View and manage alarm definitions

The View and manage alarm definitions page displays the alarm definitions located in the Platform for the search criteria specified, and only for those models to which you have privileges. If you accessed this page from the View and manage models page, the list of alarm definitions includes only the definitions for the model whose Manage Alarms link you selected.

Note: If you see the $image\icon_alarm_disposition_override.gif$ icon next to the alarm name, it means that the Alarm Disposition has been changed at the asset level.

o Description - If entered when the alarm definition was created using the Axeda Configuration application, this field shows that text. If the alarm definition was created automatically when a new instance of the alarm was detected by th Platform and if the information was provided with the alarm instance, this field typically shows user-defined information about this alarm.

For an Axeda Gateway or Axeda Connector Agent, the information shown in this field depends on the main category of alarm (analog, digital, custom, or dynamic):

§ Analog alarms -- If the alarm is a Value alarm, this field shows the Description entered for the Value Level (LoLo, Low, HiHi, or High) in Axeda® Builder. If this alarm is a Deviation alarm, this field shows the Description entered for the Minor Deviation or Major Deviation in Builder.

§ Digital alarms -- This field shows the text entered for the Message in the configuration of the Digital Alarm Style in Builder.

§ Custom alarms -- This field shows the text entered for the Message in the configuration of the Custom Alarm Style in Builder.

For an Axeda® IDM Agent, this field shows the four components of an IDM Agent fault (alarm): code, abstract, description, and detail. The following example shows how they would appear here:

If expression rules have been written for the IDM Agents to take this alarm information and generate new alarms, using the information, then this field will show only the information provided in the Description component of the fault.

o Attributes -- indicates whether or not the attributes of the alarm will be stored in the Platform

o Alarm Disposition -- the disposition of an alarm refers to how the alarm is handled when it is first detected by the Platform. This column shows the current disposition setting for an alarm definition for a model. This column displays the current initial disposition for the model

Empty column - When the Alarm Disposition column is empty, the alarm definition is Enabled and Unsuppressed. New instances of this alarm are processed normally - their state is set to "Started", they are stored in the Platform, and they are available for evaluation by Expression Rules.

Disabled means that all new instances of this alarm are discarded. These alarm instances are not stored in the Platform nor are they visible in the Axeda® Service application. Since they never enter the Platform, rules that are configured to run when these alarms are detected do not run.

Suppressed means that all new instances of this alarm are set to "Closed" upon receipt and they are visible only in the Historical Alarms page. These alarm instances do not appear in the Alarms module on the Asset dashboards nor do they appear in the Current Alarms page. Like Disabled alarms, Suppressed alarms are not available for evaluation in Expression Rules.

Note: With the proper privileges, a Service Technician can suppress alarms for an asset from the Alarms module of the Asset dashboard or from the Alarm Definitions page for the asset in the Axeda Service application. If an alarm that was enabled and unsuppressed at the model level has been suppressed at the asset level. the $image\icon_alarm_disposition_override.gif$ icon appears next to the alarm name. Changing the disposition at the model level while the override is still on does NOT affect the disposition at the asset level. You must remove the override to change the disposition at the asset level. Refer to View and manage asset alarm definition overrides for information about removing overrides.

o Actions -- The available actions depend on the current disposition. The actions are links that you can click to enable or disable and suppress or un-suppress each alarm for a model. Note that you must have the appropriate privileges to be able to see and use these actions.

Procedures from this page

From this page, you can select to filter the list of alarm definitions based on search criteria, view more information for an alarm definition, edit an alarm definition and remove alarm definitions.

How to filter the list of alarm definitions

1. If the filters do not appear, click Filters to display them.

2. Type the values by which you want to filter the list of alarm definitions on this page, as follows:

a. In the box above the Alarm Name column, type all or part of the name of the alarm definition you want to find.

b. From the list above the Model column, select the model by which you want to filter this list. If you accessed this page by selecting Manage Alarm Definitions for the model in the View and manage models page, the list is already sorted by this column.

c. From the list above the Alarm Disposition column, select the alarm disposition for which you want to see all alarm definitions: Disabled or Suppressed. If you leave this filter empty, alarm definitions with any of the initial Alarm Dispositions are displayed.

If you leave all filter values blank, all alarm definitions for models and assets to which you have privileges are returned. If you specify one value, all alarm definitions found will contain that value.

3. Click Filter. The Platform finds all alarm definitions defined in the database that contain the search value(s) defined and shows only those alarm definitions in this table.

4. To make different selections, click Clear and then select new search criteria.

How to change the initial disposition for an alarm definition

Important! Any action taken on an alarm definition affects FUTURE instances of the alarm; it does NOT affect current or historical instances of the alarm.

By default the initial disposition of an alarm instance received by the Platform is Started (enabled, unsuppressed). If you need to suspend the reporting of alarms but still want a record of them, you can suppress alarms. If you do not want the alarms retained in the Platform at all, you can disable them. When you are ready to resume normal operations, you can enable or unsuppress alarms. If you want to change the initial disposition for ALL alarms for a model, you can use the Alarm Actions for the model in the View and manage models page.

To change the initial disposition for an alarm definition for a model:

1. Locate the alarm definition whose initial disposition you want to change. If the same alarm definition is used for multiple models, make sure you find the entry for the correct model.

2. In the Actions column for the alarm definition, click the available link:

a. If the Alarm Disposition column is empty, the alarm is Enabled and Unsuppressed; you can take either of the following actions:

> Click the Disable link to disable all future instances of the alarm for the model.

> Click the Suppress link to suppress all future instances of the alarm for the model.

b. If the Alarm Disposition currently shows Disabled, you can take either of the following actions:

> Click the Enable link to enable all future instances of the alarm for the model.

> Click the Suppress link to suppress all future instances of the alarm for the model.

c. If the Alarm Disposition currently shows Suppressed, you can take either of the following actions:

> Click the Disable link to disable all future instances of the alarm for the model.

> Click the Unsuppress link to unsuppress all future instances of the alarm for the model.

After you take one of these actions, the action name changes to the opposite. For example, if you click Disable, the action becomes Enable.

View and manage alarm definitions (Configuration application)

Procedures from this page

How to filter the list of alarm definitions

How to change the initial disposition for an alarm definition