PI Server
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PI Server feedback page!
We created this forum to hear your ideas, feature suggestions and feedback on PI Server. Please suggest your most important features and design change ideas on this site, and vote for your favorite ideas.
Please note that your ideas and comments posted here are visible to all other users.
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Support import/export of AF tables in PI Builder
As a user, I want to be able to import/export AF tables using PI Builder, so that I can make changes as needed.
54 votes -
Editing or adding of Annotation/Comment to Event Frame
Currently, PI Builder does not support editing or adding of annotation/comment to Event Frame. The suggestion will easily allow users to backfill or edit annotation/comment in bulk.
21 votes -
Ability to Manage Global Notification Formats from PI Builder
Currently, there is no button in PI Builder which allows users to bring in Global Notifications Formats. The button would allow users to read in current Formats and then users would be able to Publish edited formats or newly created formats. This would give users another tool to manage Formats other than using PSE.
15 votes -
Generate error when header is misspelled
When editing PI Points, PI Builder does not return any error if one of the headers is wrong or misspelled. Simply, nothing is edited for that header and you only find out at a later time when looking at the PI point. It would be useful if PI Builder could inform you when one of the headers does not match any PI Point attributes.
14 votes -
Use Excel tables to contain PI Builder data
PI Builder should use tables (the kind of table found in the Insert tab on the Ribbon) whenever headers are set up and whenever data is imported from the PI Data Archive or the PI Asset Framework.
Benefits of PI Builder using tables:
• filters are on by default, and they do not use up the 1 filter that is allowed per sheet
• readable formulas that automatically fill the table column
• explicit isolation of PI Builder data from the rest of the sheet
• banded rows are an option14 votes -
Add 'Snapshot Value' column option
When retrieving all PI points, there should be an option to also include the Snapshot value. Currently, a user must use other means to retrieve all current values and then merge the two together.
7 votes -
Allow PI Builder to be used with Windows Store Application version of Excel
If Excel is installed as a Windows Store Application instead of a Desktop Application, the PI AF Client installer doesn't allow PI Builder to be installed. The reason for that is that it can't determine the Excel version through the registry.
PI DataLink faces the same problem, but there you have a workaround by editing the Setup.ini file. See this KCS: "PI DataLink setup kit does not detect Office that has been installed via Windows Store (220739)". This does not appear to exist for PI Builder.
Either a workaround or a genuine solution would be appreciated.
5 votes -
Analysis configuration on PI Builder
It would be nice to split the configuration string of an Analysis Rule along several Excel cells, for (i) better readability and (ii) avoid hitting the limit of characters on a single Excel cell (currently, 32,767 characters).
It would be specially helpful with large analyses.
4 votes -
Include the "Primary Parent" checkbox functionality under PSE's "Change Reference Type" dialog in PI Builder
In PSE, you can right click an element reference > Convert > Change Reference Type... and have the option to make your current element reference the Primary Parent via a check box. This functionality is not replicated in PI Builder. Thus, you have to do this in 3 steps:
1) Delete the Element Reference
2) Publish primary parent with the NewParent column set to the path where you would like the primary parent to be
3) Add an Element Reference to the Primary Parent at its new location.This is a bit cumbersome to accomplish the same thing as a…
4 votes -
Additional Import/Export option for servers that do not have an Excel plugin
The excel plugin is very useful for making bulk edits and changes. Unfortunately, all customers either do not have the excel software plugin or flat out do not allow the installation of excel on their machines thus eliminating the ability to utilize the excel plugin.
In these cases, it would be incredibly useful to have the ability to perform the exact same function that PI Builder provides but built into the System Management Tools, System Explorer, etc. so that it is not necessary to have excel installed. This way, I can export data in a pi builder format, move the…
4 votesReopening this discussion….
I may have misunderstood your original request. Are you asking for us to replicate the PI Builder functionalities in SMT or PI System Explorer? Or are you asking for a way to export into a file so that you can then use PI Builder in a separate machine with this file?
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Add Tag Import feature like old "PI Tag Configurator"
Add Tag Import feature like old "PI Tag Configurator": PI Builder cannot import attributes of a list of tags pasted into the spreadsheet from another source like "PI Tag Configurator" could. With PI Builder, if you have want to work on tags that don't group together well by name or description, you have to either make multiple, varied searches or pull in an extra large pack of tags and pair them down. Also, its tag search is inferior, limited to Name, Source, type, class, units, and description. There is no way to search by Location1, creation date, etc. Please review…
3 votes -
More flexible search results for PI Builder
Allow users more selection of which columns to include in search results (before tag selection). Some customers may wish to reference tag metadata that cannot currently be displayed, including InstrumentTag and UserInt1.
Note that this is not referring to the information PI Builder puts into an Excel file, but the results of the tag search before even selecting which metadata for each tag to include in the Excel export.
2 votes -
Remove limit on the number of attributes that can be selected in PI Builder
Currently, in PI Builder there is a hard limit on the number of columns that can be selected (it is set to 1023 columns). It makes it hard to work with templates that have over 1020 attributes configured and limits the configuration capabilities.
2 votes -
Change behavior to retrieve contacts in bulk
In a large scale deployment, or in an undersized system retrieving AF Contacts, or accessing the subscription tab on a Notification Rule can be slow. A solution is of course to properly size the system or reduce the scale, however there is a compounding effect where contacts are retrieved one at a time instead of in bulk. Changing this behavior would significantly mitigate this issue even if the system is undersized as the call would only happen once not once per contact.
This is also the case if there is a performance issue (network, etc...) when accessing AD. As there…
2 votes -
Ability to edit "escalation team" member priority in PI Builder
There is currently no way to edit priority for member of an escalation team in bulk, it has to be done one by one in PSE. For users that have 30+ escalation teams, this is a lot of tedious work. it would be nice to be able to pull in the escalation team object with its members and their priority number, edit the priority numbers, and publish to AF.
2 votes -
Preserve formatting in PI Builder when use Simplified Configuration Strings
If the "Show simplified configuration strings" option is selected in Settings, this removes GUIDS from the output in Excel.
However, this option also removes the linefeeds in any formatted Analyses. If reloaded then this can corrupt the analyses - especially if comments are used.
Please add an option to remove GUIDS but preserve formatting.
@OSIsoft: Refer to TechSupport case 929964 for information.
2 votesThis was treated as a tech support case rather than a new idea.
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Rename "PIAFBuilder" to "PI Builder" in Excel's add-in lists
The name "PIAFBuilder" still appears in at least 2 places in Excel (see the attached screenshots):
File → Options → Add-ins
Developer tab → COM Add-insPlease change the name to "PI Builder". "PI AF Builder" was the name of PI Builder before PI AF Builder incorporated the functionality of the PI Tag Configurator.
2 votes -
Eliminate the 2-cell-wide blank border around PI Builder data
When I import data using PI Builder, I usually want to filter the data and create calculated columns, but these prove to be more painful than necessary.
If I put filters on the columns containing PI Builder data and then click on the filter dropdown arrow, every column will contain "(Blanks)" as an entry because the 2 blank rows underneath the PI Builder data are included as part of the PI Builder data. This happens because PI Builder modified these rows during the import.
Calculated columns are useful to modify the values in an existing column. For the fill-down to…
2 votes -
Provide PI Builder Functionality In A Google Sheets Add-on
A significant number of companies are moving from the Microsoft Office suite to "G Suite" (Google). This move takes customers from MS Excel to Google Sheets, and they would like to retain PI Builder as a functional add-on.
1 vote -
Be able to deselect Element Object Type
It is currently not possible to deselect the Object Type "Element" in the "Select Object Tyoes and Column Headers" screen. This makes it annoying to search globally for things like Notification Rules and similar, as the results always include all Elements. Those then have to be filtered out, so that only the wanted Object type is left over. Finding and retrieving all the information for all elements can take a long while, depending on the size of the PI System.
1 vote
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