Patent ID: 7882197

Claim:
A method of operating a control system of the type having a control apparatus comprising one or more control/sensing devices, the method comprising the steps of: A. transferring a program to a digital data processor via an internet protocol (IP) network, wherein that IP network supports communications in a plurality of formats including at least a first format and a second format, wherein said first format comprises an HTML page format, B. executing the program on the digital data processor, the program configuring the digital data processor to generate at least one request for a process variable associated with the control apparatus and to transfer the at least one request via the IP network in the second format, wherein that second format is different from the first format, C. the program further configuring the digital data processor to receive, via the IP network, information associated with the control apparatus in response to the at least one transferred request; wherein the second format comprises naming one or more software services that include any of a first service that creates and/or opens a list of points in the control system, a second service that lists data values for those points, and a third service that closes the list of points in the control system.