Enumeration
An enumeration sits somewhere between a digital value and an analogue one.
They are often a number that represents a particular state or message. Where a status property can handle simple on/off statuses, the enumeration type can be used if your system can be in any one of three-or-more states.
For example, a machine such as pump that may go through many different stages of starting up and stopping may provide a single number to represent that status - this is an enumeration.
| Number | State |
|---|---|
| 0 | Offline / Not Running |
| 1 | Starting |
| 2 | Started |
| 3 | Stopping |
| 4 | Failed |
If you have a very large enumeration - often found if you have status or fault codes for your devices - you should consider using a lookup value instead. These are better suited to large numbers of options.