About Station Info

The JoinProfile has a frozen container slot Station Info (Station Information), which is empty by default, as shown in Figure 23.

Figure 23. Empty (default) StationInfo container under JoinProfile

Station Info allows you to add string-value metadata about the subordinate (JACE) station, where it can be used in different ways on export to the Supervisor station. Examples of possible Station Info properties are “State”, “City”, “StoreNumber”, “ZipCode”, and so on.

Adding Station Info

Add properties using the slot sheet (right-click Station Info and select Views->Slot Sheet).
Right-click in the slot sheet view and select Add Slot. The Add Slot popup dialog appears.
In the Add Slot dialog, type in the property name in the Name field, for example, State or City. This will be the default descriptor for this property on the property sheet.
Make sure that Type is: baja , String. Click (check) the Metadata flag.
Click OK to add and return to the slot sheet.
As needed, repeat steps 2 through 5 to add more Station Info properties.
When finished adding properties, you can assign them string values. Double-click Station Info for its property sheet.
In the Station Info property sheet, type in the property values, and click Save. Station Info values can now be used in export tag functions.

Figure 24. Example Station Info properties (slot sheet, property sheet)

Using Station Info

Station Info can be used in various ways, including:

Automatic, logical “NiagaraStationFolder” creation and organization on the Supervisor station, for exported stations (NiagaraStations). This is particularly useful for extremely large systems, with many JACE stations.

Do this by incorporating Station Info in the SupervisorExportTagNetworkExt property “Station Folder Path”. For related details, see property descriptions in the section SupervisorExportTagNetworkExt.
Availability on the Supervisor station for BQL queries of NiagaraStations based upon this metadata.
Incorporation in the station’s “display name” on the Supervisor, if desired. See the Note in the “Station Display Name” property description in the section Editing the Join Profile.

Note Following an export tag Join, the corresponding NiagaraStation on the Supervisor station will also have a “Station Info” device extension, containing the same properties and values added in the Station Info container under the JoinProfile on the JACE station.Consider the Supervisor copy a “slave” version—although you can modify or add to it, changes are not filtered back down to the subordinate (JACE) station. For this reason, it is recommended that you make all changes in the JoinProfile’s Station Info on the JACE station.Also, note that the Supervisor’s copy of Station Info is used in the Join process. Therefore, if changes are needed, it is recommended you make changes to the Station Info of the JoinProfile before the next Join.