# real-time timestamps

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Tags:** ignition79\
**Created:** [February 27, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928 "2019-02-27T15:00:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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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:** [March 1, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928/21 "2019-03-01T13:05:06Z")

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Since Ignition stores everything in traditional databases instead of proprietary archives, you can limit the need for english by setting up a simple Ignition test system, running it two hours at a time, and looking into the database to see what you get.

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**Author:** ![bygryapg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@bygryapg](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/bygryapg)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928/22 "2019-03-01T13:14:24Z")

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> [@pturmel](#):
>
> There’s a whole [section of the manual](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC79/Historian) describing the historian. Ignition’s tag historian only does very limited compression, using a linear extrapolation algorithm that I can’t find right now. The SQL Bridge’s transaction groups do no compression at all.

Yes. I'm already studying the manual. But I do not see the specification for data input/output.

> [@pturmel](#):
>
> Since Ignition stores everything in traditional databases instead of proprietary archives, you can limit the need for english by setting up a simple Ignition test system, running it two hours at a time, and looking into the database to see what you get.

What do you mean? Do you use direct recording via queries? Without your API?

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**Author:** ![bygryapg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@bygryapg](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/bygryapg)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928/23 "2019-03-01T13:16:02Z")

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Your web University is amazing 🙂

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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:** [March 1, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/real-time-timestamps/22928/24 "2019-03-01T13:52:43Z")

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> [@bygryapg](#):
>
> What do you mean? Do you use direct recording via queries? Without your API?

Install Ignition. Create a few memory tags. Write a timer script that'll fake some changing data in those tags. Turn on history for those tags. Look in the database to see what was recorded. Ignition doesn't use its own proprietary history archive. Everything is inserted into your database via JDBC. The API is to hide the complexity of shared-column data storage from the user. IA doesn't guarantee that the data storage architecture (DB schema) won't change in the future, so using the API is highly recommended, but the storage methodology has been pretty stable.

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