# EasyChart: Working with Datasets (Python) **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [February 5, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668 "2015-02-05T23:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisGray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@ChrisGray](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ChrisGray)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/1 "2015-02-05T23:57:25Z")
Objective: To add Tag Pens to Easy Chart through scripting. EasyChart seems to use DataSets to store the Tag Pens that are displayed on the chart. The DataSet includes a number of columns that store the configuration of the Tag being charted (i.e. Name, Tag\_Path, Color…). Question: How do you add a new row through event scripts to this DataSet to add a new Tag Pen to the EasyChart? ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/2X/0/0731d820fe59a2c7df7e473c96dc027645247643.gif) ---
**Author:** ![nmudge](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/nmudge/32/3394_2.png) [@nmudge](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nmudge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/2 "2015-02-06T00:24:36Z")
Use the [system.dataset.addRow()](https://support.inductiveautomation.com/usermanuals/ignition/index.html?system_dataset_addrow.htm) function. Best, ---
**Author:** ![ChrisGray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@ChrisGray](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ChrisGray)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/3 "2015-02-06T00:55:54Z")
Thanks for the response. I have used this method, but it increasingly got more complicated as I tried to implement. Building a well formed and type specific row to pass into the dataset does not seem easy (unless you hardcode which is painful and not automated), so I thought there must be a better way. Is there an easy method for creating the row of data (with correct type specific data) that I am missing? BTW: I did try extracting an existing row from the dataset one element at a time (using the getValueAt()) to see if I could automatically reconstruct a valid row to pass into the dataset,but I ran into issues with coercion (datatyping) as I tried to create the row as a string and feed this back into the dataset. Advice? ---
**Author:** ![nmudge](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/nmudge/32/3394_2.png) [@nmudge](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nmudge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/4 "2015-02-06T02:23:17Z")
Maybe you should paste in the code you have tried to use. It is easy for me to construct rows of data for a dataset. Maybe you can show me how it can be complicated and difficult and then I can show you how to make it easy. I don’t know where or how you are getting your data that you need to add to the dataset so I can’t show you how to prepare the data and add the row. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisGray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@ChrisGray](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ChrisGray)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/5 "2015-02-06T05:41:47Z")
OK. It’s not pretty, but here is what I have tried so far. This was my last attempt at building the row string correctly. #Display Event properties for testing purposes print "Button code: " , event.button, " Click Count: ", event.clickCount #Work with DataSets to get Easy Chart Tag Pens tagPenDataSet = event.source.parent.getComponent(“Easy Chart”).tagPens print "Row Count = “, tagPenDataSet.rowCount, " Column Count = “, tagPenDataSet.columnCount,”\n”, “Original Data Set : \n”,event.source.displayRows(tagPenDataSet) , “\n” #Build Easy Chart Dataset Row from scratch in Dictionary format (there is no Row Copy method for Datasets) easyChartRow = “” headerTypes = [“str”,“str”,“str”,“str”,“I”,“B”,“clr”,“str”,“I”,“F”,“I”,“B”,“str”,“B”,“B”,“B”,“B”,“I”,“B”] for column in range(tagPenDataSet.columnCount): if column == 0: easyChartRow = “{’” + tagPenDataSet.getColumnName(column) + "’ : " if headerTypes[column] == “str” or headerTypes[column] == “clr” : easyChartRow = easyChartRow + “’” + str(tagPenDataSet.getValueAt(0, column)) + “’” print column, " " ,easyChartRow else: easyChartRow = easyChartRow + str(tagPenDataSet.getValueAt(0, column)) print column, " " ,easyChartRow else: if headerTypes[column] == “str” or headerTypes[column] == “clr”: easyChartRow = easyChartRow + “,’” + tagPenDataSet.getColumnName(column) + "’ : " + “’” + str(tagPenDataSet.getValueAt(0, column)) + “’” print column, " " ,easyChartRow else: easyChartRow = easyChartRow + “,’” + tagPenDataSet.getColumnName(column) + "’ : " + str(tagPenDataSet.getValueAt(0, column)) print column, " " ,easyChartRow easyChartRow = easyChartRow + “}” print easyChartRow,"\n\n\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\n\n" tagPenDataSet = system.dataset.addRow(tagPenDataSet,easyChartRow) event.source.parent.getComponent(“Easy Chart”).tagPens = tagPenDataSet Let me know if you have any tricks that can help? I apologies for the poor coding in advance. I am a beginner at best. Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![pturmel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/pturmel/32/3295_2.png) [@pturmel](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/pturmel)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/6 "2015-02-06T15:10:45Z")
Hi Chris, I see that you are attempting to create the new row as a string that looks like a dictionary. The addRow() function needs a python list, in the same order as the existing columns. The following routine will duplicate a specified row and add it to the dataset, which you can then assign to the target property: `def duplicateRow(dataset, rownum): newRow = [dataset.getValueAt(rownum, colnum) for colnum in range(dataset.columnCount)] return system.dataset.addRow(dataset, newRow)` Note the use of [] to make a python list, not a string. This form is called a [List Comprehension](https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/datastructures.html#list-comprehensions) in the python documentation. Generally, you’ll want to open-code this kind of manipulation, so you can customize the values in newRow before you add it to the dataset. ---
**Author:** ![nmudge](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/nmudge/32/3394_2.png) [@nmudge](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/nmudge)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/7 "2015-02-06T16:07:51Z")
Okay, you want to copy a row from a dataset and then add that row to the dataset. Here’s my implementation: ```auto chart = event.source.parent.getComponent("Easy Chart") tagPenDataSet = system.dataset.toPyDataSet(chart.tagPens) chart.tagPens = system.dataset.addRow(chart.tagPens,list(tagPenDataSet[0])) ``` Here’s what happens: 1. We get the chart. 2. We convert the Dataset into a PyDataSet. This is done so we can easily access individual rows of the Dataset with a row index like tagPenDataSet[0], tagPenDataSet[1] etc. 3. We convert the first row into a Python list with the “list” function and use the system.dataset.addRow function to add the row to the dataset. Best, ---
**Author:** ![ChrisGray](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba9def/32.png) [@ChrisGray](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ChrisGray)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/8 "2015-02-06T23:57:08Z")
Thanks everyone, I will give this a shot. Much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![lrhyrne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrhyrne/32/12097_2.png) [@lrhyrne](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrhyrne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 1:24pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/9 "2019-09-20T13:24:08Z")
This is the closest topic and answer thread I have found to what I’m looking for. I’m trying to access the start and end dates on the Easy Chart from python. I have not found any reference to support this programmatic interface. Thanks for any help, ---
**Author:** ![lrhyrne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrhyrne/32/12097_2.png) [@lrhyrne](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrhyrne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/10 "2019-09-20T14:21:19Z")
Is there a way to get the start and end timestamps for the chart, in python? ---
**Author:** ![lrhyrne](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrhyrne/32/12097_2.png) [@lrhyrne](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrhyrne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/easychart-working-with-datasets-python/9668/11 "2019-09-20T14:58:01Z")
working code below (Ignition 7.9.8): code triggered from button in the same Window as EasyChart eChart = event.source.parent.getComponent(“Easy Chart”) start\_ts = eChart.getZoomedStartDate() end\_ts = eChart.getZoomedEndDate() strMessage = "Start TS: " + str(start\_ts) + “\n” + "End TS: " + str(end\_ts) system.gui.messageBox(strMessage)