Selecting Specific Alarm and Message Fields | Proficy iFIX 2024 Documentation

Next to each field in the spreadsheet is an empty cell used to define the column name that will store the field's information in the specified table. For example, if the column name that stores the Alarm Priority is ALM_ALMPRIORITY, enter this text as the following figure shows.

Fields and Column Sizes

The exact fields you archive depend on the table that saves your alarms and messages. The table must have one column for each field you select. If you select more fields than the table can save, some or all of the data will not be saved, depending on your relational database. The size of each column must be at least the size specified in the following table.

Column Sizes
iFIX Field Name	Default SQL Column Name	Data Type (Size)
Native Date/Time In	ALM_NATIVETIMEIN	datetime NOTE: On Oracle databases, the datatype is DATE.
Native Date/Time Last	ALM_NATIVETIMELAST	datetime NOTE: On Oracle databases, the datatype is DATE.
Logical Node Name	ALM_LOGNODENAME	CHAR (10)
Physical Node Name	ALM_PHYSLNODE	CHAR (10)
Tag Name	ALM_TAGNAME	CHAR (256) NOTE: On Microsoft Access databases, the datatype is Memo.
Tag Description	ALM_TAGDESC	CHAR (256) NOTE: On Microsoft Access databases, the datatype is Memo.
Value	ALM_VALUE	CHAR (40)
Unit	ALM_UNIT	CHAR (13)
Message Type	ALM_MSGTYPE	CHAR (11) NOTE: Message Types less than 11 characters in length use hard-coded trailing spaces to make up the difference. For instance, the "ESIGNATURE " Message Type includes a space at the end, and the "DELETE " message type includes five trailing spaces. See the Message Types and Message Type Query Syntax sections below for further information and a list of Message Types.
Message Description	ALM_DESCR	CHAR (480) NOTE: On Microsoft Access databases, the datatype is Memo.
Alarm Status	ALM_ALMSTATUS	CHAR (9)
Alarm Priority	ALM_ALMPRIORITY	CHAR (10)
Alarm Area	ALM_ALMAREA	CHAR (500) NOTE: On Microsoft Access databases, the datatype is Memo.
Alarm Ext.Field1	ALM_ALMEXTFLD1	CHAR (79)
Alarm Ext.Field2	ALM_ALMEXTFLD2	CHAR (79)
Operator Login User Name	ALM_OPNAME	CHAR (32)
Operator Login Full Name	ALM_OPFULLNAME	CHAR (80)
Operator Node Name	ALM_OPNODE	CHAR (10)
Performed By User Name	ALM_PERFNAME	CHAR (32)
Performed By Full Name	ALM_PERFFULLNAME	CHAR (80)
Performed By Comment	ALM_PERFBYCOMMENT	CHAR (170)
Verified By User Name	ALM_VERNAME	CHAR (32)
Verified By Full Name	ALM_VERFULLNAME	CHAR (80)
Verified By Comment	ALM_VERBYCOMMENT	CHAR (170)
Message ID	ALM_MSGID	unique identifier NOTE: On Oracle databases, the datatype is CHAR (128). On Microsoft Access databases, the datatype is Number (Replication ID).
Date In	ALM_DATEIN	CHAR (12)
Time In	ALM_TIMEIN	CHAR (15)
Date Last	ALM_DATELAST	CHAR (12)
Time Last	ALM_TIMELAST	CHAR (15)
User Field1	ALM_USERFLD1	CHAR (80)
User Field2	ALM_USERFLD2	CHAR (80)
User Field3	ALM_USERFLD3	CHAR (80)
User Field4	ALM_USERFLD4	CHAR (80)
Alarm Shelvable	A_ALMSHLVENAB	CHAR (10)
Alarm Shelved	A_ALMSHELVED	CHAR (10)
Rem Shelf Duration	A_ALMSHELFREMTIME	CHAR (30)

You must also set up your relational database to accept null strings. Consult your relational database manuals to learn how to enable this feature.

IMPORTANT: Do not use reserved SQL keywords as column or table names. Doing so can result in data loss. For a list of reserved keywords, consult your SQL manuals.

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.

Message Types

The following Message Types can be generated in an alarm message:

Message Types
Message Type	SQL Column Name	Description
UNKNOWN	ALM_MSG_UNKNOWN	Unknown type of message
ALARM	ALM_MSG_ALM	Typical alarm (e.g. block alarms)
HARDWARE	ALM_MSG_HARDWARE	Hardware I/O alarm
NETWORK	ALM_MSG_NETWORK	Network notification
SYSALERT	ALM_MSG_SYSTEM_ALERT	System alert notification
USER	ALM_MSG_USER	User-defined message
ACKNOWLEDGE	ALM_MSG_FLAG_ACK	Acknowledgement notification
DELETE	ALM_MSG_FLAG_DEL	Manual delete notification
OPERATOR	ALM_MSG_OPERATOR	Operator action
RECIPE	ALM_MSG_RECIPE	Recipe message
EVENT	ALM_MSG_EVENT	Event message
TEXT	ALM_MSG_TEXT	Generic text message
6XTXT	ALM_MSG_TEXT_6X	Generic or unknown message from v6.x nodes
AAM	ALM_MSG_AAM	Auto Alarm Manager message
SQL	ALM_MSG_SQL	SQL messages
ESIGNATURE	ALM_MSG_SIGNED	Electronic Signature

Message Type Query Syntax

The Message Type field is 11 characters in length. If a Message Type contains less than 11 characters, hard-coded trailing spaces are included to make up the difference.

For example, in this statement, the extra characters explicitly appear at the end of the DELETE string:

SELECT * FROM FIXALARM WHERE (FIXALARM.ALM_MSGTYPE = 'DELETE ').

Alternatively, this example demonstrates the use of wildcards to make the statement more generic:

SELECT * FROM FIXALARM WHERE (FIXALARM.ALM_MSGTYPE Like '%DELETE%').

In addition, a query statement like the following example will also return matches:

SELECT * FROM FIXALARM WHERE (FIXALARM.ALM_MSGTYPE = 'DELETE').