20. A method of configuring a user interface system for a process control system, comprising: using an object representing a physical process plant element in the process control system and defining a composite graphical element that depicts the physical process plant element of the process control system 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; modifying the object defining the composite graphical element; propagating the modification to each of the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element; and automatically updating each of the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element to reflect the modification.
20. A method of configuring a user interface system for a process control system, comprising: using an object representing a physical process plant element in the process control system and defining a composite graphical element that depicts the physical process plant element of the process control system 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; modifying the object defining the composite graphical element; propagating the modification to each of the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element; and automatically updating each of the plurality of instances of the composite graphical element to reflect the modification. 21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the object comprises a definition set forth in an XML-based graphics language.