{"id":8966,"date":"2017-12-20T09:58:36","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T01:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/help\/?page_id=8966"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:06:25","slug":"explorers-data","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/oihelp.corporate.ifs.com\/help\/p2-explorer\/explorer-primers\/explorers-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Explorer’s Data"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overview<\/h2>\n

IFS OI Explorer uses IFS OI Server to deliver data from any number of data sources or calculations, on demand.<\/p>\n

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This article describes the different types of data that Explorer can display, and how Explorer displays and interacts with the data.<\/p>\n

Related: See more about data formats and data types in IFS OI Server<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Data Flow<\/h2>\n

IFS OI Server fetches data for IFS OI Explorer's pages, trends and hierarchies.<\/p>\n

Tabular Data<\/h3>\n

Typically, tabular data is used to populate charts, data tables and pivot tables, utilising large sets of data.<\/p>\n

Explorer requests the data using user-controlled variables<\/a> or default values<\/a> on a page, to set query parameters.<\/p>\n

Tabular Data is retrieved from a relational database by Server (using dataset queries<\/a> that are stored in the Server database), then displayed on Explorer pages.<\/p>\n

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Time Series Data<\/h3>\n

Time series data is used in Explorer Trends, or on graphical display components such as tanks, meters and gauges on Explorer Pages. Data labels can be used to show time series (tag) data on a schematic diagram, showing changing values for different date selections, or for different selected entities.<\/p>\n

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A schematic diagram, with time series data showing in the data labels (highlighted)<\/p><\/div>\n

Typically, Explorer requests the data when a user navigates through a page hierarchy, selecting various entities, or when a user changes periods using one of the various time picker controls.<\/p>\n

Time series data<\/a> is retrieved from an historian, using a Server Adaptor<\/a> specially suited for the type of historian, or from a relational database, using Server's Relational Adaptor, and then displayed on Explorer pages.<\/p>\n

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Attribute Values<\/h4>\n

Tags can be assigned to an entity's attribute values, so that this becomes time series data. (Other options for an attribute value are fixed values, which can be of type: Boolean, Date Time, Decimal, Duration, Integer, or String.)<\/p>\n

Calculations<\/h4>\n

Tags can form part of a calculation expression. Calculations that use tags are also time series data.<\/p>\n

Digital State Sets<\/h4>\n

Digital State Sets can be defined in Server and then applied to tags and calculations.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of digital state sets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Digital State 1<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nDigital State 2<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nDigital State 3 <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Name<\/strong><\/td>\nValue<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nName<\/strong><\/td>\nValue<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nName<\/strong><\/td>\nValue<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Off<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nOff<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nOff<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
On<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nOn<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nOn<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nOpen<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nFail<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\nClosed<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Tags or calculations that are assigned a Digital State Set will display the string value (Name)<\/em> from the Digital State Set in place of the corresponding digital value (Value) <\/em>from that State Set, when used in any of the following of Explorer\u2019s page components:<\/p>\n