As a PI System Admin, I would like to reference an attribute value as part of my attribute data references for a String Builder data reference. For example, suppose I have a parent asset 'Parent' with an attribute of 'XD5' and a child element 'Child' with an attribute 'ID' with a value of '5'. It is currently not possible to build an attribute with a String Builder data reference at the 'Child' level that both:
1. Builds an attribute reference string by referencing the value of an attribute at the current asset level (e.g. 'ID')
Then retrieves the value of a parent attribute (e.g. 'XD5') using the string built in Step 1.

Allowing nested attribute references for String Builder Data References. would enable this functionality.

Some metadata can be used in Analyses, which is helpful, but means constantly running an analysis on static data in order to use it at all in AF, which is inefficient, and we have been told to pull in data as a linked table into AF, which seems unnecessary as the data already exists in the PI environment.

Please allow us to pull in metadata as Attributes in AF, which then makes things much easier to view, check for accuracy, and update, using all of the extra capabilities of AF which are much more robust and easier to use than using Datalink or Builder.

Any attribute can already be used in analysis, so checking for things like missing Engineering Units (even though it is text,) or bad Compression/Exception settings, or anything else could be templatized and automated across the entire system, but not needed just to pull the data in every time there is a change.

It would be nice if these could be made as easy choices as child attributes for any PI Tag attribute. Having them in AF makes it much easier to search and grab all of them for any sort of structure that has been designed in AF at one time, whether it is by equipment type, location, etc.

I have a template Vessel Mobile and also Templates Vessel Processvalues and Vessel Setpoins. I already created Refrence Typse, so a Template Vessel Processvalues is a child of a Vessel Mobile.

But when i add a Element based on my Template Vessel Mobile, only the Element Vessel mobile is created - i miss the child templates "vessel Processvalues" and Vessel Setpoints":

Of course i can add these Elements manually

but i search for an automatic way. So i only include my Element based on vessel mobile and the child templates for process values and setpoints are added without doing it manually.

We are creating hundreds of different attributes in AF, mostly based on templates and using these in PIVision.

One thing that is annoying is when you make the PIVision image you have to manually change the colour of the symbol you use/trend you created etc to reflect the medium of the attribute that is used. Sometimes you even have to change the HEX colour code since it does not match the standard colour palette.

What I am suggesting is to have a Colour Datafield in System Explorer for attributes.

Here we can define the colour (via HEX code or another way), so when this attribute is used in PIVision, the colour is automatically selected.

No Colour Set = Manual/Default PIVision Colour.
Colour Set = Colour chosen by default in PIVision.

Should be overridable in PIVision if people wish etc.

As we adopt more and more AF databases as part of how we do business, the ability to easily maintain them becomes more and more important.

We have created documents to detail the business process flow to follow to update AF databases, but these are stored as documents on sharepoint sites, and not easily linkable to the actual AF databases. We can put a link to them in the database "Description", but it is a workaround.

It would be great to have the ability to better document AF databases. This could take a number of forms from the very basic to the more advanced:
Eg (some or all of these could be implemented)
1.) Make the "Description" field on the AF Database General tab larger, and multi-line. Do the same for Tables, Analyses etc.
2.) Provide a way to link to documentation (eg. have a "documentation" button that links to a sharepoint URL).
3.) Provide a list of PI points consumed and updated by the database.
4.) Use different coloured icons for tables that are local and tables that have external connections.
5.) Have a "Documentation" element for each AF database, for example an html-based document that implements wiki functionality.
6.) ??