What is live data?

Live data is a real-time stream of the variable values your IXrouter or IXagent reads from the machine. Your application opens a WebSocket connection and receives a new set of values roughly every half second, for as long as the connection stays open.

When can you use live data?

Live data is meant for displaying what is happening right now, for example in:

A live dashboard
A status page
A value shown next to a machine in your own portal.

Nothing you receive over the stream is stored in the IXON Cloud.

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Live data is not a source for historical data!
If the WebSocket connection drops, everything sent while you were disconnected is lost and cannot be replayed. Don't use live data to build up historical data. If you want to keep a record of your machine data, log it instead: as historical data in the IXON Cloud, or to your own MQTT broker if you want the data in your own system.

Live data vs. historical data

	Live data	Historical data
Delivery	Pushed to you over a WebSocket	Requested by you through REST endpoints
Frequency	About every 0.5 seconds	Depends on your data logging configuration
Stored in cloud	No	Yes
Identified by	`variableId`	`tagId`
Typical use	Real-time display	Reporting, trends, exports

Articles in this section

How to obtain live data: this article explains how to connect to a live data stream safely and interpret its messages into named variable values, with a code tutorial for each part.