Patent ID: 7565609

Claim:
A system comprising: a first device coupled to a network, wherein the first device executes a first graphical program, wherein the first graphical program comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes that visually indicate functionality of the first graphical program, wherein the plurality of interconnected nodes comprises a first node and one or more function nodes associated with the first node; a second device coupled to the network; wherein the first graphical program is operable to execute a first graphical code portion, wherein the execution of the first graphical code portion is timed based on a specified timing source and a specified timing period; wherein the specified timing source specifies a tick based on at least one of: a clock of the second device; or events originating from the second device; and wherein the specified timing period specifies a number of ticks required to trigger execution of the first graphical code portion; wherein the network is operable to support communication according to a network cycle, and wherein the events originating from the second device comprise network events based on the network cycle of the network, wherein the first node is configured to receive a first network event; and wherein to execute the first graphical code portion, the first node is executable to cause the one or more function nodes to execute in response to receiving the first network event.