Timebase Ignition Module Overview

Overview

The Timebase Historian Module for Ignition connects Inductive Automation's Ignition platform to Timebase Historian. Once installed, Ignition tags with history enabled automatically write their data to Timebase and read it back — no custom scripting required. From Ignition's perspective, Timebase appears as a native historian provider alongside any other historians you have configured.

The module supports reading, writing, browsing, and tag metadata, with built-in Store and Forward buffering so no data is lost when Timebase is temporarily unreachable.

Requirements

The Historian Module (com.inductiveautomation.historian) is a standard Inductive Automation module available from the Ignition Module Marketplace. It must be installed and running before the Timebase module will activate.

What the Module Does

Once configured, the module provides:

• Write — Ignition tags with history enabled write data to Timebase automatically, routed through Ignition's Store and Forward pipeline for reliability.
• Read — Historical data stored in Timebase appears in Ignition's tag history charts, Easy Chart components, and scripting functions.
• Browse — The Timebase tag tree is navigable in Ignition's Tag History Browser. Datasets appear as top-level folders; tag hierarchies are navigable within each dataset.
• Tag metadata — Engineering units, descriptions, format strings, and custom tag properties are sent to Timebase and displayed alongside the data.
• Store and Forward — If Timebase is unreachable, Ignition buffers writes in memory and drains them automatically when connectivity is restored.

How Datasets Are Named

Each Ignition Tag Provider maps to a Timebase dataset. The dataset name is formed by combining the optional Historian Dataset Prefix with the Tag Provider name:

<Historian Dataset Prefix><Tag Provider name>

For example, with a prefix of Gateway-042-:

• The [default] Tag Provider → dataset Gateway-042-default
• The [OtherProvider] Tag Provider → dataset Gateway-042-OtherProvider

The prefix allows multiple Ignition Gateways to write to the same Timebase Historian without their datasets colliding. If no prefix is configured, the dataset name is just the Tag Provider name.

Installing the Module

1. Obtain the signed .modl file from Flow Software.
2. In the Ignition Gateway web interface, navigate to Config > System > Modules.
3. Click Install or Upgrade a Module.
4. Upload the .modl file.
5. Restart the Gateway when prompted.

After restarting, the module appears in the modules list as Timebase Historian. You can then create one or more historian provider instances under Config > History > History Providers > Create new History Provider > Timebase Historian.

Note: If the module shows a fault at startup, confirm that the Ignition Historian Module is installed and running. The Timebase module depends on it and will not activate without it.

Troubleshooting