Abstract:
A method is provided for operating an electronic device with control software controlled by means of an operating surface. An interface is disposed between the operating surface and the control software to decouple the operating surface from the control software and transfer any action initiable via the operating surface to the control software.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is the US National Stage of International Application No. PCT/DE02/04447, filed Dec. 4, 2002 and claims the benefit thereof. The International Application claims the benefits of German application No. 10161923.5 filed Dec. 17, 2001, both of the applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
   FIELD OF INVENTION 
   The invention relates to a method for the operation of an electronic device with control software that can be influenced in a known way by means of an operating surface. 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   Such a method is generally known. A example of such an electronic device is a Personal Computer. An example of control software is a word processing program. Known word processing programs feature an individual operating surface (e.g. an user interface) by means of which for example the output to a printer of text typed in or a change of font size in which the text typed in is displayed can be initiated. 
   The disadvantage with such known methods for operating electronic devices is however that the the scope of the operating surface is frequently s extensive as to make it difficult to have an overview of the overall functionality of the control software and to find individual functions. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   The object of the invention is thus to specify a method with which scope and structure of the operating surface can be flexibly arranged. 
   In accordance with the invention this object is achieved by the claims. To this end an interface is provided between operating interface and control software for forwarding to the control software all the actions that can be initiated via the operating surface. 
   In this case the starting point for the invention is the knowledge that software tools which are installed on a Personal Computer (PC) or on a PC-based programming device are used today for programming and project planning of Programmable Logic Controllers for example. These tools are used for programming the controllers and include functionalities such as editing, loading of programs or program sections from the controller or into the controller, the creation of memory cards (e.g. EPROMs), the configuring of the hardware used on the controller side as well as functionalities for commissioning, error diagnosis and maintenance of the system. 
   Because of the very high bandwidth of functionality and system performance both on the programming and the project planning side, the control software used is very powerful and complex. This means that although the control software is basically suitable for the smallest to the largest automation solutions, it is increasingly becoming more difficult to handle for small to medium-sized projects since for a concrete automation project only a particular small part of the total functionality will be needed. 
   This segment of the overall control software functionality needed depends on a variety of factors, of which just a few examples are:
         different performance classes of automation devices used (e.g. Programmable Logic Controllers)   Degree of networking of the automation units at so-called cell and field bus level   Typical programming guidelines for a segment (programming language, documentation, etc.)       

   In addition option packages which allow the control software to be expanded by further functions, e.g. high-level graphical languages or options for fault-tolerant and high-availability solutions are typically offered for scaling the functionality. 
   The advantage of the invention lies in the fact that introducing the interface decouples the operating surface from the control software, so that it is possible to get away from an operating surface previous statically assigned to all control software. 
   Useful further developments of this method are the object of the dependent claims. 
   When type and scope of the actions which can be initiated through the operating surface can be defined by setting the parameters of the interface, the operating surface itself can be changed by the parameterization of the interface and thereby adapted to individual requirements. 
   Advantageously each action which can be initiated via the operating surface is assigned to at least one function category, in which case the parameterization of the interface includes an option for selecting individual actions which can be selected via the operating surface and in which case selection of an action of a specific function category automatically leads to the selection of all actions of the same function category. This guarantees that even with an individual parameterization of the interface and thereby configuration of the operating surface, logically contiguous functions cannot be separated, so that the operability of the control software remains guaranteed without the user setting the parameters for the interface having to know possible dependencies between individually selectable actions. 
   The determination of a function category and the definition of the association of an action with one or more of the function categories requires significant skill. On the one hand it is necessary to ensure that dependencies between individual actions are taken into account, i.e., that logically associated actions are not separated. On the other hand the set of actions automatically included in the operating surface should remain restricted to make the operating surface easier to understand. 
   Within the function categories at least one function category is provided for which inclusion of its actions in the operating surface is obligatory. With regard to all the actions which are assigned to such a function category, referred to below as an “obligatory function category”, a user does not have the any choice when parameterizing the interface since these actions are indispensable for influencing the control software. 
   To make it easier to access this data the function category of each action which can be initiated via the operating surface is advantageously stored in a function category database. 
   When the function category database can be edited by the user, the user can adapt to their own needs the relevant function categories of individual actions that can be initiated via the operating surface and especially change the grouping of individual actions in a group of the same function category or add new function categories to be able to map additional groupings. Furthermore individual actions can be assigned to the obligatory function category or assignments to the obligatory function category can be cancelled. In the same way assignments to every other function category can adapted and modified. 
   When the control software comprises at least one software application, the parameterized operating surface not only relates to an individual software application but where necessary to a plurality of software applications which interoperate to form the actual control software. 
   Advantageously the parameterizatlon of the interface is stored in an operating surface-specific file  7  or  8 , so that the effort required for parameterizing the interface is retained. 
   Also advantageously an operating surface-specification file is loaded to parameterize the interface, so that it is easy to change back and forth between different parameterizations of the interface and—along with this—between different operating surfaces. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     An exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail below based on the drawing 
     In this the single FIGURE shows 
       FIG. 1  a block diagram of control software with an operating surface, where an interface is provided between control software and operating surface for forwarding to the control software all the actions that can be initiated via the operating surface 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  shows control software  1  with a first software application  2  and a second software application  3 . The number of software applications  2 ,  3 , which together form the control software  1  vary depending on the application. The simplest case is that the control software is formed by a single software application  2 ,  3 . 
   The control software  1  runs in a generally known fashion on at least one electrical device (not shown), e.g. a process computer, a Programmable Logic Controller, a programming device or similar. The control software  1  in this case can be influenced in the usual way by means of an operating surface  4  whereby actions are initiated which cause individual functionalities of the control software  1  to be processed. The initiation of an action here consists for example of selecting an option “Save” of the operating surface  4 , where this selection causes the processing of the corresponding functionality of the control software to save processed data. 
   In the same way “between” operating surface  4  and control software  1  is an interface  5  for forwarding to the control software  1  all actions that can be initiated via operating surface  4 . Type and scope of actions that can be initiated via the operating surface  4  is determined through parameterization of the interface  5 . Each action that can be initiated via the operating surface  4  corresponds to one of the visible components of the operating surface, also called the “user interface”, in the generally known variant. Examples of such components which might be mentioned are an entry in a pull-down menu, a checkbox, a radio button, a tab. 
   Through the parameterization of interface  5  the number of visible components and if necessary, a hierarchical position of individual such components in a resulting operating surface structure are influenced. 
   Each action which can be initiated via the operating surface  4  is assigned to at least one function category. A specific function category is thus referenced by a unique identifier, in which case each action assigned to this function category is linked to this identifier An assignment of each action to at least one function category makes it easier to group it. A first function category is provided for example for grouping all actions which relate to access by control software  1  to a non-volatile memory medium (not shown), such as a hard disk or a diskette drive. 
   The parameterization of interface  5  includes an option of selecting individual actions which can be initiated via operating surface  4 , e.g. for selecting an action for storing data. Selecting such an action leads automatically to the selection of all actions of the same function category, so that when the data storage action is selected an action to load data is also automatically included in operating surface  5 . 
   The function category of each action which can be initiated via the operating surface  4  is stored in a function category database  6 . For parameterizing the interface  5  for selection of a specific action in the operating surface  5 , the function category database  6  is used to determine further actions of the same function category and thereby included automatically in the operating surface  5 . 
   Thus the invention can be briefly presented as follows: 
   A method is specified for the operation of an electronic device with control software  1  which can be influenced by means of an operating surface  4 , in which a decoupling between operating surface  4  and control software  1  is achieved by providing an interface between operating surface  4  and control software  1  for forwarding to control software  1  all actions which can be initiated via operating surface  4 .