The PublishingOffset is an array of DataType Duration that defines the time in milliseconds for the offset in the PublishingInterval cycle of sending the NetworkMessage to the network.

Any negative value indicates that the PublishingOffset is not configured and the timing inside the PublishingInterval is application specific.

The Duration DataType is a subtype of Double and allows configuration of intervals smaller than a millisecond.

Figure 28 depicts how the different variations of PublishingOffset settings affect sending of multiple NetworkMessages.

Figure 28 – PublishingOffset options for multiple NetworkMessages

If all DataSets of a group are transferred with a single NetworkMessage, the scalar value or the first value in the array defines the offset for sending the NetworkMessage relative to the start of the PublishingInterval cycle. If the DataSets of a group are sent in a series of NetworkMessages, the values in the array define the offsets of sending the NetworkMessages relative to the start of the PublishingInterval cycle. If a scalar value is configured, the first NetworkMessage is sent at the offset and the following NetworkMessages are sent immediately after each other. If more NetworkMessages are available for sending than offset values in the array, the offset for the remaining NetworkMessages is extrapolated from the last two offset values in the array.

The PublishingInterval, the SamplingOffset the PublishingOffset and the timestamp in the NetworkMessage header shall use the same time base.