【翻译】使用CCF创建操作界面

​我们的身体是一台神奇的机器。当你在街上问一个男人当他们看着某人的时候看到了什么，他们很可能会说到皮肤、头发和眼睛的颜色、身高和体重以及其他外在的定义性特征。问医生，他们可能会看到与人体器官和整体内部功能有关的问题。如果你问一个分子生物学家，他们会告诉你在细胞水平上使物质起作用的化学途径。就像我们的身体一样，计算机控制系统是由许多层组成的。从电子在导电和半导电材料中移动开始，在抽象层的基础上添加抽象层来创建部件、电路和组件，直到最后创建计算机。以同样的方式，软件层控制这台计算机，从BIOS到操作系统的层，最后到用户看到的应用程序。与医生和生物学家在各自领域内不同抽象层次上工作的方式类似，作为工程师，我们了解、使用和思考我们的系统在不同抽象层次上的工作方式。然而，最终用户就像街上的那个人，他们看到的都是外在的特征。因此，操作界面是系统中最重要的部分之一。

SEMI制定了E95标准作为设备控制软件屏幕布局的通用指南。CIMControlFramework(CCF)提供了一个符合标准的外壳，可以向这个外壳中添加各种各种屏幕以创建出完整的操作界面。这使得设备制造商可以专注于他们设备的特有需求，而不必担心是否符合标准。

使用CCF创建操作界面有几个通用步骤:

1.  决定技术。在Windows桌面软件世界中，有两种开发用户界面的主要方法: WinForms和Windows PresentationFoundation (WPF)。CCF过去一直支持WinForms环境，提供了许多全功能的WinForms屏幕。它还支持WPF，但只提供了一个示例WPF屏幕。Cimetrix正在更新WPF支持，并添加多个功能齐全的WPF屏幕。设备制造商的开发人员可以根据认为合适的情况来使用这两种的任一种。

2.  建立需求。操作界面的目的是让设备向操作员提供有关它当前正在做什么的信息，并让操作员告诉设备该做什么。确定正确的方式可能是设计用户界面中最困难的部分之一。这一步是建立最佳抽象级别的地方。用户应该有足够的信息来理解正在发生的事情，而不是被太多的数据淹没。用户也应该有足够的控制权来做需要做的事情，而不必担心太多的细节。这一步的分析通常由多学科团队使用类似白板、笔和纸的模拟方法来完成。为不同类型的用户创建头像，然后编写关于这些用户想要做什么的故事，这是帮助充实操作界面所需内容的好方法。

3.  根据需求评估预构建的屏幕。一旦确定了目标，就可以检查CCF提供的屏幕是否适合。他们在多大程度上符合目标? 有些屏幕可能足够接近要求,可以按原样使用。其他的屏幕可能已经接近，但是需要一些调整来满足特定的需求。最后，有些屏幕可能需要从CCF提供的组件构建，以满足特定设备的特有规范。

4.  将屏幕组装到应用程序中。创建了所需屏幕的列表后，最后一步是将所有内容放在一起。这通常是构建操作界面最耗时的部分。此阶段是构建任何自定义屏幕或对现有屏幕进行修改的阶段。最后，所有自定义和预构建的屏幕都被添加到CCF提供的框架中。CCF有许多labs来帮助理解各种用户界面组件如何协同工作以提供一个内聚的整体。

CCF提供了结构、预构建的屏幕和工具，以帮助创建自定义的屏幕和设备，使您的设备拥有漂亮的外观。

要了解更多关于CCF的信息，请访问我们网站上的CIMControlFramework页面!

 

Create Operator Interface Screens Using CCF

Our bodies are amazing machines. Ask a man off the street what they see when they look at someone, they will probably talk about skin, hair and eye color, height and weight and other external defining characteristics. Ask a doctor and they may see issues relating to what’s going on in the person’s organs and overall internal function. Ask a molecular biologist and they’ll talk about the chemical pathways that allow things to work at the cellular level. Much like our bodies, computer-controlled systems are made up of many layers. Starting with electrons moving through conductive and semi-conductive materials, abstraction layer is added upon abstraction layer to create components, circuits, assemblies until finally a computer is created. In the same way layers of software control this computer from the BIOS up through layers in the operating systems and culminating in the application the user sees. Similar to the way doctors and biologists work at different levels of abstraction within their domains, we as engineers know about, work with and think about our system at various abstraction levels. However, the end user is like that man on the street, all they see are the external characteristics. Because of this, the operator interface is among the most important parts of the system.

SEMI established the E95 standard as general guidelines for screen layout of tool control software.

CIMControlFramework (CCF) provides a standard conforming shell into which various screens may be added to create a complete operator interface. This allows the tool manufacturer to focus on the unique needs of their tool and have no worry about meeting the standard.

There are several general steps to create an operator interface using CCF:

1.  Decide on the technology. In the Windows desktop software world, there are two primary ways of developing a user interface: WinForms and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). CCF has historically supported the WinForms environment providing many fully functional WinForms screens. It has also supported WPF, but only provided a single example WPF screen. Cimetrix is in the process of updating WPF support and adding multiple fully functional WPF screens out of the box. Either environment may be used based on what the tool manufacturer’s developers deem appropriate.

2.  Establish the requirements. The purpose of the operator interface is for the tool to provide the operator with information about what it’s currently doing and for the operator to tell the tool what to do. Determining the correct way to do this can be one of the hardest parts of designing a user interface. This step is where the best level of abstraction is established. The user should have sufficient information to understand what’s happening without being overwhelmed by too much data. The user should also have enough control to do what needs to be done without having to worry about too many details. The analysis for this step is often done by multidisciplinary teams using analog methods like whiteboards and pen and paper. Creating a vatars for different types of users and then writing stories about what those users will want to do is a good way to help flesh out what’s needed by the operator interface.

3.  Evaluate pre-built screens against the requirements. Once the target is established, the screens provided by CCF can be examined for fitness. How well do they fit the target? Some screens may be close enough to the requirements to be used as is. Other screens may be close but require some tweaks to meet the specific needs. Finally, some screens may need to be built from components provided by CCF to satisfy the unique specifications of a particular tool.

4.  Assemble the screens into an application. Once a list of needed screens is created, the final step is to put everything together. This is generally the most timeconsuming part of building an operator interface. This phase is when any custom screens are built or modifications made to existing screens. Finally, all the screens, both custom and pre-built, are added to the framework provided by CCF. CCF has a number of labs to help understand how the various user interface components work together to provide a cohesive whole.

CCF provides the structure, pre-built screens and tools to assist in creating custom ones to give your tool a beautiful skin.

To learn more about CCF, visit the CIMControlFrameworkpage on our website!

Topics: Equipment Control-Software Products, Cimetrix Products

Posted by Harley Pebley, Software Craftsman on Jan 5, 2017 1:31:00 PM