Patent ID: 7917891

Claim:
A method for automatically generating a corresponding entity template linked to a graphic element when copying the graphic element, comprising: (a) receiving by a processor in an engineering system via an input device a copy command comprising a request to create a copy of a selected graphic element, wherein the selected graphic element consists of a graphic symbol constructed by a grouping of basic graphic elements arranged into the graphic symbol; (b) prior to executing the copy command of the selected graphic element, automatically checking by the processor whether the selected graphic element is linked to a user modifiable entity template stored in memory of the engineering system, wherein the user modifiable entity template consists of a re-useable information unit describing the selected graphic element in information technology terms; and if the selected graphic element is not linked to the user modifiable entity template, (i) automatically generating a corresponding user modifiable entity template based on information describing the selected graphic element in information technology terms, (ii) storing the corresponding user modifiable entity template in memory of the engineering system, and (iii) linking the selected graphic element to the corresponding user modifiable entity template generated; and (c) executing by the processor the copy command by (i) copying the selected graphic element to create a copy of the selected graphic element, and (ii) linking the copy to the corresponding user modifiable entity template, such that both the selected graphic element and the copy created are now both linked to the corresponding user modifiable entity template; wherein the user modifiable entity template is adapted to be user-modifiable such that modifications made to the user modifiable entity template are rendered, based on the linking, to both the selected graphic element and the copy of the selected graphic element.