H
Hullsiek, William
* What I'm suggesting is a program that endows each and every I/O with all > data, structure and knowledge of the device, loop, plant, service, process > conditions and project - in effect making the I/O intelligent. Suggest you look at some of the Network Management applications and/or Visio 'Reverse Engineering' tools. Essentially, what you are asking for is that each software package or each component publish its meta-model and interface points. I think all you are asking for is that the Control System vendors catch-up to common practice in the IT world. I should be able to plug in Visio into my PLC network, and have it 'automatically discover' all of the PLC, all of the modules, and all of the ladder programs. In essence, each component should be able to describe itself. You don't need to publish Source, all you need to do is publish for meta-models, and the interface, and expose them to user-friendly tools. -bill hullsiek, software engineer