Experience in the exploitation of a large control system

Experience of a four-year exploitation of the large control system of the CERN PS accelerator complex is presented with special emphasis on the parameters which are very sensitive to the exploitation team productivity. The software tools suite used in this daily maintenance is described and a particular analysis of the power and benefits of advance software technology used for the architecture of this suite is explained. The integration of this suite in the Control System is presented, as well as its use in the Control System development phase. Some considerations of the potential benefit of an Object Oriented equipment access are outlined.