For years, the Stale and Bad Points tool in PI System Management Tools (SMT) has been a trusted resource for PI System administrators. It provides a fast, effective way to identify PI Tags that are stale, bad, or not receiving data helping teams address obvious data health issues before they affect operations.
At Tycho Data, we’re longtime users and fans of PI SMT. It’s a vital part of the toolkit for maintaining a healthy PI System.
But as PI Systems have grown more connected, layered, and integrated with PI Vision, AF, and third-party systems, new questions have started to surface that go beyond stale or bad values. Questions like:
- Where is this stale tag being used in my PI Vision displays or AF Attributes?
- If I remove this tag, what displays, templates, or systems might break?
- Why is this PI Vision display pulling stale data from a development server instead of production?
- How can I quickly trace the source and impact of this bad value across my system?
- I constantly have 1000s of tag issues. It’s just noise. How do I know what to even focus on?
That’s where Tycho Data Osprey comes in.
🔍 How Osprey Complements the Stale and Bad Points Tool
The Stale and Bad Points tool focuses on identifying data values that are stale or bad at the tag level, a critical first step in managing data health.
Osprey builds on this by helping you understand where those points are used, and how they connect across your system. It adds a layer of source mapping and dependency awareness that’s been difficult to manage in traditional PI environments.
Here’s how they compare:
| Feature | PI SMT Stale and Bad Points | Tycho Data Osprey |
|---|---|---|
| Detects stale or bad PI Tags | ✅ | ✅ |
| Lists PI Tags that aren’t receiving data | ✅ | ✅ |
| Identifies duplicate tags | ❌ | ✅ |
| Shows where those tags are used in Vision displays | ❌ | ✅ |
| Traces AF Attributes that reference those tags | ❌ | ✅ |
| Identifies affected templates, displays, and screens | ❌ | ✅ |
| Maps tag and attribute connections across AF and Vision | ❌ | ✅ |
| Complements existing PI System tools | ✅ | ✅ |
✅ Why Use Both Together
We believe in working alongside AVEVA’s PI System tools, not against them. Osprey isn’t a replacement for SMT’s Stale and Bad Points tool, it’s a natural companion.
- Use PI SMT to detect bad and stale points quickly
- Use Osprey to trace where those points are used, assess the operational impact, and safely clean up or update displays and assets
Together, they provide a more complete picture of data health and system integrity helping you avoid broken displays, incorrect dashboards, or operational surprises caused by silent dependencies.
💡 The Bottom Line
As PI Systems become more interconnected, data health isn’t just about good or bad values, it’s about knowing where your data lives, where it’s used, and what’s connected to what.
By combining PI SMT’s trusted Stale and Bad Points tool with the modern data mapping and dependency tracing of Tycho Data Osprey, PI administrators can move beyond surface-level data quality and into system-wide data confidence.
Ready to See It in Action?
If your team depends on PI System data to keep your plant running safely and efficiently. Osprey is built for you.
Tycho Data 