Data Types

Meridian supports collecting a variety of different data types as defined by RFC 2578. When defining data collection definition files, use the closest match to the type of data provided by the node.

Counter

The counter type represents values that continue to increase over time. The device may present this type with a non-negative integer with a maximum of either a 32-bit or 64-bit upper limit. Meridian stores both of these the same, and you can use COUNTER, COUNTER32, and COUNTER64 interchangeably in data collection definitions to refer to this data type. When a counter reaches the upper limit, the value resets to zero and continues to increment.

Gauge

The gauges type represents values that may fluctuate up or down to reflect the current state of a given metric. The device may present this type with a non-negative number with a maximum of either a 32-bit or 64-bit upper limit. Meridian stores both of these the same, and you can use GAUGE, GAUGE32, and GAUGE64 interchangeably in data collection definitions to refer to this data type.

Integer

The integer type represents values that represent a number between -2^31 and 2^31-1 (-2147483648 to 2147483647 decimal). Meridian stores both of these the same, and you can use INTEGER, INTEGER32, and INTEGER64 interchangeably in data collection definitions to refer to this data type. You can also use integers to represent a named-number enumeration status value.

IpAddress

The IpAddress type represents a 32-bit internet address.

The IpAddress type is a tagged type for historical reasons. Use a STRING value to represent network addresses.

OctetString

The OctetString type represents arbitrary binary or textual data presented as a hex string.

Opaque

The Opaque type is provided solely for backward-compatibility. Do not use it for newly defined object types.

String

String values are stored differently from the other numeric data types. Only the most recent string value is persisted to disk. Retrieve stored values with the Resources API.

TimeTicks

The timeticks type represents values comparing hundredths of seconds between two epoch timestamps.