TagProvider Services

Connect to external systems and bring data into the Unified Namespace.
Modules → Data Foundation → TagProvider Services | How-to | Reference

Overview

TagProvider Services enable FrameworX to connect to external data sources — PLCs, MQTT brokers, OPC UA servers, databases, and more. When configured, FrameworX acts as a client that reads and writes data from these external systems.

FrameworX as Client vs Server

Component	FrameworX Role	Direction	Example
TagProvider Services	Client	FrameworX → External	Connect to a PLC, subscribe to MQTT broker
Data Servers	Server	External → FrameworX	OPC UA client reads your UNS data

TagProvider Services: You connect TO external systems
Data Servers: External systems connect TO you

→ See Data Servers for exposing UNS to external clients

What You Can Connect To

Category	Examples
PLCs & Controllers	Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Modbus, BACnet
OPC Servers	OPC UA, OPC DA
MQTT	Any MQTT broker, Sparkplug B
Databases	SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
Cloud	AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub
Other	REST APIs, custom protocols via SDK

→ See Connectors Library for the complete list of 100+ connectors

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
TagProvider	A configured connection to an external data source
Local Tags	Tags defined in your solution, optionally linked to external sources
Linked Tags	Tags with structure defined locally but values from external source
Dynamic Tags	Tags created automatically at runtime from external discovery

How Data Flows

External System          TagProvider Service          Unified Namespace
     ?                          ?                            ?
     ?    FrameworX connects    ?                            ?
     ????????????????????????????                            ?
     ?                          ?                            ?
     ?    Read/Write data       ?     Tags updated           ?
     ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?                          ?                            ?
     ?    Subscribe to changes  ?     Events triggered       ?
     ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?                          ?                            ?

Data from TagProviders appears in the UNS just like local tags — all modules (Displays, Alarms, Historian, Scripts) can use it uniformly.

Configuration Location

Designer: Unified Namespace → TagProvider Services

Each TagProvider is configured with:

Connection settings (address, port, credentials)
Tag mapping or discovery options
Communication parameters (polling rate, timeout)

Common Use Cases

Use Case	TagProvider Type
Read PLC data for HMI displays	Device connector (Modbus, EtherNet/IP, etc.)
Subscribe to MQTT sensor data	MQTT Client
Query database for recipe data	SQL Database
Connect to existing OPC server	OPC UA Client
Aggregate data from cloud IoT	AWS IoT, Azure IoT Hub