Work with Tags

Add a Tag to a Data Source

To display the Tags page, select the Tags link in any of the Historian Web Admin console pages. The Tags page lets you read and modify all tag parameters for the Historian system. To access information on a specific tag or group of tags, however, you must first search for the tags. You can search for the tags using the Search for Tags button.

You can add tags manually through the tags page or choose the tags from the listed collectors. Typically, you add tags to Historian by browsing the data source. You can also add tags manually or add tags from the collector by selecting the appropriate link in the second line of the display.

If you add a tag with a tag name greater than 25 characters in length, the characters beyond 25 are not visible in the Tags list on the Tags page. To see the entire tag name, place the mouse cursor over the tag to see a ToolTip that displays the complete tag name.

Note: Do not add or update the following spare configurations as the data may get corrupted or over written:

The Spare 1 field for OSI PI Distributor. OSI PI distributor reads data from the Historian tag displayed in the Tag Source Address field and sends it to the OSI PI tag name displayed in the Spare 1 field.
The Spare 5 field for Server to Server Collector and Server to Server Distributor as it is only used for internal purposes.

Adding a Tag Manually

About this task

Note: If you manually add a Server-to-Server tag that uses the polled collection type, make sure that you set the Time Adjustment field for the tag to the Adjust for Source Time Difference option after you add the tag. The Time Adjustment field is located in the Advanced section in the Tag Maintenance page.

Procedure

Select the icon link in the Tag Details page and select Add Tags Manually.
The Add Tag window appears.
Select a collector from the drop-down list in the Collector Name field. This associates the new tag with a specific collector.
Enter the Source Address and Tag Name in the appropriate fields.
Select the data store in the Data Store field.
Select a Data Type from the drop-down list.
For fixed string data types only, enter a value in the field adjacent to the Data Type field.
Select Seconds, Milliseconds, or Microseconds in the Time Resolution field.
If the tag is an Array Tag, select the Is Array Tag option.
Select Add to add the tag.

Adding a Source Address to a Tag

Procedure

Select a collector from the drop-down list in the Collector Name field.
This associates the new tag with a specific collector.
Enter the Source Address or select Browse.
The Add Tags from Collectors window appears.
Select the tag you want to associate with the source address.
You can select only one tag.
Select OK.
The source address of the tag is added.

Adding OPC Tags from a Collector

Procedure

Select the link in the Tag Details page.
Select Add Tags from Collector.
The Add Tags from Collector window appears.
Select the collector from the Collector name list.
Enter the Source Tag Name or select Browse.
The list of folders available with the collector is displayed.
Expand the folder to select the desired tags.
The > symbol indicates that you need to navigate further within the folder. You can select a single tag or multiple tags. If you want a series of tags, press and hold the Shift key and select the series.
Select Add or Add All to add tags.
The selected tags appear in the right hand section.
To preview the selected tag details, select Preview.
To add the selected tags from the collectors, select Add Selected Tags.

Adding Simulation Tags from a Collector

Procedure

Select the link in the Tag page and then select Add Tags from Collector.
The Add Tags from Collector window appears.
Select the collector from the Collector name list.
Enter the Source Tag Name or select Browse.
The list of available tags is displayed.
Select the desired tags and select Add or select Add All to add tags.
You can select a single tag or multiple tags. If you want a series of tags, press and hold the Shift key and select the series.
The selected tags appear in the right hand section.
To preview the selected tag details, select Preview.
To add the selected tags from the collectors, select the Add Selected Tags.

Filter and Search Tags

Using the Search window you can:

Add multiple search criteria based on the tag criteria and the criteria value.
Modify the existing criteria value.
Delete unwanted search criteria from the list.
Automatically load the most recently used criteria for re-use.
Search the Historian database based on search criteria.
View the details of a tag.

Filtering Tags

About this task

By default, the Tags page displays all available tags. To filter the tags based on a set of criteria, use the Filter option.

Procedure

On the Tags page, select the Filter button.
The section expands to show the filter criteria.
Select the criteria and enter a value to filter by.
Select Add Criteria .
Select Apply to filter the tags based on the criteria.

What to do next

Select Remove to remove the criteria selected or select Reset to reset your input.

Searching for Tags: Simple Search

Procedure

Select the Search button in the Tags page.
The Search box appears.

Enter a tag mask in the Search field using either the full/partial tagname or standard Windows wildcard characters.

This will help you to filter the search query more precisely. If wildcard characters are not used, then the search will result in all the tags containing the given search string.

Note: Supported wildcard characters in simple search are * and ?.

Example for using wildcard characters in search strings:


Search String	Result
W*	All tags starting with letter W
*e	All tags ending with letter e
W*e	All tags starting and ending with W and e respectively
Tag?	All four letter named tags, where the last letter can be anything
W*0000?	All tag names staring with W and ending with 0000 followed by any single letter

Select Enter.
The relevant tag(s) are listed.

Searching for Tags: Advanced Search

About this task

The Advanced Tag Search window allows you to search for a set of tags that match the search criteria and then perform actions on one or more tags that you select from the list.

It saves the most recently used search criteria to a file named DefaultSearchCriteria.xml in the Excel App Data path, which is: c:\users\<username>\AppData, and this criteria is automatically loaded into the window the next time it is opened. This allows you to re-use or modify the criteria rather than entering them each time. To reset your criteria, delete the XML file.

Procedure

Select the Advanced Search button.
The Advanced Search window appears.
In the Step 1 section, select the tag criteria from the list.
Enter or select the Tag Criteria Value.
If you leave the field blank, the search returns all of the available tags.
(optional) Select the Add Criteria button to add more criteria to narrow your search.
Select the Find Tags button.
All the tags that satisfy the query criteria are displayed in the Step 2 section.
Select tags from the list by selecting Add .
To select all of the tags, select the Add All button. To remove a selected tag, select Remove .
Select Apply to return the list of tags on the parent window.
Select Reset to clear your search criteria. Select Cancel to close the window.

Displaying Tag Trend Data

About this task

You can trend for selected tag(s). If you choose more than one tag at a time, then the trend of each tag will be shown in different colors.

Procedure

Select one or more tags on the Tag Details page.
Select the button at the bottom of the page and select the Trend option.
The Trend page displays the trend of the last 10 minutes with an interval of 1 minute and interpolated sampling mode. By default, all selected tag trends are shown.

What to do next

To zoom in on the trend, select and drag to select the region to zoom in on.
To zoom out on the trend, select the Reset Zoom button.
To see the tag name, date/time, quality, and value at an instance, hover your mouse over the trend.
You can change the type of trend you want to view: Line, Column, or Area.
Selected tag names are shown as legends; select to see a particular tag's trend and select again to hide the trend.
Select the Refresh button to refresh the page.
Select the Close button to cancel the operation.

Displaying Raw Data Samples

About this task

You can view the most recent ten raw samples for one or more selected tags.

Procedure

Select one or more tags on the Tag Details page.

Note: If you choose Select All, only the data for the first 10 tags selected will be displayed.
Select the button at the bottom of the page and select the Last 10 Raw Values option.
The Last 10 Raw Values for selected Tag(s) window appears, displaying the tag name, timestamp, value, and quality for each selected tag.

What to do next

For each selected tag, values are sorted by timestamp in descending order.
Where necessary, tag names are truncated and indicated with an ellipsis "..."
To view the full name, hover over the tag name. A tooltip displays the full tag name.
Panes can be collapsed and expanded to see the last 10 raw values for more selected tags.
Select Refresh button to refresh the page.
Select Close button to cancel the operation.

Dynamic Collector Updates

The dynamic collector update feature ensures that any modifications done to the tag configuration do not affect all the tags in a collector. Only the tags that stop data collection will record zero data and bad quality without restarting the collector. In other words, the tags that do not stop data collection do not record bad data samples to the collection.

Whenever you add tags, delete tags, or modify certain tag properties, the following collectors reload only the modified tag(s) without restarting the collectors.

OPC Collector
iFIX collector
Calculation collector
Simulation Collector
Server to Server Collector
PI Collector
PI Distributor

If you disable On-line Tag Configuration Changes option, any changes you make to the tags do not affect collection until after you restart the collector and the data archiver. You can restart the data archiver from Windows services. To restart the collector, stop and start the collector service or executable (or use Configuration Hub). Restarting the collector stops and restarts the tag(s) collection and records bad data samples to the collection. If the modified tags get zero bad markers and available runtime values at the same time, then precedence is given to available runtime values instead of zero bad markers.

All the collector configuration changes done within a 30 second time frame are batched together. When possible, update/modify a small set of tags at a time to collect the modified data faster. However, when updating large sets of tags at the same time, best practice is to disable On-line Tag Configuration Changes and restart the collector after you are finished.

Starting or Stopping Data Collection For a Tag

About this task

For a tag to stop and restart collection without restarting the collector, the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option must be enabled. By default, the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option is enabled. If necessary, enable the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option on the Advanced section of the Collector Maintenance page.

Procedure

In the Tag Viewer section of the Tags page, select the tag from the list.
In the Tag Editor section, select Collection.
Scroll down to the Collection field and either:
- Disable the collection option.
- Enable the collection option.
Select Update.

Reload Tag Parameters

Whenever you modify certain tag parameters, the following collectors reload only the modified tags without restarting the collectors.

OPC Collector
iFIX collector
Calculation collector
Simulation Collector
Server to Server Collector
PI Collector
PI Distributor

For a tag to stop and restart the collection without restarting the collector, you must select the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option on the Advanced section of the Collector Maintenance page. By default, the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option is enabled.

If you disable the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option, any changes you make to the tags do not affect collection until after you restart the collector. To restart the collector you must stop and start the collector service or executable. Restarting the collector stops and restarts the tag(s) collection and records bad data samples to the collection. All the collector configuration changes done within a 30 second time frame are batched together and applied to the collector. If the modified tags get zero bad markers and available runtime values at the same time, then precedence is given to available runtime values instead of zero bad markers.

It is recommended that you update/modify a small set of tags at a time to collect the modified data faster. It is recommended to you disable the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option while updating large sets of tags at the same time, and restart the collector after modification.

Tag Properties that Cause the Tag Collection to Stop and Restart

Changes to the following tag properties cause an updated/modified tag to stop and restart the collection, when the On-Line Tag Configuration Changes option is enabled:

Collector Name
Collector Type
SourceAddress
Spare 1 5
Data Type
Collection Interval
Collection Offset
Collection Disabled/Enabled (CollectionDisabled in SDK)
Collection Type
TimeStampType
Calculation Dependencies (in SDK) or Calculation Triggers (in Historian Administrator) applies to Server-to-Server and Calculation collectors only

Tag Properties that Do Not Cause the Tag Collection to Stop and Restart

The following tag properties do not cause the tag collection to stop and restart, but the collectors use these new values immediately (when the On-Line Tag Configuration Changes option is enabled):

High Engineering Units
Low Engineering Units
Input Scaling
High Scale
Low Scale
Collector Compression
Collector Deadband Percent Range
Collector Compression Timeout

Rename Tags

Note: To rename tags, you must be a member of the administrator's group with tag level security.

New tag names are called active tag names and old tag names are called aliases.

You can also rename or permanently rename tags using the Non-Web Historian Administrator, the Excel Add-in, or the Application Program Interfaces (ihSDK, ihUAPI, or ihAPI).

If you modify the properties of a renamed tag, the properties of all of its aliases will also be updated.

Whenever you rename a tag, only the active (newest) tag name will be visible in the Tags list on Historian Administrator Tag page. You can rename tags multiple times, but only the latest, active tag name will be visible in the Tags list.

You can also retrieve the data using any alias (that is, the new or old tag names). However, the Tag page will display only an active tag name (that is, the new tag name). Whenever you change or copy a tag name, the information about the old tag name, new tag name, and time stamps are all recorded in the audit trail.

Be aware of the following when you are using the Tag Rename feature:

If you modify a renamed tag property, then all of the alias' tag properties will also be updated.
If you delete a renamed tag, then all the aliases will also be deleted.
You can rename tags multiple times, but only the latest active tag name (renamed tag name) will be visible in the Tags list.
If you rename a tag, the tag count does not increase.
If you copy a tag, then the tag count increases.
An alias can be queried, but cannot be modified or deleted.

Permanently Rename a Tag

You can permanently rename a tag if you no longer want to read from and write to a tag by its previous name. Permanently renaming makes the previous tag name available for new usage. For example, if you had permanently renamed Tag A to Tag B, you can create a new tag with the tag name Tag A with no linkage to the previous tag.

Things you need to know when you are using the Permanent Rename feature:

If you permanently rename a tag, the tag name will be updated with the new tag name and the old tag name will be lost.
You can permanently rename tags multiple times, but only the latest tag name (new tag name) will be visible in the Tags list.
If you permanently rename a tag, the tag count does not increase.
Store and forward data will be lost if you do a permanent rename and the data is sent using the old tag name.
There will be loss of data during the process of permanently renaming a tag. If you are going to perform permanent rename, it is recommended to stop the collector and then permanently rename the tag.
If a tag is permanently renamed and is a trigger tag to other tags, then you need to re-assign the new trigger name to the tags.

Copying a Tag

About this task

If you copy a tag, then the tag count increases.

Procedure

Select the Copy button in the Tags page.
The Copy Tag window appears.
Enter a tag name for the new tag.
Select OK.

Renaming a Tag

About this task

Renaming a tag creates an alias for the tag. Only the name changes; none of the tag's properties are changed. The tag data can be referred to using any alias for that tag, including the current name. Renaming a tag does not increase the tag count.

Procedure

Double-click the Tag link in the Tag Details page.
The tag name becomes editable.
Enter a new tag name and press the Enter key.

What to do next

If you are connecting to Historian 3.5 collectors, then you must restart the respective collectors before browsing the tags.

Renaming a Tag Permanently

About this task

Tag renaming only changes the tag's name without changing any of the tag's properties.

Procedure

In the Tag page, select the tag you want to rename.
Select the arrow button in the right-hand section and select Rename.
The Rename Tag window appears.
Enter a new tag name.
Select OK.
A message box appears confirming that you want to permanently rename the tag.
Select Yes to permanently rename the tag.

What to do next

If you are connecting to Historian 3.5 collectors, then you must restart the respective collectors before browsing the tags.

Stale Tag Management

Stale tags are tags that have no new data samples within a specified period of time. These tags add to system overhead and slow down user queries. The Data Store Configuration option allows system administrators to configure the time period after which tags are considered stale and how often the system should check for stale tags.

Under the default configuration, tags are never considered stale. This effectively disables stale tag management.

To see the names and descriptions of all currently stale tags, use the IsStale criteria in a tag search.

To improve performance, permanently delete unused tags. Perform a tag search using the IsStale criteria and select Permanently Delete Tag.

Delete Tags

There are key differences between deleting and permanently deleting a tag.


Delete	Permanently Delete
The tag is removed from the tag database but any data for that tag is retained in the archive	All data associated with the tag is completely lost and the tag name is available for reuse.
Tag data is still available from the archive, so you can still reference that tag, for example, from within a calculation formula or by using the Excel Add-In.	Tag data is no longer available from the archives and you will not be able to query the existing data for that tag.

Deleting a Tag

Procedure

In the Tag page, select a tag from the list.
Select the button at the bottom right of the page. The Delete Tag window appears.
Select the Remove Tag(s) from System option and select OK. This removes the tag from the Tag Database but retains any data for that tag in the archive.
A message box appears asking you to confirm the deletion. Select Yes to delete the tag.

Deleting a Tag Permanently

Procedure

In the Tag page, select a tag from the list.
Select the Delete button. The Delete Tag window appears.
Select the Permanently Remove Tag(s) from System option and select OK. This permanently removes the tag from the Tag Database.
A message box appears asking you to confirm the deletion. Select Yes to delete the tag.