A method and an apparatus for the development of a control process for an
instrument are disclosed. The method comprises a first step of selecting
one or more commands from a plurality of pre-defined commands in which at
least one of the selected one or more commands being a purpose-linked
command; and a second step of combining the selected one or more commands
to produce the control process. The pre-defined commands have a control
part for controlling the operation of the instrument and at least one of
the pre-defined commands has a purpose part for controlling the purpose
of the command. The apparatus for the development of a control process
for an instrument comprises a first memory for storing a plurality of
control parameters for individual ones of a plurality of commands, a
display device for displaying information relating to the plurality of
commands, a selection device for selecting ones of the plurality of
commands and a processor for combining selected ones of the plurality of
commands for producing the control process.
