---
title: "system.opc.readValue"
description: "Reads a single value directly from an OPC server connection."
---

# system.opc.readValue

> Reads a single value directly from an OPC server connection.

This function is used in **Python Scripting**.

## Description
Reads a single value directly from an OPC server connection. The address is specified as a string, for example, [MyDevice]N11/N11:0The object returned from this function has three attributes: value, quality, and timestamp. The value attribute represents the current value for the address specified.

The quality attribute is an OPC UA status code. You can easily check a good quality vs a bad quality by calling the isGood() function on the quality object. The timestamp attribute is Date object that represents the time that the value was retrieved at.

## Client Permission Restrictions
This scripting function has no [Client Permission](../../../ignition-modules/vision/vision-project-properties/vision-project-properties.md#vision-permissions-properties) restrictions.

## Syntax
`system.opc.readValue(opcServer, itemPath)`

### Parameters
Type | Parameter | Description 
------- | ------- | ------
String| `opcServer` | The name of the OPC server connection in which the item resides.
 String| `itemPath` | The item path, or address, to read from.

### Returns

**QualifiedValue** - A [QualifedValue](https://sdk.inductiveautomation.com/javadoc/ignition81/latest/com/inductiveautomation/ignition/common/model/values/QualifiedValue.html) object that contains the value, quality, and timestamp returned from the OPC server for the address specified.

### Scope

Gateway, Vision Client, Perspective Session

## Code Examples
```python title="Code Snippet"
server = "Ignition OPC UA Server"
path = "[SLCSim]_Meta:N7/N7:0"
qualifiedValue = system.opc.readValue(server, path)
print "Value: " + str(qualifiedValue.getValue())
print "Quality: " + qualifiedValue.getQuality().toString()
print "Timestamp: " + qualifiedValue.getTimestamp().toString()
```