A method of automatically generating a hardware configuration for an automation system, the hardware configuration being a graphical representation of a layout of hardware devices of the automation system, comprising: determining a type of the hardware configuration being created for the automation system; identifying at least one structural representation (512A-C) of the hardware configuration from a plurality of structural representations in a structural representation database based on the determined type of the hardware configuration, wherein the at least one structural representation (512A-C) is a hierarchical structure of the hardware configuration; obtaining the at least one structural representation from the structural representation database; generating the hardware configuration according to the at least one structural representation; and displaying said structural representation as a graphical outline of the hardware configuration on a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical outline comprises a plurality of blocks (513A-C) representing elements of the hardware configuration; wherein creating the hardware configuration using the at least one structural representation comprises: - -activating and transferring said structural representation of the hardware configuration into an editor window based on a selection of said structural representation; - -assigning appropriate engineering objects (510, 514, 516) to the corresponding blocks (513A, 513B, 513C) of the graphical outline from an object library window, wherein the engineering objects (510, 514, 516) represent hardware devices of the automation system; and - -setting values of a set of parameter attributes associated with each of the hardware devices; wherein setting the values of the set of parameter attributes associated with said each of the hardware devices comprises: - -selecting two or more engineering objects in the hardware configuration being created; - -determining a priority to be applied for merging of values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices corresponding to the two or more engineering objects (510, 514, 516) needs to be performed; and - -merging values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices according to the determined priority. determining a type of the hardware configuration being created for the automation system; identifying at least one structural representation (512A-C) of the hardware configuration from a plurality of structural representations in a structural representation database based on the determined type of the hardware configuration, wherein the at least one structural representation (512A-C) is a hierarchical structure of the hardware configuration; obtaining the at least one structural representation from the structural representation database; generating the hardware configuration according to the at least one structural representation; and displaying said structural representation as a graphical outline of the hardware configuration on a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical outline comprises a plurality of blocks (513A-C) representing elements of the hardware configuration; wherein creating the hardware configuration using the at least one structural representation comprises: - -activating and transferring said structural representation of the hardware configuration into an editor window based on a selection of said structural representation; - -assigning appropriate engineering objects (510, 514, 516) to the corresponding blocks (513A, 513B, 513C) of the graphical outline from an object library window, wherein the engineering objects (510, 514, 516) represent hardware devices of the automation system; and - -setting values of a set of parameter attributes associated with each of the hardware devices; - -activating and transferring said structural representation of the hardware configuration into an editor window based on a selection of said structural representation; - -assigning appropriate engineering objects (510, 514, 516) to the corresponding blocks (513A, 513B, 513C) of the graphical outline from an object library window, wherein the engineering objects (510, 514, 516) represent hardware devices of the automation system; and - -setting values of a set of parameter attributes associated with each of the hardware devices; wherein setting the values of the set of parameter attributes associated with said each of the hardware devices comprises: - -selecting two or more engineering objects in the hardware configuration being created; - -determining a priority to be applied for merging of values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices corresponding to the two or more engineering objects (510, 514, 516) needs to be performed; and - -merging values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices according to the determined priority. - -selecting two or more engineering objects in the hardware configuration being created; - -determining a priority to be applied for merging of values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices corresponding to the two or more engineering objects (510, 514, 516) needs to be performed; and - -merging values of the set of parameter attributes of the hardware devices according to the determined priority.