Abstract: A system and method for controlling a time synchronization relationship between a communications network time and a module located at a node connected to the communications network for providing a module reference time, the method including determining a time synchronization function is enabled, determining a time difference between the communications network time and the module reference time provided by the module, determining that the determined time difference is greater than a first limit, and less than or equal to a second limit; and gradually adjusting, automatically, the network communications network time to synchronize with the module reference time over a predetermined synchronization interval.

Abstract: A system for, and method of, emulating, on a non-native computer, a native environment for a visual display object file for a real time process control system and a real time process control system employing the emulator. The visual display object file contains a drawing command, an address pointer for communicating data with the real time process control system and a rule for interpreting data received from a touch-sensitive screen.

Abstract: A plurality of trap save areas are linked to form a pool of such areas from which an area may be loaded with context from various sources in response to a trap condition, such as the addressing of unuseable memory, the loaded area unlinked from the pool, and various pointers changed to reflect such unlinking. The unlinked area is associated with the process which was executing at the time of the occurrence of the trap condition by effectively being coupled to the interrupt level of such process. Independent of the interrupt level, a trap handler routine, specific to the nature of the trap condition, is executed following which the unlinked area is returned to the pool and the various pointers changed to reflect such return.