# Tags not storing if value is not changing **URL:** \ **Category:** Ignition\ **Tags:** perspective\ **Created:** [April 1, 2024, 10:16am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141 "2024-04-01T10:16:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hive121](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90ced4/32.png) [@hive121](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/hive121)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 10:16am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/1 "2024-04-01T10:16:12Z")
Hello, I am using Ignition Perspective and I have created a page where operators can enter some notes, their initials, and a datetime as shown below: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/a/0/a0232f02c940d4fe51352b6d7882173813fd0d42.png) When the "Add" button is clicked, the values entered by the operator are written to tags via system.tag.writeBlocking The historian of the tags are enabled which stores the values into a database. I am using this page as a log and would like that every time the operator clicks the add button a new entry is stored in the database (even if the values did not change). I am not sure how to make this happen. Here is the tag group and tag editor properties for one of the tags: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/4/d/4df8e1a76b2666ebf5a299a580c82e74d44b6690.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/9/6/962dd585f191d21b5f23330397a4d098c922980a.png) Thank you ---
**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:** [April 1, 2024, 10:57am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/2 "2024-04-01T10:57:32Z")
You've set max time between sample, with sample mode "On Change", so **of course** you aren't getting a new value in history. FWIW, this type of data entry, particularly if multiple fields are involved, is utterly inappropriate for the tag historian. Just insert a row into a custom table. That is what databases are for. ---
**Author:** ![hive121](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90ced4/32.png) [@hive121](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/hive121)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 11:41am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/3 "2024-04-01T11:41:01Z")
To be honest, I looked into using a database table to build the interface for operators. However, the number of fields they have to enter is more than 50 and using a table with that many columns did not seem user-friendly. I also wanted to treat some of the fields as tag historian because I wanted to be able to plot them with other tags using the adhoc trending tool I think I have an idea and I will give it a shot. Thanks. Also, I do know that I need to change the sample mode. However, I only see three options "On Change", "periodic", "tag group". None of them seem suitable for what I want to achieve. I want the value to be written again if the user has triggered it via a button. I do not want to change the max time between samples since I do not want a value to be stored if it is not triggered by the user. Can you give me an example of what I need to change to achieve this? Thanks again ---
**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:** [April 1, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/4 "2024-04-01T12:19:21Z")
> [@hive121](#): > > using a table with that many columns did not seem user-friendly That's a terrible reason for not using the right tool. In fact, that number of fields makes it even **more** important to use a proper database. The historian does not work the way you need it to. You can plot pens from regular db tables with the wide table historian provider. > [@hive121](#): > > None of them seem suitable Because there is no suitable mode for your use-case. You need a proper database table. > [@hive121](#): > > Can you give me an example of what I need to change to achieve this? There is no such change. The historian cannot do this. ---
**Author:** ![hive121](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90ced4/32.png) [@hive121](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/hive121)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2024, 9:39pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/5 "2024-04-01T21:39:04Z")
@pturmel Thank you. I really appreciate your help. I found this video and I am trying to follow along to build a database table historian. > **[DB Table Historian Video at Inductive University](https://www.inductiveuniversity.com/videos/db-table-historian/8.1/8.1)** > > The DB Table Historian provider can process tables created by third-party systems and attempt to interpret the data, making it available to Tag History queries. So far, I have built a page on perspective which has two fields and an "add" button: 1. ambient\_temperature (perspective component: Numeric Entry Field) 2. t\_stamp (perspective component: DateTime Input) The "Add" button has the following onClick event: ```auto def runAction(self, event): AmbientTemperatureField = self.parent.getChild("ManualReadingsFlexContainer").getChild("ManualReadingsColumnContainer").getChild("AmbientTemperatureField").props.value #ManualReadingLogTimeField = self.parent.getChild("ManualReadingsFlexContainer").getChild("ManualReadingsColumnContainer").getChild("ManualReadingLogTimeField").props.value ManualReadingLogTimeField = 1712004373542 params = {"ambient_temperature":AmbientTemperatureField, "t_stamp":ManualReadingLogTimeField} result = system.db.runNamedQuery("Project_Demo", "AddTestDataLog", params) ``` Side note: I am not sure how to convert the ManualReadingLogTimeField value to EPOC GMT time so I am putting in hardcoded values in for now. Ideally, I want the user to be able to pick the date and time in human readable format but I want it save as EPOC GMT time in database. These are the component properties for the DateTime input component: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/b/a/baa131b8519f1c7fb345d9a265884dc3279098db.png) Here is how the "AddTestDataLog" query is setup: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/f/1/f1ead15716d92da1e2f45bf74dca212cbce35df6.png) I have the following records in my postgresSQL database so far: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/5/7/57d8ec24da59db5c6e614029b7150e0921bbc14e.png) Then, I dropped a power chart tool as shown in the video and tried to plot "ambient\_temperature" but it did not show any lines. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/3/2/32fce36fbb97eca5d710052f2b4e3d17358d1978.png) I checked the pen settings on the power chart and a pen was added. The tag path under the pen settings was displayed as: "histprov:ManReadTestTable:/table:manreadtesttable:/column:ambient\_temperature" ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/f/3/f31a59ab51ada704c24c09e09e01fce5c84e5ea5.png) I was hoping the database would recognize "t\_stamp" as the default timestamp associated with the record as explained in the video but it did not. I am not sure why. I edited the tag path as shown below and still had no luck. "histprov:ManReadTestTable:/table:manreadtesttable:/column:ambient\_temperature:/timestamp:t\_stamp" Any idea what am I doing wrong? ---
**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:** [April 2, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/tags-not-storing-if-value-is-not-changing/88141/6 "2024-04-02T00:01:17Z")
Don't use a bigint timestamp. Use column type `timestamptz` (timezone-aware timestamp). That yields timezone-aware values in Ignition when queried.