METHOD FOR TOPOLOGY TREE TO LEARN ABOUT, PRESENT, AND CONFIGURE DEVICE INFORMATION BY AUTOMATICALLY UPLOADING DEVICE DESCRIPTION FILES FROM DEVICE

A communications application that acts as a data server between one or more industrial devices and a client-side application is capable of detecting and uploading device description files from the industrial devices themselves. Upon discovery of an industrial device communicatively connected to a client device's communication port, the communications application determines whether a device description file for the discovered device is registered. If no device description file is registered for the industrial device, or if the discovered file is newer than a previously registered file, the communications application initiates an upload of the device description file from the industrial device if the file is stored on the device. Upon completion of the upload, the device description file is registered, thereby allowing the communications application to display information about the device and to manage data exchange between the industrial device and the client-side application.