The Alarm Items represent individual tags or expressions monitored within the solution. The Alarm Item triggers an alarm event when a defined condition occurs, notifying users about it. To define an Alarm Item on your solution, the user goes to Alarms/ Items and sets a tag name, the condition that triggers the alarm (e.g., Hi, Lo, Rate of Change), and the threshold value (Limit). Alarms/Items list the specified tags along with their Conditions and Limits. The software platform offers optional properties for customization, including priority, auxiliary values, and the alarm message.
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AlarmItem Configuration
To configure a new or existing AlarmItem, follow the steps below:
Access Alarms → Items.
On the Tag Name column, type the Tag name or select from the available list. Alternatively, copy and paste the Tag's name from Unified Namespace → Tags.
- Enter the condition to trigger the alarm in the Condition field and configure the treshold value in the Limit field.
- In the Group field, choose which Alarm Group this Item will belong to.
- Once finished, on your keyboard press Enter to save the Alarm Item.
To modify an existing Alarm Item, double-click and modify the desired field. Note that any changes made to the Alarm Item will take effect immediately, and the new or modified Alarm Item will be evaluated against the tag values in real-time. |
The image below illustrates the process described above. In it, we created an Alarm Item monitoring the tag "ExampleTag" and when its value exceeds or is equal to 50, it will trigger an alarm in the "Warning" Alarm Group.
For more details about each available property field, see the section below.
Alarms Usage at Runtime
Using configured Alarm Items in the Alarm Modules at runtime is straightforward. Add an AlarmViewer to a display and configure it by defining the List by selecting the source of alarms to display in the viewer. To use it, navigate to Displays/Draw, select the Module category, choose AlarmViewer, and place it on the Drawing area by clicking or dragging and dropping. Double-click the object to configure it.
Refer to AlarmsViewer Control for more details.
Properties Reference
Alarm Item properties
When configuring an Alarm Item, the essential properties to define are the Tag Name and Condition. These two elements form the core of the configuration, dictating when and how alarms are triggered. Additionally, you can set up other properties based on the specific use of the alarm. The following is a table describing each available property field for the Alarm Item:
If a property column is not visible on the grid, enable it by right-clicking the grid header and selecting it from the list. |
Property | Description |
|---|---|
ID | The unique identifier for the alarm item. |
Version ID | The version identifier associated with the alarm item. |
TagName | The name of the tag being monitored for alarm events. |
Condition | Defines the condition that triggers the alarm. The next section of this page describes in more detail the different options for this property. |
Limit | Defines the predefined threshold for the alarm. |
Limit1 | A secondary threshold value. You should use this property in conjunction with the Limits by Shift functionality. Learn more on the Alarm Limits page. |
Limit2 | A tertiary threshold value. Learn more on the Alarm Limits page. |
Disable | Enables or Disables the alarm. |
Deadband | Defines a range in which changes are ignored. |
Setpoint | The desired target value. |
Setpoint Deadband | A range around setpoints where changes are ignored. |
Group | The group to which the alarm item belongs. |
Area | The area designation for alarm management. |
Priority | Defines the priority level of the alarm. |
Aux Value | It provides additional information about the alarm, such as the responsible team to be associated with an Alarm Area. Read more on the Alarms - Areas page. |
Aux Value 2 | A secondary auxiliary value. |
Aux Value 3 | A tertiary auxiliary value. |
Lock State | The current lock status of the alarm item. |
Lock Owner | The user or system that locked the item. |
Date Modified | The date the alarm item was last modified. |
DateCreated | The date the alarm item was created. |
Comment | The comments or notes related to the alarm item. |
Message | This is the alarm message displayed to the user upon triggering the alarm. |
Alarm Condition options
The Condition property defines the trigger for the alarm using the Limit property as the threshold value. It offers a wide range of options and the table below describes them in more detail:
Condition | Description |
|---|---|
Hi | Tag >= Limit. |
HiHi | Tag >= Limit (when acknowledged, a Hi alarm is automatically acknowledged for the same Tag). |
Lo | Tag <= Limit. |
LoLo | Tag <= Limit (when acknowledged, a Lo alarm is automatically acknowledged for the same Tag). |
Rate Of Change | The tag's rate of change >= Limit. |
Deviation Minor | Absolute value: (Tag - Setpoint) > Limit. |
Deviation Major | Absolute value: (Tag - Setpoint) > Limit. |
Equal | Tag = Limit. |
Greater Than | Tag > Limit. |
Greater Equal | Tag >= Limit. |
Less Than | Tag < Limit. |
Less Equal | Tag <= Limit. |
Changed | Tag value changed. |
Changed Up | Tag value increased. |
Changed Down | Tag value decreased. |
Not Equal | Tag different from limit. |
In this section: