Patent ID: 8037129

Claim:
A method for supporting communication between a PLC control device functioning as a client and a web service defined and stored on a server, during continuous operation, comprising: calling up by a generator program a Web Service Description Language (WSDL) file containing a definition of a plurality of web services (WS) for selection; selecting by the generator program a desired web service WS from the WSDL file, including additional data stored in the WSDL file; configuring by the generator program based on the additional data a web service connection for communication between the PLC functioning as the client and the web service WS; setting request parameters by the generator program based on the additional data for integration into the PLC; setting response parameters by the generator program based on the additional data for integration into the PLC; automatically generating a function block and a data block based on the additional data, including the request parameters and the response parameters; and integrating the function block and the data block into a user program that runs on the PLC for enabling the PLC to interact with the web service.