CALL MECHANISM FOR STATIC AND DYNAMIC LINKED FUNCTIONS WITHIN AN OBJECT-ORIENTED CONTROLLER USING HETEROGENEOUS DEVELOPMENT TOOL SETS

For use within a computer-based digital control system, a calling mechanism and method for allowing both dynamic linked application objects and static linked application objects created with heterogeneous development tool sets to interact with a kernel of the system or with each other. In one embodiment, the calling mechanism includes: (1) a dynamic link interface that employs only standards-based software calls to allow the dynamic linked application objects to interact with the kernel, (2) a static link interface that employs at least one non-standard software call to allow the static link application objects to interact with the kernel and (3) at least one call router, operative to manage software calls among the kernel, the dynamic link application objects and the static link application objects, that detects software call types and routes the software calls to a selected one of the dynamic link interface or the static link interface based on the software call types.