Smart search capabilities in a process control system

A method and remote user interface device for presenting process plant search results 1304 returned as a response to a natural language format search query 1302 made against a knowledge repository (42, fig.1) located at an edge-computing device; the remote user interface device obtains a plurality of process plant categories 1306 in response to the search query and for each category obtains a subset of the process plant search results and presents an indication 1308 for each category; the search results include a selectable link 1310 for obtaining the underlying process plant-related data without affecting run-time operation of a process plant. Preferably to allow for searches to be performed by user interface devices external to the process plant, a data diode is disposed so that data flows only one way, from the field-facing component to the edge-facing component. Preferably the knowledge repository is a contextual knowledge repository generated by creating a duplicate of process plant-related data. The remote user interface device may be a vehicle head unit (fig.10). Benefit: the search is secure and does not impact plant performance as the remote user interface device does not have a control path to the plant entities.