Any user on a ClearSCADA system has access to alarms, providing that:
- Their User Account is configured to enable them to View Alarms.
- They are allocated the View Alarms security permission for the database items to which they require such access.
- If the Area of Interest feature is enabled on the system, they are allocated the relevant Area(s) of Interest to enable them to access the alarms in which they are interested.
If a user is also allocated the Acknowledge Alarms security permission for the database items that are in alarm, this permission usually enables them to acknowledge those alarms.
If required, you can use Set Responsibility Action(s) to restrict the ability to acknowledge specific alarms to a particular User, User Group, or ViewX workstation. This inhibits the Acknowledge Alarms security permission on any alarms that have been redirected using the Set Responsibility Action(s), so restricting access to the Acknowledge Alarms and Acknowledge with Comment pick actions. Any user that does not meet the responsibility criteria can see the alarms, so is aware of their existence, but cannot acknowledge them.
For further information, see Configure a Redirection Action, and see Define the Set Responsibility Action Details. For an example that demonstrates how such a redirection action might be used, see Use a Set Responsibility Action to Restrict the Ability to Acknowledge Alarms.
ClearSCADA provides several methods—ClearAlarmResponsibility, SetAlarmResponsibleUser, and SetAlarmResponsibleWorkstation—that you can use to set or clear the restriction placed on acknowledging alarms. The methods are associated with the CAlarmObject and CGroup database tables. For more information on each method, see the database Schema.
Do not confuse the Set Responsibility Action with 'regions of responsibility'. To define a 'region of responsibility', you use the 'Regions' tab on the relevant user-type configuration Form (see Assign Regions of Responsibility in the ClearSCADA Guide to Security).