Model wizard - Model Data Items step

Important! If you are planning to use Expression Rules, State Machines, or Threshold Rules, be sure that the names of data items are not the reserved words for Rules (the namespaces - Alarm, DataItem, Device, File, Location, Registration, User, and Trigger).

If you need to use the dot or period character, keep in mind that this character is used as the delimiter between a namespace and a symbol in Expression Rules (see Expression Rule Syntax). For the DataItem namespace, this character is also used as the delimiter between the namespace and the name of the data item. For example: DataItem.Temp.value, where DataItem is the namespace, Temp is the name of the data item, and "value" is a symbol of the DataItem namespace. In addition, if you configured Data Item Groups in Axeda Builder, Builder users the dot as the delimiter between the name of the Data Item Group and the name of the Data Item. For best practices, try NOT to use a dot in the name of a data item.

In this page, you can add new data items for this model, modify data items, or remove data items for this model:

To add new data items

1. Type the name of the new data item. This value is required, and must be unique within the model. You can use up to 255 alphanumeric characters (a through z, A through Z, and 0 through 9) for a data item name. In addition, you can use the underscore character (_), the colon character (:), and the dot or period character (.). You cannot use spaces or any other special character.

2. Type an alias for this data item. An alias is optional and will be used instead of the full data item name in the Axeda® Connected Product Management Applications wherever this data item is shown.

3. Select the data type for the data item, either analog (double format), digital (Boolean format), or string (alphanumeric format). This value is required.

4. Select the units of measure to apply to this data item. Only units of measure applicable to the selected data item type appear for selection.

If you do not see a unit of measure you want, you can create one. The units of measure you create in this page can be used for data items of any model.

Note: For this release it is advised that you create new units of measure in the Enter the details of this unit of measure page, from the New menu, instead of following step 5, below.

5. If you need to create a unit of measure, type the name of a new unit of measure in the Create new unit box and click Create. You now need to select that unit for this data item, from the Units box.

6. Type a description of the data item. This description is optional and, if provided, provides a brief summary of the information contained in a data item.

7. In the Attributes line, select Read Only if thecannot write values back to the actual data point in the data source.

8. In the Attributes line, select Visible if the data item should appear in the various Application pages; otherwise, the data item and its value will be hidden from view). This attribute is selected by default. Note that if you choose the No Storage option, the Visible attribute is disabled (unchecked) automatically.

9. In the Attributes line, select Forwarded if the Axeda® Platform will forward values for this data item to a configured parent server (as defined in the Administration application).

10. In the Storage Options line, select an option. Click here to show/hide the details.

11. When ready, click Add. The new data item appears in the table, in alphanumeric order.

12. Repeat to create additional data items.

To modify data items

1. In the table, select the name of a data item to modify. The properties for that data item appear above the table.

2. Type the changed properties for the data item.

3. Click Modify.

To remove data items

Note: Before you remove a data item, make sure the data item is not configured in a critical operation.

1. To remove a data item, select the check box for that data item and click Remove checked. To remove all data items shown in this page (not the entire table), click the check box in the table heading and click Remove checked. A message appears prompting you to confirm the deletion.

2. Click OK in the warning message. The data item(s) are removed from the model and no longer appear in the table.

When you are finished with your changes in this page, click Next to configure or view one of the following items:

o If the pages for the TotalAccess Server are enabled, the next step is to configure the Connection Bindingss for this model.

o If the TotalAccess Server pages are not enabled, the next step is to configure the properties for this model.

Alternatively, click Finish if you are done modifying the model. If you click Cancel and continue canceling, all information configured in this wizard is removed and a list of models appears.