Patent ID: 7505821

Claim:
A system for the layout-oriented recording of control-relevant information, comprising: a first mechanism for graphically describing structures comprising components; a second mechanism for graphically establishing at least one directed relationship between the components; a third mechanism for specifying a control-relevant interconnection of the components depending on the established relationships, wherein the establishment of the directed relationships between the components is accomplished based on the following relationships in a process-engineering and/or production-engineering plant: a material flow between at least two components, an energy flow between said at least two components and an information flow between said at least two components; and a graphical user interface configured to display the following: a graphical representation of the material flow between said at least two components, a graphical representation of the energy flow between said at least two components, and a representation of the information flow between said at least two components, wherein the information flow further comprises information flow from components that precede said at least two components and which runs in a direction opposite to a direction of the material flow or opposite to a direction of the energy flow to provide a graphical two-way traceability in the process-engineering and/or the production-engineering plant.