About Allowable Values

Typically, you will not need to define allowable values in Measurement Locations where the ML Type field contains the value Numeric because the actual readings recorded against that checkpoint are likely to vary too much. For instance, for a Temperature Check, you might want users to enter the exact temperature, and you would not configure a list of allowable values.

For certain numeric readings, however, you might want to limit the user's choices to match the values that will be valid, if this is a limited range of values. For example, if a tank has level markings in eighths (0, 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, etc.), you could limit the valid choices to the numeric values 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.375, etc.

Allowable values are stored in the Rounds Allowable Values family. Each record contains a value, the category of each value, and type of each value. The value in the record represents a value that will be available in a list on the device.

To completely configure a list of values for device users, you will need to:

1. Create the necessary Rounds Allowable Values to store the values that will be available in the list.
2. Select the values in the Allowable Values list in the Measurement Location representing the checkpoint at which users will need to select a reading value.

For example, suppose device users need to check the general condition of a pump, and you want them to select one of the following values: Leak, Motor Temp. High, Noise, OK, or Vibration.

To configure this list of values, you would need to create one Rounds Allowable Value record for each of the acceptable values, as shown in the following image.

Note: The type and category for each record is the same. Only the value varies from one record to the next.

In addition, you would need to create a Measurement Location and select the following values in the following fields.

Field	Value
ML Type	Character
Category	Pump Check
Allowable Values	Leak, Noise, Motor Temp. High, Vibration, and OK.

The Allowable Values can then be selected in the Limit Values tab of the Measurement Location data sheet to define whether an alert will be displayed to the user of the mobile device, as shown in the following image:

By default, if you modify an allowable value, existing Measurement Location records using those allowable values are not automatically updated to reflect the new values. Only new records created after the change use the new allowable values. Because existing records are unchanged, any reports or Readings records based on those Measurement Location records also contain the old values.

For example, if you change an allowable value that is used for a temperature reading from OK to Cool, new records that use Cool will reflect the modified allowable value, but old records that use OK will not reflect the modified allowable value.

In this default scenario, if you want existing Measurement Location and Measurement Location Template records that use the old allowable values to reflect modified allowable values, you must update the allowable values for each of those Measurement Locations in Rounds Designer to match the new allowable values.

Alternatively, GE Digital APM provides an option to enable automatic synchronization of Measurement Location and Measurement Location Template records with modified allowable values. Any reports or Readings records based on these Measurement Location records will also update to reflect the modified allowable values. To enable this feature, an administrative user must activate Before Update and After Update family policies in the Operator Rounds Allowable Values family.

Using this alternative configuration, you can, for example, change an allowable value for a temperature reading from OK to Cool, and all existing Measurement Location records will be updated to reflect the modified allowable value.