Patent ID: 9417626
Filing Date: 2016-08-16
CPC Classification: G05B,G06F,Y02P

Claim Text:
1. A process control configuration method in a user interface of a computer system for developing control strategies of a process plant, wherein the user interface defines a screen area to display a plurality of independent panes therein, the method comprising: generating, by one or more processors, a first edit pane, including displaying a graphical representation of a first set of logical or physical entities for carrying out respective process control operations in the process plant; generating, by one or more processors, a second edit pane, including displaying a graphical representation of a second set of logical or physical entities for carrying out respective process control operations in the process plant, wherein each in the first set and the second set of logical or physical entities includes at least one input and at least one output, and wherein each of the first edit pane and the second edit pane defines an independent user interface screen within the screen area; receiving, by one or more processors, a first selection of an output of a first entity in the first set of logical or physical entities; receiving, by one or more processors, a second selection of an input to a second entity in the second of logical or physical entities; and automatically generating, by one or more processors, a connection indicator in response to receiving the first selection and the second selection that depicts a connection between the output of the first entity in the first edit pane and the input of the second entity in the second edit pane, wherein the connection indicator includes a first tag identifying the second pane in the first pane adjacent to the output of the first entity, and a second tag identifying the first pane in the second pane adjacent to the input to the second entity.