Creating and Editing Tags

Working with Creating and Editing Tags

Creating and Editing Tags

There are different paths to creating new tags:

1. On the top of the page, click on 'New Tag' icon.
2. In Unified Namespace → Tags, click on the 'New Item' icon to create new tags.
3. On Asset Tree, right click the folder where you'd like to add a tag or use the "New Tag" icon.

The following dialog will be presented. 

The only 2 essential fields to field in are the 'NAME' and the 'TYPE' of the Tag.

To edit the properties of existing local tags:

• At the top toolbar, select the Tag Properties button.
• Go to Unified Namespace → Tags, select the tag you wish to modify and click the Edit icon. 

Tag Properties

Either creating a new tag, or editing tags, in the DataGrid view or the properties dialogs, the tag has the following configuration fields: 

DataGrid View

The fields above are visible by default on the DataGrid view. To add or remove columns, right-click the column heading area and check or uncheck the columns that should be visible.

Tag Value formatting 

The format property defines the display format of tag values. For example, N1 defines a number with one decimal place, like 2.1

Proper formatting ensures that the tag values are displayed accurately and are easily understood by users.

These formats follow the specifications provided in Microsoft .NET.

For valid numeric formats, refer to Standard Numeric Format Strings.

For valid date and time formats, refer to Standard Date and Time Format Strings.

For a more in-depth discussion of format strings in .NET, refer to Formatting Types.

Alarm, Historian and Device Configuration

Optional configuration properties offer additional customization for tags. These properties can be edited after importing the tags into the project and include:

• Alarm configurations: Settings related to alarms triggered by tag values.
• Key Features:
  • Items : Defines a alarm based on a tag value, a condition for activation, a limit value, others.
  • Groups: Its possible agroupate the alarms items in a group with its own configuration properties.
  • Areas: Classify alarms groups hierarchicaly.
• Historian settings: Configurations for data logging and archiving.
• Key Features : 
  • Historian Tags: Specify which tags will have their data logged and archived.
  • Historian Tables: Define the organizational structure for storing logged data, aiding in data retrieval and analysis.
  • Target Databases: Designate where the data is stored, ensuring efficient data management and backup.
• Device Address: The address or location of the tag in the PLC or data source.
• Key Features : 
  • Points: Determine the point in the PLC/data source where the tag data resides.
  • Address: Ensure compatibility and accurate communication between the software and PLC/data source.
  • Data Type: Ensure that the data type in the software matches that of the PLC to prevent data mismatches or errors.

Needs to add information on those three configurations (Alarm, Historian, Device)

I couldn't find the table below, what is it??

Tag Types

All tags have a specific type for its value, such an integer, text or DateTime. The many pre-defined Tag Types are the Built-in tag types. In addition, the tag type can be an UDT (User Defined Type) or Tag Template .

Tags have also pre-defined properties, such as Description and Array size. Different tag types may have specific properties, but most properties are available to all Tags.

When creating the Tag, some of those properties are defined in the configuration — such as the Description —, some of the properties are only accessible when the application is running — like Value, Quality and Timestamp. The complete set of Tag properties when running the project is referred as the Runtime Tag Properties.

Built-in Tag Types

The built-in tag types are based directly as extensions of the .NET datatypes. The tag types are summarized in the following table:

Reference Type

Reference tags allow dynamic addressing of variables. 

The way you use Reference tags in the project is similar to how you use references in .NET programming, as they both have a defined type. The target type for the Reference is defined in the Parameters columns.

Typed references bring advantages in both the engineering stage and in runtime. In the engineering stage, it allows IntelliSense to directly browse the template members if a reference is pointing to a template. In runtime, it allows string data validation. 

All Reference tags have an additional runtime attribute: the Link property, which specifies which tag that the reference will be linked to during execution.

Essentially, the Link property is a string property that needs to receive the target tag name before using the reference tag. You can assign a string directly or by using a string expression. The best way to set the link property is to use the method GetName(), which will create the string based on the current tag name. This way, you can rename the tag without having to search the strings. This also shows the tag names linked on the cross-reference utility. 

Examples:

@Tag.Reference1.Link = @Tag.TagName.GetName();

@Tag.Reference1.Link = @Tag.TagName.GetName();

@Tag.Reference1.Link = "Tag.TagName";

@Tag.Reference1.Link = "Tag.TagNa" + "me";

The reason for using the GetName() method instead of using strings directly is that with GetName() you retain the benefits of Cross-Reference and Refactoring. 

Import Tag Definitions

Importing Tag Definitions

There are many ways to import Tag definition to the project:

• Just copy from another Solution and paste it in the Unified Namespace → Tags DataGrid.
• Using the import from CSV Files.
• Using the Import Tags. We offer a wide range of tools, including .NET Classes, CSV files, OPC Server, OSIsoft PI Historian and PI AF, Prediktor Historian, Rockwell ControlLogix, Siemens, SNMP, SQL DataTable, Tundra, TwinCAT, UnityPro, WirelessHart, and XML files.
• Using the EngWrapper API.

After importing the tags, you can organize them using the Asset Modeling feature, which enables you to create a hierarchical structure for your project's tags.

Importing Tags and PLC Addresses from Excel

The "Import from Excel" enables easy importation of tags and PLC addresses. The process is as simple as copying and pasting the content of an Excel table, ensuring that you include the titles of the columns. The feature allows for flexibility in having tables with different columns or arranged differently in your project. 

Importing from CSV Files

The importation of CSV files encompasses two main approaches: Individual CSV Files and Extended CSV Files.

Individual CSV Files

In this scenario, you can import items for each individual table available throughout the Engineering Environment. This feature is especially useful for adding items, such as alarms, to your project. When a grid is in focus, the import button on the top bar becomes available. Upon clicking it, a import dialog window will open, allowing you to select the CSV file to be imported. For a more detailed understanding of this process, refer to our detailed guide in Individual CSV File.

Extended CSV Files

Here, the idea is to use a single .CSV table to import information on Tags, Devices, Alarms, and historian items. In this case, the final table is a concatenation of the various grids from the project. This feature can be particularly useful for importing a large amount of correlated information at once. For more information on how to utilize this feature, refer to our comprehensive guide in the Extended CSV Files section.

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