Cloud Tags
6 min
cloud tags are the central configuration objects in cloud management each tag represents a data stream from a connected edge device and defines how that data is structured, contextualized, and passed to cloud data services access cloud tags in cloud management > cloud tags note for more information on cloud tags, see tag https //docs cloud google com/manufacturing data engine/docs/concepts/tag in the mde documentation overview cloud tags extend the concept of tags in manufacturing connect edge with additional configuration capabilities for each tag, you can assign one or more types which define the available metadata schemas and the output destination for the tag's data add dimensional metadata, live data, or contextual data to enrich the tag's information values apply transformations to modify data before it reaches its output destination override inherited configuration settings at the tag level pause or activate tags individually a single tag can carry multiple data types for example, a tag for an actuator can include both numeric values and non numeric data such as errors, warnings, and alerts how cloud tags relate to other components cloud tags connect to several other cloud management components to form the data pipeline types each tag requires at least one type the type defines which metadata schemas are available to the tag and where its processed data is sent—for example, bigquery, bigtable, cloud storage, or pub/sub json metadata metadata schemas are json files that define the fields and structure (information values) that a tag can hold schemas are assigned to tags through types, and can be versioned message classes message classes evaluate incoming message payloads using a rules engine to determine which parser processes the tag's data parsers parsers transform incoming messages into the format required by the assigned type a parser is connected to a message class and outputs data of a specified type cloud tags list the cloud tags list shows all tags and their current configuration column description name the name of the cloud tag storage type the type or types assigned to the tag types define the metadata schema and output destination type version version number of the tag metadata the metadata schemas associated with the tag through its assigned type or types stats whether the tag is active or paused pausing a tag stops data processing for that tag only transformations transformations that are applied to the tag enabled whether the tag is enabled actions options to edit or delete the tag to filter the list to tags that are linked to a message class, select only linked to add a tag, click add new cloud tag tag metadata tag metadata enriches a tag with contextual information beyond its raw data values, for example with the physical location in a plant hierarchy, asset classification, or alarm configuration rather than hardcoding these fields per tag, metadata is defined as reusable json schemas in the metadata tab then assigned to tags via types how metadata is structured each metadata definition is a json schema file that declares a set of fields (attributes) that can hold contextual data for example, a schema based on the isa 95 asset hierarchy standard would define enterprise , site , area , and work unit fields providing every tag that uses it a consistent location context assigning metadata to a tag assign metadata to a tag through its type a type groups one or more metadata schemas into metadata buckets , and when you assign a type to a tag, its buckets become available on that tag the attributes section below shows the fields from those schemas, ready to be filled with instance specific values for that tag to view or edit a tag's metadata open cloud tags locate the tag click the edit icon to open the edit tag panel the tag metadata section lists the metadata buckets currently assigned to the tag, identified by schema name and version, for example, assethierarchy (b 1) or alarminst (b 1) a tag can have more than one metadata bucket assigned through its type, which allows you to layer different kinds of contextual data on the same tag, for example, both a location hierarchy and an alarm configuration