SQLTags

Introduction

SQLTagsTM is the tag database mechanism of Ignition. Each tag in Ignition is a SQLTag, irregardless of whether the value comes from OPC, an expression, or is static. SQLTags provide a variety of configuration options, such as alerting, scaling, and historical storage.

SQLTags are stored in tag providers. By default, a fresh Ignition installation will have an internal tag provider - this can be thought of as a standard internal tag database. Additionally, it is possible create external DB-based tag providers, thus turning your SQL database into the tag database. This ability opens up some very flexible architectures and is the primary reason why SQLTags have their name.

Main benefits of SQLTags

SQLTags work naturally with Ignition to offer many exciting features:

Drag and Drop screen design

Using the Vision module, drag and drop tags onto a window to automatically create new bound components. Drag tags onto existing components or properties to quickly bind them to the data. Creating powerful status and control screens is literally just clicks away!

Performance and Scalability

SQLTags offer terrific performance on both the gateway and client side. On the gateway side, the system can support thousands of value changes per second, and hundreds of thousands of tags overall. On the client side, SQLTags improve efficiency with their lightweight subscription architecture. Adding additional clients creates a nearly negligible effect on the database and gateway performance.

Integrated component feedback

SQLTags feature a quality and overlay system for Vision module components. If a tag's data quality is anything but good, a component that depends on it will get a visual overlay. Input components display an animated overlay while write pending requests are being written. These features effectively communicate the status of the system at a glance.

One-click historical logging with SQLTags HistorianTM

SQLTags Historian makes it easier than ever to store and use historical data. By simply selecting a checkbox on a tag, historical data will be stored in an efficient format in your SQL database, and will be available for querying through scripting, historical bindings and reporting. Drag-and-drop tags directly onto an EasyChartTM to create trends, or onto a table to display historical values. SQLTags Historian's robust querying features give you great flexibility in how you retrieve the data.

Getting started with SQLTags

See the SQLTags section under Project Design for more information about creating and using SQLTags and SQLTags Historian.