Alarm Notifications

About an Alarm Event Notification

An alarm event occurs when a variable violates an alarm condition based on alarm rules configured for the variable specification limits, such as a reject or warning limit. You configure the alarm rules for a variable in the Plant Applications Administrator. The alarm events are added for any production-based, time-based, or user-defined events that include the variable for which you configured the alarm rule. The variable corresponding to the equipment selected appears in the My Machines page.

Note: Only users with their user roles included in the Security Group assigned to the Alarm Display can access the alarm notifications. You assign the Alarm Display to a Security Group in the Plant Applications Administrator.

Note: The Alarm Icon

appears on the application only when enableAlarm property is set to true in localconfig.json file in Apphub. It is set to true by default.

Alarm Conditions

Alarm conditions are based on alarm rules that compare data to product-based specification limits in real time. They are used to set alarms on critical variables where acknowledgement of a violation is required. Alarms capture key events that require an immediate action from an operator. You can also enter the cause reasons and the corrective actions based on the alarm condition.

Access Alarm Notifications

You can access alarm notifications in the following ways in the Plant Applications Universal Client:

Float alarm notification: Appears for a short duration in the main navigation bar in the Plant Applications Universal Client. These notifications appear only when an alarm event is created for a variable and the Notifications pane is not already displayed. You can select Show more in the float alarm notification window to access the Notifications pane. A Float alarm notification appears in the main navigation bar in the Plant Applications Universal Client for the duration of time set in the Dismiss Float Alarm Notification in of Settings pane.
Note: In the Activities application, you enter or modify the value of an Autolog variable value for an activity in the window displaying the Autolog sheet. If you refresh an application page and an alarm is triggered when the page is being refreshed, the float alarm notification for that alarm condition does not appear. Instead, the alarm notification appears in the Notifications pane only.
Notifications pane: Appears when you select in the Plant Applications Universal Client. The pane lists all the new and modified unacknowledged alarms associated with a variable. In the Notifications pane, you can directly acknowledge a notification, or enter the cause and action reasons using the Perform button in the notification, and then acknowledge a notification. For more information, refer to the Acknowledge an Alarm Notification topic.
Note: To acknowledge a notification, your role must have appropriate rights configured in the Plant Applications Administrator.
You can also manage settings for the alarm notifications that appear in the Notifications pane and float notifications. For more information, refer to the Configure Alarm Notification Settings topic.
After you acknowledge all alarms in the Notifications pane, is replaced with .

Plant Applications Administrator Settings for Alarms

To access alarms in the Activities application, you configure the following settings for an Autolog variable in the Plant Applications Administrator:

Specification limits
Alarm Template
Note: You configure an Alarm Template in the Administer Alarms section in the Plant Applications Administrator.

To access notifications, you must assign the Alarm Display to a Security Group that includes your role in the Plant Applications Administrator. For more information, refer to the Proficy Plant Applications Help.

Acknowledge an Alarm Notification

About This Task

To acknowledge an alarm notification, your role must have appropriate rights configured in the Plant Applications Administrator. As an operator or supervisor, you can access the Notifications pane to acknowledge an alarm notification.

Procedure

In the main navigation bar, select

The Notifications pane appears.

The alarm notifications that appear in the Notifications pane are displayed based on the scenarios described in the following table.

Scenario	Alarm Notification Behavior
When the variable value violates an alarm condition for the first time.	A new alarm event is added for the alarm condition and the notification for the alarm condition is added to the Notifications pane. The time when the alarm was added appears in the Start field on in the format mm/dd, hh:mm:ss (for example, 11/21, 09:26:36). The End field appears blank for the open alarm.
When the variable value is within the specification limits for all current and past events.	The alarm event is deleted for the alarm condition, and the alarm notification is removed from the Notifications pane.
When the variable value is modified to be within the specification limits for an event. However, any past or current events still include variable value violating the alarm condition.	The time when the variable value was modified to be within the specification limits for an event appears in the End field in the format mm/dd, hh:mm:ss (for example, 11/22, 09:20:30). The number of batches for which the alarm notification is still unacknowledged also appears.
When a closed alarm event is reopened because the variable value was modified to a value that violates the alarm condition.	The closed alarm event is reopened for the alarm condition and the notification for the alarm condition appears in the Notifications pane. The time when the alarm was added initially appears in the Start time option in the format mm/dd, hh:mm:ss (for example, 11/21, 09:26:36). The End time option value appears blank for the open alarm.

In the Notifications pane, the priority is indicated by the numeric color-coded indicators described in the following table.

Indicator	Description
	A high priority alarm.
	A medium priority alarm.
	A low priority alarm.

In a notification, select Show More.
A detailed view of the notification appears, displaying a sparkline (a line chart without axes or coordinates) between the two dash lines that indicate upper and lower reject or warning limits of the variable value as configured in the alarm template. If there is a product change associated with the variable, the dash lines appear modified, indicating the upper and lower reject or warning limits of the variable value for the new product.
By default, the sparkline plots a line graph based on the variable values trending four hours before and after the variable value on which the alarm was created. The actual variable value on which the alarm was triggered is indicated by a red dot.
Note: You set the duration of the time range for the variable value in the BorderDuration site parameter for Alarms in the Plant Applications Administrator. By default, the value of the BorderDuration site parameter is set to 240 minutes.
Tip: In the Notifications pane, select Expand All to access the detailed view of all notifications. You can then select Collapse All to go back to the summary view of all notifications.
Select Perform to enter cause and action reasons if configured in the Alarm Template in the Plant Applications Administrator.
The Perform button appears only when the Alarm Template is configured to enter the cause and action reasons for acknowledging the alarm notification.
The Edit Alarm window appears.
In the CAUSE REASONS section, select Add reasons, and then select a reason and associated subreasons, as applicable, for the cause of the alarm notification.

Note: The values in this section are populated based on the cause reason tree you configure for the alarm in the Plant Applications Administrator.
In the ADD COMMENTS section, select Add comment to enter a new comment for the specified cause reason or to modify or delete any comments entered earlier for the alarm notification. You can delete or modify only those comments that were added by you.
In the Edit Alarm window, select the Actions tab.
In the ACTIONS REASONS section, select a corrective action for the cause of the alarm notification. The values in this section are populated based on the action reason tree you configure for the alarm in the Plant Applications Administrator.
In the ADD COMMENTS section, select Add comment to enter a new comment for the specified action reason or to modify or delete any comments entered earlier for the alarm notification. You can delete or modify only those comments that were added by you.
Select the ACKNOWLEDGE check box to acknowledge the notification.

Note: The ACKNOWLEDGE check box is enabled only when you have entered the appropriate cause and action reasons for the alarm notification.

Tip: Alternatively, you can skip this step and select Acknowledge for the alarm notification in the Notifications pane to acknowledge the notification later.
Optional: Select Acknowledge All in the Notifications pane to acknowledge all notifications at once.
Only those alarm notifications for which your role has appropriate rights are acknowledged.

Results

The acknowledged notification is removed from the Notifications pane.

Configure Alarm Notification Settings

Procedure

Log in to the Plant Applications Universal Client.
In the main navigation bar, select .
The Notifications pane appears.

In the Notifications pane, select

The Settings pane appears.

Tip: To navigate back to the Notifications pane, select

In the Settings pane, you can configure the options as described in the following table.

Option	Description
Sort Notifications by	Select one of the following options to decide the order in which alarm notifications appear in the Notifications pane: Priority: Select to access alarm notifications sorted by decreasing order of alarm priorities; that is, high priority alarms appear first, followed by medium priority alarms, and then low priority alarms. Note: You set priority of an alarm notification in the alarm template in the Plant Applications Administrator. Time Received: Select to access alarm notifications sorted chronologically by the date (and time) when they were received; that is, any new alarm notification will appear first. Note: By default, the alarm notifications are sorted by time received.
View Alarms By	Select one of the following options to view alarms only in the selected time range option, product, or process order: Current Shift: Select to access all alarm notifications associated with activities in the ongoing shift. Note: By default, this option is selected. Current and Previous Shift: Select to access all alarm notifications associated with activities in the ongoing shift and from the shift prior to the current shift. Current Day: Select to access all alarm notifications associated with activities on the current Production Day. Note: If shifts are not configured, this option is selected by default. Current and Previous Day: Select to access all alarm notifications associated with activities on the current Production Day and from the day prior to the current Production Day. Note: The Previous Shift and Current and Previous Shift options appear only when shifts are defined for the Display in the Plant Applications Administrator.
Dismiss Float Alarm Notification in	Enter a duration in seconds after which the float alarms notifications disappear. Note: By default, the box value is set to 5 seconds.
Until I Close Manually	Select to close the float alarm notification window manually. Note: If you select this check box, the Dismiss Float Alarm Notification in is disabled.

Tip: To restore the default settings, select Reset.

Select Save.
The notification settings are saved, and the Notifications pane appears again.

Results

The alarm notifications appear in the Notifications pane according to the settings you saved.