# Ignition 8.1 - table with different data types

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Tags:** ignition81, vision\
**Created:** [December 2, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670 "2021-12-02T13:59:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Typical\_user](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@Typical\_user](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Typical_user)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/1 "2021-12-02T13:59:19Z")

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Hello everyone,  
I’m using Ignition 8.1 and can’t find a way to implement more data types in a table column.  
A standard table only allows you to declare one data type in a column, but I need to show tag values with different data types.  
Is it possible to create such a table in the ignition?  
Picture related.

![ignition_table](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/7/b/7b4bc6b289738b2d29a9dde821a3276586a03c66.png)

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**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:** [December 2, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/2 "2021-12-02T14:08:53Z")

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You can use the java class [DatasetBuilder](https://files.inductiveautomation.com/sdk/javadoc/ignition81/8.1.1/com/inductiveautomation/ignition/common/util/DatasetBuilder.html) and specify an explicit column type of `java.lang.Object`.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Typical\_user](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f1d935/32.png) [@Typical\_user](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Typical_user)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 2:10pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/3 "2021-12-02T14:10:50Z")

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I am not proficient with java and ignition SDK. Is there any other way?

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**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:** [December 2, 2021, 2:13pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/4 "2021-12-02T14:13:50Z")

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You can use java classes directly in jython. No need to actually make a module with the SDK. There are numerous examples here on the forum:

[https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/search?q=DatasetBuilder](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/search?q=DatasetBuilder)

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**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/5 "2021-12-02T15:20:17Z")

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This use case should be fine, since everything in a tag should be serializable, but in general be careful with this capability; it’s easy to inadvertently store something that isn’t (Java) serializable into a Vision window and cause yourself problems.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [December 2, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/ignition-8-1-table-with-different-data-types/53670/6 "2021-12-02T16:01:09Z")

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Indeed. If in doubt, use the `TransientDataset` class from my Simulation Aids module to wrap datasets that contain non-serializable objects. This ensures they won’t get embedded in a project resource and attempts to deliver across a network will deliver no rows.