# Reference tag in another provider? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Created:** [October 3, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235 "2012-10-03T23:42:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pat](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Pat)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/1 "2012-10-03T23:42:37Z")
Would I be correct in understanding that you can’t use a tag from one provider in an expression tag from a different provider? In other words, I can’t create an expression tag in a database provider that uses a tag from the internal provider? ---
**Author:** ![Travis.Cox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Travis.Cox](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Travis.Cox)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/2 "2012-10-04T00:04:58Z")
I think you can. When you add a tag to the expression you can select from any provider. Try it out. If it doesn’t work we can look into it further. ---
**Author:** ![Pat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pat](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Pat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/3 "2012-10-04T00:13:52Z")
When I create an expression tag in my database provider and try to reference a tag from the internal provider I get an error message “You must choose a tag or tag property in the same tag source” ---
**Author:** ![greg.simpson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/greg.simpson/32/3135_2.png) [@greg.simpson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/greg.simpson)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/4 "2012-10-04T15:15:40Z")
In project properties, can you select a different sql tags provider, create your expression tag, then switch the sql tags provider back? ---
**Author:** ![Pat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pat](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Pat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/5 "2012-10-04T15:48:50Z")
No, this didn’t work. I have 3 providers, one Internal and two database providers. I have tried all three providers as the Default provider and wasn’t able to reference a tag to another provider. I did try all combinations of referencing a different provider as well. I tried having an Internal tag reference a tag in both the database providers, both of the database providers try to reference a tag in the Internal provider, and a database provider try to reference a tag in the other database provider, all combinations gave the same error. ---
**Author:** ![Travis.Cox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Travis.Cox](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Travis.Cox)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/6 "2012-10-04T15:52:13Z")
Ok, I will mock that up here to see what I can find. I will let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Pat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pat](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Pat)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/7 "2012-10-04T16:29:24Z")
New information - I realized when I was creating a tag in my database provider that there was no Driver selected. I selected ignition as the driver and still got the error, but the data did end up coming through from the other provider. I tried creating a new tag and when I referenced a tag from a different provider I still got the error but the data did come through. So the issue seems to be that when creating a reference to another provider the error message is thrown, but the data is coming through. ---
**Author:** ![dave.fogle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@dave.fogle](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/dave.fogle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/8 "2012-10-04T22:48:36Z")
Yes, this is a UI bug. The tag should function normally though. I'll add a ticket to get this fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Pat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@Pat](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Pat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/reference-tag-in-another-provider/5235/9 "2012-10-05T03:48:50Z")
Thanks for your help