1. A method for mapping an element of an engineering schematic into a schematic element database, the method comprising: electronically scanning a schematic; recognizing existence of a plurality of elements visually represented in the schematic, based on the scanning, wherein each of the plurality of elements is associated with predefined schematic element visual attributes, the predefined schematic element visual attributes comprising element size, element shape, and element color; converting the schematic, including the plurality of elements and the predefined schematic element attributes, into a textual format comprising extensible markup language (XML); comparing the textual format of the predefined schematic element visual attributes to a plurality of saved database elements, the plurality of saved database elements being stored in the schematic element database, and each of the plurality of saved database elements being associated with XML-based descriptions of visual attributes; and mapping each of the plurality of elements to any one of a plurality of saved database elements, based on common XML-based descriptions of visual attributes.