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What is a Data Source

A Data Source is the connection point between Mango and an external device, system, or protocol. Virtually anything can be a Data Source, in so far as the communications protocol is supported by Mango. Here are some examples:

  • If you have a Modbus network accessible via RS232, RS485, TCP/IP, orUDP/IP, you can create a Modbus Data Source that will poll the network for data on an interval you can define.
  • If you have equipment or an application that can send data over HTTP you can start an HTTP Receiver Data Source that will listen for incoming connections and route the data to the appropriate points.
  • For hardware that supports SNMP, start an SNMP Data Source. Values can be polled on an interval schedule, or traps can be received for report-on-exception.
  • Data can be read and updated in a SQL database external to the system.
  • Data can be generated either randomly or predictively using a Virtual Data Source.

Data values that are received or collected by a Data Source are stored within Data Points. Every Data Source editor in the Mango UI includes a contextual help button that explains the properties specific to that protocol. Mango supports the following data source types:

  • 1-wire
  • ASCII file
  • BACnet MS/TP
  • BACnet/IP
  • Control Core Bridge
  • Data File
  • DNP3 IP
  • DNP3 Serial
  • eGauge
  • Environment Canada
  • Haystack
  • HTTP image
  • HTTP JSON Receiver
  • HTTP JSON Retriever
  • HTTP Receiver
  • HTTP Retriever
  • Influx DB Line Protocol
  • Internal (Mango internal stats)
  • Log4j
  • M Bus
  • Mango Persistent TCP
  • Meta
  • Modbus I/P
  • Modbus Serial
  • MQTT client
  • OPC DA
  • PID
  • POP3 Email
  • Scripting
  • Serial
  • SNMP
  • SQL
  • SSH
  • TCP/IP
  • Virtual
  • VMStat
  • Z-Wave

In addition to these built-in data sources, you can develop custom data sources by creating Mango modules.

How data sources work​

Every data source has two key components:

  1. Connection configuration — Protocol-specific settings like IP address, port, serial parameters, or authentication credentials.
  2. Polling or event model — How Mango collects data. Most data sources are polling (Mango asks the device for data at a regular interval). Others are event-driven (the device pushes data to Mango, like HTTP Receiver or MQTT subscriptions).

Each data source contains one or more data points, which define exactly which values to read from the connected device. See What Is a Data Point? for details.

Next steps​