v0.44.24

Fixes

• Sparkplug B output: a standard tag_processor → sparkplug_b flow now publishes its tags. The output read the value from a payload field named after the tag, but tag_processor emits it under value, so every message was silently dropped — leaving only an empty NBIRTH on the broker. The output now extracts the value the same way the Sparkplug B input does (value/val/data/measurement), makes virtual_path optional, and warns instead of dropping silently when a payload can't be turned into a metric
• OPC-UA input now preserves string values exactly; previously, numeric-looking strings like serial codes were emitted as numbers and lost precision. For tags processed by tag_processor, also set msg.meta.datatype = "string" so auto-detection does not convert them back
• Sparkplug B input: metric datatypes now survive from BIRTH to DATA. Per spec, NDATA/DDATA carries only alias + value while the BIRTH certificate defines name and datatype — but the input cached only the name, so DATA messages lost their spb_datatype metadata and signed integers decoded as their unsigned two's-complement wire value (an Int32 of -12 surfaced as 4294967284). The alias cache now restores the datatype alongside the name, and Int8/Int16/Int32/Int64 wire values are reinterpreted as signed