Manual Data Entry+

Overview

When to use it

Use this symbol when you need to:

• Record a lab reading, meter reading, or operator log entry for several PI Points at once.
• Write values at a past or relative time instead of the current time.
• Fill in a block of observations at fixed intervals, such as one value every 8 hours.
• Warn operators, or stop them, when a value is outside its limits.
• Record which operator entered a value.

Choose Manual Input Table+ to review and correct recorded values next to the new entries, or Quick Input+ to write a value immediately, without a Save step.

Before you begin

• Use writable PI Points or AF attributes, and make sure the operators have write permission for them.
• Turn compression off on every PI Point you use for manual entry. With compression on, the PI System can discard a manually entered value that falls inside the compression deviation.
• Set Step to On for numeric PI Points. With Step off, the PI System interpolates between stored values, and trend and table symbols show misleading values between your entries.

Add and set up the symbol

1. Select Manual Data Entry+ in the PI Vision symbol gallery, and drag the PI Points or attributes onto the display. Each data source becomes one row.
2. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Table....
3. Under Input, keep SINGLE, and check Default Time and Existing Data Rule.
4. Close the configuration pane.
5. Click the Value cell of a row and type a value.
6. Select Save. The Value cell clears, and Last Value and Last Time show your entry.

Important: Save writes to the PI Data Archive. Only the cells an operator typed, pasted, or imported are written, and in MULTIPLE input also the prefilled rows of the same time slot.

Common tasks

Enter a value with a timestamp

Use this for every normal entry. By default a value is written with the time expression *, the moment of saving.

1. Click the Value cell (1) and type the value. For a digital point, select a state from the list instead.
2. To write at another time, type an absolute date and time, or an AF time expression such as *-1h, in Time (2). You can also select the calendar icon (3) and pick the time.
3. Select Save (4), or press Ctrl+S.

Digital points and enumeration sets list their states, so operators cannot type an invalid state. Closing the list without a choice leaves the cell unchanged:

The calendar icon opens a date and time picker:

After the save, the cells clear. Last Value and Last Time show the newest archived value, so an entry at a past time appears there only when no later value exists. If a value already exists at that timestamp, Existing Data Rule decides what happens (see Input).

Check entries against limits

Use this to catch typing mistakes in numeric values. The check runs when the operator leaves the cell and again at Save.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Table....
2. Under Rows, select the data source, and select Validate Input (1).
3. Set Limits (2) to Custom and enter Max and Min (3), or to Database to use the limits the data source reports.
4. To block out-of-range values instead of only warning, select Prevent Entry Outside Limits (4).
5. Optionally, enter a Message (5) with guidance for the operator.

Without Prevent Entry Outside Limits, a value outside the limits opens a Limit Warning. The operator can select Cancel, or Continue to keep the value.

With Prevent Entry Outside Limits, the dialog is titled Invalid Value and offers only Cancel. The value is not accepted.

Record who entered a value

Use this to keep an audit trail in a string PI Point or AF attribute. Drag the string data source onto the symbol as a row first.

1. Under Rows, select the string data source.
2. Optionally, select Required (1) so that an operator who clears the name cannot save the row empty.
3. Set Allow Edit (2) as needed: selected lets the operator type over the name; cleared keeps it locked to the prefill. Either way the name is written with the save.
4. Set Prefilled Value (3) to User. The Value cell then shows the PI Vision user name.

1. In SINGLE input, the name is written with every save that writes or removes at least one value, whether or not the operator touches it. In MULTIPLE input, the name is filled into the time slot of every value the operator enters and is saved with it. A name the operator typed or pasted in that slot is kept, and clearing a cell fills nothing.

The user name is written with the timestamp of the save, and Last Time and Last Value of that row update.

Import values from a CSV file

Use this to bring in readings recorded elsewhere. Importing fills the cells only. Nothing is written until you select Save.

1. Prepare a CSV file. Line 1 is the header Value,Time, which is optional. Then write one line per data source, in the same order as the rows. Use a comma or a semicolon as the separator.
2. Select Import CSV (1) in the toolbar and choose the file.
3. Check the imported cells (2 to 4).
4. Select Save (5).

Value,Time
61.5,10/08/2026 6:00 PM
False,10/08/2026 6:00 PM
47,10/08/2026 6:00 PM

Line 1 of the data goes to the first row, line 2 to the second row, and so on. A row that is hidden or read-only takes no value, but it keeps its line. Empty lines in a CSV file are ignored, so every row before the last one you want to fill needs a line. In a symbol with Input set to MULTIPLE, the lines fill the table cells starting at the selected cell.

Paste values from a spreadsheet

Use this when the readings are in a spreadsheet. The layout is the same as for the CSV file, with a tab between the two columns.

1. In the spreadsheet, select the Value and Time columns for the rows, in the order of the table, and copy them (Ctrl+C).
2. Switch to the PI Vision display and select Paste Data from Clipboard (1).
3. Check the pasted cells (2 and 3).
4. Select Save (4).

A header line that starts with Value is skipped. An empty line skips its row, so the value on the next line still goes to the next row. The browser may ask for permission to read the clipboard.

Open an ad-hoc trend before you enter a value

Use this to see recent values before you type a new one.

1. Right-click the symbol and select Configure Table....
2. Under Columns, select Trend (1).
3. Select the trend icon at the end of a row.

A trend window for that data source opens over the display, and you can keep entering values.

Use the symbol

• Type, then save. Typing only stages a value. Save is available as soon as one cell has changed, and it writes those cells only.
• Undo and redo step back and forward through staged edits one cell at a time. Undoing a pasted block of four lines with Value and Time takes eight steps. Reload reads the table again.
• Save writes to the PI Data Archive. Saved values cannot be undone from the symbol.
• A Required row that you edited cannot be saved empty. Save highlights the empty cell and asks you to fill in all required inputs.
• With Existing Data Rule set to Protect Existing, a save is cancelled when a value already exists at a timestamp. The message lists the points and times.
• A row that returns a system state such as No Data or Pt Created shows that state, unless Hide Errors is on.

Enter several time slots at once

With Input set to MULTIPLE, each row has one cell per time slot. The slots are generated from an interval, for example every 8 hours from the start of the day. Slots that already have a value show it. You can type in an empty slot or change an existing one.

Important: In multiple input, clearing a cell that holds an archived value and saving removes that value from the archive. With Protect Existing, the symbol asks you to confirm the removal first.

Configure the symbol

Right-click the symbol and select Configure Table.... The pane has the groups Rows, Input, General, Columns, Toolbar, Style, Export Data, and Numbers.

Rows

Select a data source in the list, then set it.

Input

Settings for MULTIPLE:

General

Columns

Toolbar

Style, export, and numbers

Multi-state colors come from Configure Multi-State... on the right-click menu. They color Last Value and Value by the limits of the data source.

Troubleshooting and limitations

Limitation: Editing a saved value is a historical change. Follow your site's correction and audit procedure.