Why are Ignition 7.8.2 table tooltips missing after upgrade?

In Ignition 7.8.2 (b2016030813) the Vision Designer strips the tooltip from every standard Table component on save. A window with an expression-bound tooltip also throws Property 'toolTipText' not defined when opened. The Table component in that build has no tooltip property, so the Designer has nowhere to keep the value and nowhere to bind it. The fix is in 7.9.1, but it does not bring back values already lost, so the order of operations matters.

Where in the load path does the toolTipText binding fail?

The failure is at the last hop of the binding, not in the expression. The trace runs from a Designer double-click to a property lookup that returns nothing:

1. WindowNode.onDoubleClick calls WindowWorkspace.openWindow.
2. FPMIWindow.startup calls DefaultInteractionController.startupAdapters.
3. ExpressionPropertyAdapter.startup calls runExpression. The expression evaluates.
4. AbstractPropertyAdapter.updateValue calls updateTarget to write the result to the target property.
5. BindUtilities.getPropertyNode looks up toolTipText on component tblItems and throws RuntimeException: Property 'toolTipText' not defined.
6. updateTarget wraps that as java.lang.Exception: Error finding property setter method for binding on Collection manifest.Root Container.tblItems.toolTipText.

Every symptom follows from one fact: the 7.8.2 Table does not expose toolTipText. The Oracle Java 1.7.0_80 runtime shown in the trace is the Designer's JVM. It plays no part in the failure.

Check: the exception text names toolTipText and a Table component, and the footer reads Ignition v7.8.2 (b2016030813). If the "not defined" message names a different property or component type, this is a different problem.

Which builds removed the property and which restored it?

Inductive Automation removed the tooltip property from the standard Table in 7.7.0 (March 2014) as a cleanup. The property was believed not to work correctly. It was set on the scroll pane that holds the table, not on the table itself. The removal did not migrate existing bindings, so any pre-7.7 binding on the property fails. A direct upgrade from 7.6 to 7.8.2 skips 7.7 and hits the whole change at the first Designer open.

Read the release notes for any build between 7.8.2 and 7.9.1 before relying on it. Target 7.9.1 or later. Check: record the exact version of every Designer and Gateway in the estate before touching a window resource.

How do I stop the Designer from destroying more tooltips?

Opening a window does not remove tooltips. Saving does. Until the Vision module is upgraded, every save of a window containing a Table discards its tooltip values.

1. Stop saving windows that contain standard Table components in the 7.8.2 Designer. Open-only inspection is safe. Windows with bound tooltips throw on open but stay unchanged on disk until saved.
2. Take a Gateway backup and a project export now, and label them with the date and the 7.8.2 build.
3. List the windows already saved since the upgrade. Use your project change history or backup timestamps. These are the ones that already lost tooltips.
4. Open the client on a window not yet saved in 7.8.2 and hover over a table.

Check: the backup and export files exist, and the client still shows the tooltip on a known table. The client keeps showing tooltips because the saved resource still holds the value.

Can I recover tooltips from windows already saved in 7.8.2?

The 7.9.1 fix restores the property, not the values the Designer already discarded. A saved window has no tooltip data left to recover. Recovery comes from a backup that predates the first 7.8.2 save of that window. A Gateway backup taken before the 7.6 to 7.8.2 upgrade qualifies.

1. Identify the newest backup or project export older than the first 7.8.2 Designer save of each affected window.
2. After the upgrade in the next section, bring only the affected windows from that backup into the 7.9.1 project. The resources still carry the property, and 7.9.1 recognizes it again. Test this on one window before doing the rest.
3. If no pre-save backup exists for a window, re-add its tooltips by hand once 7.9.1 is running. With hundreds of tables, prioritize by how heavily operators rely on each tooltip.

Check: open one restored window in the 7.9.1 Designer. There is no exception in the Designer, and the tooltip value is present in the property editor.

How do I upgrade to the build that restores the property?

Inductive Automation stated that the fix could ship as a Vision-module-only release, and the fix is in 7.9.1. Take the fix through the Vision module or a full 7.9.1 install, whichever your update process supports.

1. Take a fresh Gateway backup before the upgrade.
2. Install 7.9.1 or later, or the Vision module carrying the fix.
3. Relaunch the Designer and any Vision clients so they run the updated module.
4. Do not save any window until step 5 passes.
5. Open a window that previously threw the toolTipText exception.

Check: the window opens without the exception. The Table's property list shows a tooltip property again, and a static value can be typed into it.

When should a Power Table replace the standard Table?

Use a Power Table when the tooltip must differ by cell, or when you cannot leave 7.8.2 yet. Inductive Automation pointed to the Power Table for this: it can set a tooltip on each cell individually. The pre-7.7 standard Table tooltip belonged to the scroll pane. 7.9.1 makes the standard Table tooltip work over cells, so a single tooltip per table is enough for many screens.

Swapping a Table for a Power Table changes the component and its bindings, so no automatic migration is assumed. Pilot one window before committing hundreds of tables. Check: the piloted Power Table shows the per-cell tooltip in the client and keeps it through a save and reopen.

How do I verify tooltips survive save, reopen, and client launch?

1. Open a window in the 7.9.1 Designer that has a bound tooltip and a Table. The Designer console shows no Property 'toolTipText' not defined exception.
2. Set a static tooltip on one standard Table and an expression-bound tooltip on a second.
3. Save the window, close it, and reopen it. Both values remain and the bound one evaluates without an exception.
4. Launch a client and hover over cells in both tables. The tooltip text appears over the cells.
5. Repeat on a window restored from a pre-7.8.2 backup. Confirm the restored tooltip values load without error.
6. Save that restored window once more, close it, reopen it, and confirm the tooltip is still present in the property editor.

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