Abstract: A ladder circuit editing system inputs and edits a sequence program for a program controller in the form of a ladder diagram. The ladder circuit editing system has an unavailable area storing at least one inputted circuit pattern and an available area storing a new circuit pattern, and successively inputs circuit patterns from the available area. The ladder circuit editing system includes a circuit pattern extracting means, a display means, and a copying means. The circuit pattern extracting means compares a circuit element from a circuit pattern stored in the available area with a circuit element from a circuit pattern already stored in the unavailable area, and extracts a circuit pattern containing a circuit element that agrees with a stored one. The display means displays the extracted circuit pattern on an input screen. The copying means copies the extracted circuit pattern into the available area according to an operator's entry.

Abstract: A data processing apparatus includes a storage format setting unit for setting a storage format in an interactive manner in order to store acquisition data, acquired from a control appliance connected thereto, a storage file forming unit for forming a storage file used to store the acquisition data based upon the storage format set by this storage format setting unit, and a storage unit for storing the acquisition data acquired from the control appliance in the storage file formed by this storage file forming unit according to the storage format set by the storage format setting unit.

Abstract: A data processing method which makes it unnecessary to run a user application program describing detailed conditions under which data on a device having a memory are acquired each time a system is started. A main controller forms a text format file as a data acquisition condition for a PLC from which data is to be acquired so that the data acquisition condition is associated with a label name, the data acquisition condition including a supervisory interval for supervising the status of the PLC and the operation status of the PLC for setting a trigger condition for starting data acquisition. When receiving the label name and the corresponding data acquisition condition from the main controller, a subcontroller develops and stores is the received data acquisition condition in a memory so that the data acquisition condition is associated with the label name.