From 1990 to Today, the Data Still Matters
InTouch historical data can remain useful long after the systems that recorded it have been replaced. From 1990 to today, more than three and a half decades have passed. In that time, industrial computing has changed enormously. Workstations have been replaced, operating systems have come and gone, and control rooms have seen generations of new software.
For many engineers, that journey has familiar names: InTouch 5.6, InTouch 10.1, InTouch 2014, InTouch 2017, InTouch 2023, and now InTouch 2026. Each may bring to mind a particular project or a system they maintained for years.
Whether the records come from an old InTouch 5.6 installation, a familiar InTouch 10.1 project, a system built around InTouch 2014 or 2017, or a newer InTouch 2023 or 2026 environment, the principle is the same: their value lies in what they recorded, not how recently the software was released.
Yet in backup folders, on archived hard drives, and alongside old project files, records of those earlier years may still exist.
A temperature measured during a night shift, a pressure reading before a shutdown, or a production count from a line that no longer exists may still help explain how a plant operated at the time.
That is why we spend so much time analysing historical data formats for ITHistExporter. Older formats can be difficult to work with, but the information they contain still deserves careful attention.
Data does not become unimportant simply because the software that created it has grown old.
The Past Cannot Be Measured Again
When a sensor records a value today, it captures a moment that will never happen in exactly the same way again. The equipment, operating conditions, materials, and decisions all belong to that moment.
Years later, someone may need to understand it.
An engineer may want to compare performance before and after a process modification. A maintenance team may look for operating patterns that preceded a failure. A plant preparing for migration may need a baseline from the system it is about to retire. A researcher may want to study changes that only become visible across many years.
New measurements cannot replace those older observations. A modern dashboard cannot recreate a missing decade of operating history.
Not every archive will answer an important question. But an archive that can no longer be read cannot even be considered. Keeping data accessible preserves the opportunity to find out what it can still tell us.
Keeping a File Is Not the Same as Keeping It Usable
It is reassuring to know that a backup exists. It is less reassuring to discover that nobody can open it anymore.
The original workstation may be gone. The software environment may be difficult to reproduce. The people who understood the system may have moved on. A file extension that once seemed familiar may now be the only clue to what an archive contains.
This is where long-term preservation becomes more than a storage problem. The bytes may be safe, but the practical connection between those bytes and meaningful information can weaken over time.
Preserving InTouch historical data means keeping a way to identify the tags, interpret the timestamps, and read the recorded values. It also means retaining useful context, such as units, equipment descriptions, and the original project documentation where available.
A readable export can help make an archive useful again. It should sit alongside the original files, not replace them.
Why Analysing InTouch Historical Data Takes Time
Historical formats reflect the systems and constraints of their time. Across software generations, record layouts, tag naming rules, timestamp representations, and storage conventions can change. Details that look similar at first may carry different meanings.
Understanding those differences takes patient analysis: examining file structures, comparing samples, checking relationships between records, and validating interpretations against available reference data.
The goal is not simply to produce a table that looks convincing. A timestamp interpreted incorrectly can move an event into the wrong shift. A value read as the wrong data type can appear plausible while telling the wrong story. Careful work matters because people may use the results to make real decisions.
Some files are incomplete or damaged. Some questions need more samples before they can be answered confidently. Responsible analysis means recognising those limits rather than turning uncertainty into an apparently precise result.
We believe that effort is worthwhile. A difficult format is a technical challenge to work through, not a reason to dismiss the data it contains.
Bringing That Approach to ITHistExporter
ITHistExporter is our practical response to this problem: a Windows tool for opening, examining, and exporting InTouch historical data without requiring InTouch or HistData to be installed on the computer doing the export.
Its existing LGH support spans multiple InTouch generations, from InTouch 5.1b through newer formats used by InTouch 2023 R2 and later. We are also working on support for InTouch 5.0-era .LOG files, extending that coverage further into the past.
The aim is straightforward: help people work with the history they already have, rather than leave it tied to an ageing software environment.
That includes several practical capabilities:
- Different kinds of recorded values: Work with discrete states, integer readings, and real-valued measurements, covering common industrial data such as equipment status, counters, temperatures, pressures, and flow rates.
- Preview and selection: Examine data and select the tags you need before exporting, instead of treating an entire archive as an undifferentiated collection of files.
- Raw Data and Fit Data modes: Use Raw Data for recorded samples, or Fit Data for values aligned to a chosen time interval when preparing comparisons and reports. These serve different purposes; aligned output should not be mistaken for the original sampling sequence.
- CSV, Excel, and JSON output: Bring historical data into spreadsheets, reporting workflows, or analysis scripts. Available output formats depend on the selected export mode.
- Batch processing: Work through multiple history files with less repetitive manual effort.
The point is not merely to open an old file. It is to make its contents useful in the tools people work with today.
Respecting Old Data Is Part of Building for the Future
It is natural for software development to focus on what comes next. New versions, new systems, and new ways of analysing information all matter.
But progress does not have to mean leaving the past unreadable.
Our view is simple: yesterday’s data deserves the same care we expect for today’s. That does not mean every old record is equally valuable, or that every archive can be recovered completely. It means approaching the information with care, checking what can be understood, and being honest about what cannot.
The files being created in your plant today will eventually become legacy data too. The attention we give to older archives is also a reminder to preserve today’s records, documentation, and context for the people who will need them later.
Preserving those records gives future users a chance to work with data that cannot be collected again.
Explore Your Own Data with a Free 7-Day Trial
If you have InTouch historical data sitting in an archive, start with a copy of a few supported LGH files. Review the tags, inspect the records, and try an export in the format that suits your work.
Download ITHistExporter and explore your own data with a free 7-day trial. The evaluation version has export record limits; use the trial to assess how the software fits your files and workflow.
Your data may be decades old. It still deserves to be taken seriously.