Most of the early configuration software runs in DOS environment, which is characterized by simple basic functions such as man-machine interface, graphic library and drawing toolbox, but the visualization function of graphical interface is not very powerful. With the development and popularization of Microsoft Windows operating system, configuration software under Windows has become the mainstream.
Now there are many professional manufacturers in the world who produce and provide various configuration software products. There are many kinds of software products in the market, each with its own advantages, so it should be selected according to the actual engineering needs.
(1) can read and write different types of PLC, meters, intelligent modules and boards, and collect various signals from industrial sites, so as to monitor industrial sites.
(2) The information of the industrial site can be presented in an intuitive way such as graphics and animation, which is convenient for monitoring the control process, and can directly issue instructions to the control system, set parameters and intervene in the control process of the industrial site.
(3) Emergency working conditions (such as alarm) in the control system can be notified to relevant personnel in time through software interface, e-mail, short message, instant messaging software, voice and computer automatic voice, so that they can control the running state of the automation system in time.
(1) is powerful. Configuration software provides rich editing and drawing tools, and provides a large number of industrial equipment symbols, instrument symbols, trend charts, historical curves, data analysis charts, etc. Provides a very friendly graphical user interface (GUI), including a set of Windows-style windows, menus, buttons, information areas, toolbars, scroll bars and so on. The colorful pictures provide great convenience for the normal operation of the equipment and the centralized monitoring of the operators; It has powerful communication function and good openness, and the configuration software can communicate with the data acquisition hardware downwards and interconnect with the management network upwards.
(2) Easy to learn. You don't need to master much programming language technology or even programming technology to use configuration software. According to the actual situation of the project, a complex project with animation effect, real-time data processing, coexistence of historical data and curves, multimedia function and network function can be completed by using the I/O driver of the underlying equipment (PLC, intelligent instrument, intelligent module, board card, frequency converter, etc.). ) and its open database and interface making tools.