Creating Alarms

This guide shows you how to configure alarm levels, categories, groups, and alarm points.

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Configure Alarm Levels

Alarm levels indicate the severity of an alarm. Define levels that match your operational priorities.

Step 1: Open Alarm Level Configuration

1. Navigate to Alarm Management
2. Click Alarm Levels button
3. The Alarm Level configuration dialog opens

📷 [Screenshot: Alarm Level configuration dialog]

Step 2: Create Alarm Levels

1. Click Add to create a new level
2. Enter a level name (e.g., Critical, High, Medium, Low)
3. Repeat for all required levels
4. Click Save

Common Alarm Level Schemes:

Level	Use Case	Color Convention
Critical	Safety hazards, equipment damage risk	Red
High	Process deviations requiring immediate action	Orange
Medium	Conditions requiring attention within hours	Yellow
Low	Informational, no immediate action needed	Blue

Step 3: Manage Alarm Levels

Edit a Level:

1. Click the level name to edit
2. Modify the name
3. Click Save

Delete a Level:

1. Select one or more levels (checkbox)
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion

Search Levels:

1. Enter a level name in the search box
2. Click Search

⚠️ Caution: Deleting a level that is assigned to alarms will cause those alarms to lose their level assignment.

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Configure Alarm Categories

Alarm categories classify alarms by type for statistical analysis and filtering.

Step 1: Open Alarm Category Configuration

1. Navigate to Alarm Management
2. Click Alarm Categories button
3. The Alarm Category configuration dialog opens

📷 [Screenshot: Alarm Category configuration dialog showing category groups]

Step 2: Create Category Groups

Category groups organize related categories (e.g., Process Alarms, Equipment Alarms, Safety Alarms).

1. Click Add to create a new category group
2. Enter a group name
3. Click Save

Step 3: Create Categories within Groups

1. Select a category group
2. Click Manage (operations button)
3. In the Category Management dialog:
   • Click Add to create a category
   • Enter a category name (e.g., Temperature, Pressure, Motor Fault)
   • Repeat for all categories
   • Click Save

📷 [Screenshot: Category Management dialog showing categories within a group]

Example Category Structure:

📁 Process Alarms
  └─ Temperature
  └─ Pressure
  └─ Flow
📁 Equipment Alarms
  └─ Motor Fault
  └─ Valve Failure
  └─ Sensor Error
📁 Safety Alarms
  └─ Emergency Stop
  └─ Fire Detection
  └─ Gas Leak

Step 4: Manage Categories

Edit a Category:

1. Click the category name to edit
2. Modify the name
3. Click Save

Delete a Category:

1. Select one or more categories (checkbox)
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion

Reorder Category Groups:

1. Drag a category group to a new position
2. Click Save

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Create Alarm Groups

Alarm groups organize alarms by equipment, line, or function.

Step 1: Create a Group

1. Navigate to Alarm Management
2. Click Add Alarm Group
3. Enter a group name (e.g., Line1_Oven, Conveyor_System)
4. Click Confirm

📷 [Screenshot: Add Alarm Group dialog]

Step 2: Organize Groups with Folders

1. Create folders to organize groups
2. Drag alarm groups into folders

Recommended Structure:

📁 Line 1
  └─ 📂 Oven_Alarms
  └─ 📂 Conveyor_Alarms
📁 Line 2
  └─ 📂 Press_Alarms
  └─ 📂 Welding_Alarms
📁 Safety
  └─ 📂 Emergency_Alarms

Step 3: Manage Alarm Groups

Rename a Group:

1. Double-click the group name
2. Or click the operations button (⋮) → Rename
3. Enter a new name
4. Press Enter

Delete a Group:

1. Click the operations button (⋮) → Delete
2. Confirm deletion

⚠️ Caution: Deleting a group also deletes all alarms within it.

Search Groups:

1. Enter a group name in the search box
2. Matching groups are highlighted

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Create Alarm Points

Alarm points define the conditions that trigger alarms.

Step 1: Add an Alarm Point

1. Select an alarm group
2. Click Add in the toolbar
3. A new alarm row appears in the list

📷 [Screenshot: Alarm point list with new row]

Step 2: Configure Alarm Properties

Property	Description	Example
Alarm Name	Unique identifier	Oven_Temperature_High
Alarm Message	Description shown to operators	Oven temperature exceeds safe limit
Trigger Condition	Logical expression	{Oven_Temperature} > 200
Alarm Level	Severity level	Critical
Alarm Category	Classification (optional)	Temperature

Step 3: Configure Trigger Condition

1. Click the Trigger Condition button for the alarm
2. The Expression Builder dialog opens
3. Build a logical expression using tags and operators

📷 [Screenshot: Expression Builder dialog with tag picker and operators]

Expression Syntax:

Operator	Description	Example
>	Greater than	{Temperature} > 80
<	Less than	{Pressure} < 10
>=	Greater than or equal	{Level} >= 100
<=	Less than or equal	{Flow} <= 5
==	Equal to	{Status} == 1
!=	Not equal to	{Mode} != 0
&&	Logical AND	{Temp} > 80 && {Pressure} > 50
||	Logical OR	{Alarm1} == 1 || {Alarm2} == 1

Common Alarm Patterns:

Alarm Type	Expression	Description
High-High Limit	{X} >= 200	Critical high threshold
High Limit	{X} >= 150 && {X} < 200	Warning high threshold
Low Limit	{X} > 5 && {X} <= 10	Warning low threshold
Low-Low Limit	{X} <= 5	Critical low threshold
Range Violation	{X} < 10 || {X} > 90	Outside acceptable range
Equipment Fault	{FaultCode} != 0	Non-zero fault code
Communication Loss	{Dev_PLC1_State} == false	Device disconnected

💡 Tip: Use descriptive tag names in expressions for easier troubleshooting. For example, {Oven_Temperature} is clearer than {Tag001}.

Step 4: Configure Alarm Constraint (Optional)

Alarm constraints prevent nuisance alarms by requiring the condition to persist for a minimum duration.

1. Click the Alarm Constraint button for the alarm
2. Enable the constraint
3. Set the Duration (e.g., 5 seconds, 1 minute)
4. Click Confirm

📷 [Screenshot: Alarm Constraint dialog with duration setting]

When to Use Constraints:

• Noisy Sensors: Prevent alarms from flickering on/off due to sensor noise
• Transient Conditions: Ignore brief spikes that don't indicate real problems
• Startup Sequences: Avoid alarms during normal startup when values temporarily exceed limits

Example:

• Without constraint: Temperature briefly spikes to 201°C for 2 seconds → Alarm triggers
• With 5-second constraint: Temperature must stay above 200°C for 5 seconds → Alarm triggers only if sustained

Step 5: Save Alarm Configuration

1. Click Save in the toolbar
2. All changes are committed to the project

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Configure Alarm History Recording

By default, all alarms are recorded in the historical table when they recover. You can customize which alarms are recorded.

Step 1: Open Alarm Recording Configuration

1. Navigate to Alarm Management
2. Click Alarm Recording button
3. The Alarm Recording dialog opens

📷 [Screenshot: Alarm Recording dialog showing alarm list with checkboxes]

Step 2: Select Alarms to Record

Record All Alarms (default):

• All checkboxes are selected
• All alarms are saved to the historical table when recovered

Record Specific Alarms:

1. Uncheck alarms you don't want to record
2. Only checked alarms will be saved to history

Filter Alarms:

• By Group: Select an alarm group from the dropdown
• By Level: Select an alarm level from the dropdown
• By Category: Select a category from the dropdown
• By Name: Enter text to search alarm names, messages, or conditions
• Show Selected Only: Display only checked alarms

Step 3: Save Recording Configuration

1. Click Save
2. The configuration is applied

💡 Tip: Disable history recording for low-priority informational alarms to reduce database size.

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Import/Export Alarms

Export Alarms

1. Select an alarm group
2. Click Export in the toolbar
3. Choose a save location
4. An Excel file is created with all alarm configurations

Use Cases:

• Backup alarm configurations
• Share alarms between projects
• Document alarm settings for compliance

Import Alarms

1. Select an alarm group
2. Click Import in the toolbar
3. Select an Excel file
4. Alarms are imported based on Alarm Name:
   • If the name exists: Update the alarm configuration
   • If the name doesn't exist: Create a new alarm

⚠️ Caution: Alarm levels and categories referenced in the import file must already exist in the system.

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Next Steps

• Displaying Alarms: Show alarms on views and create analysis dashboards
• Alarms Reference: Expression syntax, best practices, and troubleshooting
• Understanding Alarms: Review alarm concepts and data flow