scope:

Purpose and application

This guideline is intended to achieve the uniform operation of field instruments by means of a user interface component, e.g. a personal computer. The need for uniform operation is urgent today more than ever because of the construction of increasingly complex hardware and software structures combining different instruments of various makes. One example of this is the simultaneous accessibility of sensor and actuator systems via a bus system.

This requires uniform structuring, and a user interface that is based on standards which the user is familiar with.

Thanks to this, the use of a user interface will be selfexplanatory and identical for all field instruments. Special knowledge is not necessary but with respect to the field instruments and the process.

he term "user interface" as used here does not only refer to the graphical representation and to the operation, but also to the functionality of the software with regard to operator prompting, communication with the instrument, and data storage.

The guideline addresses programmers generating user interfaces which are used by maintenance personnel, instrument specialists, and project planners to configure instruments both online and offline.

Basically, it is possible to use this guideline for the generation of user interfaces not only for digital field instruments, but for all instruments which are capable of communication and can be parameterised. In the following, the term instrument subsumes both sensor and actuator systems and other nodes which can be parameterised.