====Contexts====

Most applications only have the one //context//, which is automatically created when you first install ARDI.

The default context is called 'Actual' and represents the real, measured data from your assets.

Each context can link asset properties to a complete different set of [[data source|data sources]].

For example, your **Actual Pressure** might come from a [[InfluxDB]] historian, while your **Simulated Pressure** from an [[OPC-UA]]-compliant simulator and your **Snapshot Pressure** from a simple text-file.  

ARDI allows you to view trends, charts and virtual environments for each of these contexts.

You can also //compare// your values both within a between contexts, live or historical.

This means that if you had an //actual//, //simulated// and //ideal// context, you could compare....

  * Your live measurements vs a the actual measurements taken two weeks ago.
  * Your live measurements against the ideal measurements.
  * Your historical measurements against what the simulator expected.
  * Your simulated measurements vs the ideal etc.

Only the **actual** context (which usually contains your real-world information) includes live data. All other contexts only include [[historical driver|historical]] data sources.