These are changes or sub-types that may occur on objects. As an example, a digital input can be represented by a single bit (zero or one), by a status word (one byte), or yet contain or not a time information (timestamp). Thus, a combination of an object plus a variation completely describes an information, according to the next examples.

•Object 01 - Variation 01: Represents a digital input without status (a single bit)

•Object 01 - Variation 02: Represents a digital input with status (one byte)

•Object 02 - Variation 01: Represents a digital input change without time information

•Object 02 - Variation 02: Represents a digital input change with time information

Although both objects are linked to the same digital input, this information can be represented in different ways.