A Data Point is a collection of associated historical values. For example, a particular point might be a temperature reading from a room, while another point could be the humidity reading from the same room. Points can also be control values, such as a switch to turn a piece of equipment on or off.
There are many attributes that control the behavior of points, but they fall into two groups:
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Point Locator
Locators tell the Data Source how to “find” the data for that point.
Example: An SQL Data Point’s locator specifies the table and column names from which to retrieve its value. -
Point Attributes
Determine other aspects of the point: its name, when and how often to log values, how long to retain historical data, how to render values for display, and how to chart them. These attributes are common across all points, though some apply only to specific data types.
You can also configure Data Points with Event Detectors, which watch for conditions of interest in a point’s values—such as high/low thresholds, lack of change, or excessive fluctuation—and raise alarms or take automated actions.
Data Types
There are five supported data types, each mapped to a Java primitive or object:
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Binary
Two-state values (zero vs. one).
Java type:boolean
Renderer: Text Renderer maps to custom labels (e.g., “On/Off”, “High/Low”). -
Multistate
Multiple distinct states, stored as integers (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 7…).
Java type:int(32-bit signed two’s complement)
Renderer: Text Renderer maps to labels (e.g., “Auto/Manual/Off”). -
Numeric
Decimal values such as temperature, pressure, or price.
Java type:double(64-bit IEEE 754 floating point)
Renderer: Formatting (decimal places, separators, units) or range-to-label conversions. -
Alphanumeric
Arbitrary text strings (e.g., device status messages, SNMP O/S descriptions).
Java type:String