Initial Sync Masks tab

The Initial Sync Masks tab contains the default per-point synchronization settings that are assigned to an existing PI point the first time PI APS sees it and to an available point when PI APS creates it:

As discussed in Principles of operation for PI APS, the Synchronization Engine must have per-point synchronization settings for every existing point. If the Synchronization Engine encounters an existing point that does not have per-point synchronization settings, the default settings in the Existing PI Points area are assigned to the point. An existing point can have no per-point synchronization settings in two situations. First, if an interface already has configured points when it is registered, those points do not have per-point synchronization settings. On the first synchronization scan for the interface following registration, the default settings in the Existing PI Points area are assigned to all of the existing points for the interface. Following the initial synchronization for an interface, creating a PI point with any tool other than PI APS is the second way a point can come into existence without having per-point synchronization settings. That is, tools like PI SMT, piconfig, and PI Tag Configurator are unaware of PI APS and, therefore, simply create PI points without notifying PI APS. Any PI point created for the interface outside of PI APS does not have per-point synchronization settings until the first synchronization scan following its creation or the PI APS Configuration Utility loads the point into the grid area. When PI APS first discovers a new point, PI APS assigns the default per-point synchronization settings from the Existing PI Points area.

After synchronization settings for a point are stored in the APSPoints database, changes made to the settings in the Existing PI Points area do not affect the point. To change the per-point synchronization settings for an existing point, load the PI points into the main window grid area and click the Sync Settings command on the shortcut menu, which opens the Sync Settings per Point dialog box (see Sync Settings per Point dialog box).

Note: Review and adjust the settings in the Existing PI Points area before the first synchronization after registration, particularly if you intend to enable the master synchronization setting.

The per-point synchronization settings in the Available Points area are assigned to PI points that PI APS creates. If the interface is configured for automatic creation of points not in PI Server, the Synchronization Engine creates PI points and assigns them the default per-point synchronization settings from the Available Points area. If the PI APS Configuration Utility creates PI points for available points stored in the APSPoints database, the default per-point synchronization settings from this area are assigned to the new points.

Note: The per-point synchronization settings do not apply during point creation. That is, all attributes provided by the PI APS Connector are used for point creation. The per-point synchronization settings only apply to subsequent edits after a point is created.

The settings in the two areas provide different sets of default per-point synchronization settings for PI points created by PI APS versus points created by other tools. Since PI points created by PI APS are in synchronization at creation, usually PI APS is allowed to synchronize those points. However, attributes for points created by other tools might have come from sources other than the data source and should not be changed to the data source values. That is, a more restrictive set of per-point synchronization settings is frequently required for points created by other tools. Settings in the two areas address these two cases.

Both areas contain a list of the Syncable Attributes supported by the PI APS Connector, two option buttons under the Point is sync'd by APS: label, and three buttons. The Point is sync'd by APS: buttons select the master synchronization setting assigned to a point. The boxes in the check lists select the individual synchronization setting for each attribute. The settings for individual attributes can be toggled by clicking on the boxes in the check list.

The Check All button enables the individual synchronization setting for all attributes.

The Uncheck All button disables the individual synchronization setting for all attributes.

The Use Default button restores the individual synchronization setting for all attributes to the recommended settings built into the PI APS Connector.

When an interface is registered, the initial Point is sync'd by APS: selection defaults to No. This default was chosen to ensure that PI APS does not begin synchronization on any points until explicitly enabled. The initial settings for the individual attribute synchronization settings are obtained from recommendations built into the PI APS Connecter for the interface.