Abstract: A computer, such as a programmable logic controller (PLC), implemented method for accessing a number of slave devices having a number of registers by a master device on a network includes the steps of: providing a generic driver software in the master device for accessing slave devices on the network; reading by the master device description files, describing the slave devices on the network; and using the description files for converting data read from and written to the generic driver when accessing the slave devices on the network.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for displaying a user interface in a monitoring system for monitoring a number of slave devices in a network by a master device includes the steps of: writing software code for monitoring a number of slave devices in a network; defining at least one display template with a number of data fields in the software code; compiling the software code including the defined display template; running the compiled software code; and while running the compiled software code on the master device, performing the steps of: selecting a slave device by a user from a list of slave devices connected to the network; loading and parsing a data file for the selected slave device; activating at least one of the data fields in the at least one display template depending on the parsed data file; and reading data from the selected device.