Configuration instead of programming new tools

With Automation Framework, new software tools can be developed twice as fast and thus significantly more cost-effective than up to now. Development of the tools is simplified because tools are now created mainly through configuration and reuse of available objects instead of programming.

Future-proofed: The compatibility of software based on Automation Framework will be ensured for many years because:

• Microsoft.net as a technological basis will considerably influence the software development during the next years and establish itself as the key technology in the field of automation engineering.
• Automation Framework is the specialization of the .NET standard for automation engineering.

The Automation Framework allows manufacturers of engineering software a simple and future-proof introduction into the object-oriented world of Microsoft .NET.

Three steps to your own software tool

Step 1: Implementation of your project structure

Automation Framework is based on an open and configurable project structure and thus allows to reproduce and display different structures. The following figure shows an IEC 61131 structure, a device structure and a functional structure as an example.

Your customer-specific or project-specific structure will also be realized as a project tree. The basis for the project tree is your specific data model, based on the Automation Framework ObjectStore which ensures the required data consistency.

 [ObjectStore for consistent data management]

Step 2: Selection of the required components

In the second step, you select the components that you want to have available in your tool. From your construction kit, you can select either your own developments, third-party software or tools by KW-Software. Our figure shows a selection of configurator components and powerful editors which are used, for example, in MULTIPROG.NET and ProVisIT.NET by KW-Software but also in applications of our customers.

Step 3: Configuration of your tool via XML