In order for Geo SCADA Expert to create the relevant points in the database automatically, the required MQTT Sparkplug B EoN Node or MQTT Sparkplug B Device item has to exist in the database. The database item(s) on which it depends also have to exist in the database. All of the database items have to be configured appropriately to enable Geo SCADA Expert to communicate with the broker and retrieve data (including the Sparkplug birth certificate) from the EoN node or Sparkplug B device.

If you want Geo SCADA Expert to automatically set the values of specific configuration properties when it creates the points, you have to set up a Property Translation Table. You have to create the content for that table outside of Geo SCADA Expert, then import it into the database and associate it with the relevant EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device. You have to do this before using the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action. For more information, see Create the Content for a Property Translation Table, and see Use a Property Translation Table to Configure Automatically Created Points.

You should then be able to use the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action to trigger Geo SCADA Expert to create the relevant database points for the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device.

Preparation

Before using the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action, we recommend that you check whether any points already exist in the database that reference the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device on which the pick action is going to be triggered. With any existing points are no longer required, either delete them from the database, or ensure that their In Service check box is clear (to place them Out of Service). (For more information, see Placing an Item In Service.) This preparation helps to ensure that, once the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action has been run, only relevant points remain In Service. These comprise points on the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device that reference metrics that exist in the cached copy of that item's birth certificate.

If you want Geo SCADA Expert to automatically set the values of specific configuration properties when it creates the points, you have to set up a Property Translation Table. You have to create the content for that table outside of Geo SCADA Expert, then import it into the database and associate it with the relevant EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device. You have to do this before using the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action. For more information, see Create the Content for a Property Translation Table, and see Use a Property Translation Table to Configure Automatically Created Points.

When the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action is run, Geo SCADA Expert:

• Creates any new points that are required

• Sets the values of specific configuration properties in the newly created points. (If a Property Translation Table was used, this includes any configuration properties that were specified in that table (see Configure an MQTT Sparkplug™ B Property Translation Table).)

• Adjusts the configuration of any existing points that already reference a metric in the cached copy of the EoN Node or Sparkplug B device's birth certificate.

Geo SCADA Expert does not adjust the configuration of any existing points that reference a different metric. This comprises any points on the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device that reference a metric that does not exist in the cached copy of that item's birth certificate. Likewise, any existing points on which the Metric Name field is empty.

Additional Preparation if using Group Templates

If you intend using the Group Templates and Group Instances feature with MQTT Sparkplug B database items, along with the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action, we recommend that you:

1. Create and configure the initial MQTT Sparkplug B EoN Node or MQTT Sparkplug B Device in a 'normal' Group.

2. If you want Geo SCADA Expert to automatically set the values of specific configuration properties when it creates the points, set up a Property Translation Table. Create the content for that table outside of Geo SCADA Expert, then import it into the database and associate it with the relevant EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device. For more information, see Create the Content for a Property Translation Table, and see Use a Property Translation Table to Configure Automatically Created Points.

3. Use Geo SCADA Expert to communicate with the MQTT broker to retrieve that EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device's birth certificate.

4. Use the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action to trigger Geo SCADA Expert to create the MQTT Sparkplug B Points for that EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device.

5. Edit the points' configuration as required. This includes adjusting the configuration of any newly created points that are to be output points (Geo SCADA Expert creates all of the points as input points).

6. Convert the 'normal' Group in which the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device is located into a Group Template. (The Group Template contains the configuration and database items that will get replicated in any Group Instances that reference that Group Template.)

7. Create the Group Instances that are to reference that Group Template. (Typically one Group Instance for each EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device with which Geo SCADA Expert is to communicate.)

8. Edit the configuration of the database items that are in each Group Instance as required. (For example, to specify the Client Identifier of each Broker.)

For more information, see Group Templates and Group Instances in the Geo SCADA Expert Guide to Core Configuration.

Database Structure

Geo SCADA Expert will place the new points in the same group as the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device on which the pick action is triggered. (You might have to close and reopen the Group in the Database Bar in order to refresh that Explorer Bar so that it shoes the newly created point(s).)

Where a Metric Name includes any slash characters (/) to indicate that a metric is nested in a hierarchical structure, Geo SCADA Expert will use that information to create the relevant hierarchy of nested groups and will place the new points in the relevant group. The groups will be nested within the same group as the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device. (An exception to this is if the level of nesting exceeds to maximum level of nested groups that Geo SCADA Expert supports. In this case, Geo SCADA Expert will not create that particular point and will instead raise an alarm and log an event for the issue.)

Point Types

A default set of data types is used to map Geo SCADA Expert point types to Sparkplug B metric types. There might be some Sparkplug B metric types that cannot be represented by MQTT Sparkplug B Points in the database. With such metric types, a point will not be created and an entry will be logged in the Event Journal.

If a suitable MQTT Sparkplug B Point is found to already exist in the database and already reference a Metric Name, Geo SCADA Expert will attempt to adjust that point's properties in line with that of the metric. This will only occur if the point is of a suitable point type, otherwise an entry will be logged in the Event Journal to indicate that Geo SCADA Expert was unable to modify the point.

If an existing database Point is found to already map to a metric, but is deemed to be of the wrong point type for that metric, Geo SCADA Expert will not convert that point's type into a suitable one. With such a point, you might want to consider using the Convert To feature to convert the point to one of a suitable point type (see Converting a Database Item in the Geo SCADA Expert Guide to Core Configuration).

If a Suitable Point Already Exists in the Database

If an MQTT Sparkplug B Point already exists in the database that Geo SCADA Expert deems already fulfills the criteria to represent a specific metric, Geo SCADA Expert will not create a new point for that metric. Geo SCADA Expert will make any relevant property changes to the existing point instead.

An existing point is deemed to represent a metric if it fulfills the following criteria:

• Its Metric Parent field references the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device item on which the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action is triggered.

• Its Metric Name field is populated with the Geo SCADA Expert equivalent of a Metric Name that exists in the Sparkplug birth certificate that Geo SCADA Expert has cached for that EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device item.

• The point is of an appropriate point type to represent that metric (for example, an MQTT Sparkplug B Analog Point for a metric that comprises analog data).

Naming Convention Applied to the Points

Geo SCADA Expert uses the Metric Name from the birth certificate to produce the Name of the point that it creates to reference that metric. The Name of the point has to adhere to Geo SCADA Expert's Naming Restrictions. As such:

• If a Metric Name in the Sparkplug birth certificate contains any characters that are unsupported by Geo SCADA Expert, it will use character substitution when populating the Name field of the corresponding newly created point in the database. For example, a period (.) will be replaced with an underscore (_).

• If a naming clash occurs (due to another point with the same Name already existing in the database), Geo SCADA Expert will append a number to the Name of the newly created point.

• If the length of a Metric Name in the birth certificate exceeds the maximum supported length of the Name of a database item in Geo SCADA Expert(see Naming Restrictions), a point will be created with a truncated Name. If required, Geo SCADA Expert will append a number to that truncated Name, to differentiate the newly created point from other points with the same name.

Metric Name and Metric Parent

A point's Metric Name has to adhere to certain restrictions (see Configure the Common Point Properties). Geo SCADA Expert preserves the Metric Name that it obtains from the Sparkplug birth certificate and uses it to populate the Metric Name of the newly created point that references that particular metric.

Geo SCADA Expert automatically populates the point's Metric Parent field with a reference out to the EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device from the which Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action was triggered.

For further information about either property, see Configure the Common Point Properties.

Notification

Entries are logged in the Event Journal for database points that are created or modified as a result of a Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action being triggered.

Any issues that are detected during the point creation process, such as incorrect point type compared to metric data type, are raised as alarms. Events are also logged to provide further information about the issue. These alarms and events are assigned the Sparkplug B Configuration Error category (see Alarm and Event Categories that are Specific to the MQTT Sparkplug™ B Driver).

On completion of the point creation process, an event is logged. This indicates whether the process completed successfully, or completed with errors.

The Errors When Create Points Last Ran status attribute indicates whether any issues were detected when the Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action was last triggered on a particular EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device.

There are a number of reasons why Geo SCADA Expert might not be able to create a point for each metric that exists in a Sparkplug birth certificate. Some of the reasons have already been mentioned above. Reasons include:

• If an existing MQTT Sparkplug B Point already references the Metric Name (see 'If a Suitable Point Already Exists in the Database' above).

• If a metric's data type differs to the data types that are supported by MQTT Sparkplug B Points in Geo SCADA Expert (see 'Point Types' above).

• If the length of a Metric Name in the birth certificate exceeds the maximum supported length of the name of a database item in Geo SCADA Expert (see Naming Restrictions), a point will not be created and an entry will be logged in the Event Journal.

• If the number of hierarchical levels in a Metric Name in the birth certificate would cause Geo SCADA Expert to exceed the maximum level of nested groups in the database. (See 'Database Structure' above.)

• If the metric exists on a different EoN Node, or on a different physical or logic device that is connected to an EoN Node.

  The Create Points from Birth Metrics pick action only triggers Geo SCADA Expert to create database points for the metrics that exist directly on the individual EoN Node or Sparkplug B Device on which that pick action is triggered. To trigger Geo SCADA Expert to create database points for other EoN Nodes, or for any Sparkplug B Devices that connect to an EoN Node, you have to trigger the pick action on each of those EoN Nodes or Sparkplug B Devices.

We are unable to determine from the metrics in a Sparkplug birth certificate as to whether a point should be an input point or output point. Geo SCADA Expert therefore creates all points as input points. With points that are to be output points, edit the point's configuration to enable the Control feature on the Control tab and then specify the required control functionality.