Note: Only the Axeda Connector and Axeda Gateway Agents support Asset State Monitoring. For a description of the supported features of the Axeda® IDM Agent features, refer to Axeda IDM Agents.
To support asset state monitoring, the Axeda® Agents have a special component, called xgStateMonitoring (for the Axeda® Gateway Agent) or EStateMonitoring (for the Axeda® Connector Agent). For the Agent to send asset state monitoring information to the Axeda® Platform upon registration and to continue to support asset state monitoring, you must perform the following steps when creating the agent project using Axeda® Builder:
1. For each Monitor, define one data item that will serve as Input.
2. If you plan to output the information to Agent data items for the Monitors, define the data items that you want to use as Output.
3. Create mechanisms for changing the values of data items that serve as Input to Monitors. Consider manipulating Counters with timers or running a script with snapshots. The data item should take values from a defined set. The Asset States are defined through fixed values from the set. The Asset State Object in the Platform corresponds to an asset State in the Builder user interface.
4. Configure the Monitors and Asset States.
5. If you selected to output to Agent data items, configure the project to process the data items. For example, you may want to create a logic schema that runs a script based on a change in the value of one of the data items (that is, in the asset state).
6. Make sure that the XML configuration file, xgStateMonitoring.xml or EStateMonitoring.xml, is selected for downloading to the target asset for the project.
7. Make sure that saving the Monitor configuration(s) has automatically selected the xgStateMonitoring/EStateMonitoring component to be loaded when the Agent starts (the check box for the component should be selected in the Components tab of the Gateway Settings or Connector Settings dialog box).
8. Save and download the project.
For additional assistance, refer to the online help for Builder.
In Builder, each Monitor has the following attributes:
o Monitor Name - unique identifier for the monitor.
o Monitor Input - Either By Data Item (a data item configured in the project whose values will signal a change from one asset state to another) or By Custom Logic (a component that you write and add to the project separately; this option requires you to specify the type of data item that the custom logic outputs to the project)
o Monitor Output - Either of the following values:
§ Output to
Enterprise Server
If you select this option, the Agent publishes a daily, aggregate report
of all monitor activity to the Enterprise Server
and resets
the monitor every day (at midnight). The units for monitor output are
always Seconds.
§ Output to Agent
Data Item
If you select this option, the Agent stores monitor information
in data items rather than sending the information directly to the Enterprise Server.
When you select
this option, you also need to configure the following two parameters:
§ Time interval - The number of minutes that the Axeda Agent waits before updating the data item.
§ Monitor Reset - Daily (the default and recommended setting), Hourly, or By Logic Schema (which must be configured in the project).
Each Asset State has the following attributes:
o Asset State Name - A user-assigned name for the asset state.
o Send event when entering this state - If this option is selected, the Agent generates an event each time the asset "enters" this state.
o Event Message - If the Send event option is enabled, this user-defined string provides the text for the state change event message. If it is not enabled, this attribute is ignored. This message appears in the Events page for an asset in the Service application (accessible from the Asset dashboard, either the Events module, View all link or the Jump To list).
o Active State Values - One or more values for the data item that will cause the asset to enter this state.
o Output - If you selected Output to Agent Data Item, this attribute identifies the data item to which the Agent will write the Monitor output.
o Type - One of the following values (only one asset state can be assigned to each type):
a. Uncertain - When the data quality is not good or when the Axeda Agent is down, the asset "enters" the asset state assigned to this type (the Agent increments the counter for this state). An Uncertain state must be defined for every monitor and assigned to the Uncertain type.
b. Default - To accommodate the possibility of a value for the input data item not being covered by the asset states you define, you may want to create a default state, called Undefined, and assign it the Default type. When you assign the Default type to the Undefined state, any value returned in the input data item that is not explicitly defined in the monitor, increments the counter assigned to the Undefined state. If you do not assign the Default type to a state, any unknown state value increments the counter associated with the Uncertain state.
c. Offline - When an asset is disconnected, the state assigned to this type is used. Creating a state called Offline and assigning it a type of Offline is optional. If you do not assign the Offline type to a state, an offline condition updates the counter for the Uncertain state.
o Order - The Agent evaluates the state values at runtime based on the order in which the asset states are listed in the monitor definition.