Self-organized distributed directory

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:

• program code for learning of an industrial control component or learning of at least one change in a configuration of the industrial control component;
• program code for collecting information from the industrial control component after the learning of a industrial control component or learning of at least one change in the configuration of the industrial control component, wherein the collected information comprises metadata related to an industrial process associated with the industrial control component;
• program code for selecting at least some of the collected information for population into the distributed directory;
• and
• program code for populating the selected at least some of the collected information upon the distributed directory.

A system, comprising:

• an interrogation component that resolves information of an industrial control component for collection;
• a gather component configured to collect at least a portion of the resolved information from the industrial control component, wherein the collected portion of the resolved information comprises metadata related to an industrial process associated with the industrial control component;
• a decision component configured to select at least some of the collected portion of the resolved information for population into the distributed directory;
• and
• a placement component configured to populate the selected at least some of the collected portion of the resolved information upon a directory.

A system capable of implementation upon an industrial control configuration, comprising:

• a gather component configured to collect information from an industrial control component, wherein the collected information comprises metadata related to an industrial process associated with the industrial control component;
• a decision component configured to select at least some of the collected information for population into the distributed directory;
• and
• a placement component configured to populate the selected at least some of the collected information upon a distributed directory;
• and
• a security component configured to regulate distributed directory information that can be ascertained by the industrial control component or selectively mask distributed directory information with regard to at least one device.

A system, comprising:

• means for engaging an industrial control component newly coupled to the industrial control configuration;
• means for augmenting a distributed directory with metadata that concerns the engaged industrial control component;
• and
• means for manually overriding the means for augmenting the distributed directory.

A method, comprising:

• learning of an industrial control device or learning of at least one change in a configuration of the industrial control device;
• collecting information from the industrial control device after the learning of a industrial control device or learning of at least one change in the configuration of the industrial control device, wherein the collected information comprises metadata related to an industrial process associated with the industrial control component;
• and
• selecting at least some of the collected information for population into the distributed directory;
• and
• populating the selected at least some of the of the collected information from the industrial control device upon a directory.