Selecting a Table

The Alarm ODBC Service provides two options for specifying the table name: you can add any name in the Table Name field, or you can use the default table, FIXALARMS. When entering your own table name, you do not need to specify the name of an existing table. Instead, let the Alarm ODBC service create the table at run-time. You can also create the table when you configure the alarm service by clicking Create Table Now.

NOTE: If you are using SQLwhen creating a new table with the Alarm ODBC Service, you may generate an error stating that the column length is too long. Existing tables will continue to work.

When you enter your own table name, you must also select the specific alarm and message fields you want to archive using the Column Configuration spreadsheet. These fields contain the following information:

  • The date of the alarm or message. The supported date format is month/day/year (mm/dd/yyyy) and is determined by the Regional Settings. The default time format is hour:minute:second.subsecond (hh:mm:ss.n). You can change this to display time down to the millisecond.
  • The time that the block:
    • First generated an alarm or message.
    • Last generated an alarm or message.
  • The name of:
    • The SCADA server that generated the alarm or message. If you enable logical node names in the SCU, the name of the SCADA server is the logical name you define.
    • The block (tag) that generated the alarm or message.
    • The logged in operator (included for operator messages only, when security is enabled).
    • The performing or verifying user for an action (full name, user name, and comment, when electronic signature is enabled).
    • The node name of the computer that the operator is using (included for operator messages only, when security is enabled).
  • The block's current value, EGU label, alarm priority, alarm areas, description from the process database, alarm state (for example, High, Low, Deviation), and alarm extension fields. Typically, one of the alarm extension fields includes the name of the picture that shows alarms from the current block.
  • The specific alarm type (for example, an alarm or a message).
  • Up to 4 user-defined fields.

NOTE: If you want to change the fields that are in an existing table, you must create a new table with a new name, and then transfer data from the existing table to the new table. You cannot modify an existing table's fields by selecting or deselecting fields in the Column Configuration spreadsheet.

 

See Also