Combining Date + Time Picker into Single DateTime Tag — iPad Usability Help (Ignition 8.1.26)

Ignition
,
1

Hi everyone,

We’re building a multi-page defect entry form in Perspective (Ignition 8.1.26), designed for use on iPads and thin clients in a manufacturing setting.

One of the fields requires the operator to specify a production DateTime (exact date and time a defect occurred). This value is bound to a tag:
[BIB_DefectData]FormData/Production_DateTime (DataType: DateTime)

What We've Tried So Far:

  1. Single DateTime Picker
  • Useable, but not user-friendly on iPad
  • Time selector is too small and not obvious
  • Doesn't always allow time change on the first click to edit.
  1. Split into Two Pickers:
  • Dpk_Date → Date Picker
  • Tpk_Time → Time Picker
  • This increased required footprint.
  • Then, used onActionPerformed scripting to combine them into a custom property (Prod_DateTime), and wrote that to the tag.
  • Lots of copy-paste drift and inherited onAction configs caused event scope issues
  • Lost track of which script was triggering what
  • The Time Picker started throwing NoneType errors because of bad container pathing
  • Ultimately had to scrap and restart

:white_check_mark: What We Want Now

We’re looking for a clean, stable solution that works reliably in Perspective app on iPads and ThinClients but also in browsers:

  • Accept both date and time input
  • Show clear UI feedback (including current selected datetime)
  • Allow easy touch input for operators (no hidden AM/PM dropdowns or on-screen keyboard overlap)
  • Write the combined DateTime value to the tag [BIB_DefectData]FormData/Production_DateTime
  • Bonus: Live update of tag whenever either value changes

:light_bulb: Questions:

  • Has anyone solved this cleanly using custom properties and bindings only, without relying on button scripts?
  • Is there a better approach than splitting into Date + Time components?
  • Is it possible to replace or extend the Time Picker UI to be more touch-friendly?
  • Would a custom component or third-party approach help here?
  • I was thinking maybe using a button and then performing this in a popup screen.

Thanks in advance for any help. I’m happy to share more screenshots or layout if needed.

—