Historian interface system

Abstract

A historian interface system provides a graphical representation of tags that represent attributes of a continuous process. A historian system stores the tags and metadata values describing the tags. A display device coupled to the historian system via a communication network displays graphical representations of the tags via display panels and receives selections of the tags. The historian system contextualizes selected tags based on the metadata values describing the selected tag and determines an optimal visualization scheme for the selected tags. The display device displays graphical representations of values of the tags and dynamically determines optimal grouping of the tags based on properties of the display device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a local historian system coupled to a remote display device over a communication network, wherein the local historian system is configured to receive a selection of at least one tag of a plurality of tags from the remote display device over the communication network, and wherein the local historian system includes:
 a computer-readable storage medium storing the plurality of tags, wherein each tag represents an attribute of a continuous process, and wherein one or more metadata values stored on the computer-readable storage medium describe each tag; and 
 a processor configured to execute processor-executable instructions stored on the computer-readable storage medium, said processor-executable instructions including instructions to contextualize the selected tag based on the metadata values describing the selected tag; and 
   wherein the local historian system is further configured to transmit the contextualized tag to the remote display device over the communication network.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said processor-executable instructions further include instructions to contextualize the selected tag based on the number of selected tags. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said remote display device is configured to display a graphical representation of a value of the attribute based on a property of the remote display device. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said property is a form factor of the remote display device. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein said property is an area of a graphical user interface of the remote display device. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said local historian system is further configured to provide tags to the remote display device via a guided search experience. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said processor-executable instructions further include instructions to contextualize the selected tag based on a time duration selection received from the remote display device. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote display device is configured to display the contextualized tags as at least one of a bar chart, a line chart, a scatter plot, and a time in state chart. 
     
     
         9 . A method of providing a historian interface system, comprising:
 displaying, via a graphical user interface (GUI) of a remote display device, a graphical representation of a plurality of tags, wherein each tag represents an attribute of a continuous process, wherein each tag is stored in a memory of a local historian system coupled, via a communication network, to the remote display device, and wherein one or more metadata values stored in the memory of the local historian system describe each tag;   receiving, via the GUI of the remote display device, a selection of the displayed graphical representation of at least one tag of the plurality of tags;   contextualizing, by a processor of the local historian system, the selected tag based on the metadata values describing the selected tag; and   displaying, via the GUI of the remote display device, a graphical representation of a value of the attribute of the selected tag based on said contextualizing.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said contextualizing is further based on the number of selected tags. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said displaying the graphical representation of the value of the attribute is based on a property of the remote display device. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said property is a form factor of the remote display device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said property is an area of the GUI of the remote display device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising selecting, via the GUI of the remote display device, a graphical representation of one of the plurality of tags through a guided search experience. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said contextualizing is further based on a time duration selected via the GUI of the remote display device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 automatically relocating the graphical representation of the value of the attribute of the selected tag in response to a selection of another tag of the plurality of tags; and   displaying the automatically relocated graphical representation.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the graphical representation of the value of the attribute of the selected tag is at least one of a bar chart, a line chart, a scatter plot, and a time in state chart. 
     
     
         18 . A method of providing metadata values of a tag stored in a historian system, comprising:
 receiving a search query via a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display device;   searching a historian system for one or more tags stored thereon, wherein each tag is defined by a plurality of metadata attributes, wherein the historian system and the display device are connected by a communication network;   receiving a plurality of the tags stored on the historian system via the communication network, wherein each received tag has a value for at least one of the plurality of metadata attributes that at least in part matches the search query;   displaying a first panel via the GUI, said first panel including a graphical representation of each of a plurality of groups, wherein each group corresponds to one of the plurality of metadata attributes, wherein each group of the plurality of groups includes a plurality of subgroups, wherein each subgroup includes a plurality of received tags each having a value for a common metadata attribute that at least in part matches the search query;   displaying via the GUI a graphical representation of each subgroup on the first panel;   receiving via the GUI a selection of the graphical representation of one of the subgroups displayed on the first panel;   displaying a second panel via the GUI, said second panel including a graphical representation of each of the plurality of received tags comprising the selected subgroup;   receiving via the GUI a selection of the graphical representation of one of the plurality of tags displayed on the second panel; and   displaying a third panel via the GUI, said third panel including a graphical representation of the value of each of the plurality of metadata attributes of the selected tag.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 dynamically determining an optimal visualization scheme for the selected tag based on the plurality of metadata attributes of the selected tag; and   displaying, via the GUI, a graphical representation of a value of the selected tag based on the optimal visualization scheme.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 monitoring a boundary of the GUI to detect a falloff condition in which the graphical representation of the value of the selected tag extends beyond the boundary;   grouping the graphical representation of the value of the selected tag with a graphical representation of a value of at least one other selected tag in the falloff condition; and   displaying, via the GUI, a graphical representation of the group.