A computer-implemented method for automatically exchanging data between a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID) and a control system comprises: parsing a P&ID and identifying instruments and/or groups of instruments within the P&ID, identifying one or more input tags and output tags associated with each identified instrument and/or with each identified group of instruments within the P&ID, and establishing at least one relationship among the one or more input tags and output tags, wherein the input tags and output tags for an instrument and/or a group of instruments and the at least one relationship between the corresponding input tags and output tags are derivable from a template library, and identifying a control loop for each established relationship among the input tags and the output tags, wherein said control loop is for controlling one or more instruments by the control system.