You can use the Point State Alarms feature to create alarm states that are not affected by other alarm states. This is useful as it allows you to create complex alarm response and clearing mechanisms. For example, by using the Point State Alarms feature, you can set up a point so that if it has a High alarm and then has a High High alarm, the High High alarm does not clear the High alarm—the two different alarm states are raised separately and have no affect on each other. If the Point State Alarms feature is not used, the High High alarm would replace the High alarm (a point can only have one alarm if the Point State Alarms feature is not used).
If you want to make use of the Point State Alarms feature, you need to use the ClearSCADA Server Configuration Tool to:
- Define the number of point state alarms that are available for each type of point
- Define a name for each point state alarm.
When you have defined the number and names for the point state alarms on the ClearSCADA Server Configuration Tool, an extra column is added to the Point Form for the relevant points. Users with the Configure permission can use the extra column of combo boxes to define which alarm is used for each of the point's states (including the Normal state on points on which return to the Normal state is configured to raise a fleeting alarm). By doing this, it is possible to configure a pattern of alarms such as nested alarms.
Example:
A company want to have 2 separate teams of engineers to respond to different levels of alarms. High and Low alarms are to be responded to by the Alert team and an Emergency team will respond to any other alarms (Full Scale, High High, Low Low, and Zero Scale).
If the Point Alarm State feature is not used, a High or Low alarm for a point will be replaced automatically as soon as the point has a Full Scale, High High, Low Low, or Zero Scale alarm. This means there will be no alarm for the alert team to respond to for the point (as the Full Scale, High High, Low Low, or Zero Scale alarm will replace the High or Low alarm and will be dealt with by the Emergency team). Similarly, if the point's alarm state changes from Normal to High High, only 1 High High alarm will be raised. If the Point Alarm State feature is used, a High alarm and a High High alarm are raised if the point's alarm state changes from Normal to High High.
By using the Point Alarm State feature, the Full Scale, High High, Low Low, and Zero Scale alarms can be set to have no effect on High and Low alarms. This means that the Alert team can respond to the High and Low alarms without them being replaced on the system if there is a Full Scale, High High, Low Low, or Zero Scale alarm.
The ClearSCADA Server Configuration tool is used to create 2 point state alarms:
- Emergency
- Alert
The point state alarms are created for the CSCADAPackMAnalog table.
The ClearSCADA Server Configuration Tool is closed, the settings are applied, and the server is restarted. The state alarms are then setup on the other servers in the system.
In ViewX, the Form for a SCADAPack Modbus analog point is displayed. The Form has an extra column of combo boxes—the Alarm column. The combo boxes in the Alarm column contain 2 options: Emergency and Alert.
The Alarm combo boxes for the Full Scale, High High, Low Low, and Zero Scale alarms are set to Emergency. The Emergency team will respond to these alarms. The alarms will not affect the High and Low alarms.
The Alarm combo boxes for the High and Low alarms are set to Alert. The Alert team will respond to these alarms.
A High alarm is raised for the point. The Alert team investigate the cause of the alarm.
While the Alert team is investigating the High alarm, a High High alarm is raised for the point. The High High alarm is treated as a separate alarm and it is dealt with by the Emergency team—the High High alarm does not replace the High alarm on the system.
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