Modify Tag Parameters

By default, the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option is enabled, which allows a tag to stop and restart data collection without restarting the collector. All collector configuration changes done within a 30 second time frame are batched up together. To collect the modified data faster, update/modify a small set of tags at a time. When updating large sets of tags at the same time, best practice is to disable the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option and restart the collector after modification.

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 enable or disable the On-line Tag Configuration Changes option, select Advanced on the Collector Maintenance page.

CAUTION: Restarting the collector stops and restarts data collection and may record bad data samples to the collection.
Collectors that Reload instead of Restarting: Whenever you modify 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
Tag Properties that Cause Tag Collection to Stop and Restart: Changes to the following tag properties cause tag collection to stop and restart, assuming 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 Tag Collection to Stop and Restart: Changes to the following tag properties do not stop and restart tag collection. The collectors use these new values immediately if 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