Introduction to the Alarms Module

The Alarms Module monitors and manages real-time alarm events, alerts, notifications, and Audit Trail information. It provides alerts for critical events and stores data for future analysis. Key functions include:

  • Real-time alarm states processing

  • Storage on any database provider

  • Hierarchical organization of alarms

  • System AuditTrail events and operator actions tracking

On this Page:

Key Concepts and Terms

  • AlarmItem: it's each tag monitored by the Alarm Module, and information like alarm limits, message and AlarmGroup
  • AlarmGroup: Collection of AlarmItems sharing properties such as AckRequired and LogEvents.
  • AlarmArea: Hierarchical grouping of AlarmGroups for better organization.
  • Audit Trail:  Automatically logs key events when executing the solution

Configuration Workflow

Alarms Module Configuration Workflow

Action

Comments

Create AlarmItems

Select a Tag  to monitor, define the to trigger it and the message. Associate it if a group and, optionally, with an area.

Create or edit AlarmGroup

Use the pre-defined Alarm Groups: Critical, Warning, AuditTrail, or create your own.

Create or edit AlarmAreas

Optional, Create a hierarchically structured group of Alarms, to position each AlarmItem on that area.

Runtime Execution

Monitoring Tags and Evaluating Conditions

When the Module Alarm is execution, all tags defined on AlarmItems are subscribed, so the alarm conditions are evaluated every time the tag as new value. 

If a condition is reached, the alarm is issued, according to the behavior defined by its AlarmGroup. Notifications are sent if enabled to that group.

Visualization and Interaction 

During runtime, the AlarmViewer component connects with the server to get information about the online alarms, or historical data according its configuration.

The online configuration is updated in real-time as new alarms happened or have its state changed. Users can interact with the AlarmViewer to monitor, filter, and manage alarms effectively. 

Alarm Module Features

  • Real-time alarm processing
  • Hierarchical alarm management
  • Dynamic language localization for messages
  • High-precision timestamps (ms resolution)
  • Custom notifications (e.g., SMS, email)
  • Store and Forward archiving
  • Automated replication in hot-standby scenarios