Analytics Builder 10.13.0 | Using Analytics Builder for Cumulocity IoT | Understanding Models | Blocks
 
Blocks
 
Input blocks
Output blocks
Processing blocks
Creating your own blocks
Blocks are the basic processing units of the model. Each block has some predefined functionality and processes data accordingly. A block can have a set of parameters and a set of input ports and output ports.
The palette of the model editor offers for selection the following types of blocks:
*Input blocks, which receive data from external sources. An input block normally represents a device or device group that has been registered in the Cumulocity IoT inventory. See also Input blocks.
*Output blocks, which send data to external sources. An output block normally represents a device that has been registered in the Cumulocity IoT inventory. But there are also blocks for sending an email or SMS to specified receivers. See also Output blocks.
*Processing blocks, which receive data from the input blocks and send the resulting data to the output blocks. See also Processing blocks.
Note:
For detailed information on each block, see Overview of all blocks which provides links to the descriptions of all the blocks in the block reference.
A block can receive data from another block through its input ports. A block can send data to another block through its output ports. Different blocks will have different numbers of input or output ports, and some blocks have only input ports or only output ports. For most blocks, it is not required to connect all of the input or output ports.
A block can have configurable parameters that define the behavior of the block. These parameters are either optional or mandatory, depending on the requirement of the block. A parameter can be configured with a value or a template parameter.
When using the same block multiple times, you can specify different values for the same parameter. For example, the Threshold block has a configurable parameter named Threshold Value. If you are using two instances of the Threshold block and configure this parameter differently for each block, the blocks will report different breaches of the threshold.
Note:
Two output ports cannot be connected to same input port, whereas one output port can be connected to multiple input ports.