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Alarm Properties

The Alarms module can be customized to meet specific requirements. This section will cover the various configuration options available in the Alarms module.

The following are some of the settings that can be customized:

Sound: This setting allows the user to specify the sound that should be played when an alarm is raised.

In addition to the global settings, the Alarms module can be customized further by creating AlarmGroup, AlarmArea, and AlarmItem. These can be used to group and organize alarms based on specific criteria.

The next sections will cover how to create and manage AlarmGroup, AlarmArea, and AlarmItem.

The Alarms module provides pre-defined AlarmGroup that you can use to quickly configure alarms for common applications. These pre-defined groups have pre-configured properties that make it easier to create and configure alarms for specific purposes.

To use a pre-defined Alarm Group, you simply need to select it from the list of available groups and configure any additional properties as needed. The available pre-defined groups may vary depending on the version of the Alarms module that you are using and the features that have been installed.

Some common AlarmGroup that may be available, include:

1. High Priority Alarms
   This group is used to track critical alarms that require immediate attention. The alarms in this group will typically have a high priority and may be configured to generate notifications or take other actions automatically.

2. Medium Priority Alarms
   This group is used to track alarms that are important, but not as critical as high priority alarms. The alarms in this group may have a lower priority than those in the high priority group, and may not require immediate attention.

3. Low Priority Alarms
   This group is used to track alarms that are less critical than medium priority alarms. The alarms in this group may have a lower priority than those in the medium priority group and may not require immediate attention.

4. Equipment Alarms
   This group is used to track alarms related to specific pieces of equipment or systems. The alarms in this group may be configured to generate notifications or take other actions specific to the equipment being monitored.

5. Production Alarms
   This group is used to track alarms related to production processes or activities. The alarms in this group may be configured to generate notifications or take other actions related to the production process being monitored.

Using pre-defined AlarmGroup can save time and effort in configuring the Alarms module, as the properties of the alarms in the group are already pre-configured. However, you can still customize these pre-defined groups or create new ones as needed to fit your specific requirements.

Access Alarms Namespace to see the properties of the alarm server. You can also find two more objects and its properties, they are as follow:

• The Alarm Group Class has the list of all defined Alarm Groups and their properties.
• The Alarm Item Class has all Alarm Items and their properties.

The tag properties are connected with the Alarms module. See the example below:

To learn about the basic concepts of namespaces and objects, you can refer to Objects and Namespaces.

Alarm Namespace

The Alarm Namespace in .NET offers a structured approach to alarm management, leveraging dot notation for intuitive access to alarm properties and methods. Starting with @Alarm to specify the Alarm namespace context, dot notation enables navigation through alarm attributes such as .Item for individual alarms, .Group for categorized alarms, .Area for location-based alarms, and .GlobalSettings for module-wide configurations. This notation facilitates the retrieval of specific alarm details, manipulation of settings, and execution of methods like .GetItemList for monitoring and managing alarms in real-time applications. It exposes properties and methods from the .NET objects used by the Alarms runtime. You can use these properties and methods on your Displays or to create Scripts. 

@Alarm.Item.ID0.TagName

@Alarm refers to the Alarm Namespace.

.Item accesses the specific item (or alarm point) attributes.

.ID0 specifies the first item or a unique identifier for a specific alarm item in a list or collection of alarms.

.TagName is the property that holds the name of the tag associated with the alarm item, such as a sensor name, a machine part, or any identifier used within the system.

In code, this retrieves the tag name of the first alarm item, which is a string.

@Alarm.Group.Warning.Sound

@Alarm refers to the Alarm Namespace.

.Group denotes a specific group of alarms or a categorization within the alarm system.

.Warning is the selected group of alarms classified as warnings.

.Sound refers to the sound property for Warning alarms, indicating what sound to play when a warning alarm is triggered.

This line of code is used to retrieve or set the sound that should be played when a warning-level alarm occurs.

@Alarm.Area.Brewery.GetChildrenAreas

@Alarm refers to the Alarm Namespace.

.Area represents a logical or physical area within the environment being monitored.

.Brewery specifies a specific area named 'Brewery', in a facility that produces beer.

.GetChildrenAreas is a method that returns a list of areas within the Brewery area.

When executed, this code provides a collection of all the sub-areas or zones within the 'Brewery' area.

@Alarm.GlobalSettings.AuditTrail.TagChanges

@Alarm refers to the Alarm Namespace.

.GlobalSettings accesses the global settings of the alarm module.

.AuditTrail refers to a logging or history-tracking feature within the alarm system.

.TagChanges indicates a specific setting or log that records all changes made to tag properties within the alarm system.

This is used to review or activate the tracking of all changes made to alarm tags across the entire system for auditing purposes.

@Alarm.GetItemList

@Alarm refers to the Alarm Namespace.

.GetItemList is a method that returns a list of all the items (alarms, sensors, etc.) that are being monitored by the alarm module.

Alarms Runtime Attributes

The T.Modules.Alarm has the properties of the alarm server. The Alarm.Group object has the list of all defined groups and their properties.The Alarm.Item object has all AlarmItem and their properties.The tag properties are connected with the Alarms module.

Example

 Tag.Tagname.Hi.Limit

 Configuration and runtime status of the HI Limit condition for the tag. The naming of all tag properties follow this same method.

In this section: