Methods, systems and computer programs for managing control system engineering data

A system for managing control system engineering data through a processor implemented interface control server, the system comprising:

• a processor implemented interface control server configured for:
• receiving one or more data retrieval parameters for retrieval of engineering data from one or more engineering data repositories;
• instantiating a temporary database, wherein instantiating the temporary database includes:
• instantiating an original data table within the temporary database;
• and
• instantiating a modified data table within the temporary database;
• retrieving a set of engineering data from the one or more engineering data repositories, wherein retrieval of the set of engineering data is based on the one or more data retrieval parameters;
• storing the set of engineering data in the temporary database, within the original data table;
• and
• responsive to an instruction to display a first sub-set of engineering data from within the set of engineering data stored within the temporary database, retrieving the first sub-set of engineering data from the original data table within the temporary database;
• storing the first sub-set of engineering data within an internal cache memory that is coupled with the interface control server;
• and
• displaying the first sub-set of engineering data on a display device, wherein the first sub-set of engineering data is retrieved for display, from the internal cache memory,
• wherein the interface control server is configured to respond to receiving an instruction for retrieving engineering data from the temporary database, by:
• retrieving engineering data from the temporary database;
• parsing data within the internal cache memory for identifying any previously stored data rows having a key identifier that matches a key identifier corresponding to a data row within the engineering data retrieved from the temporary database;
• and
• responsive to identifying a previously stored data row within the internal cache memory that has a key identifier that matches a key identifier corresponding to a data row within the engineering data retrieved from the temporary database, retrieving the identified previously stored data row from within the internal cache memory and storing, within the retrieved previously stored data row, one or more data values from within the matched data row from the engineering data retrieved from the temporary database.

A computer program product for managing control system engineering data through a processor implemented interface control server, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising instructions for:

• receiving one or more data retrieval parameters for retrieval of engineering data from one or more engineering data repositories;
• instantiating a temporary database, wherein instantiating the temporary database includes:
• instantiating an original data table within the temporary database;
• and
• instantiating a modified data table within the temporary database;
• retrieving a set of engineering data from the one or more engineering data repositories based on the one or more data retrieval parameters;
• storing the set of engineering data in the original data table in the temporary database;
• and
• responsive to an instruction to display a first sub-set of engineering data from within the set of engineering data stored within the temporary database, retrieving the first sub-set of engineering data from the original data table;
• storing the first sub-set of engineering data within an internal cache memory that is coupled with the interface control server;
• displaying the first sub-set of engineering data from the internal cache memory on a display device;
• receiving user input identifying a modification to a data value within a displayed data row that comprises engineering data stored in the internal cache memory;
• generating one or more modified data rows based on the received user input and on the engineering data corresponding to the displayed data row that is stored in the internal cache memory;
• storing the one or more modified data rows in the internal cache memory;
• and
• responsive to detection of a data synchronization trigger event, writing data values that have been modified subsequent to an immediately previous data synchronization operation from the internal cache memory to the modified data table within the temporary database.