WO2015074673A1

WO2015074673A1 - Optimized reporting system

Info

Publication number: WO2015074673A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/003510
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dirk Schulz
Original assignee: Abb Technology Ag
Priority date: 2013-11-21
Filing date: 2013-11-21
Publication date: 2015-05-28

Abstract

The invention relates to a reporting-system (1a,1b,1c), for a distributed control system (2a, 2b, 2c) comprising at least one control-device (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) which is configured for providing respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), time variant measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b) wherein the reporting system (1a, 1b,1c) comprises: ■ at least one database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) which is connected to the control- device (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) and which is configured for receiving the provided data (6, 8, 9); ■ at least one computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c) which is connected to the database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) and which is configured for o reading out the respective data (6, 8, 9); o generating a report (14a, 14b, 14c) with at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) in case of a trigger; wherein o the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) comprises at least one reference (18a, 18b, 18c), with a relating link (20a, 20b, 20c), to the respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b). The invention includes also a method for generating a report (14a, 14b, 14c), with the above mentioned reporting system (1a, 1 b, 1c) according to the introduced invention.

Description

Optimized reporting system

Description

The invention relates to a reporting-system, for a distributed control system comprising at least one control-device which is configured for providing respective device-data, time variant measurement-data and/or object-data wherein the reporting system comprises:

■ at least one database which is connected to the control-device and which is configured for receiving the provided data;

■ at least one computing-device which is connected to the database and which is configured for

o reading out the respective data;

o generating a report with at least one entry in case of a trigger.

The invention relates also to a method for generating a report, with the reporting system, comprising the following steps:

■ providing respective device-data, time variant measurement-data and/or object-data by the control-device of the distributed control system;

■ receiving the provided data by the database;

^■ reading out the respective data by the computing-device;

■ generating the report with at least one entry in case of at least one event of the control-device, by the computing-device. Reporting is an essential activity during the entire life-cycle of distributed control systems (DCSs) as it is critical to operational, productivity, and regulatory requirements. Nodaway's DCSs are becoming increasingly complex as more and more control-devices are interconnected, therefore the related reporting-systems become also more complex.

Reporting-systems are generally used to report a malfunction of a control-device or even a malfunction of the entire DCS to an operator. Reporting can also include the data of the first requirements collection with customers, documentation of offline engineering documents, factory acceptance test results, or fingerprinting and health reports during plant operation. In the reporting procedure periodic reports are also known, which are set up by the reporting-systems in a predefined time interval, for example hourly, shiftily, or monthly. Additionally reports can be triggered by the operator.

The term "control-device" comprises every electronic device, which might be connected to and controlled by a DCS. A "control-device" can be for example a field device of a distributed control system, a switch, router, I/O device or even a central control room. The connection to the DCS can be a digital or analogue and it could be either wireless or wired.

A DCS usually comprises at least one "control-device", which is configured for controlling the operation of a respective actuating part of an industrial plant during a production process. The actuating parts may be for example a single actuator such as a motor, a pump, a valve or a switch, or groups of actuators or a whole operational section of the industrial plant.

The term "measurement-data" comprises data which are measured, received or determined by the control-device, for example output variables of the actuating parts. Another example for measurement-data is the measured pressure value of a pump.

A control device is preferably arranged to measure, receive or determine measurement data of the respective actuating part, where the measurement-data might be either generated directly from measurements taken form sensors, or indirectly, by estimating the measurement data from available further state information. Based on measurement-data, which can be measured and provided in real-time, maintenance operators can monitor the health of the respective actuating part.

The term "device-data" comprises all characteristic data of the control-device or the respective actuating part. Exemplary, this can be the data given on a nameplate of the actuating part, input power, output power, number of revolution, production date, type number, or any other characteristic data of interest.

The term "object-data" comprises all data, which were further processed in the DCS. For example, a control-loop which has measurement data as input generates object- data as output. Exemplary, "object-data" can be control parameter resulting from a PID control loop for controlling an heat exchanger. Therefore, the term "object-data" refers to higher-order data, which might be any kind of processed data.

A "database" is one requirement for a reporting-system. The database is connected to the control-device and it is configured for receiving the respective data thereof. The database can be either a conventional relational database or a service-based architecture. Different kind of databases can be implemented in the DCS, for example SQL or DB2 databases.

Typically, a "computing-device" is required by the reporting-system. In this case the computing device is connected to the database and it reads out the data and generates a report with at least one entry in case of at least one event of the control- device. The "computing-device" can be a usual personal computer, an independent processing-unit, or even a processing unit integrated in the DCS. A "link" is typically used for referencing from any location to any data.

Disadvantageously within the state of the art is that DCSs are becoming increasingly complex and therefore the reporting becomes also more and more complex. Operators quickly become overburdened by reports with hundreds of alarm entries concerning a DCS with hundreds of control-devices. Hence, in complex DCS or with reports comprising several entries, it is often difficult for operators to keep a clear overview.

Based on this state of the art, it is the objective of the invention to provide a system and a method to improve the reporting of a distributed control system.

This objective is accomplished according to the present invention by an abovementioned reporting-system, characterized in that the at least one entry comprises at least one reference, with a relating link, to the respective device-data, measurement-data and/or object-data.

In other words, the invented reporting-system enables a fast tracking of data relating to an entry of a report by following a reference, or a link.

The "reference" of the entry enables the operator to navigate to the data manually. This is especially advantageous when being offline, for example when an operator goes down to the shop floor and has no wireless internet connection on his mobile computer. Navigating by the reference is a manual process, mainly used when it is not possible to follow the link automatically.

Furthermore, the entry comprises a relating "link" to the respective data. The link might be a local link or a global link. In case of a local link the link and the existing file are on one computer system, in case of a global link the link and the existing file are on separate computer systems. The link enables the user to navigate to the respective data automatically. The entry-related data then becomes instantly available. Hence, the invented reporting-system provides fast navigation from an entry to the detailed data required to handle it correctly. This provides a faster access to the data needed for decision making. Furthermore the user is less distracted by attention-stealing search effort. The invented reporting-system simplifies the work, especially for new employees or people who are in a hurry to find the location of data relating to an event. The user is enabled to work more efficiently as the simple, but time-consuming, search effort is taken away.

Following a link form a report may not only lead one user to the respective data, but it might also support collaboration between different users sitting in different locations. Several users can quickly and with little explanation share a data relating to entries from two copies of a report.

In conclusion, the invented reporting-system integrates reports with the respective data. Hence, the reporting-system makes it more simple and convenient to navigate to the desired data. By combining a reference with a correlating link, the report is also useful meanwhile the user is offline.

Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are mentioned in the dependent claims.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the at least one entry refers to at least one event, particularly a fault-event, of the control-device, wherein the reference comprises a unified nomenclature by which a user can navigate to the data. This simplifies the navigating as the operator does not need to adjust repeatedly to changing nomenclatures. In case, that the event is a fault-event, which is also known as an alarm-event, it is especially advantageously that the user or the operator of the DCS gets a chance to navigate to the respective data without losing any time. In case of an alarm-event, the operator needs to gather as much relevant information as necessary, to react proactively.

Fault-events are generated, in case that predefined threshold levels are exceeded. Reports with fault events are usually composed of several fault entries, wherein new fault entries are continuously added to the report. By using the invented reporting- system operators get the chance to find out, why the fault-event has occurred and in which order, so that they can react in the best way. The invention optimizes therefore the operator's ability to monitor processes in a plant, which means that an operator can be entrusted with larger plant sections without compromising safety. This results in the opportunity, to consolidate several plant-units into one unit for greater efficiency.

In one further advantageously embodiment of the invention the computing-device is configured for storing the at least one entry in a file.

As the at least one entry - which is the smallest unit of a report - is stored in a file, fragments of the reports or the full report can be also stored in a file. Advantageously the file is a non-volatile memory, which is exchangeable between different computing-devices. Furthermore a file enables the operator to send the report to other operators, or to use the file on an offline mobile computer. Hence, the created report becomes more flexible

As a file is generated of the report, the advantages related to file management can be also integrated in the reporting-system. File management provides a better overview over the existing report. Furthermore conflicts between different versions of the report can be avoided, and the versioning of the files is generated automatically.

According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the reporting- system further comprises:

■ at least one report-viewer which is configured for displaying the report to the user;

^■ at least one navigation-unit which is connected to the report-viewer and the database and which is configured for navigating, in case that the link is selected via user-input, to the respective data.

The report-viewer is configured for displaying the report in a predefined way, so that the look and feel of the distributed control system is advantageously preserved in the reporting-system and the respective data are presented in a unified way. This reduces training and start-up time for operators and it retains the ability to interact easily. Furthermore, additional alarm features can be provided with the report-viewer, which allow operators to pre-configure different kind of displays which are automatically invoked when selecting a link.

Furthermore, the report-viewer can filter the entries based on different categories and present the entries separately to the user. This is especially advantageous when needing to separate entries with references to different types of data. Furthermore the report-viewer may show a preview of the respective data to the operator before navigating to the data.

The navigation-unit is integrated in the report-viewer and connected to the database. The navigation-unit navigates automatically to the respective data in case of selecting an entry. Hence, an entry can be followed even faster, when the data are needed for further information.

In another variant of the invention, the navigation-unit is configured for authenticating the user before navigating to the data. Hence, the navigational-unit authenticates the user before granting an access to the desired data. This safety procedure protects the whole system from unauthorized navigation, by controlling the respective access to the data. The authentication function comprises several single authentication functions, such as re- and double authentication, user log over, audit trail and electronic signatures.

Re-authentication is used to ensure that certain operations are performed by the logged-in person. Hence, the logged-in person has to login again, before performing a critical operation. Re-authentication results in an audit event, and thus also serves as an electronic signature for the operation.

Double-authentication can be required before accepting certain, critical, operations. For double authentication, an additional person, one who has secondary authentication permission, must authenticate and therefore approve the operation. The Log over authentication procedure is useful to hand over between different users in cases were a certain operation requires higher authority than held by the current user. Exemplary a supervisor can allow his responsibility to be temporarily applied, before reverting to the normal user. Access control can be based on user, role, and location, and access rights can be set with granularity down to single objects and properties.

The reporting-system handles navigation requests considering the role and access rights of the requesting user. In conclusion, the authentication functionality prevents advantageously unauthorized access, as well as problems caused by mistakes.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention

■ the computing-device comprises at least one reporting-interface for reading out the data and/or

■ the navigation-unit comprises at least one navigation-interface for navigating to the data.

As the reporting-interface and the navigation-interface are integrated in the reporting- system different kind of distributed-control-system, different kind of databases and different kind of data can be advantageously interfaced and therefore accessed without interfering manually. The reporting- and the navigation interface are preferably pre-integrated in the reporting-system and different kind of communication protocols are available. By the pre-integration of the reporting- and navigation- interfaces, fast navigation from an entry to the respective data is enabled and nuisance delays are avoided.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the computing-device is configured for:

■ allocating a time-stamp to the at least one entry, by which the user can navigate in a timeline of the respective data. By allocating a time-stamp to the entry, the data are versioned and archived. Following a link from a report leads to the source of the data, the current state of the data, or any other point in time of the data which is available through the allocated time-stamp.

The database is further configured for receiving the measurement-data over a time- period, wherein the control-unit is configured for allocating a timeline to the received measurement-data. Therefore the operator can advantageously navigate to any point of time in the measurement-data and the detailed history from the devices can be retrieved at any time. Hence, linking into a past baseline version of offline or online transient data is advantageously supported. Retrieving the history is for example required for root-cause analysis. The history can be accessed through trend- and periodic-reports. The sample rate for time-stamping is configurable. In one further advantageously embodiment of the invention, the distributed control system comprises several control-devices, wherein the reporting system comprises several databases.

A typical DCS consists of several functionally and/or geographically distributed control-devices. The integration of the invented reporting-system with the DCS enables detection of early warnings from the entire DCS with all the control-devices. The invented reporting-system increases the convenience for users to work with the reports, including reports which were provided as services such as fingerprinting. It lowers the effort to communicate with a further user, which might be a customer, on any point of time of the distributed control-system.

In conclusion, this reporting-system provides a single report which considers all control-devices and gives therefore a better overview over the entire DCS. In a preferred form of the invention, the reporting-system comprises several at least partly interconnected computing-devices, wherein one is configured as a master computing-device which is configured for:

^■ processing the read-out data of the computing-devices; ^■ generating the report with the entry comprising the reference with the relating link.

As one of the computing-devices is configured as a master computing-device, several computing-devices can be controlled in a safe and effective way. Advantageously the different computing-devices can be controlled from one distributed control system. Therefore one single master computing-device unifies the control of the further computing-devices and consequently the control of the several control-devices.

The objective is further accomplished according to the present invention by an abovementioned method for generating a report, characterized in that the entry comprises at least one reference, with a relating link, to the respective device-data, measurement-data and/or object-data.

In one further advantageously embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the following steps:

■ displaying the report to the user via at least one report-viewer;

• navigating, in case that the link is selected by the user via user-input, to the respective data by the navigation-unit.

In another advantageously embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises the following steps:

^■ allocating a time-stamp to the at least one entry by the computing-device, wherein the user can navigate in a timeline of the respective data.

^■ processing the read-out data of the several computing-devices;

■ generating the report with the entry comprising the reference with the relating link, by the master computing-device. The advantages of this method and their embodiments are discussed in the preceding claims.

These features and further advantageous embodiments are contained in the claims and shall be illustrated by means of exemplary in the figures contained in the drawing attached to this specification.

The attached drawing show in

Fig. 1 : an exemplary personal computer for running a reporting-system according to the invention,

Fig. 2: an exemplary first architecture of a reporting-system,

Fig. 3: an exemplary second architecture of a reporting-system

Fig. 4: an exemplary third architecture of a reporting-system,

Fig. 5: an exemplary report,

Fig. 6: an exemplary further report and

Fig. 7: an exemplary sequence diagram.

Fig. 1 depicts exemplary a personal computer 44 for executing a reporting-system according to the invention. The personal computer 44 is connected to an input de- vice 40, to a display 46 and to a distributed control-system 2a.

A user 24 specifies his user input 42 via the input device 40, exemplary a keyboard or a usual computer mouse. The user input 42 is further processed by the personal computer 44, wherein data are provided from a control-device 4a of the distributed control-system 2a to the personal computer 44. The display 46 is exemplary used for displaying a link 20 to the respective data, which can be for example device-data, measurement-data and/or object-data. The data may be also information sources such as engineering data items or objects, live data including condition monitoring results of processes monitoring and optimization, status of maintenance, ordering, or other enterprise resource planning (ERP) activities.

Not depicted in the figure is, that the display 46 can be configured as a touch pad. It is also not depicted, that the personal computer 44 can be exemplary provided in a computing cloud, instead of being provided physically. The personal computer 44 can be also integrated in the distributed-control-system 2a itself. The personal-computer can comprise a database, or exemplary connect one or several single databases of the distributed control system 2a.

Fig. 2 depicts exemplary a first architecture of a reporting-system a. The reporting- system 1a needs to be engineered in order to fulfill the required behavior and the specification. As the reporting-system 1a is complex, it is divided into subsystems which may consist of hardware and software components from different suppliers.

A database 10a is exemplary configured for receiving device-data 6a, measurement- data 8a and object-data 9a from a control-device 4b of a distributed-control-system 2b. The data 6a, 8a, 9a might be also received by a program or a computing-cloud. The heart of the reporting-system 1a is a computing-device 12a which reads out the data 6a, 8a, 9a from the database 10a. The figure does not limit the physical allocation of the computing-device 12a and the database 10a. The database 10a and the computing-device 12a can be either integrated in the distributed-control-system 2b or separately in the reporting-system 1a. A further variant is, that the database 10a and the computing-device 12a are associated independently either to the reporting-system 1a or to the distributed-control-system 2b.

After reading out the respective data 6a, 8a, 9a, the computing-device 12a generates a report 14a, with at least one entry 16a. The entry comprises at least one reference 18a which enables the user to navigate to the data manually. Therefore, the report 14a is not necessarily connected to the reporting-system 1 a or to the computing- device 12a. Due to the reference 18a, the report 14a can be used independently without any connecting to the reporting-system 1a or the distributed-control-system 2b. As shown, the entry 16a might indicate a fault, wherein the fault can be a fault in the control-device 4b itself, or exemplary in the process or the instrumentation of the control-device 4b. The entry further comprises a link 20a, by which a user is navigated automatically to the data, in case of selecting the link. Therefore the report 14a is made more intelligent by introducing the link 20a which allows a user to navigate to the source of a piece of information within the distributed-control-system 2b.

Fig. 3 depicts exemplary a second architecture of a reporting-system 1 b. Additionally to figure 2 a user 24 is depicted, who selects a link by user-input 42 on a report- viewer 22. Furthermore, a reporting-interface 30 is depicted, which is situated between a computing-device 12b and a database 10b, and which is configured for reading-out device-data 6b, measurement-data 8b and/or object-data 9b stored in the database 10b. The reporting-interface 30 is configured for adapting different kind of data 6b, 8b, 9b different kind of databases 10b and different control-devices. The reporting-interface 30 can include various, not depicted, protocol interfaces and pre- integrated interfaces to multiple databases 10b and different data sets.

The reporting-interface 30 can be either a software running on the computing-device 12b or a physically interface which is adapted to the database 10b. The report-viewer 22 can be exemplary a usual pdf-reader or any other viewing program, which presents the report in a unified way.

Additionally to fig. 2 a navigation-unit 26 is depicted with a navigation-interface 28. The navigation-unit 26 and the navigation-interface 28 are either provided physically, or as a software interface. By providing the interfaces 28, 30 different kind of data from various sources can be transferred, e.g. by WirelessHART or via Modbus TCP. The navigation-interface 28 and the reporting-interface 30 eliminate the need to switch between several systems, workplaces, application environments and navigation schemes.

The navigation-unit 26 may be configured for authenticating the user before navigating to the data 6b, 8b, 9b. The user authentication function is exemplary designed to meet requirements from regulated industries. When the navigation-unit 26 is installed, exemplary default user groups with default permissions are created. These can be changed to fit the needs of any distributed-control-system. Password policies can be configured, e.g. for minimum strength and maximum age.

Authority checking can be done by comparing a user's granted permissions with the respective permission to perform an operation. As certain data 6b, 8b, 9b need to be protected from being disclosed to unauthorized users. For distributed control system this concerns exemplary data 6b, 8b, 9b relating to product recipes, plant performance and production data as this kind of data represents valuable intellectual property. The loss of confidentiality for these types of data 6b, 8b, 9b may cause significant losses. Also the secrets of the authentication mechanisms in the navigation-unit itself, such as passwords and encryption keys, should be protected. In case of revealing the encryption method, the system is unprotected against many attacks. Permissions can be set globally for the whole distributed-control-system, or only for single databases 10b, or even only on individual data 6b, 8b, 9b to match every possible need. Also the location from where the user 24 is working can be included in the authority settings. The user authentication function may be exemplary based on the Windows® mechanisms.

Fig. 4 depicts an exemplary third architecture of a reporting-system 1 c which comprises exemplary two computing-devices 12c, 13 wherein one of these is configured as a master computing-device 13.

Furthermore, a distributed control system 2c comprises two control-devices 4c and 4d, which can be connected directly by a not depicted connection. Each of the control-devices 4c, 4d has a related database 10c and a related database 10d. The master computing-device 13 controls the computing-device 12c and has therefore indirectly access to the database 10d of the control-device 4d. The database 10c has two versions of device-data: device data 6c and device-data 6d, which might be linked with a timestamp. A relating entry of a report 14b is linked with a timestamp, wherein the entry relates exemplary to file 1 of the device data 6c. By selecting the link with the respective timestamp, the user can navigate in the exemplary time stamped device data, 6c, 6d. Hence, the user can navigate in the timeline of the device-data 6c, 6d itself.

Fig. 5 depicts an exemplary report 14c, which comprises more than one entry: an entry 16b and a further entry 16c. Each entry, the entry 16b and the further entry 16c, comprises a single reference 18b and 18c. According to the invention, each reference comprises a single link, 20b and 20c.

With this exemplary report 14c, a user can navigate to different databases, and more specific to different files of the databases, wherein each file represents a specific time of respective data, exemplary time 1 and time 2.

The reference comprises exemplary a unified nomenclature by which the user can navigate to the data. The nomenclature is preferably standardized, exemplary in the following form: "dcs:<project id>:<baseline version>:<tool name> ".

The report 14c on offline data may be based on a particular version or baseline of data, Furthermore, also live or transient data at the time of reporting may be versioned or baselined. Following a link from the report 14c may lead to the information source within the baseline, which can be taken from a versioning system, the current state of the source, any other point in time available through versioning or a difference view between two such versions.

For example a user might follow a problem identified in fingerprinting when it was reported, check both the past and the current state of the information source, search for the point in time where the issue disappeared, and then use a difference view to detect a root cause. Fig. 6 depicts an exemplary further report 14d which comprises three fault entries. Hence, the report depicts exemplary a fault report. An entry 16d with the highest priority is listed at the top. Each fault occurred at the respective active time of the second column. The first entry 16d refers to valve number 1 , which might be controlled by a not depicted control-device. According to the fault report, valvel was operated by high temperature. By selecting a link 20d, the operator might be directed directly to the measurement-data, which is in this example the temperature. This allows the operator to estimate the fault immediately and to react consequently. When crossing the link 20d with the arrow of an input-device, the reference might pop-up which informs the user about the location of the saved temperature data. Therefore the respective reference may be only presented to the user when taking a closer look.

Fig. 7 depicts an exemplary sequence diagram illustrating the complete steps according to the present invention.

In a first step "a" data are provided by control-devices. The data can exemplary be device-data, measurement-data and/or object-data. The data might be also provided by a planning tool or any other program.

In a second step "b" the data are received from the database and stored therein. The database can be either a conventional relational database or a service-based architecture. The database may be either located at one location, or distributed in the distributed control system. Furthermore the database can exemplary be provided as a volatile memory, or as a non-volatile memory.

In a third step "c" the computing-device is reading out the data from the respective database. The term "reading out" the respective data refers to getting the required information for generating the entry to the respective data.

In a fourth step "d" the computing-device is generating the report with a reference and a link to the respective data. The link enables the user to navigate automatically to the data behind the respective reference. Following the link allows any user to navigate to the source of piece of information within any distributed control system tool, while considering the security constraints of industrial automation.

In an optional fifth step "e" the report is displayed to a user, advantageously by a report-viewer.

In a sixth step "f" the user navigates to the data either manually by following the provided reference, or automatically by selecting the provided link. In case of an offline document, the user navigates manually. Offline documents are naturally static in nature. Unclear, missing or interesting but incomplete parts require follow-up communication. This requires at the very least leaving the context of the report, finding the right person to contact or tool to use, and it requires the correct information context, exemplary the reference, to get more information. This is a manual process without any workflow supported.

List of reference signs a First reporting-system

b Second reporting-system

c Third reporting-system

a First distributed control systemb Second distributed control systemc Third distributed control systema First control-device

b Second control-device

c Third control-device

d Fourth control-device

a First device-data

b Second device-data

c Third device-data

d Fourth device-data

e Fifth device-data

a First measurement-data

b Second measurement-data

a First object-data

b Second object-data

0a First database

0b Second database

0c Third database

0d Fourth database

2a First computing-device

2b Second computing-device

2c Third computing-device

3 Master computing-device a First reportb Second reportc Third reportd Fourth reporta First entryb Second entryc Third entryd Fourth entrya First referenceb Second referencec Third referencea First link

b Second linkc Third link

d Fourth link

Report-viewer

User

Navigation-unit

Navigation-interface

Reporting-interface

Input-device

User-input

Personal computer

Display

Claims

1. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1c), for a distributed control system (2a, 2b, 2c) comprising at least one control-device (4a, 4b, 4c) which is configured for providing respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), time variant measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b) wherein the reporting system (1a, 1 b, 1c) comprises:

■ at least one database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) which is connected to the control- device (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) and which is configured for receiving the provided data (6, 8, 9);

■ at least one computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c) which is connected to the database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) and which is configured for

o reading out the respective data (6, 8, 9);

o generating a report (14a, 14b, 14c) with at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) in case of a trigger;

characterized in that

the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) comprises at least one reference (18a, 18b, 18c), with a relating link (20a, 20b, 20c), to the respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b).

2. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1c) according to claim 1 , characterized in that the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) refers to at least one event, particularly a fault-event, of the control-device (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d), wherein the reference (18a, 18b, 18c) comprises a nomenclature by which a user (24) can navigate to the data (6, 8, 9).

3. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1c) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c) is configured for storing the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) in a file.

4. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1 c) according to one of the proceeding claims, characterized in that it further comprises: ^■ at least one report-viewer (22) which is configured for displaying the report (14a, 14b, 14c) to the user (24);

^■ at least one navigation-unit (26) which is connected to the report-viewer (22) and the database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d) and which is configured for navigating, in case that the link (20a, 20b, 20c) is selected via user-input (42), to the respective data (6, 8, 9).

5. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1 c) according to claim 4, characterized in that the navigation-unit (26) is configured for authenticating the user (24) before navigating to the data (6, 8, 9).

6. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1 c) according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that

^■ the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c) comprises at least one reporting- interface (30) for reading out the data (6, 8, 9) and/or

^■ the navigation-unit (26) comprises at least one navigation-interface (28) for navigating to the data (6, 8, 9).

7. Reporting-system (1 a, 1 b, 1c) according to one of the proceeding claims, characterized in that the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c) is configured for:

^■ allocating a time-stamp (32) to the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c), by which the user (24) can navigate in a timeline of the respective data (6, 8, 9).

8. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1c) according to one of the proceeding claims, characterized in that the distributed control system (2a, 2b, 2c) comprises several control-devices (4, 4.1 , 4.2), wherein the reporting system (1a, 1b, 1c) comprises several databases (10, 10.1 , 10.2).

9. Reporting-system (1a, 1 b, 1 c) according to one of the proceeding claims, characterized in that it comprises several at least partly interconnected computing- devices (12, 13), wherein one is configured as a master computing-device (13) which is configured for:

^■ processing the read-out data (6, 8, 9) of the computing-devices (12, 13); ■ generating the report (14a, 14b, 14c) with the entry (16a, 16b, 16c) comprising the reference (18a, 18b, 8c) with the relating link (20a, 20b, 20c).

10. Method for generating a report (14a, 14b, 14c), with the reporting system (1 a, 1 b, 1c) according to one of the claims 1 to 9, comprising the following steps:

■ providing respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), time variant measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b) by the control-device (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e) of the distributed control system (2a, 2b, 2c);

■ receiving the provided data (6, 8, 9) by the database (10a, 10b, 10c, 10d);

■ reading out the respective data (6, 8, 9) by the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12 c);

■ generating the report (14a, 14b, 14c) with at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) in case of at least one event of the control-device (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d), by the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c),

characterized in that

the entry (16a, 16b, 16c) comprises at least one reference (18a, 18b, 18c), with a relating link (20a, 20b, 20c), to the respective device-data (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e), measurement-data (8a, 8b) and/or object-data (9a, 9b).

11. Method according to claim 10, comprising the following steps:

■ displaying the report (14a, 14b, 14c) to the user (24) via at least one report- viewer (22);

■ navigating, in case that the link (20a, 20b, 20c) is selected by the user (24) via user-input (42), to the respective data (6, 8, 9) by the navigation-unit (26).

12. Method according to claim 10 or 11 , comprising the following steps:

■ allocating a time-stamp (24) to the at least one entry (16a, 16b, 16c) by the computing-device (12a, 12b, 12c), wherein the user can navigate in a timeline of the respective data (6, 8, 9).

13. Method according to one of claim 10 to 12, comprising the following steps:

■ processing the read-out data (6, 8, 9) of the several computing-devices (12, 13); generating the report (14a, 14b, 14c) with the entry (16a, 16b, 16c) comprising the reference (18a, 18b, 18c) with the relating link (20a, 20b, 20c), by the master computing-device (13).