Information management for control system designers

A good method of designing control systems is to combine individual software tools, each specialised in a particular aspect of the design process. Efficiency is however limited by the degree of the tools´ compatibility. In this paper the authors discuss how a common model for control engineering data can be used to overcome the tool communication problem. The model captures information of all control system design stages. A database based on this information medium serves as the link between tools. A standard interface written in EXPRESS is used for the actual exchange of data.