What are PI Event Frames and how do I use them?

Event Frames capture time-bounded events in your process — like a batch run, an alarm condition, or a shift — and associate them with context data.

Core Concepts

An event frame has:

• Start time and end time (or still open if in progress)
• Name and template (just like AF elements)
• Attributes that capture data during the event (values, averages, totals)
• Referenced elements — the equipment or assets involved

Creating Event Frames

From AF Analytics

The most common approach — use an analytics expression to trigger events:

If 'Temperature' > 200 Then
  StartEventFrame("HighTemp", "HighTemperatureTemplate")
EndIf

From PI Notifications

Create event frames when notification rules trigger — useful for alarm-based events.

Programmatically (AF SDK)

AFEventFrame ef = new AFEventFrame(afDatabase, "BatchRun_001", efTemplate);
ef.SetStartTime(AFTime.Now);
ef.CheckIn();
// ... later ...
ef.SetEndTime(AFTime.Now);
ef.CheckIn();

Querying Event Frames

PI Web API

GET /piwebapi/assetdatabases/{webId}/eventframes
  ?searchFullHierarchy=true
  &startTime=*-7d
  &endTime=*
  &templateName=BatchRun

AF SDK

AFEventFrameSearch search = new AFEventFrameSearch(
    afDatabase, "MySearch",
    AFSearchMode.Overlapped,
    startTime, endTime,
    "Template:BatchRun"
);
foreach (AFEventFrame ef in search.FindEventFrames()) { ... }

Use Cases

• Batch tracking — capture start/end of production batches with yield data
• Alarm analysis — how often, how long, and which equipment
• Shift reports — aggregate KPIs per shift automatically
• Equipment cycles — track pump starts, compressor runs, valve operations

Viewing in PI Vision

PI Vision has native event frame support. Add an event frame table to any display to browse, filter, and compare events visually.