Alarms and Events in InTouch are used to notify the operator of abnormal conditions or events in a system. An alarm is a real-time notification of a critical situation that requires immediate attention, while an event is a non-critical notification of a system change or condition.
In InTouch, alarms and events can be configured and customized using the Alarm and Event Subsystem (AES). The AES allows users to configure alarm and event settings, such as the priority level, message text, and acknowledgment requirements.
When an alarm or event occurs, it is displayed on the alarm summary or event summary window, respectively. The operator can acknowledge the alarm or event and take appropriate actions to resolve the issue. The AES also provides historical data logging and reporting capabilities, which allow users to track and analyze alarm and event data over time.
How to Create Alarms and Events
In this post, you will create and configure designated alarm windows in order to enable acknowledgment of alarms and the establishment of events.
Upon completion of this post, you should be able to:
- Import the Alarms Window
- Configure the Alarms Window
- Convert Alarms Window Tags
- Configure Alarms for Tags
- Define the Acknowledge Button
- Create the Inhibit Tag
- Create an Inhibitor Switch
- Configure Alarm Dot Fields
- Configure Alarm Annunciation
- Create Events
YouTube tutorial
How to Create Alarms and Events
Alarm AcknowledgementImport the Alarms Window
Close WindowViewer.
Close any open windows in WindowMaker.
Select File / Import from the main WindowMaker menu, and wwimport (used in earlier labs).
Select the Alarms window.
Click OK.
Click Import.
The Alarms window now appears in the Application Explorer:
Configure the Alarms Window
Open the Alarms window.
Click the Wizard tool in the Wizard/ActiveX Toolbar icon.
The Wizard Selection dialog box appears:
Select Alarm Displays.
Select the Dist. Alarm Display Control.
Click OK. The Wizard Selection dialog box closes and your window reappears with the cursor in the “paste” mode.
Place and size the Alarm Display control in the window.
Press the F2 key. Select Special / Substitute Tags.
Click Convert.
The Convert dialog box appears:
Click Local.
Click OK.
Configure Alarms For Tags
Select the IntTag from the Tagname Dictionary.
Select the Details & Alarms option.
Configure the alarm as shown in the following figure and click Save.
Select the RealTag from the Tagname Dictionary.
Configure the Alarm as shown in the following figure.
Click Save, then Close.
Switch to Runtime. Test the Alarm Display by moving the RealTag slider up, and the IntTag slider down. The Alarm display should update with each movement of the sliders.
Switch to Development mode.
Define the Acknowledge Button
Double-click the Acknowledge button and select Touch Pushbuttons – Action.
Clear any previous scripts.
Configure the Action Script editor with the script shown in the previous figure.
Validate the script.
The script acknowledges the Alarm Object with the Acknowledge button by assigning the
almAckSelect function to the Distributed Alarm Object.
Note: The value for the AlarmObject argument for all of the almAck functions is derived from the name property of the
Alarm Object configuration. Modify the script to match your alarm object display name.
Click OK, then OK again.
Switch to Runtime and initiate an alarm for RealTag and IntTag.
Select one of the alarms.
Click the Acknowledge button.
The color of the alarm will change indicating it has been acknowledged.
Alarm InhibitionCreate the Inhibit Tag
An inhibition tag is used to disable a specific property of an alarm.
Open Tagname Dictionary and click New.
Create an InhibitTag as a Memory Discrete.
Click Save.
Click Select.
Select RealTag in the Tagname Dictionary.
Click OK.
Select the Details & Alarms option.
Click the Ellipsis button for HiHi Alarm Inhibitor.
Highlight InhibitTag within the Tagname Dictionary, then click OK.
Click Save, then Close.
Create an Inhibitor Switch
Select the Wizard Hat toolbar icon .
Select Switches.
Select the Knob Switch.
Double-click Knob Switch in the Wizard Selection dialog box, and place it in your application.
Double-click the Knob Switch in your application. The Discrete Switch Wizard dialog box displays
Double-click within the Tagname field and select InhibitTag from the Tagname Dictionary.
Click OK, then OK again.
Switch to Runtime.
Click the Knob Switch to turn it On. Move the RealTag Slider up to the top. The alarm display shows only the HI Alarm. The HiHi alarm has now been inhibited so that only the Hi alarm state is displayed. Repeat the previous step with the switch turned to the Off position. The HiHi alarm is now displayed.
Switch to Development mode.
Alarm Dot FieldsConfigure Alarm Dot Fields
Double-click the # symbol for the $System.Alarm field.
Assign a Value Display – Discrete animation link. The Output Discrete Expression dialog box appears.
Double-click within the Expression text field. (Clear any previous Expression, if any.) The Select Tag dialog box appears.
Scroll down in the Tagname list to select the $System Tagname. Open the Dot Field drop-down list. The dialog box containing all dotfields is displayed. Select Alarm. The Select Tag dialog box should now appear like the following figure. Click OK. The dotfield, .Alarm, is now associated with $System. Set the On Message to Yes and the Off Message to No.
Click the top OK button.
Double-click the # symbol adjacent to $System.Ack in the InTouch Alarms window. Select the Touch Links/User Inputs – Discrete animation link.
Clear any previous tagnames and settings.
Double-click in the Tagname field. The Select Tag dialog box appears:
Select the $System tag.
Open the Dot Field drop down list and select Ack.
Click OK.
Complete the Animation Link object configuration to match the following figure:
Click the top OK to save and close the animation link selection. Use the previous steps to configure the RealTag.HiLimit text display object with a TouchLink/User Input – Analog link.
Use the previous steps to configure the RealTag.HiStatus text display object with a ValueDisplay-Discrete link.
Click OK.
Switch to Runtime – observe changes to the dotfields.
Modify RealTag.HiLimit with a value of your choice.
Switch to Development mode.
Alarm AnnunciationConfigure Alarm Annunciation
Right-click Windows and select
New from the sub menu.
Configure the window with the properties shown in the following figure.
Click OK.
Use the following figure as a guide to add the following text and button objects.
Define the following Blink link for the Attention text:
Create a new condition script, where On True condition has the window open when a tag goes into alarm.
Validate the script and click OK.
Enter the following Touch Pushbutton – Action script for the Acknowledge Alarms button.
The Touch Pushbutton Action script for the Acknowledge Alarms button script will acknowledge ALL alarms, set the $NewAlarm tag to 0 and then hide the AlarmAcknowledge window.
Validate the script and click OK.
Click OK to close the Animation Links window.
Save and close the Alarm Acknowledge window. Ensure the Alarms window is still open.
Switch to Runtime.
Move the sliders. The Alarm Acknowledge window should now open when the tags go into alarm. The Attention text box should blink.
Click the Acknowledge Alarms button. The window should close and the current alarms should be changed to ACK status.
Return to Development.
Event MonitoringCreate Events Double-click the Alarm object. Change the Query Type to Historical in the Default Query Properties area.
Click OK.
The Alarm object rows are populated with the alarms in Runtime.
100.Double-click on the DiscTag1 button to review the Touch Pushbuttons – Action script.
Click OK, then OK again.
Open the Tagname Dictionary.
.Ensure the Log Events option for DiscTag1 is checked and the Priority is 998.
Switch to Runtime and click on the DiscTag1 Toggle button to display events. These alarms will appear at the bottom of the Alarm Object display.
Using an Alarm Viewer Control at Run Time wonderware intouch
Alarms and Events Window Popup Wonderware Intouch :-https://youtu.be/fHKgPYI8agA
The Alarm Viewer control includes a shortcut menu that provides operators quick access to commands that can be applied to the display object of one or more selected alarms, alarm groups, tags, and priorities.
The following lists shows the commands available from the Alarm Viewer control shortcut menu:
Ack Selected – Acknowledges the selected alarm(s). Ack Others – A sub-menu appears that lists other acknowledgement commands.
Ack All – Acknowledges all the alarms in the current alarm query. Because the alarm grid has only a limited display area, the Ack All command may acknowledge alarms that are not visible in the grid.
Ack Visible – Acknowledges only those alarms that are currently visible in the alarm grid.
Ack Selected Groups – Acknowledges all alarms that have the same group name from the same provider as one or more of the selected alarms.
Ack Selected Tags – Acknowledges all alarms that have the same tag from the same provider and group name and having the same priority as one or more of the selected alarms.
Ack Selected Priorities – Acknowledges all alarms that have the same priority from the same provider and group name as one or more of the selected alarms.
Suppress Selected – The selected alarm(s) is/are suppressed. Suppress Others – A sub-menu opens that contains suppression commands.
Suppress All – Suppress showing current and future occurrences of all alarms.
Suppress Visible – Suppress showing current and future occurrences of any visible alarm.
Suppress Selected Groups – Suppress showing current and future occurrences of any alarm that belongs to the same groups of one or more selected alarms having the same Provider name.
Suppress Selected Tags – Suppress showing current and future occurrences of any alarm that belongs to the same tag name of one or more selected alarms having the same Provider name, Group name, and Priority range.
Suppress Selected Priorities – Suppress showing current and future occurrences of any alarm that belongs to the same priorities of one or more selected alarms having the same Provider name and Group name.
Unsuppressed All – Clears the suppression settings.
Query Favorites – Shows the Alarm Query dialog box to select a previously saved alarm query. You can also add, modify and delete alarm queries. Stats – Shows the Alarm Statistics dialog box.
Suppression – Shows the Alarm Suppression dialog box. Freeze – Freezes the current display. Requery – Queries the alarm provider again. Sort – Shows the Secondary Sort dialog box.
Creating an Alarm Group List File Wonderware Intouch
You use the Distributed Name Manager to create an alarm group list. Then, you add existing alarm groups from the local and remote nodes to the list. The following table shows the syntax to specify alarm groups from the Distributed Name Manager.
| Node | Alarm Group Syntax |
|---|---|
| Local | InTouch!Group_Name or .Group_Name |
| Remote | \Node_NameInTouch!Group_Name or Node_Name.Group_Name |
For these examples, Node_Name is the name of the InTouch remote node. Group_Name is the name of the alarm group. If the alarm group is defined on the local node where the alarm group list is being defined, you can simply enter the alarm group name with a preceding period. For example, .Group_Name. To create an alarm group list
- On the Special menu, point to Configure, and then click Distributed Name Manager. The Distributed Name Manager dialog box appears.
- In the Group Properties area, type the name of the alarm query in the Name box.
- In the Members box, type the list of InTouch nodes and alarm groups to be included in the query.
You can enter the node names and alarm group names using Standard Group Entry syntax or as short cut entries using periods. Short cut entries are converted to Standard Group Entries when you save the alarm group list. Note The Node.Group and .Group syntax can be used only in this configuration dialog box. It is not valid in the alarm display configuration or any alarm QuickScript function.
- Click Add to add the list to your alarm group file.
The syntax of the members is automatically converted.
- Click OK.
- Add the name of the alarm group list to a query in an Alarm Viewer control. The Alarm Viewer control now shows alarms for all groups specified in the list.
Control ActiveX Properties Wonderware intouch
Alarms and Events Window Popup Wonderware Intouch :-https://youtu.be/fHKgPYI8agA
You can set the value an Alarm Viewer control property directly using a script or you can assign it to an InTouch tag or I/O reference. For more information about setting properties, see Scripting ActiveX Controls.
The following table lists the Alarm Viewer Control ActiveX Properties control properties.
AckAllMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack All menu item.
AckAlmColorRange1
Integer
Sets color to be used to show acknowledged alarms with priorities in the range 1 to ColorPriorityRange1. The default priority range is 1 to 250.
AckAlmColorRange2
Integer
Sets color to be used to acknowledged alarms with priorities in the range ColorPriorityRange1 to ColorPriorityRange2. The default priority range is 250 to 500.
AckAlmColorRange3
Integer
Sets color to be used to acknowledged alarms with priorities in the range ColorPriorityRange2 to ColorPriorityRange3. The default priority range is 500 to 750.
AckAlmColorRange4
Integer
Sets color to be used to acknowledged alarms with priorities in ColorPriorityRange3 to 999. The default priority range is 750 to 999.
AckOthersMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Others menu item.
AckSelectedGroupsMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Selected Groups menu item.
AckSelectedMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Selected menu item.
AckSelectedPrioritiesMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Selected Priorities menu item.
AckSelectedTagsMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Selected Tags menu item.
AckVisibleMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Ack Visible menu item.
AlarmQuery
Message
Sets the initial alarm query. This field accepts text only; it does not accept tags. The following example uses the full path to the alarm group:
\NodeInTouch!Group
This example uses the full path to the local alarm group:
InTouch!Group
This example uses another Group List:
GroupList
AlarmState
Message
Default alarm state to query (All, UnAck, Ack).
AlmRtnColor
Integer
Sets the color for alarms that have returned to normal and were unacknowledged. This color is also used for alarms that returned to normal from the acknowledged state but the acknowledgement state transition was not observed.
AutoScroll
Discrete
If the user scrolls the list from the beginning, this automatically jumps to the new alarm. (New alarms are defined as those that are not currently shown within the display object.)
ColorPriorityRange1
Integer
Sets the boundary of the priority range in which alarms are to be shown. The value of this property must be greater than one and less than the value for ColorPriorityRange2.
ColorPriorityRange2
Integer
Sets the boundary of the priority range in which alarms are to be shown. The value of this property must be greater than the value for ColorPriorityRange1 and less than the value for ColorPriorityRange3
ColorPriorityRange3
Integer
Sets the boundary of the priority range in which alarms are to be shown. The value of this property must be greater than the value of ColorPriorityRange2 and less than 999.
ColumnResize
Discrete
Returns or sets a value that determines whether the columns can be resized at run time.
CustomMessage
Message
The default message to show when there are no alarms.
DefaultAckComment
Message
Used as a comment when the alarm is acknowledged and when the “UseDefaultAckComment” is TRUE. Otherwise, the user is prompted to enter a comment.
DisplayedTime
Message
Shows the alarm message time. The values can only be “OAT” or “LCT” or “LCT But OAT on ACK.”
DisplayedTimeZone
Message
Gets or sets the current time zone string. The values can only be “GMT” or “Origin Time” or “Local Time.”
EventColor
Integer
Sets color of events.
ExtendedSelection
Discrete
Allows you to select multiple alarms by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key in conjunction with the mouse button. The default is to toggle selection of alarms by simply clicking on them (available only if the Row Selection check box is selected).
FlashUnAckAlarms
Discrete
Enables or disables the flashing of unacknowledged alarms. It takes a discrete input value of 1 or 0. If this property is set to 1, unacknowledged alarms flash once per second. If this property is set to 0, unacknowledged alarms do not flash. This property corresponds to the Flash Unack Alarms check box on the Alarm Viewer control General tab.
FlashUnackAlmColorRange1
Integer
Sets the flashing color for unacknowledged alarms belonging to Alarm Priority Range 1.
FlashUnackAlmColorRange2
Integer
Sets the flashing color for unacknowledged alarms belonging to Alarm Priority Range 2.
FlashUnackAlmColorRange3
Integer
Sets the flashing color for unacknowledged alarms belonging to Alarm Priority Range 3.
FlashUnackAlmColorRange4
Integer
Sets the flashing color for unacknowledged alarms belonging to Alarm Priority Range 4.
Font
None
Sets the font for the records and the header in the control.
FreezeMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Freeze menu item.
FromPriority
Integer
Sets the low priority value of the default query.
GridColor
Integer
Sets the color of the background grid.
NewAlarmEventMode
Integer
Controls the triggering of the NewAlarm event Control ActiveX Properties .
0 = The NewAlarm event can not be triggered. (Default).
1 = The NewAlarm event is active.
2 = The NewAlarm event is active and continually triggers when at least one new unacknowledged alarm arrives.
QueryFavoritesFile
Message
Returns or sets the query favorites file name.
QueryFavoritesMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Query Favorites menu item.
QueryName
String
Returns the current query name.
QueryStartup
Discrete
Automatically begins updating the grid using default query properties, if set. Otherwise, you must run the ApplyDefaultQuery or ApplyQuery method in a script to update the grid.
QueryType
Message
Sets the display type as either Summary or Historical.
RequeryMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Requery shortcut menu item.
RetainSuppression
Discrete
Retains alarm suppression between alarm queries when the alarm query is changed.
RowSelection
Discrete
Allows user to select alarms during run time.
SecondarySortColumn
Message
Returns or sets the current secondary sort column.
SelectedCount
Integer
Returns the total number of selected alarms.
ShowContextMenu
Discrete
Enables the activation of the shortcut menu.
ShowGrid
Discrete
Returns or sets a value that determines whether the grid lines are shown in the control.
ShowHeading
Discrete
Shows the title bar of the control.
ShowMessage
Discrete
Returns or sets a value that determines whether error messages are shown for the control.
ShowStatusBar
Discrete
Gets or sets a value that determines whether the status bar is shown.
SilentMode
Discrete
Gets or sets a value that determines whether the control is in silent mode.
SortColumn
Message
Gets or sets the current sort column.
SortMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Sort menu item.
SortOrder
Discrete
Gets or sets the sort direction. Possible values are “Ascending” and “Descending,” represented as 0 and 1 respectively.
StatsMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Stats menu item.
SuppressAllMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress All menu item.
SuppressedAlarms
Integer
Gets the total number of suppressed alarms.
SuppressionMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppression menu item.
SuppressOthersMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress Others menu item.
SuppressSelectedGroupsMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress Selected Groups menu item.
SuppressSelectedMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress Selected menu item.
SuppressSelectedPrioritiesMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress Selected Priorities menu item.
SuppressSelectedTagsMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Suppress Selected Tags menu item.
SuppressVisibleMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables the Suppress Visible menu item.
TimeFormat
Message
Sets the format of the alarm time stamps.
TitleBackColor
Integer
Sets title bar background color.
TitleForeColor
Integer
Sets title bar foreground color.
ToPriority
Integer
Sets the maximum priority for the alarm query.
TotalAlarms
Integer
Gets the number of alarms.
UnackAlarms
Integer
Gets the total number of unacknowledged alarms.
UnAckAlmColorRange1
Integer
Sets the color to be used to show unacknowledged alarms with priorities in the range of 1 to ColorPriorityRange1.
UnAckAlmColorRange2
Integer
Sets the color to be used to show unacknowledged alarms with priorities in the range of ColorPriorityRange1 to ColorPriorityRange2.
UnAckAlmColorRange3
Integer
Sets the color to be used to show unacknowledged alarms with priorities in the range of ColorPriorityRange2 to ColorPriorityRange3.
UnAckAlmColorRange4
Integer
Sets the color to be used to show unacknowledged alarms with priorities in the range of ColorPriorityRange3 to 999.
UnsuppressAllMenu
Discrete
Enables/disables Unsuppress All menu item.
UseDefaultAckComment
Discrete
If set to True, the default acknowledgement comment is used when the alarm is acknowledged. Otherwise, the operator is prompted to enter a comment.
WindowColor
Integer
Sets the grid background color.
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