Computer Graphics Workstations are becoming increasingly popular for use as virtual process control and read back panels. The workstations's CRT, keyboard, and pointing device are used in concert to produce a display that is in essence a control panel, even if actual switches and gauges are not present. The code behind these displays is most often specific to one display and not reusable for any other display. Recently, programs have been written allowing many of these virtual control panel displays to be configured without writing additional code. This approach allows the initial programming effort to be reapplied to many different display instances with minimal effort. These programs often incorporate many of the features of a graphics editor, allowing a pictorial model of the process under control to be incorporated into the control panel. We have just finished writing a second generation software system of this type for use with the X-window system and the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). This paper describes the primary features of our software, the framework of our design, and our observations after initial installation
