Understand version management for equipment and processes

When you need to make an equipment change, such as swapping out a broken pump for a similar pump, you can continue to use the existing element to represent the new pump. However, to indicate that a change has occurred, it is a good idea to create a new version of the element. That way you have a record of the change to the equipment that the element represents.

Similarly, you might need to create versions of a table. For example, strapping tables of tanks are updated periodically to match the changing physical characteristics of the tank. By versioning the table, you will be able to use the table as it was configured at the time of the data collection.

PI System Explorer allows you to create multiple versions of elements, models, and tables.

You can also indicate an element, model, or table is not in service past a specific date by selecting that date as its obsolete date.

Videos

For an overview of version management, watch this video:

For information on how to create versions of elements and tables, watch this video:

Tip: To learn how to change the query date in order to find previous versions of an object, see Overview of object versions and obsolete objects.