Software workstation and method for employing appended metadata in industrial automation software

A method for employing appended metadata in an industrial automation software of an industrial automation environment, comprising:

• in a software workstation, obtaining a metadata information comprising information to be included in at least one metadata instance;
• in the software workstation, generating the at least one metadata instance from the metadata information;
• in the software workstation, appending the at least one metadata instance to the industrial automation software by associating the at least one metadata instance with one or more predetermined objects in the industrial automation software;
• and
• generating a display of a subset of the industrial automation software based on the appended metadata instance, wherein the at least one metadata instance comprises a user-defined attribute or grouping.

A method for employing appended metadata in an industrial automation software of an industrial automation environment, comprising:

• appending one or more metadata instances to the industrial automation software, wherein appending each metadata instance comprises associating a metadata information with one or more objects in the industrial automation software;
• generating a display comprising at least a portion of the industrial automation software comprising:
• one or more subset objects included within the at least a portion of the industrial automation software;
• and
• one or more subset metadata instances included within the at least a portion of the industrial automation software, wherein the one or more subset metadata instances are associated with the one or more subset objects in the industrial automation software;
• receiving a user selection comprising a first subset object from the one or more subset objects included within the at least a portion of the industrial automation software;
• and
• modifying the generated display based on at least one subset metadata instance associated with the first subset object.