Glossary

namespace

A container for a set of names in a naming system. A tag dictionary is a namespace.

NEQL

Niagara Entity Query Language provides a simple mechanism for querying objects with tags. Whereas BQL supports the tree semantics and pathing of Workbench component space (for example parent.parent) and BFormat operations, NEQL queries only for tags using the Niagara 4 tagable and entity APIs.

niagara_user_home

The location(s) under which all configurable data resides. Included are stations, templates, tag dictionaries, registry, logs, and other data.

Unique to Niagara 4, the Windows host usually has at least two niagara_user_homes:

Workbench User Home, which you see in Workbench as User Home.
Daemon user home, which you access using a local platform connection.

For more details, see “ Niagara 4 directory (homes) architecture” in the Niagara Platform Guide.

relation

A piece of semantic information (metadata) that indicates how components are related to each other.

Relations provide metadata used primarily in building hierarchies for logical views of your system based on relationships between components. You add relations between components for purposes of building hierarchies. Optionally, adding one or more tags to a relation provides additional metadata which allows for more specific filtering when building hierarchies.

station template

A station template is a specialization which contains a complete set of configured objects, everything required for the initial starting point for a new station. The New Station wizard in Tools utilizes default station templates (NewControllerStation.nptl and NewSupervisorStation.nptl) as well as any user-defined station templates.

tag

A piece of semantic information (metadata) associated with a device or point (entity) for the purpose of filtering or grouping entities. Tags identify the purpose of the component or point and its relationship to other entities. For example, you may wish to view only data collected from meters located in maintenance buildings as opposed to those located in office buildings or schools. For this grouping to work, the metering device in each maintenance building includes a tag that associates the meter with all the other maintenance buildings in your system.

JACEs are associated with Supervisors based on tags; searching is done based on tags.

Tags are contained in tag dictionaries. Each tag dictionary is referenced by a unique namespace.

tag dictionary

Tag dictionaries contain a set of tag definitions, and may contain tag group definitions, relation definitions, as well as tag rules for smart tags.

template

A deployable package of Niagara objects used to streamline repetitive configuration steps when making multiple installations with similar functionality. For example, when setting up a new device by deploying a device template, only unique device properties require configuration. Templates are indexed and searchable.

template designer

The template designer is the person who creates and maintains a template.

template user

The template user is the person who deploys a template to configure an installed instance.