Integrated navigational tree importation and generation in a process plant

摘要

A process plant data collection and organization system uses a common or integrated navigational tree structure to organize and enable a user to view and access information obtained from different applications or data sources within a process plant, even when those different applications have different manners of organizing or enabling users thereof to view the collected information. The integrated navigational tree may be developed from and may use the navigational tree categories of the different applications or may map the data within different categories of the navigational trees of the different applications into categories within the integrated navigational tree. The integrated navigational tree enables a user to view and access plant data collected or developed by different applications within the process plant in a single place and in an organized manner so that the user can view data related to the plant from a higher point of view than provided by any of the individual applications.

主权项

1. A data integration system for use in conjunction with a process plant having a plurality of data source applications, each of which collects or generates application data pertaining to entities within the process plant, the data integration system comprising:
a database configured to store the application data pertaining to the entities within the process plant wherein the application data is collected or generated by the plurality of data source applications; an integration application stored on a computer readable memory and executable on a processor to create an integrated navigational tree for use in viewing or accessing the application data from the plurality of data source applications as stored in the database, the integrated navigational tree including categories for categorizing the application data from each of the plurality of data source applications, the categories displayed in the navigational tree as a hierarchy having a first level with at least one selectable element defining one or more physical plant device categories and a second level associated with the first level having one or more selectable indications defining one or more particular sub-categories of physical entities within the process plant that fall within the first level plant device category, wherein the integrated navigational tree is a single navigational tree and wherein data from different ones of the plurality of data source applications and associated with the first level plant device category is assessable by selecting different ones of the selectable indications of the second level; and a navigational tree memory configured to store the integrated navigational tree.