PI Software Development Kit (PI-SDK) 1.3

PI Software Development Kit (PI-SDK) by OSIsoft, Inc.

The PI Software Development Kit (PI-SDK) is a Windows, COM-based toolkit for building applications that connect directly to the PI Data Archive. It provides a rich object model for servers, PI Points, values, time, and security, enabling developers to read and write real-time and historical data, manage points and metadata, and subscribe to live updates. PI-SDK can be used from any language that supports COM, including VB6, VBA, C++, and .NET via COM interop.

Key capabilities:

• Data access: retrieve snapshot (current) values, recorded and interpolated data, and statistical summaries; work with digital states and annotations.
• Write operations: insert, replace, and delete events with user or system timestamps; support for bulk writes.
• Point and metadata management: search, create, and modify PI Points and their attributes (e.g., engineering units, compression settings).
• Event subscriptions: receive real-time updates and replays using event pipes for efficient streaming scenarios.
• Connection management: connect securely to individual servers or collectives with automatic failover; supports Windows-integrated security and PI user credentials.
• Time handling: parse and use flexible PI time strings and time zones for queries and calculations.

Platform and requirements:

• Windows only; COM/Automation architecture.
• 32-bit component usable on 64-bit Windows via WoW64; requires a 32-bit host process for in-process use.
• Connects directly to the PI Data Archive; no AF Server dependency.

Typical uses:

• Custom client applications and HMIs.
• Excel/VBA automation and engineering tools.
• Middleware, data integration, and migration utilities.

Status and guidance:

• PI-SDK is a legacy technology in maintenance mode. For new development, OSIsoft recommends the AF SDK (for .NET) or the PI Web API for cross-platform and 64-bit scenarios.

PI Software Development Kit (PI-SDK) is developed by OSIsoft, Inc.. The most popular version of this product among our users is 1.3.