Configuring Alarms
To configure an alarm
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In the Server Manager tree, expand
Global Configuration.
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Right-click Administer Alarms and choose Administer Alarms. The Alarm Configuration dialog box appears.
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Click the Search Template tab to search for a template to edit, or click Add Template.
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Click the General tab, and do the following:
NOTE: Before selecting an SPC Rule to configure alarms, read Implementing Auto-Calculated SPC Limits to review options.
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In the Template Description box, type the name of the template.
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From the Alarm Triggers list, select the type of alarm triggers. You can select:
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Variable Limits: An alarm event will trigger if the variable value is outside the chosen specification limits, which are defined directly on a variable.
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SPC or SPC Group. An alarm will trigger when any one of the defined SPC rules for the configured variables have been satisfied. Some SPC rules can be set to have either a minimum number of points reached out of maximum (n out of m points) and be greater than or less than a specified limit. Other rules use a trend with n number of points in a row moving in an upward or downward direction. Plant Applications provides for setting a sampling size for a variable as greater than 0 to automatically calculate the mean, sigma, and control limits to evaluate alarms.
SPC rules are also prioritized by their order in the SPC list. When a new rule is created, it is appended to the list. Each rule can be moved up or down in the priority sequence. -
Variable Limits String - [Equal Spec]: An alarm event will trigger if the variable value is equal to the specification limits. For more information, see the topic, Using String Values for Alarms.
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Variable Limits String - [Not Equal Spec]: An alarm event will trigger if the variable value is not equal to the target specification limit. For example, if the target value is "Good,", then any other value that is entered will trigger an alarm. For more information, see the topic, Using String Values for Alarms.
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Variable Limits String - [Use Phrase Order]: An alarm event will trigger if the variable value is equal to the value of the phrase order. For example, For more information, see the topic, Using String Values for Alarms.
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Select the trigger(s), and then click Edit to edit the values.
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Add a general comment or attach any documents the general alarm template should carry (as opposed to comments for individual variable alarms).
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Click the Details tab and do the following:
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In the Custom Text box, type the text that should be added to the description of each alarm generated from this Alarm Template.
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Select one or more of the following options to include in the alarm description:
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Include Variable Description
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Include Template Description
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Include Trigger Description
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To require an electronic signature on any alarm updates or acknowledgements, select User or Approver from the Electronic Signature Configuration list.
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Choose the Alarm Cutout variable and comparison value. Alarms from this template will be closed or disabled when the variable identified satisfies the comparison condition.
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Under Custom Stored Procedure Call, click the
Browse button to select the spLocal that will be called when the alarm is created, updated, or closed. Click here to view required inputs.
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Under Email Group Notification, click the drop-down arrow to select a product or equipment item to send a notification based on product or equipment. Complete the setup for the group as described in Setting Up Email Notifications for Alarms.
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Click the Reasons tab and do the following:
NOTE: For information on creating reason trees, click here.
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Under Cause Reasons, select Require Cause Reason Entry to require a cause reason when acknowledging the alarm.
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Under Reason Tree, select the Cause reason tree that should be used to classify alarms reasons.
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Under Default Cause Reason, select the default Cause reasons that should be supplied for alarms generated from this template.
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Under Action Reasons, select Require Action Reason Entry to require an action reason when acknowledging the alarm.
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Under Reason Tree, select the Action reason tree that should be used to classify alarms reasons.
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Under Default Action Reason, select the default Action reasons that should be supplied for alarms generated from this template.
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Click the Attached Variables tab and do the following:
NOTE: The variables you add will be assigned to this alarm template and will be bound by the variable limits or SPC rules. Only the variables configured within the template will be available in an Alarm View display.
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Click Add to search for variables to add to the template. The Search Variables dialog box appears.
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Select one or more variables from the Search Results list.
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Click OK to return to the Alarm Configuration dialog box.
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Under Email Group, select the email group you want to receive alarm notifications for variables. To set up alarm notifications for products and equipment, refer to Setting Up Email Notifications for Alarms.
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Set a Sampling Size if you want to use an auto-generated mean and sigma for control limits. Refer to Implementing Auto-Calculated SPC Limits.
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Variable/Template Comments displays documentation or comments associated with the alarm template.
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Variable Specific Comments displays documentation or comments associated with a specific variable.
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Alarm Description displays the variable name and additional information, based on the alarm trigger type.
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Other Templates Configured for Variable displays any other template for which the selected variable is configured.
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Close the Alarm Configuration dialog box.
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Set the SpecificationSetting site parameter, which determines if alarm exeedance is based on a value being greater than the specification or greater than or equal to the specification.
NOTE: The SpecificationSetting Site Parameter applies to values derived from a calculated sigma for existing rules and all new rules except "n consecutive points alternating up or down."