Markup language-based, dynamic process graphics in a process plant user interface

A user interface system for a process plant, comprising:

• a computer-readable medium;
• a graphic display editor to configure a process graphic display having a graphic display element representative of a process plant element of the process plant, wherein configuration information for the process graphic display generated by the graphic display editor is stored in the computer-readable medium in accordance with a declarative language;
• and,
• a graphics rendering engine to generate a depiction of the process graphic display during runtime based on commands derived from the configuration information.

A method of configuring a user interface system for a process plant, comprising:

• using an object defining a composite graphical element to create a plurality of instances thereof in respective process graphic displays to be depicted via the user interface;
• storing data in a computer-readable medium of the user interface system defining the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element;
• and
• automatically updating the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element by modifying the object.

An object entity stored in a computer-readable medium for use with a user interface system for a process plant, the object entity comprising:

• a graphics portion defining graphics for a depiction of a process plant element of the process plant via the user interface;
• a parameters portion identifying configurable aspects of the graphics;
• and,
• a navigation portion identifying data sources for content to be displayed in connection with the graphics;
• wherein the graphics portion, the parameters portion, and the navigation portion are stored in the computer-readable medium discretely.