Patent ID: 8000814

Claim:
A graphical user interface for a process control system that includes a plurality of data inputs and a variety of alarms for said data inputs, the interface comprising: a main panel display including a plurality of alarm indicators, wherein each of the alarm indicators includes a visual representation of an active alarm for a data input from one or more of a control module, an equipment module, or a processing unit and provides indicia of alarm priority and alarm age; and an alarm profile display providing contextual information corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of alarm indicators wherein the contextual information includes another alarm indicator to which the selected alarm indicator is a parent, the alarm profile display including a plurality of alarm profiles wherein active alarms are grouped by at least one or more of time span, plant area, process unit and equipment module, and wherein the alarm profiles are super imposable on a process graphic display so that alarm profiles can be seen in the spatial context of equipment schematics depicted in the process graphic display.