Adding the TIMESTAMP format attribute

To use TIMESTAMP data with Platform Service, you must manually configure the logical interface property to use the property type “string” and the format “date-time”. The “date-time” format is not automatically assigned to the TIMESTAMP data type.

Overview

Important: Platform Service supports the following ISO8601 time and date format​s. All other formats are invalidated by the Platform Service logical interface date-time validation.

Configuring the TIMESTAMP property

To use TIMESTAMP data, before you activate the logical interface, you must configure the logical interface property using the Advanced interface creator.

Important: If you use the Simple interface creator or if you activate your logical interface without completing the TIMESTAMP property configuration, you must create a new logical interface property for the TIMESTAMP property data.

To create a logical interface that includes a TIMESTAMP property:

1. In the Platform Service dashboard, from the main navigation menu, click Devices.
2. Click Device Types and select the device type that you want to create an interface for.
3. View the device type information and click Interface.
4. Select Advanced Flow to open the Advanced Interface Creator.
5. Create a physical interface.
   1. Click Create Interface.
   2. On the Identity tab of the Create Physical Interface page, type a name and description of the physical interface.
   3. Click Next.
   4. Define the physical interface by adding and modifying event types and payloads:
      1. Select an event type from the list to modify an existing event type or click Create Event Type.
      2. Select the last cached event, select an event from the list, or add an event manually, and then click Add.
   5. Click Done.
      The physical interface is created in draft format. You can add one or more logical interfaces.
6. Create a logical interface.
   1. Click Add Logical Interface to create a new logical interface.
   2. On the Identity tab of the Create Logical Interface page, type a name and description of the logical interface.
   3. Click Next.
   4. Click Add Property to start defining the properties of the logical interface.
   5. In the Create Property window, select the properties from the physical interface that you want to add to the logical interface and then save the changes.
   6. Click Add Object.
   7. Click Next.
   8. Set up the notification preferences for the interface.
      Select one of the following options to specify when you want device state notifications to be sent:
      • No Event Notifiers - No data is written to IBM Maximo Asset Monitor. You can use the REST API to retrieve device state change information.
      • On State Change - Data is written to IBM Maximo Asset Monitor when the device state changes.
      • On Every Event - Data is written to IBM Maximo Asset Monitor every time the platform processes an event for the device, even if the event does not result in a state change.
   9. Click Done.
      The interfaces are created and this icon indicates the draft status.
7. Update the TIMESTAMP property in the logical interface.
   1. Click the Edit icon in the device type Interface tab.
   2. Click the Edit icon for the logical interface.
   3. Click Next to get to State Model. Edit the TIMESTAMP property.
   4. Select String(date-time) as the property Type.
   5. Click Next and then click Done.
8. Activate your interface.
   Click Activate to activate the configuration.