Time-stamped Alarm Properties

Using CitectSCADA > Configuring and Processing Alarms > Time-stamped Alarms > Time-stamped Alarm Properties

Time-stamped Alarm Properties

Time-stamped Alarms have the following properties:

Alarm Tag

The name of the alarm. The name needs to be unique to the cluster. Alarm Tag names need to adhere to the Tag name syntax. If the name is not unique or is not syntactically correct it may not be recognized. If you have many tags, use a naming convention (see Using structured tag names). This makes it easier to find and debug your tags.

Note: Where Cluster Name is left blank, the name needs to be unique for every defined cluster.

Cluster Name

The name of the cluster that runs this alarm. If the Cluster Name is not set, then this alarm will run on every defined cluster.

Alarm Name

The name of the physical device associated with the alarm. This property is optional, it is only used when details of the alarm are displayed on the screen or logged to a device.

Alarm Desc

The description of the alarm. This can include variable data. This property is optional, it is only used when details of the alarm are displayed on the screen or logged to a device.

Variable Tag

The digital variable (tag) that triggers the alarm.

Timer

The variable tag or Cicode expression that represents the counter (or millisecond timer) configured in the I/O Device. The counter needs to be configured and maintained by the program in the I/O Device; it is read only when the alarm is triggered.

You can use one of three types of counter or timer to record the triggering of time-stamped alarms:

Continuous counter. A continuous counter is read in the unit to determine the sequence in which the alarms are triggered. The alarms are sorted based on the value of the counter when the alarm was triggered (the exact time is not recorded). You need to program the counter (in the unit) to count continually to its limit, reset, and again count to its limit.
Millisecond counter. If your unit supports a millisecond counter, you can program a counter (in the unit) to count (in milliseconds) for 24 hours, and then reset (at midnight). The value of this timer variable (in the unit) is read to determine the exact time when the alarm was triggered.
LONGBCD timer. Using a LONGBCD timer, you can log the exact time when a Time-stamped alarm becomes active. This variable is read, along with the alarm tag when the alarm activates. You need to program the LONGBCD variable in the following format with the range specified as hexadecimal numbers, excluding numbers containing alphabetic characters:

BYTE	MEANING	RANGE
1^st	Hours	00-23 (most significant byte)
2^nd	Minutes	00-59
3^rd	Seconds	00-59
4^th	100^th/sec	00-99 (least significant byte)

This field can also be used to handshake with the PLC code: The PLC is informed that it has read the timer register and now the PLC can overwrite the last value. For example, with the following code saved in a Cicode file:
```
INT

FUNCTION

AlarmTimerReset(INT iTimer, STRING sTimerTrigger)

TagWrite(sTimerTrigger, 0); //Reset the trigger

RETURN iTimer; //Return the timer value to the alarm system

END
```
You could configure a time-stamped alarm as follows:

Variable Tag

AlmTrigger1

Timer

AlarmTimer Reset(AlmTimer1, "AlmTrigger1")

where AlmTimer1 is the PLC register that stores the alarm time, and AlmTrigger1 is the alarm trigger bit.

When AlmTrigger1 is set to one (1), the alarm is triggered, and the Cicode function is called. On calling the function, the AlmTimer1 register is read. The function resets the trigger bit (handshaking), and the value of AlmTimer1 is returned to the alarm system.

Note:AlarmTimerReset is a USER Cicode function. This cicode function does not exist as an internal CitectSCADA function.

Category

The alarm category number or label. This property is optional. If you do not specify a category, the alarm defaults to Category 0.

Help

The name of the graphics page that displays when the AlarmHelp() function is called by a user-defined command. This property is optional. If you don’t specify a help page, no action occurs when the AlarmHelp() function is called.

Comment

Any useful comment (maximum 48 characters).

Extended forms fields

The following fields are implemented with extended forms (press F2).

Privilege

The privilege necessary by an operator to acknowledge or disable the alarm.

Note: If you assign an acknowledgment privilege to an alarm, do not assign a privilege to the command(s) that acknowledge the alarm. If you do assign a different privilege to the commands, an operator need to have both privileges to acknowledge the command.

Area

Area to which the alarm belongs (maximum 16 characters). If an operator does not have access to an area, the alarm is not visible on the alarm display. For example, if you enter Area 1 here, operators need to have access to Area 1 (plus any necessary privileges) to acknowledge or disable this alarm.

Custom Filter1...Custom Filter8

A user-defined string for filtering active alarms (maximum 64 characters).

Used in a custom Cicode query function as search criteria, the custom alarm filter enables operators to identify and display a subset of active alarms.

Notes:

Custom filters are visible only when the Digital Alarms form is open in Extended mode.
The fields are not case-sensitive and can contain 'A'..'Z', 'a'..'z', '0'..'9', and the underscore '_'.
A custom filter cannot start with a digit.

Paging

A read/write property that indicates whether the alarm will be paged. When the value is 1 (TRUE) the alarm will be paged. The default value is 0 (FALSE). See Alarm Paging Properties. This property can be read using alarm tag browsing and read or modified when tag properties are enabled using the tag name "myCluster.myAlarm.paging".

Paging Group

A read only text string that indicates the paging group to which the alarm belongs. Maximum length is 80 characters. See your third-party paging system documentation for information on how to use this Paging Group string. This property can be read using alarm tag browsing or when tag properties are enabled read using the tagname "myCluster.myAlarm.paginggroup". For example, assign the value of PagingGroup to a variable:

myString = myCluster.Alarm_1.paginggroup

Variable Tag	AlmTrigger1
Timer	AlarmTimer Reset(AlmTimer1, "AlmTrigger1")