expanded display. The screen shown on the right side of FIG. 22 is an example of a screen in abbreviated display.

In FIG. 22, when the tab 182 located next to "Circuit 2" is selected, text information 460 corresponding to the ladder circuit 420 located in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to "Circuit 2" is displayed. 4. Circuit 2-1,” “5. Circuit 2-1-2,” “6. Circuit 2-1-2,” and “7. Circuit 2-1-2-1” are displayed or omitted. or Note that the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 may make the shapes of the tabs 182 different between the expanded display and the collapsed display in order to indicate that the tabs 182 are displayed in abbreviated form.

Note that the ladder screen generation section 12 may switch the display on the ladder screen 120 in accordance with the switching of the hierarchy screen generation section 18 between abbreviated display and expanded display. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing another example of abbreviated display and expanded display. The screen shown on the left side of FIG. 23 is an example of a screen during expanded display. The screen shown on the right side of FIG. 22 is an example of a screen in abbreviated display.

As shown on the right side of FIG. 23, the ladder screen generation unit 12 displays the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the text information 460 whose display is omitted on the hierarchy screen 180 during the abbreviated display. May be omitted. At this time, the ladder screen generation unit 12 may provide a mark 122 on the ladder screen 120 indicating that the screen is being reduced and the location where the screen is being reduced.

The function of switching between reduced display and expanded display is particularly effective when there are a large number of ladder circuits 420, as shown in FIGS. 22 and 23. For example, the user can grasp the overall image of the ladder program 42 by using the reduced display, and can examine the ladder program 42 in detail by switching to the expanded display.

Note that the ladder screen generation unit 12 may provide a tab corresponding to the tab 182 on the ladder screen 120, and switch between abbreviated display and expanded display according to an operation on the tab. In this case, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 may or may not switch between the abbreviated display and the expanded display of the hierarchical screen 180 in accordance with the switch between the abbreviated display and the expanded display of the ladder screen 120.

<J. Display of hierarchical structure 160 on ladder screen 120>
The ladder screen generation unit 12 may generate the ladder screen 120 expressing the hierarchical structure 160 defined by the definition unit 16 by changing the display mode of each ladder circuit 420. For example, the ladder screen generation unit 12 generates a ladder screen 120 in which one ladder circuit 420 and a ladder circuit 420 included in a child hierarchy of one ladder circuit 420 have different backgrounds in areas where each ladder circuit 420 is displayed. may be generated.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the ladder screen 120 showing the hierarchical structure 160. For example, the ladder screen generation unit 12 sets the background of the range in which the ladder circuit 420 at the top level (first level) is displayed as background A, and the background in the range in which the ladder circuit 420 in the second level is displayed is set as background B. Then, the ladder screen 120 may be generated by using the background C as the background of the range in which the third layer ladder circuit 420 is displayed.

By changing the display mode of the ladder circuit 420 for each layer, the user can easily understand the divisions between layers by simply checking the ladder screen 120 without checking the layer screen 180.

<K. Changing the range of the ladder screen 120 displayed in the first area 142>
FIG. 25 is a diagram showing how the range of the ladder screen 120 displayed in the first area 142 is changed. As described above, the display unit 11 displays the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the text information 460 in the first area 142 of the display 114 when one piece of text information 460 is selected via the hierarchical screen 180. The display range of the ladder screen 120 may be changed as shown in FIG.

For example, referring to FIG. 25, if a specific operation (for example, double-click) is accepted while the cursor P is placed on a piece of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180, as shown on the right side of FIG. , the display range of the ladder screen 120 displayed in the first area 142 is changed. In the example shown in FIG. 25, when one piece of text information 460 on the hierarchical screen 180 is selected and a specific operation is accepted, the display unit 11 displays the ladder circuit 420 corresponding to the selected text information 460 in the first area. The display range of the ladder screen 120 is changed so that it is located at the top of the ladder screen 142.

In the example shown in FIG. 25, the display unit 11 changes the display range of the ladder screen 120 so that the selected ladder circuit 420 is located at the top of the first area 142. Note that the selected ladder circuit 420 is displayed not only at the top of the ladder screen 120 but also at any position on the first area 142, such as the middle of the first area 142 or the bottom of the first area 142. It may also be a position.

For example, if the development of the ladder program 42 progresses and many ladder circuits 420 are included in the ladder program 42, it is difficult to find the desired ladder circuit 420 on the ladder screen 120. In such a case, the user can arbitrarily define the overall structure of the ladder program 42 while creating the ladder circuit 420, and display the defined overall structure (hierarchical structure 160) on the hierarchical screen 180. Since the display range of the ladder screen 120 can be changed by operation via the hierarchy screen 180, the user can easily search for the desired ladder circuit 420 even when there are a large number of ladder circuits 420.

<L. Componentization>
As described above, the componentization unit 19 registers the plurality of ladder circuits 420 as one component in the component information 430. More specifically, when the reception unit 14 receives the selection of one ladder circuit 420, the componentization unit 19 converts all components included in the selected ladder circuit 420 and the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420. The ladder circuit 420 is registered as one component in the component information 430.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing how one or more ladder circuits 420 are registered as one component. Referring to FIG. 26, when an operation related to componentization is received with ladder circuit 420 corresponding to text information 460 "Circuit 1" selected, componentization section 19 Component information 430 assumes that a program consisting of the ladder circuit 420 and the ladder circuit 420 of "Circuit 1-1" and "Circuit 1-2" included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1" is one component. Register.

When an operation related to componentization is accepted, a program configured from one or more ladder circuits 420 registered as component information 430 may be displayed in a separate window, as shown at the bottom of FIG. 26.

In the international standard IEC61131-3, blocks that constitute a program or project are called POU (Program Organization Units). A POU corresponds to a unit of a group of program elements. In other words, the componentization unit 19 registers the selected ladder circuit 420 and all the ladder circuits 420 included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit 420 as one POU in the component information 430.

This user advances the development of the ladder program 42 while adding and deleting ladder circuits 420 on the ladder screen 120. In this embodiment, since input of parent-child information 480 is accepted via ladder screen 120, the user can define any hierarchical structure 160 while proceeding with the development of ladder program 42. All the ladder circuits 420 included in one hierarchy of the hierarchical structure 160 arbitrarily defined by the user can be registered as one component. In other words, the user can arbitrarily define the hierarchical structure 160 and create reusable parts at the same time.

<M. Hierarchical display of calling instructions>
Ladder program 42 includes one or more call instructions that call another POU. The hierarchical screen generation unit 18 generates the hierarchical screen 180 so that the POU called by the calling command is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 including the calling command.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of a screen in which a POU is displayed as a child layer of a calling ladder circuit. A ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1" shown in FIG. 27 includes a call instruction 425 that calls a function which is an example of a POU named "Function0". A ladder circuit 420 indicated by "Circuit 1-1" shown in FIG. 27 includes a call instruction 425 that calls a function block that is an example of a POU named "FunctionBlock0."

In this case, with reference to FIG. 27, the hierarchical screen generation unit 18 determines that the child hierarchy of "Circuit 1" includes a POU of "Function0" and the child hierarchy of "Circuit 1-1" contains a POU of "FunctionBlock0". A hierarchical screen 180 is generated so as to include POUs.

In this way, by displaying the call command 425 included in a ladder circuit 420 on the hierarchy screen 180 as a child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420, it is possible to see what kind of POU is called in each ladder circuit 420 on the hierarchy screen. It can be displayed on 180.

<N. Variations of layering rules>
In the embodiment described above, depending on whether or not parent-child information 480 is input to the target ladder circuit 420, the hierarchy between the ladder circuit 420 before the target ladder circuit 420 and the target ladder circuit 420 is determined. Here is an example of how it changes. Note that the hierarchization rules shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and are not limited to the rules shown in the above embodiments.

A modified example of the hierarchization rule for the ladder circuit 420 will be described with reference to FIGS. 28 and 29. FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the hierarchization process according to the modification. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical structure 160 defined according to the hierarchical processing according to the modification.

The hierarchization process according to the modified example differs from the hierarchization process shown in the above embodiment in that S143, S145, and S147 are executed instead of S144, compared to the hierarchization process shown in FIG. Hereinafter, differences from the above embodiment will be mainly explained.

If the CPU 102 determines that the parent-child information 480 has not been input to the target ladder circuit 420 (NO in S142), it executes the processes of S143, S145, and S147.

In S143, the CPU 102 determines whether parent-child information 480 has been input to the previous ladder circuit 420. Note that the previous ladder circuit 420 is specified based on the position information 440.

If the CPU 102 determines that the parent-child information 480 has not been input to the previous ladder circuit 420 (NO in S143), the CPU 102 sets the target ladder circuit 420 to the same hierarchy as the previous ladder circuit 420 in S145.

If the CPU 102 determines that the parent-child information 480 has been input to the previous ladder circuit 420 (YES in S143), the CPU 102 sets the target ladder circuit 420 to the child hierarchy of the previous ladder circuit 420 in S147.

That is, according to the hierarchical rule according to the modified example, the depth of the hierarchy and the parent ladder circuit 420 are set based on the input of the parent-child information 480 (S146). For example, as shown in FIG. 29, the depth of the hierarchy is set depending on the number of "#", and "Circuit 1", "Circuit 2", and "Circuit 3" for which one "#" is input. " is set at the top layer (first layer). Furthermore, "circuit 2-1" and "circuit 3-1" for which two "#" characters have been input are set to the second layer.

According to the hierarchical rule according to the modified example, the ladder circuit 420 described next to the ladder circuit 420 into which the parent-child information 480 has been input is set as a child hierarchy of the ladder circuit 420 into which the parent-child information 480 has been input (S147 ). For example, as shown in FIG. 29, "Circuit 1-1" next to "Circuit 1" in which one "#" is input is set as a child layer of "Circuit 1".

Furthermore, according to the hierarchical rule according to the modified example, if the parent-child information 480 is not input to any of the ladder circuits 420 located above and below, the ladder circuits 420 located above and below are both set to the same hierarchy. (S145). For example, as shown in FIG. 29, "Circuit 1-1" and "Circuit 1-2" for which "#" is not input are both set to the same hierarchy.

Note that the hierarchization rule is an example, and any rule can be set, not limited to the rules shown in the above embodiment and the rules shown in the modification.

<O. Additional notes＞
As described above, the above embodiments and modifications include the following technical ideas.

(Configuration 1)
An information processing device (10) that displays a ladder program (42),
comprising a ladder screen generation unit (12) that generates a ladder screen (120) for displaying the ladder program (42) in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits (420);
On the ladder screen, a plurality of the ladder circuits (420) are displayed, and text information (460) registered for each ladder circuit (420) is displayed corresponding to the corresponding ladder circuit (420). ,
a reception unit (14) that receives input of parent-child information (480) indicating a parent-child relationship between one of the ladder circuits (420) and another of the ladder circuits (420) in response to an operation on the ladder screen (120); ,
a definition unit (16) that defines a hierarchical structure (160) of the plurality of ladder circuits (420) included in the ladder program (42) based on the parent-child information (480) received by the reception unit (14); and,
An information processing device further comprising: a hierarchical screen generation unit (18) that generates a hierarchical screen (180) for displaying the hierarchical structure (160) defined by the definition unit (16) using the text information (460). .

(Configuration 2)
Each of the text information (460) included in the hierarchical screen (180) is associated with position information (440) indicating the position of the corresponding ladder circuit (420) on the ladder screen (120),
In response to the text information (460) being selected via the hierarchy screen (180), the selected text information (460) is displayed in the area (142, 114) for displaying the ladder screen (120). ) The information processing device according to configuration 1, wherein the ladder circuit (420) corresponding to the ladder circuit (420) is displayed.

(Configuration 3)
The definition section (18) is
defining the hierarchical structure (160) based on position information (440) indicating the position of the ladder circuit (420) on the ladder screen (120) and the parent-child information (480);
The information processing device according to configuration 1, wherein the hierarchical structure (160) is redefined (S114, S124, S134) in response to acceptance of a change in the location information (440).

(Configuration 4)
The information processing device according to configuration 3, wherein the reception unit (14) receives a change in the position information (440) in response to an operation on the hierarchical screen (180).

(Configuration 5)
The definition unit (16) defines a predetermined addition rule and the selected ladder circuit when an operation for adding the ladder circuit (420) is performed while one of the ladder circuits (420) is selected. The information processing device according to configuration 3 or configuration 4, wherein the hierarchical structure (160) is redefined based on the hierarchy (420) (S111 to S114).

(Configuration 6)
Further comprising a creation unit (17) that edits or creates the text information (460),
When a change in the position information (440) is accepted in response to the addition of the ladder circuit (420) (S112), the creation unit (17) creates the redefined hierarchical structure (160). ) and the text information (460) corresponding to the ladder circuit (420) of the layer to which the added ladder circuit (420) belongs, the text corresponding to the added ladder circuit (420). The information processing device according to configuration 3 or configuration 4, which creates information (460) (S115).

(Configuration 7)
If the ladder circuit (420) is deleted while one of the ladder circuits (420) is selected, the selected ladder circuit (420) and the children of the selected ladder circuit (420) The information processing device according to configuration 3 or configuration 4, wherein the ladder circuit (420) included in the hierarchy is deleted (S121).

(Configuration 8)
The receiving unit (14) receives the selection of one of the ladder circuits (420), and selects the selected ladder circuit (420) and the ladders included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit (420). The information processing device according to configuration 1, which accepts the circuit (420) as a component (430) of one management unit.

(Configuration 9)
When the ladder circuit (420) is selected, the ladder screen generation unit (12) generates the ladder screen in which the ladder circuit (420) included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit (420) is omitted. The information processing device according to Configuration 1, which generates (120).

(Configuration 10)
When the ladder circuit (420) is selected, the hierarchical screen generation unit (18) generates the text information corresponding to the ladder circuit (420) included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit (420). The information processing device according to configuration 1, which generates the hierarchical screen (180) with (460) omitted.

(Configuration 11)
The ladder screen generation unit (12) differentiates the ladder circuits included in the same hierarchy from the ladder circuits included in different hierarchies based on the hierarchical structure (160) defined by the definition unit (16). The information processing device according to configuration 1, which generates the ladder screen (120) displayed in a display mode (A, B, C).

(Configuration 12)
The ladder program (42) includes one or more call instructions (425) that call a block composed of a group of program elements,
The hierarchical screen generation unit (18) generates the hierarchical screen (180) so that the block called by the calling instruction (425) is included in the child hierarchy of the ladder circuit (420) including the calling instruction (425). The information processing device according to configuration 1, which generates.

(Configuration 13)
A program (54) for displaying a ladder program (42),
a step (S101) of generating a ladder screen (120) for displaying the ladder program (42) in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits (420);
The ladder screen (120) displays a plurality of the ladder circuits (420), and the text information (460) registered for each ladder circuit (420) corresponds to the corresponding ladder circuit (420). is displayed,
a step (S102) of receiving input of parent-child information (480) indicating a parent-child relationship between one of the ladder circuits (420) and another of the ladder circuits (420) in response to an operation on the ladder screen (120);
a step (S104) of defining a hierarchical structure (160) of the plurality of ladder circuits (420) included in the ladder program (42) based on the received parent-child information (480);
The support program further includes a step (S105) of generating a hierarchical screen (180) for displaying the defined hierarchical structure (160) using the text information (460).

(Configuration 14)
A non-transitory computer readable medium (8, 104, 108) storing the support program (54) according to configuration 13.

(Configuration 15)
a step (S101) of generating a ladder screen (120) for displaying the ladder program (42) in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits (420);
The ladder screen (120) displays a plurality of the ladder circuits (420), and the text information (460) registered for each ladder circuit (420) corresponds to the corresponding ladder circuit (420). is displayed,
a step (S102) of receiving input of parent-child information (480) indicating a parent-child relationship between one of the ladder circuits (420) and another of the ladder circuits (420) in response to an operation on the ladder screen (120);
a step (S104) of defining a hierarchical structure (160) of the plurality of ladder circuits (420) included in the ladder program (42) based on the received parent-child information (480);
A method for displaying a ladder program, further comprising a step (S105) of generating a hierarchical screen (180) for displaying the defined hierarchical structure (160) with the text information (460).

The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the above description, and it is intended that all changes within the meaning and range equivalent to the claims are included. Furthermore, the inventions described in the embodiments and each modification are intended to be implemented alone or in combination to the extent possible.

1 Control system, 8 Optical recording medium, 10 Support device, 11 Display unit, 12 Ladder screen generation unit, 14 Reception unit, 15 Editor, 16 Definition unit, 17 Creation unit, 18 Hierarchical screen generation unit, 19 Componentization unit, 20 CPU unit, 21 System bus, 22 Power supply unit, 24 I/O unit, 42 Ladder program, 52 Object information, 54 Support program, 101 Storage section, 102 CPU, 103 Operation section, 104 ROM, 106 RAM, 108 HDD, 110 Keyboard, 112 Mouse, 114 Display, 116 Optical recording medium reading device, 118 Communication interface, 120 Ladder screen, 122 Mark, 140 User interface screen, 142 First area, 144 Second area, 146 Switch button, 148 Scroll bar, 160 Hierarchical structure, 180 hierarchical screen, 182 tab, 420 ladder circuit, 421 input bus, 422 output bus, 423 contact, 424 coil, 425 call command, 430 parts information, 440 position information, 450 setting information, 460 text information, 480 Parent and child information, P cursor.

Claims (13)

An information processing device that displays a ladder program,
comprising a ladder screen generation unit that generates a ladder screen for displaying the ladder program in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits;
On the ladder screen, a plurality of the ladder circuits are displayed, and text information registered for each ladder circuit is displayed in correspondence with the corresponding ladder circuit,
a reception unit that receives input of parent-child information indicating a parent-child relationship between one of the ladder circuits and another of the ladder circuits in response to an operation on the ladder screen;
a definition unit that defines a hierarchical structure of the plurality of ladder circuits included in the ladder program based on the parent-child information received by the reception unit;
An information processing device further comprising: a hierarchical screen generation unit that generates a hierarchical screen for displaying the hierarchical structure defined by the definition unit using the text information. Each of the text information included in the hierarchical screen is associated with position information indicating the position of the corresponding ladder circuit on the ladder screen,
2. The ladder circuit corresponding to the selected text information is displayed in an area for displaying the ladder screen in response to the text information being selected via the hierarchical screen. information processing equipment. The definition part is
defining the hierarchical structure based on position information indicating the position of the ladder circuit on the ladder screen and the parent-child information;
The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the hierarchical structure is redefined in response to acceptance of a change in the location information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the reception unit accepts a change in the position information in response to an operation on the hierarchical screen. The definition unit is configured to define the hierarchical structure based on a predetermined addition rule and a hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit when an operation for adding the ladder circuit is performed while one of the ladder circuits is selected. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the information processing apparatus redefines. further comprising a creation unit that edits or creates the text information,
When a change in the position information is accepted in response to the addition of the ladder circuit, the creation unit generates the redefined hierarchical structure and the ladder of the layer to which the added ladder circuit belongs. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the text information corresponding to the added ladder circuit is created based on the text information corresponding to the circuit. If the ladder circuit deletion operation is performed with one of the ladder circuits selected, the selected ladder circuit and the ladder circuits included in the child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit are deleted. , the information processing device according to claim 3 or claim 4. The receiving unit receives the selection of one of the ladder circuits, and receives the selected ladder circuit and the ladder circuits included in a child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit as components of one management unit. The information processing device according to item 1. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein, when the ladder circuit is selected, the ladder screen generation unit generates the ladder screen in which the ladder circuit included in a child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit is omitted. Device. The hierarchical screen generation unit generates the hierarchical screen in which, when the ladder circuit is selected, the text information corresponding to the ladder circuit included in a child hierarchy of the selected ladder circuit is omitted. 1. The information processing device according to 1. The ladder screen generation unit generates the ladder screen in which the ladder circuit included in the same hierarchy and the ladder circuit included in a different hierarchy are displayed in mutually different display modes based on the hierarchical structure defined by the definition unit. The information processing device according to claim 1, which generates the information. The ladder program includes one or more call instructions that call a block composed of a group of program elements,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hierarchical screen generation unit generates the hierarchical screen so that the block called by the calling instruction is included in a child hierarchy of the ladder circuit that includes the calling instruction. A program for displaying a ladder program,
a step of generating a ladder screen for displaying the ladder program in a circuit format including a plurality of ladder circuits;
On the ladder screen, a plurality of the ladder circuits are displayed, and text information registered for each ladder circuit is displayed in correspondence with the corresponding ladder circuit,
a step of receiving input of parent-child information indicating a parent-child relationship between one of the ladder circuits and another of the ladder circuits in response to an operation on the ladder screen;
defining a hierarchical structure of the plurality of ladder circuits included in the ladder program based on the received parent-child information;
A program for displaying a ladder program, further comprising the step of generating a hierarchical screen for displaying the defined hierarchical structure using the text information.

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