ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Invensys Systems, Inc.

Revision B
Last Revision: 9/14/11

All rights reserved. No part of this documentation shall be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of
Invensys Systems, Inc. No copyright or patent liability is assumed with respect to
the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of this documentation, the publisher and the author
assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed
for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
The information in this documentation is subject to change without notice and does
not represent a commitment on the part of Invensys Systems, Inc. The software
described in this documentation is furnished under a license or nondisclosure
agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms
of these agreements.
2010-2011 Invensys Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Invensys Systems, Inc.
26561 Rancho Parkway South
Lake Forest, CA 92630 U.S.A.
(949) 727-3200
http://www.wonderware.com
For comments or suggestions about the product documentation, send an e-mail
message to [email protected].

Trademarks
All terms mentioned in this documentation that are known to be trademarks or
service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Invensys Systems, Inc. cannot
attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this documentation
should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.
Alarm Logger, ActiveFactory, ArchestrA, Avantis, DBDump, DBLoad, DT Analyst,
Factelligence, FactoryFocus, FactoryOffice, FactorySuite, FactorySuite A2, InBatch,
InControl, IndustrialRAD, IndustrialSQL Server, InTouch, MaintenanceSuite,
MuniSuite, QI Analyst, SCADAlarm, SCADASuite, SuiteLink, SuiteVoyager,
WindowMaker, WindowViewer, Wonderware, Wonderware Factelligence, and
Wonderware Logger are trademarks of Invensys plc, its subsidiaries and affiliates.
All other brands may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contents

Welcome.......................................... 11
Documentation Conventions.............................................12
Technical Support .............................................................12

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control ......... 13

Client Modes ......................................................................14
Alarm Manager...............................................................14
Current Alarms ..........................................................14
Recent Alarms and Events.........................................14
Alarm Database..............................................................15
Historical Alarms .......................................................15
Historical Events ........................................................15
Historical Alarms and Events ...................................15
Switching Between Client Modes ..................................15
Using the Alarm Control in ArchestrA Symbols .............16
Alarm Acknowledgement ..................................................17
Current Value and Quality Display .................................17
Alarm Queries ...................................................................18
Alarm Query Syntax when Register Using
Galaxy_<GalaxyName> is Enabled ..........................19
Alarm Filtering..................................................................20
Alarm Queries to Query Filters Translation ................21
Alarm Hiding .....................................................................21

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

Alarm Control Grid Freezing............................................22

Alarm Sorting ....................................................................22
Status Bar..........................................................................23

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control.................25

Placing the Alarm Control into an ArchestrA Symbol ....26
Setting the Alarm Control Properties ..............................27
Showing Current Alarms or Recent Alarms
and Events......................................................................28
Showing Historical Alarms and/or Events.......................30
Setting Alarm Control Colors ...........................................33
Setting Event Record Colors..........................................33
Setting Return To Normal Record Colors .....................34
Setting Heading, Grid, and Window Color ...................35
Setting Priority Ranges for Alarm Records ..................36
Setting Colors for Acknowledged Alarms .....................37
Setting Colors for Unacknowledged Alarms .................38
Setting Unacknowledged Alarms to Flash ...................38
Renaming, Resizing, and Reordering
Column Headers.............................................................40
Renaming Column Headers...........................................41
Resizing Columns ...........................................................41
Changing the Order of Columns....................................42
Sorting Alarms ..................................................................43
Filtering Alarms ................................................................45
Using Wildcards in Queries ...........................................45
Using an Existing Query Filter .....................................46
Adding a New Query Filter............................................46
Constructing Filters .......................................................48
Modifying an Existing Query Filter ..............................50
Deleting a Query Filter Favorite...................................50
Exporting Query Filter Favorites..................................50
Importing Query Filter Favorites..................................51
Setting Time Zone and Format.........................................52
Setting the Time Zone....................................................52
Setting the Wonderware Time Format .........................53
Setting the .NET Datetime Format ..............................54
Configuring Run-Time Behavior ......................................56
Showing Heading, Grid, or Status Bar .........................57
Automatically Querying for Alarms on Start Up .........58
Scrolling Automatically to New Alarms........................58
Hiding Errors, Warnings, and Status Messages ..........59
ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

Restricting User Access to Rows and Columns ............59

Retain Hiding when Changing Alarm Query Filter .....60
Overriding the Frozen Grid ...........................................60
Customizing the No Records Message........................61
Changing the Language of the
No Records Message ..............................................61
Configuring the Alarm Control to Require ACK
Signature ....................................................................62
Configuring the Run-Time Shortcut Menu ...................63

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time ....... 65

Refreshing the Alarm Control Grid..................................66
Using Status Bar Information ..........................................66
Using Status Bar Information of Current Modes .........66
Using Status Bar Information of Historical Modes......68
Acknowledging Alarms .....................................................69
Providing a Signature to Acknowledge Alarms ............70
Providing a Signature to Acknowledge Alarms
Using Smart Cards ....................................................71
Sorting Alarms at Run Time.............................................73
Filtering Alarms at Run Time ..........................................74
Using an Existing Query Filter .....................................74
Adding a New Query Filter............................................74
Modifying an Existing Query Filter ..............................75
Deleting a Query Filter ..................................................75
Importing Query Filter Favorites..................................76
Exporting Query Filter Favorites..................................76
Filtering Alarms with Client-Based Filtering ..............76
Resetting the Grid .............................................................79
Hiding Alarms ...................................................................79
Showing Alarm Statistics .................................................81
Freezing and Unfreezing the Alarm Control Grid...........82
Switching between Client Modes......................................83
Switching Run-Time Languages ......................................84

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control ....................87

Alarm Control Properties..................................................87
AckComment.DefaultValue Property ...........................87
AckComment.UseDefault Property...............................88
AckSignature.MaxPriority Property .............................88
AckSignature.MinPriority Property..............................89
AckSignature.Required Property ..................................89
AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property ........................90
AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property .........................91
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround Property................92
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround Property ................93
AlarmColor.Range Property ..........................................93
AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround Property .......................94
AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround Property........................95
AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround Property ...................96
AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround Property .........97
AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround Property..........98
AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround Property .................. 100
AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround Property ........ 101
AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround Property ......... 102
AlarmQuery Property .................................................. 102
AllowColumnResize Property ...................................... 103
AutoResumeDuration Property ................................... 103
AutoScroll Property...................................................... 103
ClientMode Property .................................................... 103
ConnectStatus Property............................................... 104
ContextMenu.AckAll Property ....................................104
ContextMenu.AckOthers Property.............................. 105
ContextMenu.AckSelected Property ........................... 105
ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups Property ............... 105
ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities Property............ 106
ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags Property ................... 106
ContextMenu.AckVisible Property.............................. 106
ContextMenu.Favorites Property................................ 107
ContextMenu.Freeze Property ....................................107
ContextMenu.Hidden Property ................................... 107
ContextMenu.HideAll Property................................... 108
ContextMenu.HideOthers Property ............................ 108
ContextMenu.HideSelected Property.......................... 108
ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups Property.............. 109
ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities Property .......... 109
ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags Property.................. 109
ContextMenu.HideVisible Property ............................ 110
ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

ContextMenu.Requery Property..................................110
ContextMenu.Reset Property ......................................110
ContextMenu.Sort Property.........................................111
ContextMenu.Statistics Property ................................111
ContextMenu.UnhideAll Property ..............................112
Database.Authentication Property..............................112
Database.Name Property.............................................112
Database.Password Property.......................................113
Database.ServerName Property..................................113
Database.UserID Property ..........................................113
Domain Property ..........................................................114
Enabled Property..........................................................114
EventColor.BackGround Property...............................114
EventColor.ForeGround Property ...............................115
Favorite Property .........................................................115
FlashUnAckAlarms Property ......................................116
GridColor Property .......................................................116
HeadingColor.BackGround Property ..........................117
HeadingColor.ForeGround Property ...........................118
Height Property ............................................................118
HiddenAlarms Property ...............................................118
HideErrors Property.....................................................119
MaxDatabaseRecords Property ...................................119
NewAlarmEventMode Property ..................................119
NoRecordsMessage.Enabled Property ........................120
NoRecordsMessage.Message Property ........................120
QueryStartup Property ................................................121
RetainHidden Property ................................................121
RowCount Property ......................................................121
RowSelection Property .................................................122
SelectedCount Property ...............................................122
ShowContextMenu Property........................................122
ShowGrid Property.......................................................123
ShowGroupByHeader Property ...................................123
ShowHeading Property ................................................123
ShowStatusBar Property .............................................123
SortColumn.First Property ..........................................124
SortColumn.Second Property ......................................124
SortColumn.Third Property.........................................124
SortOrder.First Property .............................................125
SortOrder.Second Property..........................................125
SortOrder.Third Property ............................................126
Time.Format Property .................................................126

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

Time.Type Property...................................................... 127

TimeSelector Property ................................................. 127
TimeSelector.DurationMS Property............................ 128
TimeSelector.EndDate Property ................................. 128
TimeSelector.StartDate Property................................ 129
TimeSelector.TimeDuration Property......................... 129
TimeZone.TimeZone Property ..................................... 131
TotalRowCount Property ............................................. 131
UnAckAlarms Property................................................ 132
UpdateToCurrentTime Property ................................. 132
Visible Property............................................................ 133
Width Property ............................................................. 133
WindowColor Property................................................. 133
X Property..................................................................... 134
Y Property..................................................................... 134
Alarm Control Methods .................................................. 134
AboutBox() Method ...................................................... 134
Ack.All() Method........................................................... 135
Ack.Group() Method ..................................................... 135
Ack.Priority() Method .................................................. 135
Ack.Selected() Method.................................................. 136
Ack.SelectedGroup() Method ....................................... 137
Ack.SelectedPriority () Method....................................137
Ack.SelectedTag() Method ........................................... 137
Ack.Tag() Method .........................................................138
Ack.Visible() Method .................................................... 139
Connect() Method .........................................................139
Disconnect() Method..................................................... 139
Favorites.Export() Method........................................... 139
Favorites.Import() Method........................................... 140
FreezeDisplay() Method ............................................... 140
GetItem() Method .........................................................141
GetLastError() Method ................................................ 142
GetSelectedItem() Method ........................................... 142
Hide.All() Method .........................................................142
Hide.Group() Method ................................................... 143
Hide.Priority() Method................................................. 143
Hide.Selected() Method ................................................ 144
Hide.SelectedGroup() Method ..................................... 144
Hide.SelectedPriority() Method ................................... 144
Hide.SelectedTag() Method.......................................... 144
Hide.Tag() Method ....................................................... 145
Hide.Visible() Method .................................................. 145

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Contents

MoveWindow() Method ................................................146

Requery() Method .........................................................147
Reset() Method..............................................................147
Select.All() Method .......................................................147
Select.Group() Method .................................................147
Select.Item() Method ....................................................148
Select.Priority() Method ...............................................148
Select.Tag() Method......................................................149
SetSort() Method ..........................................................150
Show.Context() Method................................................150
Show.Favorite() Method...............................................150
Show.Hidden() Method.................................................150
Show.Sort() Method......................................................151
Show.Statistics() Method .............................................151
TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes() Method .........151
TimeSelector.RefreshTimes() Method .........................152
TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes() Method ..........152
Toggle.All() Method ......................................................153
Toggle.Item() Method ...................................................153
UnhideAll() Method......................................................153
UnSelectAll() Method ...................................................154
Configuring Events .........................................................154
Configuring the NewAlarm Event...............................154
.NET Colors .....................................................................156

Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from

InTouch.......................................... 159
Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer Control
Configuration................................................................159
Transferring Configuration of the
Control Name Tab....................................................160
Transferring Configuration of the General Tab .........161
Transferring Configuration of the Color Tab..............163
Transferring Configuration of the
Time Format Tab .....................................................164
Transferring Configuration of the Query Tab ............165
Transferring Configuration of the Properties Tab .....167
Transferring Script Configuration on the
Events Tab................................................................167
Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control
Configuration................................................................168
Transferring Configuration of the
Control Name Tab....................................................168

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

10

Contents

Transferring Configuration of the General Tab ......... 169

Transferring Configuration of the Color Tab.............. 171
Transferring Configuration of the Database Tab ....... 172
Transferring Configuration of the Selection Tab ....... 173
Transferring Configuration of the Time/Sort Tab ...... 175
Transferring Configuration of the
Query Filter Tab ...................................................... 176
Transferring Configuration of the Properties Tab ..... 177
Transferring Scripts Configuration on the
Events Tab ............................................................... 177
Transferring Query Favorites Configuration ................ 178
Mapping Properties and Methods .................................. 178

Index ............................................. 189

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

11

Welcome

This guide describes configuring and using the ArchestrA

Alarm Control. This control is delivered as part of the
ArchestrA Symbol Editor and can be used in ArchestrA
symbols to show current and historical alarms and events in
a grid.
You can view this document online or you can print it, in part
or whole, by using the print feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
This guide assumes that you know how to use Microsoft
Windows, including navigating menus, moving from
application to application, and moving objects on the screen.
If you need help with these tasks, see the Microsoft online
help.
This guide also assumes you know how to use Microsoft SQL
Server. For help with SQL Server, see the Microsoft online
help.
In some areas of the Application Server, you can also rightclick to open a menu. The items listed on this menu change,
depending on where you are in the product. All items listed
on this menu are available as items on the main menus.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

12

Welcome

Documentation Conventions
This documentation uses the following conventions:
Convention

Used for

Initial Capitals

Paths and filenames.

Bold

Menus, commands, dialog box names,

and dialog box options.

Monospace

Code samples and display text.

Technical Support
Wonderware Technical Support offers a variety of support
options to answer any questions on Wonderware products
and their implementation.
Before you contact Technical Support, refer to the relevant
section(s) in this documentation for a possible solution to the
problem. If you need to contact technical support for help,
have the following information ready:

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

The type and version of the operating system you are

using.

Details of how to recreate the problem.

The exact wording of the error messages you saw.

Any relevant output listing from the Log Viewer or any

other diagnostic applications.

Details of what you did to try to solve the problem(s) and

your results.

If known, the Wonderware Technical Support case

number assigned to your problem, if this is an ongoing
problem.

13

Chapter 1
About the ArchestrA Alarm
Control

The ArchestrA Alarm Control is a graphical element you can

use in your ArchestrA symbols to show current and historical
alarms and events.
The ArchestrA Alarm Control replaces the Alarm Viewer
control and Alarm DB View control in the InTouch HMI and
extends alarm visualization to the ArchestrA Graphics
environment.
You can place the ArchestrA Alarm Control directly from the
Tools panel in the ArchestrA Symbol Editor onto the canvas.
You can customize it to your needs by adding further
graphics, interactions, and scripts.
You can deploy a managed InTouch application containing
ArchestrA Alarm Controls to a remote node and visualize
and interact with alarms at run time with InTouch
WindowViewer.
For this documentation, the ArchestrA Alarm Control is
simply referred to as "Alarm Control."
We recommend you have a basic understanding of the
InTouch Alarm system before continuing. For more
information, see the InTouch HMI Alarms and Events Guide.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

14

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

Client Modes
The Alarm Control supports five different client modes,
which can be grouped depending on their data source.

Recent Alarms
and Events

Current Alarms

Alarm Manager

Alarm DB
Logger

Alarm
Database

Historical
Alarms

Historical
Events

Historical Alarms
& Events

Alarm Manager
The Alarm Manager manages currently active alarms
(summary alarms) and recent alarms and events (historical
alarms and events). These types of alarms and events are
held in the InTouch internal alarm memory.

Current Alarms
When the Alarm Control is showing alarms in "Current
Alarms" mode, it is showing currently active alarms directly
from the Alarm Manager.

Recent Alarms and Events

When the Alarm Control is showing alarms in "Recent
Alarms and Events" mode, it is showing historical alarms
and events stored in Alarm Manager.
Unlike the "Current Alarms" mode, the "Recent Alarms and
Events mode" shows time point data, such as alarm
transitions and events, instead of continuous conditions.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Client Modes15

Alarm Database
The Alarm Database stores alarms and events from the
Alarm Manager to a SQL Server database. You can use the
Alarm DB Logger utility to continuously log alarms and
events to the Alarm Database.

Historical Alarms
When the Alarm Control is configured in "Historical Alarms"
mode, only alarms stored in the Alarm Database are shown.

Historical Events
When the Alarm Control is configured in "Historical Events"
mode, only events stored in the Alarm Database are shown.

Historical Alarms and Events

When the Alarm Control is configured in "Historical Alarms
and Events" mode, both alarms and events stored in the
Alarm Database are shown.

Switching Between Client Modes

The client mode and many other features are controlled by
properties and methods.
By default, the Alarm Control is set to show current alarms.
You can change the client mode also at run time by using the
Alarm Control properties.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

16

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

Using the Alarm Control in ArchestrA Symbols

You can use the ArchestrA Alarm Control as a faceplate so
that when the operator clicks an icon, an ArchestrA Alarm
control showing a specific alarm area opens.

You can also configure the ArchestrA Alarm Control to

interact with the Galaxy namespace and other ArchestrA
symbols by mapping its properties to ArchestrA attributes
and symbol elements.
The Alarm Control can be placed into ArchestrA Symbols
hosted by Automation Object templates and instances. You
can configure them to retrieve alarms from their hosting
Area object or their hosting Automation object.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Acknowledgement17

Alarm Acknowledgement
You can configure the Alarm Control to require an alarm to
be acknowledged even if the condition causing the alarm has
passed. This ensures that an operator is aware of events that
caused a temporary alarm state but have returned to normal.
You acknowledge alarms at run time using a shortcut menu
or through script methods.

Current Value and Quality Display

The Alarm Control in one of the current client modes shows
continuously the current value and quality of a tag or
attribute in alarm state.

You can see the current value and quality of tags or

attributes in alarm from:

InTouch running on the local computer.

Galaxy namespace.

Note You cannot see current value and quality data from InTouch
tags running on a remote computer.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

18

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

Alarm Queries
The Alarm Control supports the standard InTouch and
Galaxy alarm query formats, such as:
\galaxy!Area_001
\intouch!Group_A

The alarm query syntax changes when you use the run-time
alarm comment language switching feature. For more
information, see Alarm Query Syntax when Register Using
Galaxy_<GalaxyName> is Enabled on page 19.
The Alarm Control also supports relative references for
Galaxy alarms in alarm queries. For all alarm modes,
relative references are resolved at run time at the point of
query to the Alarm Manager or Alarm Database.
You must put the reference part of the alarm query between
less-than (<) and greater-than (>) characters.
The following tables shows examples of alarm queries.
Alarm Query

Description

\provider!group

Shows all alarms from the given

provider and group. For example:
\intouch!Group_A

\provider!group!tagname

Shows all alarms from the given

provider, group and tag. For example:
\galaxy!Mixing_Area!RotorCtrl

\\node\provider!group

Shows all alarms from the given

provider and group from a given node.
For example:
\\remote\intouch!Group_B

\\node\provider!group!tagname

Shows all alarms from the given

provider, group and tag from a given
node. For example:
\\grnode\galaxy!Packaging_Area!Wrapp
er1

HotBackupName

Shows all alarms from primary or

backup alarm provider as configured in
the Hot Backup Manager.

\galaxy!<me.Area>!<me.tagname>.*

Shows all alarms from the Automation

Object. Alarms from other Automation
Objects in the same area are ignored.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Queries19

Alarm Query

Description

\galaxy!<myArea.tagname>

Shows all alarms from the Area object

hosting the Automation Object

or
\galaxy!<me.Area>
\galaxy!<myPlatform.tagname>

Shows all alarms from the Winplatform

object hosting the Automation Object.

\galaxy!<myContainer.tagname>

Shows all alarms from the container

Automation Object. At run-time the
Alarm Control resolves the Container
attribute to detect the container.

\galaxy!<myEngine.tagname>

Shows all alarms from the AppEngine

object hosting the Automation Object.
At run-time the Alarm Control resolves
the MyEngine attribute to detect the
host.

\\Node:IP Address\InTouch!$System

On Windows Vista and Windows Server

2008 operating systems, if Window
Viewer is started from a remote client
session use a query of this form to
access the alarms from the Alarm
Manager running in the remote client
session.

Note On Windows Vista and later operating systems, only one

alarm provider is supported per node.

Alarm Query Syntax when Register Using

Galaxy_<GalaxyName> is Enabled
The run-time alarm comment language switching feature
requires slightly different alarm query syntax. In the
WinPlatform object, when you enable InTouch alarm
provider, you can enable Register using Galaxy_<GalaxyName>
instead of Galaxy.
This option will register the platform to the alarm subsytem
using the Galaxy name preferred by Galaxy_ instead of just
the word Galaxy. This allows an InTouch application to
monitor alarms from multiple Galaxies and avoid name
conflicts.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

20

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

Syntax changes slightly when Galaxy_GalaxyName is

enabled:

Use \\ for computer name.

Use \ for Galaxy or Galaxy_<GalaxyName>.

Use ! for Area.

For example: \\Galaxy\MyGalaxy!Area001

If Galaxy_GalaxyName is not enabled in WinPlatform, then
the default behavior described in Alarm Queries on page 18
applies.
You can determine if Galaxy_<GalaxyName> has been
enabled by monitoring the run-time attribute of the platform
ITAlarmProvider.ProviderNameAsGalaxyNameEnabled.

Alarm Filtering
The Alarm Control unites the Query Favorites concept of the
InTouch Alarm Viewer control and the Filter Favorites
concept of the InTouch Alarm DB View control.
The Query Favorites of InTouch Alarm Viewer control define
a set of alarm provider, alarm group, an optional node name,
and a priority range under one name. The alarm provider,
alarm group, and the node name are used for subscribing to a
specific alarm group. The priority range on the other hand is
used to filter the alarms from the given alarm group.
The Filter Favorites of InTouch Alarm DB View control
define a set of any number of criteria you want to filter from
the Alarm Database under one name.
In summary, Filter Favorites fulfill a purely filtering
function whereas Query Favorites fulfill a subscription and a
filtering function at the same time.
The Alarm Control filtering feature unites both these
concepts by exclusively using filter conditions and
subscribing to the necessary alarm providers on demand.
The filter conditions can be re-used between different client
modes. For example, if you define node name, provider name,
alarm group, and a priority range for the current alarms, you
can also use this filter to retrieve the historized alarm data of
the same source from the Alarm Database instead.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Hiding21

Alarm Queries to Query Filters Translation

As with InTouch alarm controls, you can define queries for
current alarms in the \\node\provider!group format, but
they are translated by the Alarm Control to a filter after you
save.
For example, the query string
\\GRNode\galaxy!MixingArea
is translated to the following filter string:
Node = GRNode AND Provider=galaxy AND
Group=MixingArea
You can modify the filter in a tree to query only alarms in the
priority range 1 to 250, such as:
AND
Node = GRNode
Provider = Galaxy
Group = MixingArea
Priority >= 1
Priority <= 250

Alarm Hiding
The "hiding" and "unhiding" of alarm records is known in the
corresponding InTouch alarm controls as "suppressing" and
"unsuppressing".
When the Alarm Control is hiding alarms, it ignores certain
alarms. If an alarm matches the exclusion criteria, it is not
visible.
The actual alarm generation is completely unaffected by
hiding. Alarm records are still logged into the alarm history.
As in the InTouch HMI, you can unhide specific alarms and
also use properties and methods to interact with the alarm
hiding feature at run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

22

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

Alarm Control Grid Freezing

You can freeze the Alarm Control to prevent the Alarm
control tree from being updated with any further changes.
For example, if new alarms occur while the Alarm Control is
frozen, the new alarms are only shown after you unfreeze the
Alarm Control.
You can configure a time period after which the Alarm
Control automatically unfreezes to avoid the Alarm Control
being unknowingly frozen. For example, the operator leaves
the workstation and returns without realizing that the
Alarm Control is still frozen.
The Alarm Control unfreezes automatically if one of the
following changes:

Alarm Mode

Alarm Query

Query Filter

Alarm Sorting
Like InTouch alarm controls, you can sort the alarms in
ascending or descending direction for selected columns.
The Alarm Control supports alarm sorting for up to three
columns at design time and run time. At run time, the
operator can configure sorting of even more columns by
clicking on the column headers of the Alarm Control.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Status Bar23

Status Bar
The status bar of the Alarm Control resembles the status
bars of the InTouch alarm controls, with the following
differences:

Alarm Control shows also the alarm client time zone.

Alarm Control querying the Alarm Database has a

Requery button to more easily retrieve data from the
Alarm Database.

Alarm Control shows the current client mode as an icon.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

24

Chapter 1 About the ArchestrA Alarm Control

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

25

Chapter 2
Configuring the Alarm Control

This section shows you how to place an Alarm Control onto

the canvas and configure it. You can configure it either with
the Edit Animations dialog box, or by changing individual
properties in the Properties Editor.
After placing the Alarm Control onto the canvas, you can
configure the:

Client Mode to show current alarms, recent alarms and

events, or historical alarms and/or events.

Colors for the Alarm Control grid, window, heading, and

alarm records.

Order and width of the grid columns and their headers.

Sorting order of alarm records.

Filtering for alarm records and save the filters as

favorites for re-use.

Time format and zone for the alarm record time stamps.

Run-time behavior for the Alarm Control, such as:

If the operator can resize columns or select multiple

records at run time.

Access to specified options of the shortcut menu at

run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

26

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Placing the Alarm Control into an ArchestrA

Symbol
You can easily place the ArchestrA Alarm Control into an
ArchestrA Symbol by placing it onto the canvas.
To place the Alarm Control into an ArchestrA Symbol

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Open the ArchestrA Symbol in the ArchestrA Symbol

Editor.

On the Tools panel, click the ArchestrA Alarm Control icon.

The cursor appears in insert mode.

Click the canvas where you want to place the Alarm

Control.

Setting the Alarm Control Properties27

Setting the Alarm Control Properties

Like all other graphical objects in the ArchestrA Symbol
Editor, you can set some of the properties of the selected
Alarm Control directly in the Properties Editor.

We recommend you configure the Alarm Control with the

Edit Animations dialog box and only use the Properties Editor
to edit the configuration afterward.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

28

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Showing Current Alarms or Recent Alarms

and Events
You can set the Alarm Control to show either of the
following:

Current alarms

Recent alarms and events

You use the ClientMode Property integer property in

scripting to switch the Alarm Control to show current alarm
or recent alarms and events at run time.
You can also configure a comment to use when alarms are
acknowledged at run time. Use the AckComment.UseDefault
Property Boolean property and AckComment.DefaultValue
Property string property in scripting to use a default
acknowledgement comment at run time.
To show current alarms
1

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Showing Current Alarms or Recent Alarms and Events29

If necessary, click Alarm Mode. The Alarm Mode page

appears.

In the Client Mode list, click Current Alarms.

In the Alarm Query box, type the alarm query. To create a

new line in the Alarm Query box, press Ctrl + Enter. For
more information on the valid syntax, see Alarm Queries
on page 18.

If you want to use a default acknowledgement comment,

select the Use Default Ack Comment check box and type a
comment in the text box.

Click OK.

To show recent alarms and events

1

Double-click Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Alarm Mode. The Alarm Mode page appears.

In the Client Mode list, click Recent Alarms and Events.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

30

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

In the Alarm Query box, type the alarm query. To create a

new line in the Alarm Query box, press Ctrl + Enter.
The alarm query must follow one of the following syntax:

\\node\provider!group

\provider!group

HotBackupName

For example:
\intouch!$system
\galaxy!Area_001

For Alarm Controls hosted by Automation Object

templates or instances, you can specify one of the
following alarm queries:

\galaxy!<myArea.Tagname> to retrieve alarms and

events from the Area object hosting the Automation
Object template or instance.

\galaxy!<me.Area>!<me.Tagname>.* to retrieve
alarms and events from the Automation Object
template or instance.

For more information on alarm queries, see Alarm

Queries on page 18
5

If you want to want to use a default acknowledgement

comment, select the Use Default Ack Comment check box
and type a comment in the text box.

Click OK.

Showing Historical Alarms and/or Events

You can set the Alarm Control to show one of the following:

Historical alarms from the Alarm Database

Historical events from the Alarm Database

Historical alarms and events from the Alarm Database

When you configure the Alarm Control to show historical

alarms and/or events, you also configure the following:

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Server name hosting the Alarm Database

Authentication information to connect to the Alarm

Database

Showing Historical Alarms and/or Events31

Maximum number of records to retrieve from the Alarm

Database

Time range or duration to show in the Alarm Control.

If the Alarm Control should update to the current client

time

For more information on creating an alarm database and

logging alarms, see Recording Alarms into an Alarm
Database in the InTouch HMI Alarms and Events Guide.
Use the following properties in scripting to switch the client
mode and configure the database connection, such as:

ClientMode Property on page 103

Database.Authentication Property on page 112

Database.Name Property on page 112

Database.Password Property on page 113

Database.ServerName Property on page 113

Database.UserID Property on page 113

Domain Property on page 114

To show historical alarms and/or events

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Alarm Mode. The Alarm Mode page appears.

In the Client Mode list, click:

Historical Alarms to only show alarms from the Alarm
Database. No events are shown.

Historical Events to only show events from the Alarm

Database. No alarms are shown.

Historical Alarms and Events to show both alarms and

events from the Alarm Database.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

32

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

In the Authentication Mode list, click one of the following:

Windows Integrated to use the authentication of the
currently logged-on Windows user.

Windows Account to use a given Windows user

authentication.

SQL Server to use SQL Server authentication mode.

In the Server Name list, either select or type the name of

the server hosting the Alarm Database.

In the Database Name box, type the name of the Alarm

Database. By default, this is WWALMDB.

If you are using Windows Account authentication mode,

type the domain, user name, and password in the Domain,
User Name and Password boxes.

If you are using SQL Server authentication mode, type

user name and password in the User Name and Password
boxes.

Click Test Connection. The connection to the Alarm

Database is tested and a result message appears. If
necessary, check your authentication information.

10 Click OK.
To set maximum records and time range
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Alarm Mode. The Alarm Mode page appears.

Make sure the Client Mode is set to Historical Alarms,

Historical Events, or Historical Alarms and Events.

In the Maximum Records box, type the number of records

to view from the control at one instance. The valid range
of maximum records is from 1 to 32766.
You can also use the MaxDatabaseRecords Property in
scripting to set the maximum records at run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

To use a pre-defined time interval, select an interval from

the middle list of the Time Range pickers.

Setting Alarm Control Colors33

To use a specific start time and end time, clear Update to

Current Time, and select the start time from the list at the
left and the end time from the list at the right of the Time
Range pickers.

You can also use the TimeSelector.* methods and

properties in scripting to set the start date, end date, or
duration at run time. For more information, see the
Scripting the Alarm Control on page 87.
7

Click OK.

Setting Alarm Control Colors

You can show different types of alarm records in different
colors so the operator can more easily identify certain types
of alarms.
You can configure the Alarm Control with priority
breakpoints to show alarm records within the resulting
priority ranges in different colors.
You can also configure the control background color, the grid
color, and the heading colors.

Setting Event Record Colors

You can set text color and background color for event alarm
records. Use the EventColor.ForeGround Property and
EventColor.BackGround Property properties in scripting to
set the event alarm record text color and background color at
run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

34

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

To set text and background colors for event records

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

Configure the event record text color. Do the following:

Click the color field next to Event and under Text. The
color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Configure the event record background color. Do the

following:
a

Click the color field next to Event and under

Background. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Click OK.

Setting Return To Normal Record Colors

You can set text color and background color for "return to
normal" alarm records. Use the
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround Property and
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround Property properties in
scripting to set the "return to normal" alarm record text color
and background color at run time.
To set text and background colors for "return to normal"
records
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

Setting Alarm Control Colors35

Configure the "return to normal" record text color. Do the

following:
a

Click the color field next to Alarm RTN and under Text.
The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Configure the "return to normal" record background

color. Do the following:
a

Click the color field next to Alarm RTN and under

Background. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Click OK.

Setting Heading, Grid, and Window Color

You can set text color and background color for the heading,
the grid color, and the Alarm Control window color. Use the
corresponding HeadingColor.ForeGround Property,
HeadingColor.BackGround Property, GridColor Property,
and WindowColor Property properties in scripting to set the
colors for heading, grid, and window.
To set heading, grid, and window color for the Alarm Control
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

36

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Do one of the following:

a

Configure the heading text color by clicking the color

box next to Heading and under Text. If the color box
does not open, you need to select the Show Heading
option on the Run-Time Behavior page first.

Configure the heading background color by clicking

the color box next to Heading and under Background. If
the color box does not open, you need to select the
Show Heading option on the Run-Time Behavior page
first.

Configure the grid color by clicking the color box next

to Grid. If the color box does not open, you need to
select the Show Grid option on the Run-Time Behavior
page first.

Configure the window color by clicking the color box

next to Window.

Setting Priority Ranges for Alarm Records

You can use alarm priority ranges to filter alarms. The
Alarm Control can show alarms within a given range with a
different text and background color. Use the
AlarmColor.Range Propertyproperty group in scripting to set
the breakpoints at run time.
The Alarm Control supports four alarm ranges defined by
three breakpoints:
1 < breakpoint 1 < breakpoint 2 < breakpoint 3 < 999
To set priority ranges for alarm records
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

In the From Pri column in the list at the right, locate the
break point you want to change. These are values except
1 or 999.

Setting Alarm Control Colors37

Click the value and type a new value in the range

between the previous breakpoint and the next
breakpoint.

Press Enter. All priority values in the list are updated.

Click OK.

Example

If you use the color configuration in the procedure above, the

Alarm Control at run time could have following appearance:

Setting Colors for Acknowledged Alarms

You can set the text and background colors for records of
acknowledged alarms. For each of the priority ranges, you
can set a text color and a background color. Use the
AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property and
AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property property groups in
scripting to set the text color and background color for
acknowledged alarms in each priority range at run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

38

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

To set colors for acknowledged alarm records

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

In the list at the right, locate the Ack record and priority
range for which you want to change the text or
background color.

Click the color box in the Text or Background column of

the line. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Click OK.

Setting Colors for Unacknowledged Alarms

You can set the text and background colors for records of
unacknowledged alarms. For each of the priority ranges, you
can set a text color and a background color. Use the
AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround Property and
AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround Property property groups in
scripting to set the text color and background color for
unacknowledged alarms in each priority range at run time.
To set colors for unacknowledged alarm records
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

In the list at the right, locate the Unack record and

priority range for which you want to change the text or
background color.

Click the color box in the Text or Background column of

the line. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Click OK.

Setting Unacknowledged Alarms to Flash

Instead of showing unacknowledged alarm records in
predefined constant text and background color, you can
configure the Alarm Control to flash unacknowledged alarms
in another text and background colors.
The unacknowledged alarm records flash between the colors
of the Unack alarms and the colors of the Flash Unack
alarms. Use the FlashUnAckAlarms Property Boolean
property in scripting to set unacknowledged alarm records to
flash at run time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Setting Alarm Control Colors39

Use the AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround Property and

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround Property property
groups in scripting to set the text color and background color
for flashing unacknowledged alarms in each priority range at
run time.
To set flashing and colors for unacknowledged alarm records
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Colors. The Colors page appears.

Select the Flash Unack Alarms check box.

Note You cannot select the Flash UnAck Alarms check box if the
client mode is set to one of the historical modes.
4

In the list on the right, locate the Unack record and

priority range for which you want to change the text or
background color. Do the following:
a

Click the color box in the Text or Background column

of the line. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Locate the Flash Unack record and priority range for

which you want to change the text or background color.
Do the following:
a

Click the color box in the Text or Background column

of the line. The color picker appears.

Select a color and click OK.

Click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

40

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Renaming, Resizing, and Reordering Column

Headers
You can rename, resize, and change the order of column
headers in the Alarm Control.
reset all
settings

column
names and
widths

sorting
order

column
order
grid
preview

All changes you make in the Column Details list are shown
in the grid preview.
You can also use the grid preview to resize columns or change
their order with the pointer.
Column headers can be localized along with other symbol
text when you export, translate, and reimport language files.
The translated language files must be imported to the
InTouch HMI for run-time language switching. For further
information, see Chapter 11 Working with Languages in the
Application Server Users Guide.
Important If you rename or reorder column headers, you must
repeat the symbol text translation procedures. If you do not, your
changes will not be available for run-time language switching.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Renaming, Resizing, and Reordering Column Headers41

Renaming Column Headers

You can rename the column headers in the Alarm Control.
To rename column headers
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

In the Column Details list, locate the column header you

want to rename and click on it.

Type a new name and press Enter. The Column Details list
and the grid preview are updated.

Click OK.

Resizing Columns
You can resize the column headers in the Alarm Control
either by:

Typing in a numeric value.

Dragging the column header boundary width with the

pointer in the grid preview.

To resize the column numerically

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

In the Column Details list, locate the name of the column

you want to resize and click on the Width value in the
row.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

42

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Type a new width in pixels and press Enter. The Column

Details list and the grid preview are updated.

Click OK.

To resize the column graphically

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

In the grid preview, locate the column you want to resize

and drag the column boundary to resize the column. The
width value of the Column Details list is updated.

Click OK.

Changing the Order of Columns

You can change the order of the columns in the Alarm
Control by:

Moving column names up and down in the Column Details

list using buttons.

Dragging the column header with the pointer in the grid

preview.

You also can reset the column widths and order to their
default values. Resetting the column widths and order also
resets the names to their default values.
To change the column order

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

Sorting Alarms43

Do one of the following:

Click arrow up and arrow down to reposition the
columns.

In the grid preview, drag the name of the column you

want to reposition and drop it to the left of another
column to reposition it.

The grid preview and the Column Details list shows the
new column order.
4

Click OK.

To reset column widths and order

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

Click Reset. The column widths, names, and order are

reset to their default values.

Click OK.

Sorting Alarms
You can configure how the Alarm Control sorts alarm records
at run time. By default, the Alarm Control lists alarm
records by time in ascending order.
You can sort alarm records in ascending or descending order
based on a primary column, an optional secondary sort
column, and an optional tertiary sort column.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

44

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

You can configure the sorting columns and directions either

in lists or with the grid preview. Use the SortColumn.First
Property, SortColumn.Second Property, and
SortColumn.Third Property properties in scripting to set the
columns to be sorted at run time. Use the SortOrder.First
Property, SortOrder.Second Property, and SortOrder.Third
Property properties in scripting to set the sort direction for
each at run time.
To set sorting columns and directions with lists
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

In the Sorting area, do the following:

a

Select the primary sort column in the First Sort

Column list and a sorting direction in the list to its
right.

Optionally, select the secondary sort column in the

Second Sort Column list and a sorting direction in the
list to its right.

If you set the Second Sort Column, optionally select

the tertiary sort column in the Third Sort Column list
and a sorting direction in the list to its right.

The grid preview is updated and shows arrows for the

sorted columns and their sort directions.

To set sorting columns and directions with the grid preview

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Column Details. The Column Details page appears.

In the grid preview, click on a column to select it for

sorting. An arrow appears on the column header and the
change is also shown in the Sorting area lists.

To change the sorting direction, click on the column

header again. The arrow changes on the column header
and the change is also shown in the Sorting area lists.

Note If you click on a column header after releasing the Shift

key, all sorting information is lost and the selected column is the
new primary sorting criteria.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Filtering Alarms45

To set secondary and tertiary sorting, hold the Shift key

and repeat from step 3.

Release the Shift key.

Click OK.

Filtering Alarms
You can filter current and historical alarms by using query
filters. A query filter is a collection of filter criteria in a
logical construct.
For example, you can filter alarms by defining a query filter
that only shows alarms with priorities larger than 500 and
smaller than 750.
You can re-use the filter queries you define for historical
alarms for current alarms and vice versa. You can also re-use
filter queries you define at design-time at run time and vice
versa.
Important Query filters for current alarms and recent alarms and
events require at least Provider and Group as filter criteria.
These must use the equals sign.

When you use TimeLCT, TimeOAT, or TimeLCTOAT as

filter criteria for historical alarm modes, you need make sure
that the TimeSelector.StartDate and TimeSelector.EndDate
properties do not limit the query. Otherwise the Alarm
Control can possibly not return all alarm and event records.
Set the TimeSelector.StartDate property earlier than any
time filtering requirement, and the TimeSelector.EndDate
later than any time filtering requirement.

Using Wildcards in Queries

In current alarm queries, you can use wildcards only in the
Tagname part of the query and not in the Provider, Group, or
Node part of the query. A valid example is:
\galaxy!Mixing!RotorBlade*

In query filters that are used for current queries, the same
restrictions apply.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

46

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

In query filters that are used for historical queries, you must
convert the operator and wildcard to SQL syntax according to
the following table:
Current Query

Historical Query

Operator

Like

Wildcard

For example:
Provider = galaxy AND Group = Mixing
AND Name Like RotorBlade%

If you want to use a query filter containing a wildcard for a

current query and a historical query, create two separate
query filters.

Using an Existing Query Filter

You can use an existing query filter to filter the alarms
shown in the ArchestrA Alarm Control. You can also use the
Favorite Property string property in scripting to switch to an
existing query filter at run-time.
To use an existing query filter
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

In the Query Filter Favorites list, select a query filter.

Click OK.

Adding a New Query Filter

You can define a new query filter to filter the alarms shown
in the ArchestrA Alarm Control. The new query filter is
saved as a favorite in the Query Filter Favorites list.
To add a new query filter
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Filtering Alarms47

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

Click Add. The Add Filter dialog box appears.

For more information, see Constructing Filters on

page 48.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

48

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Constructing Filters
You use the Add Filter or Modify Filter dialog box to create or
edit a filter graphically.

Logical
associations

Condition
setting

Construction area

Filter criteria

To construct a filter
1

If you want to change the filter name, type a new unique

name in the Filter Name box.

Add filter criteria to the construction area by selecting a

column name on the left and clicking the right arrow
button. When you add filter criteria to the construction
area, they are automatically logically connected by AND.

If necessary, remove filter criteria by selecting them in

the filter construction area and clicking the left arrow
button.

To change the logical operator, select it in the filter

construction area, and then either:
Click AND or OR.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Right-click and select AND or OR from the shortcut

menu.

Filtering Alarms49

To group filter criteria logically, either:

Drag a filter criteria in the construction area over
another filter criteria.

Select one filter criteria, click Group, and then click

the other filter criteria.

By default, the filter criteria are logically grouped with

AND. If necessary, you can select the AND item in the tree
and click OR to change it to an OR grouping.
6

Assign values to filter criteria.

Note If you are using the Value column as a filter criteria, you
may get unexpected results at run time. The items in the Value
column are sorted alphabetically, not numerically. This is because
the Value column can contain strings.

Do the following:
a

Select a filter criteria in the construction area.

Select an operator from the Operator list.

Type or select a value in the Value box.

Click Set. The filter criteria is updated in the

construction area.

To cut, copy, or paste individual filter criteria or filter

criteria branches, right-click on the filter criteria and
select the appropriate option from the shortcut menu.

When you are done, click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

50

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Modifying an Existing Query Filter

You can modify an existing query filter using the Modify
Filter dialog box.
To modify an existing query filter
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

Select an existing query filter in the Query Filter Favorites

list.

Click the ellipsis button. The Modify Filter dialog box

appears. For more information, see Constructing Filters
on page 48.

Click OK.

Deleting a Query Filter Favorite

You can delete any non-default query filter favorites.
To delete a query filter favorite
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

Select an existing query filter in the Query Filter Favorites

list.

Click the Delete button.

When a message appears, click Yes.

Exporting Query Filter Favorites

You can export the query filter favorites list to an XML file.
The XML file containing the query filter favorites can be
imported to other Alarm Control in design time or run time.
Do not edit this file directly. The default query filter favorite
is not exported to the XML file.
To export the query filter favorites list
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

Click the Export button. The Export Query Filter Favorites

dialog box appears.

Select a location and a name for the XML file and click
Save.

Filtering Alarms51

Importing Query Filter Favorites

You can import the query filter favorites list from an XML
file.
To import the query filter favorites list
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Query Filters. The Query Filters page appears.

Click Import. The Import Query Filter Favorites dialog box

appears.

In the Import Option list, click either:

Append to append the imported query filters to the
existing query filters. If query filter names in the
imported XML conflict with existing query filters, you
are prompted to confirm the import for each filter.

Overwrite to replace all existing query filters with the

imported query filters.

Browse to the XML file and click Open.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

52

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Setting Time Zone and Format

You can set the time zone in which the client shows the
alarm and event records. By default, the time zone is set to
the client computers current time zone at design time. Use
the TimeZone.TimeZone Property, Time.Type Property, and
Time.Format Property properties in scripting to set the time
zone, time type, and time format at run time.
You can also set the time format of the alarm and event
records. You can select between two different time format
sets:

Wonderware Time Format: same as the InTouch Alarm

Viewer control and InTouch Alarm DB View control of
InTouch version 10.0 and later.

.NET Time Format: defined by Microsoft .NET

Framework time format conventions.

Setting the Time Zone

You can set the time zone in which the Alarm Control shows
the alarm and event records.
You can either set the time display to a predefined time zone,
or to the client time zone. The client time zone is the time
zone of the computer on which the Alarm Control is running.
The Client Time Zone setting is useful if you are deploying an
application using the Alarm Control to a different time zone.
For example, if you develop your application in the Pacific
Time zone and deploy it to two computers in the time zones
Central Time and Eastern Time, you can ensure the
Alarm Control shows the local time for each deployment by
setting the time zone to Client Time Zone.
To set the time zone
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Setting Time Zone and Format53

Click Time Settings. The Time Settings page appears.

In the Time Zone list, select a time zone.

Click OK.

Setting the Wonderware Time Format

You can set the Wonderware time format in which the Alarm
Control shows the alarm and event records. You can either
use a predefined datetime format, or compose one.
To set the Wonderware time format
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Time Settings. The Time Settings page appears.

In the Time Format area, do the following:

Make sure Use .NET Time Format is cleared.

Click a date format from the list at the left. The

equivalent date format code appears in the box above.

Click a time format from the list at the right. The

equivalent time format code is appended to the
format string in the box above.

If you want to customize the datetime format, modify the

codes in the box as follows:
Code

Purpose

Example

%m

Two-digit month

03

%b

Three-letter month

Mar

%B

Full month name

March

%d

Two-digit day

17

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

54

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Code

Purpose

Example

%Y

Four-digit year

2008

%y

Two-digit year

08

%#x

Full day and date

Tuesday, March
11, 2008

%H

Hours in 24 hour format

14

%I

Hours in 12 hour format

%M

Minutes

55

%S

Seconds

34

%s

Milliseconds

223

%p

AM or PM

PM

Click OK.

Setting the .NET Datetime Format

You can set the .NET datetime format in which the Alarm
Control shows the alarm and event records. You can either
use a predefined datetime format, or compose one. The
predefined date format is based on the short date format
setting of the operating system and may vary from computer
to computer.
To set the .NET datetime format

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Time Settings. The Time Settings page appears.

In the Time Format area, do the following:

a

Select the Use .NET Time Format check box.

Click a date format from the list at the left. The

equivalent date format code appears in the box above.

Click a time format from the list at the right. The

equivalent time format code is appended to the
format string in the box above.

Setting Time Zone and Format55

If you want to customize the datetime format, modify the

codes in the box as in the table below. For more
information, see the Microsoft Knowledge database on
.NET datetime formats.
Code

Purpose

Example

Single-digit month

MM

Two-digit month

09

MMM

Three-letter month

Sep

MMMM

Full month name

September

Single-digit day

dd

Two-digit day

08

ddd

Abbreviated day of the week

Mon.

dddd

Day of the week

Monday

yyyy

Four-digit year

2008

yy

Two-digit year

08

HH

Hours in 24 hour format

14

hh

Hours in 12 hour format

mm

Minutes

55

ss

Seconds

34

fff

Milliseconds

223

tt

AM or PM

PM

Click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

56

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Configuring Run-Time Behavior

You can configure the behavior and appearance of the Alarm
Control at run time, for example:

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Showing and Hiding parts of the Alarm Control.

Specifying if the Alarm Control queries the alarm

database when it starts up.

Scrolling to new alarms.

Hiding warnings, errors, and messages.

Restricting operator access to parts of the Alarm Control.

Specifying Alarm Control freeze behavior.

Customizing the "no records" message.

Configuring alarms to require an ACK signature.

Customizing the run-time shortcut menu.

Configuring Run-Time Behavior57

Showing Heading, Grid, or Status Bar

You can show and hide parts of the Alarm Control at run
time, such as the heading, grid, or status bar. Use the
ShowHeading Property, ShowGrid Property, and
ShowStatusBar Property properties in scripting to show or
hide the heading, grid, and status bar at run time.
Heading

Grid

Status
Bar

Caution If you hide the status bar, you will not be able to see
important indicators, such as the New Alarms, Hidden Alarms, and
Frozen Grid indicators.
To show the heading, grid, or status bar at run time
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Show or hide the part. Do any of the following:

Select the Show Heading check box to show the
heading at run time, or clear it to hide the heading at
run time.

Select the Show Grid check box to show the grid at run
time, or clear it to hide the grid at run time.

Select the Show Status Bar check box to show the

status bar at run time, or clear it to hide the status
bar at run time.

Click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

58

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Automatically Querying for Alarms on Start Up

You can configure the Alarm Control to automatically query
the Alarm Manager or Alarm Database when the control
starts up at run time. Use the QueryStartup Property in
scripting to control the start up behavior at run time.
By default, current alarms and recent alarms and events are
automatically queried when the Alarm Control starts at run
time. You can disable the automatic query if the Alarm
Control is:

Configured to mainly use query filters.

Driven mainly by scripts.

To query the Alarm Manager or Alarm Database automatically

on start up
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Query on Startup check box.

Click OK.

Scrolling Automatically to New Alarms

If the operator is viewing multiple pages of alarms, new
alarms may go unnoticed. You can configure the Alarm
Control to scroll automatically to new alarms. Use the
AutoScroll Property Boolean property in scripting to scroll
automatically to new alarms.
However, if the Alarm Control scrolls automatically to new
alarms, it may be hard for the operator to view and analyze
older alarms if new alarms occur. If the Alarm Control is
frozen, it will not scroll automatically to new alarms.
To scroll automatically to new alarms
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Auto Scroll to New Alarms check box.

Click OK.

Configuring Run-Time Behavior59

Hiding Errors, Warnings, and Status Messages

You can prevent a message dialog box from opening when
errors, warnings, or status messages occur in the Alarm
Control. Even if you hide errors, warnings, and status
messages, the messages are sent to the ArchestrA Logger.
Use the HideErrors Property in scripting to hide error,
warning, and status messages at run time.
To hide error and warning messages
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Hide Errors and Warnings check box.

Click OK.

Restricting User Access to Rows and Columns

You can prevent the operator from:

Resizing columns.

Selecting rows.

Selecting multiple rows.

Use this feature for interfaces where it is easy to accidentally

resize columns or select rows. For example, if the Alarm
Control is running on a small display, use the
AllowColumnResize Property and RowSelection Property
properties in scripting to control the ability to resize columns
and select rows at run time.
To prevent the operator from resizing columns
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Clear the Allow Column Resizing check box.

Click OK.

To prevent the operator from selecting rows

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

60

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

In the Row Selection list, click:

No to prevent operator from selecting rows.

Single to allow operator to only select one row.

Multiple to allow operator select multiple rows.

Click OK.

Retain Hiding when Changing Alarm Query Filter

You can configure the Alarm Control to hide alarms even if
the alarm query filter changes. Use the RetainHidden
Property in scripting to retain the hiding of alarms at run
time.
To retain hiding when change the alarm query filter
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Retain Hidden check box.

Click OK.

Overriding the Frozen Grid

You can configure the Alarm Control to unfreeze the grid
after a given time in seconds. Use this option to make sure
that new alarms appear on the grid after a specified time.
Use the AutoResumeDuration Property in scripting to
unfreeze the Alarm Control after a certain duration at run
time.
The Alarm Control also unfreezes if you change one of the
following:

Alarm Mode

Alarm Query

Query Filter

To override the frozen grid

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Auto Resume after check box and type the
number of seconds after which the grid unfreezes.

Click OK.

Configuring Run-Time Behavior61

Customizing the No Records Message

You can customize the message that appears when there are
no records to show in the grid. Use the
NoRecordsMessage.Enabled Property and
NoRecordsMessage.Message Property in scripting to
customize the "no records" message at run time.
To customize the "no records" message
1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Show Custom No Records Message check box

and type a message you want to show in the Alarm
Control when there are no alarm records.

Click OK.

Changing the Language of the No Records Message

You can change the language of the message that appears
when there are no records to show in the grid.
To change the language of the No Records Message
1

Right-click on the canvas and click Scripts. The Edit

Scripts dialog box appears.

Click the Add icon and give the script a name, for
example ChangeLanguage.

In the Expression box, type:

intouch:$Language

In the Trigger list, click DataChange.

In the script area, type the following:

If intouch:$Language == 1033 then ' Switch to
English
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Message = "No
Records";
else If intouch:$Language == 1031 then ' Switch
to German
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Message = "Keine
Eintrge";
else if intouch:$Language == 1036 then '
Switch to French
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Message =
"Aucun enregistrement";
endif;
endif;
endif;

Click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

62

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

Configuring the Alarm Control to Require ACK

Signature
Even if you are logged into the InTouch application,
acknowledging the alarms that fall within a specific priority
range may need to be authenticated by you if required by
your company or industry. You can configure the Alarm
Client Control to provide such functionality by selecting the
Requires ACK Signature check box in the Object Properties
dialog of the Alarm Client.
Once the Alarm Control has been configured to require a
signature for acknowledgement, you need to set its minimum
and maximum priority values. The valid range of the
minimum and maximum priority values is 1 to 999.
To configure the Alarm Control to require ACK signature
1
2

Place an Alarm Control in the drawing canvas.

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit
Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Select the Requires ACK Signature check box. The Min

Priority and Max Priority boxes are enabled.

Enter the minimum and maximum priority values for the

alarm range window that will require authentication.

Click OK.
You can configure the alarm signature requirement as well
as the minimum and maximum values in run time using the
Object Editor. For more information about using the Object
6

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Configuring Run-Time Behavior63

Editor, see the Application Server Users Guide, Chapter 3,

Working with Objects. For more information about
configuring the Alarm Control in run time to require an
alarm acknowledgement signature, see the
SignedAlarmAck() Applied Examples topic in the Creating
and Managing ArchestrA Graphics Users Guide, Chapter 10,
Adding and Maintaining Symbol Scripts.
Note If your computer supports Smart Cards, you can use them
for alarm authentication at run time. You need to have the Smart
Card mapped to your user account in the domain. If the Smart
Card is already in the reader and you enter the correct PIN, the
system will allow you to acknowledge the alarms.

Configuring the Run-Time Shortcut Menu

You can configure the run-time shortcut menu to show only
selected options or to be hidden at run time. The shortcut
menus of the Alarm Control showing historical alarms (or
events) and the Alarm Control showing current alarms (or
recent alarms and events) are different.

Current alarms mode

Historical alarms mode

For the current alarms shortcut menu, you can also show or
hide entire shortcut submenus. Use the ContextMenu.* and
the ShowContextMenu Property in scripting to control if
shortcut menu items appear or not at run time. For more
information, see the ContextMenu.AckAll Property on
page 104 and following.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

64

Chapter 2 Configuring the Alarm Control

To hide the shortcut menu

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Clear the Show Context Menu check box.

Click OK.

To show or hide shortcut menu options

1

Double-click the Alarm Control on the canvas. The Edit

Animations dialog box appears.

Click Run-Time Behavior. The Run-Time Behavior page

appears.

Make sure the Show Context Menu check box is selected.

In the shortcut menu lists, do the following:

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Select the options you want to appear on the run-time

shortcut menu (if applicable for the selected client
mode).

Clear the options you want to hide from the operator

on the run-time shortcut menu.

Click OK.

65

Chapter 3
Using the Alarm Control at Run
Time

This section shows how you can interact with the Alarm
Control at run time, such as:

Refreshing the Alarm Control grid to show the most

current alarms.

Using the status bar to view various information about

the alarm records.

Acknowledging, hiding, filtering, or sorting alarms.

Freezing the Alarm Control grid.

Switching between client modes.

Switching between languages.

Acknowledging alarms with a required signature.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

66

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Refreshing the Alarm Control Grid

You can refresh the Alarm Control grid at run time.
Depending on which client mode is selected, the Alarm
Control:

Requeries the Alarm Manager for latest current alarm

records from all configured providers.

Retrieves alarm record data from the Alarm Database

based on the time range settings.

To refresh the alarm control grid

1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid at run time. The

shortcut menu appears.

Click Requery.

Using Status Bar Information

The status bar shows you information about the current
Alarm Control grid. Depending on the client mode, the status
bar information shows different information.

Using Status Bar Information of Current Modes

If the Alarm Control is showing current alarms or recent
alarms and events, the status bar shows the following:
Element

Icon(s)

Description

Client Mode

Indicates the Alarm Control is showing

current alarms (or recent alarms and events).

New Alarms

Appears if new alarms have occurred. If you

move the pointer over the indicator, the
tooltip shows you how many alarms are
unacknowledged.

Hidden Alarms

Appears if any alarms are currently hidden. If

you move the pointer over the indicator, the
tooltip shows you how many alarms are
hidden.

Frozen Grid

Appears if the Alarm Control is currently

frozen.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Using Status Bar Information67

Element

Icon(s)

Description

Alarm Records
Shows the total number of alarm records and
which alarms are currently shown.
Query Filter
Shows the name of the current query filter
favorite.
Retrieval
Shows the percentage of alarms retrieved
from all alarm providers.
If this percentage is less than 100%, not all
alarm providers are providing alarm data.
Use the Alarm Statistics dialog box to detect
which alarm providers are not providing
alarm data.
Time Zone
Shows the current time zone of the Alarm
Control. Move the pointer over the time zone
to show the full information in a tool tip.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

68

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Using Status Bar Information of Historical Modes

If the Alarm Control is showing historical alarms or events,
the status bar shows the following:
Element

Description

Client Mode
Indicates the Alarm Control is showing
historical alarms and/or events.
Alarm Records
Shows the total number of alarm records
and which alarms are currently shown.
Alarm Database
Shows the name of the server hosting the
Alarm Database and the Alarm Database
name.
Connection Status
Shows the connection status to the Alarm
Database.
Time Zone
Shows the current time zone of the Alarm
Control. Move the pointer over the time
zone to show the full information in a tool
tip.
Requery
Click this button to retrieve latest alarm
records from the Alarm Database.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Acknowledging Alarms69

Acknowledging Alarms
You can acknowledge alarm records directly from the Alarm
Control. You can acknowledge:

One or more selected alarms.

All alarms, including alarms not visible due to the limited

space of the Alarm Control.

All visible alarms.

All alarms with common values, such as provider names,

group names, priority ranges, and tag names. You can
simplify alarm acknowledgement for the operator by
using methods in scripting. For more information, see
Ack.All() Method on page 135.

To acknowledge a selected alarms using the Alarm Control grid

1

Select one or more alarms in alarm state.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Ack Selected.

If no default acknowledgement statement is configured

for the Alarm Control, the Ack Comment dialog box
appears.

Type an alarm acknowledgement comment and click OK.

To acknowledge other alarms using the Alarm Control grid

1

Select one or more alarms in alarm state.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid, point to Ack Others,

and click one of the following:
Ack All to acknowledge all alarms in alarm state.

Ack Visible to acknowledge all visible alarms.

Ack Selected Group to acknowledge alarms with the

same provider names and group names of one or more

selected alarms in alarm state.

Ack Selected Tag to acknowledge alarms with the

same provider names, group names, and tag names

within the priority ranges of one or more selected
alarms in alarm state.

Ack Selected Priority to acknowledge alarms with the

same provider names, group names, and within the

priority ranges of one or more selected alarms in
alarm state.
3

If no default acknowledgement statement is configured

for the Alarm Control, the Ack Comment dialog box
appears.

Type an alarm acknowledgement comment and click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

70

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Providing a Signature to Acknowledge Alarms

You must provide your signature in the Ack Alarms dialog box
to acknowledge alarms. A signature is required when the
Require ACK Signature check box is selected and any of the
selected alarms falls within the configured priority range, or
if no one is logged on to the InTouch application. You are not
required to be logged on to the InTouch application to
acknowledge alarms. However, if you are logged on to
WindowViewer, the Username box displays your name.
When you select the Require ACK Signature check box, the
acknowledgment comment is prefixed in the updated Alarm
Record. If one or more of the selected alarms falls within the
configured priority range, the comment is prefixed with
"Signed ACK -" indicating that it is a signed
acknowledgment. Otherwise, it is prefixed with "Std ACK -"
indicating that it is a standard acknowledgment.
Note If the selected alarms do not require a signature, then the
Ack Alarms dialog box displays the Comment box. You can enter a
comment before acknowledging the alarm.
To provide a signature to acknowledge alarms with user name

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Select one or more alarms in the alarm state.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Ack Selected.

If the selected alarms require a signature, or if you are

not logged on to InTouch, then the Ack Alarms dialog box
appears. If the Smart Card authentication system is not
configured on your computer, the following dialog
appears:

In the Comment box, enter or modify the comment.

In the Username box, enter your user name.

Acknowledging Alarms71

In the Password box, enter your password.

In the Domain box, enter the domain and click OK.

Note If you enter invalid credentials, the system displays an error

message. When you click OK, the ACK Alarms dialog box appears
again with the user name and the comment you had provided. You
must enter the correct password.

Providing a Signature to Acknowledge Alarms

Using Smart Cards
You can use a Smart Card to provide the authentication to
acknowledge alarms if your computer supports Smart Card
authentication. In that case, the system displays the Ack
Alarms dialog box with the Smart Card authentication dialog.
You must have the Smart Card inserted in the Smart Card
reader attached to your computer.
To provide a signature to acknowledge alarms using Smart
Cards
1

Select one or more alarms in the alarm state.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Ack Selected.

If the selected alarms are configured to require a

signature and if Smart Card Authentication is selected in
InTouch, the Ack Alarms dialog box appears where the
Smart Card button under Mode is disabled.

In the Comment box, enter or modify the comment.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

72

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

From the Certificate list, select the Smart Card currently

inserted into the reader in your system.

Note If a card is newly-inserted or removed from the reader, you

can update the list of cards by selecting the appropriate Smart
Card from the Certificate list.
6

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

In the PIN box, enter the personal identification number

and click OK.
a

If you enter an invalid PIN, the system displays an

error message. When you click OK, the ACK Alarms
dialog box appears again with the user credential and
the comment you had provided. You must enter the
correct PIN.

If you need to provide your log on credentials instead

of the Smart Card details to verify your signature,
click the User Name Authentication button under
Mode. A different version of the Ack Alarms dialog box
appears where the Smart Card button under Mode is
enabled.

Sorting Alarms at Run Time73

Sorting Alarms at Run Time

You can sort alarms at run time in similar way as design
time. Any changes you make to the sorting at run time are
lost when you switch back to design time. You can simplify
alarm sorting for the operator by using methods in scripting.
For more information, see SetSort() Method on page 150 and
Show.Sort() Method on page 151.
Note If you are sorting by the Value column, the items in the
column are sorted alphabetically, not numerically. This is because
the Value column can contain strings.
To set sorting columns and directions with lists at run time
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Sort. The Sort
dialog box appears.

In the First Sort Column list, select the first sort column
and a sorting direction in the list to its right.

Optionally, select the second sort column in the Second

Sort Column list and a sorting direction in the list to its
right.

If you set the Second Sort Column, optionally select the

third sort column in the Third Sort Column list and a
sorting direction in the list to its right.

Click OK.

To set sorting columns and directions in the grid at run time

1

In the Alarm Control grid, click on a column header to set

sorting for the column. An arrow appears on the column
header.

To change the sorting direction, click on the column

header again. The arrow changes direction on the header.

Note If you click on a column header after releasing the Shift

key, all sorting information is lost and the selected column is the
new primary sorting criteria.
3

To set sorting for second and third columns, repeat step 3

while pressing the Shift key.

Release the Shift key.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

74

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Filtering Alarms at Run Time

You can filter alarms at run time by using the filters you
defined at design time.
If you did not define a filter according to your needs at design
time, you can still create new filters at run time, or modify
existing filters.
If you saved filters to an XML file, you can load them from a
file at run-time.
Filters you define at run-time are not saved for use at
design-time. To re-use filters you create or modify at
run-time, export the filter list to an XML file, and import the
XML file at design-time.
If you are showing historical alarms or events, you can use
the filtering mechanism provided by the grid technology
instead of using filter favorites.

Using an Existing Query Filter

At run time, you can use any filter you defined at design
time, regardless if you defined it for the current modes or
historical modes. You can also use scripting to switch to an
existing query filter. For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.
To use an existing query filter
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

Select the filter from the list and click OK. The alarm
records are filtered and the current filter name appears
in the status bar.

Adding a New Query Filter

At run time, you can create new query filters to limit the
number of alarm records.
The new query filters are not stored for future use and are
only valid for the current session. If you want to store them
for future use, you must also export the query filters to an
XML file. For more information, see Exporting Query Filter
Favorites on page 76.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Filtering Alarms at Run Time75

To add a new query filter

1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

The configuration is the same as in design time. For more

information, see Adding a New Query Filter on page 46.

Modifying an Existing Query Filter

At run time, you can modify a query filter.
The modification of query filters is not saved for future use
and is only valid for the current session. If you want to save
the modifications, you must also export the query filters to an
XML file. For more information, see Exporting Query Filter
Favorites on page 76.
To modify an existing query filter
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

The configuration is the same as in design time. For more

information, see Modifying an Existing Query Filter on
page 50.

Deleting a Query Filter

At run time, you can delete a query filter.
After you delete a query filter at run time, it is only deleted
for the current session. If you want to save the list of query
filters without the deleted query filter, you must export the
query filters to an XML file. For more information, see
Exporting Query Filter Favorites on page 76.
To delete an existing query filter
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

The configuration is the same as in design time. For more

information, see Deleting a Query Filter Favorite on
page 50.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

76

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Importing Query Filter Favorites

At run time, you can import the list of query filters from an
XML file.
To import Query Filter Favorites
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

The configuration is the same as in design time. For more

information, see Importing Query Filter Favorites on
page 51.

Exporting Query Filter Favorites

At run time, you can export the list of query filters to an XML
file for future use. After exporting, you can import the query
filter from the XML into design time.
Note The default query filter favorite is not exported to the XML
file.
To export Query Filter Favorites
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Query Filters.

The Query Filters dialog box appears.

The configuration is the same as in design time. For more

information, see Exporting Query Filter Favorites on
page 50.

Filtering Alarms with Client-Based Filtering

The grid technology used in the Alarm Control lets you filter
the grid contents after the data has been retrieved from the
data source.
You can filter historical alarms and/or events in the following
ways for any selected column:

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Filter

Description

(All)

No filtering, all records are shown for

the selected column.

(Custom)

Lets you configure a more complex

filter for the selected column, for
example a filter that can compare
values of different columns.

(Blanks)

Filters by showing blank values only.

(NonBlanks)

Filters by showing non blank values

only.

Filtering Alarms at Run Time77

Filter

Description

Values

Filters by the selected value.

If a filter is applied to any column in the Alarm Control, the

filter icon in the column header appears in blue.

To filter alarms with client-based filtering

1

Click the filter icon on the column you want to filter by. A
menu appears.

Select one of the following:

(All) to switch off filtering.

(Custom) to define a more complex filter.

(Blanks) to filter by blank values.

(NonBlanks) to filter by non blank values.

A value to filter by the value.

If you selected (Custom), a dialog box appears.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

78

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Do one of the following:

Select a different operator for the current condition.

Type or select a different operand for the current

condition. The operand can be a value, or the value of
a different column in the same row.

Click Add a condition to add more conditions to the

filter.

Click Delete Condition to delete one or more selected

conditions. (You can mark the condition by clicking on
the button to the left of each condition.)

Click OK.

Resetting the Grid79

Resetting the Grid

You can reset the column widths, column order, and names
to their last design-time values. When you reset the grid, the
query filter is also reset to its default. You can also reset the
grid by using a method in scripting. For more information,
see Reset() Method on page 147.
To reset the grid

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Reset.

Hiding Alarms
You can temporarily remove specified alarms from the Alarm
Control by hiding them. You can hide:

All alarms, including alarms not visible due to the limited

space of the Alarm Control.

All visible alarms.

One or more selected alarms.

All alarms with the same provider names and group

names of one or more selected alarms.

All alarms with the same provider names, group names,

and within the priority ranges of one or more selected
alarms.

All alarms with the same provider names, group names,

and tag names within the priority ranges of one or more
selected alarms.

You can also view which alarms are hidden and unhide them.
You can simplify alarm hiding and unhiding for the operator
by using methods in scripting. For more information, see
Hide.All() Method on page 142.
To hide all alarms

Right-click the Alarm Control grid, point to Hide Others,

and click Hide All.

To hide all visible alarms

Right-click the Alarm Control grid, point to Hide Others,

and click Hide Visible.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

80

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

To hide selected alarms

1
2

Select one or more alarms in alarm state.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Hide
Selected.

To hide alarms with common parameters

1

Select one or more alarms.

Right-click the Alarm Control grid, point to Hide Others,

and click one of the following:
Hide Selected Group to hide alarms with the same
provider names and group names of one or more
selected alarms.

Hide Selected Tag to hide alarms with the same

provider names, group names, and tag names within

the priority ranges of one or more selected alarms.

Hide Selected Priority to hide alarms with the same

provider names, group names, and within the priority

ranges of one or more selected alarms.
To unhide alarms

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Hidden. The

Hidden Alarms dialog box appears.

Select the alarms you want to unhide and click Unhide.

Click Close.

Showing Alarm Statistics81

Showing Alarm Statistics

You can view alarm statistics at run time to see which alarm
providers are providing the alarm data. You can also use
scripting to show alarm statistics at run time. For more
information, see Show.Statistics() Method on page 151.
To show alarm statistics
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid and click Statistics.

The Alarm Statistics dialog box appears.

Note If you use an Alarm Hotbackup name as alarm query, you

can expand the Hotbackup name in the Alarm Statistics dialog
box to show the individual percentages of retrieval for the
configured primary and backup alarm provider.
2

Click Update to update the statistics.

Click Close.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

82

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

Freezing and Unfreezing the Alarm Control

Grid
You can freeze the Alarm Control grid at run time so that no
more updates are shown.
After you unfreeze the Alarm Control, the grid updates with
the new alarm records and any other updates while the grid
was frozen.You can also use scripting to freeze and unfreeze
the Alarm Control grid at run time. For more information,
see FreezeDisplay() Method on page 140.
To freeze or unfreeze the Alarm Control grid
1

Right-click the Alarm Control grid. The shortcut menu

appears.

A check mark next to the Freeze option indicates if the

grid is currently frozen.
2

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Click Freeze. The Alarm Control grid is either frozen or

unfrozen.

Switching between Client Modes83

Switching between Client Modes

You can switch between client modes at run time by
changing the Alarm Control ClientMode property. The
easiest way to do this, is to configure an ArchestrA script to
interact with the Alarm Control ClientMode property at
design time.
To switch between client modes
1

Place the Alarm Control on the ArchestrA symbol.

Paste a button on the canvas and change its caption to

Current Alarms.

Double-click the button and configure it with the

following action script:
AlarmControlGrid1.ClientMode = 1;

Click OK.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 for the following buttons:

Button Caption

Action script

Recent Alarms and Events

AlarmControlGrid1.ClientMode = 2;

Historical Alarms

AlarmControlGrid1.ClientMode = 3;

Historical Events

AlarmControlGrid1.ClientMode = 4;

Historical Alarms and Events

AlarmControlGrid1.ClientMode = 5;

Save and close the ArchestrA symbol.

Create a new managed InTouch application and open it

in WindowMaker.

Place the ArchestrA symbol on a new InTouch window.

Switch to WindowViewer to test your application.

10 Click Historical Alarms to show historical alarms instead

of current alarms.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

84

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

By default, the Alarm Control tries to connect to the alarm

database called WWALMDB on the local computer using the
currently logged on user. If you are using a different
configuration, you can use value input links or action script
to set the following properties:

Database.ServerName Property

Database.UserID Property

Database.Password Property

Domain Property

Database.Name Property

Database.Authentication Property

Switching Run-Time Languages

You can switch the language of the Alarm Control in the
same way as other parts of your InTouch application. When
you switch language, the alarm state, alarm class, alarm
type, the various alarm comment fields, and the column
headers are switched to the selected language.
To switch the language

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Do one of the following:

In WindowViewer on the Special menu, point to
Languages, and then click the language you want to
switch to.

In WindowMaker, use the InTouch QuickScript

SwitchDisplayLanguage in a button action script to
switch the language. At run time, click the button to
switch the language.

In WindowMaker, use the system tag $Language in a

button action script and assign it to the language code
you want to switch to. At run time, click the button to
switch the language.

Switching Run-Time Languages85

For more information about run-time language switching,

see Chapter 11, Working with Languages, in the Application
Server Users Guide.
Important If you rename or reorder column headers, you must
repeat the symbol text translation procedures. If you do not, your
changes will not be available for run-time language switching.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

86

Chapter 3 Using the Alarm Control at Run Time

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

87

Chapter 4
Scripting the Alarm Control

This section shows you the properties, methods, and events

for the Alarm Control.

Alarm Control Properties

This section describes all the properties available for
scripting in the Alarm Control.

AckComment.DefaultValue Property
The AckComment.DefaultValue property is a read-write
string property that gets or sets the default
acknowledgement comment when the
AckComment.UseDefault property is TRUE.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AckComment.DefaultValue;
AlarmClient.AckComment.DefaultValue = ackComment;

Example
AlarmClient1.AckComment.UseDefault = 1;
AlarmClient1.AckComment.DefaultValue = "This alarm is
acknowledged by John Smith";

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Current Alarms or

Recent Alarms and Events on page 28.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

88

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

AckComment.UseDefault Property
The AckComment.UseDefault property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the usage of the default
acknowledgement comment.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AckComment.UseDefault;
AlarmClient.AckComment.UseDefault = useComment;

Example
AlarmClient1.AckComment.UseDefault = 1;
AlarmClient1.AckComment.DefaultValue = "This alarm is
acknowledged by John Smith";

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Current Alarms or

Recent Alarms and Events on page 28.

AckSignature.MaxPriority Property
The AckSignature.MaxPriority property is a read-write
integer property, which gets or sets the maximum priority
value for alarms that require a signature to be
acknowledged. The value must range between 1 and 999, and
must be greater than or equal to the
AckSignature.MinPriority value. The default value of
AckSignature.MaxPriority is 999.
Syntax
To Set:
<EAC instance name>.<Property Name> = <integer value>;

Example
AlarmClient1.AckSignature.MaxPriority = 500;

Syntax:
To Get:
integer <variable name> = <EAC instance name>.<Property
Name>;

Example
dim iMax as integer;
iMax = AlarmClient1.AckSignature.MaxPriority;

Remarks

For more information, see Providing a Signature to

Acknowledge Alarms on page 70.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties89

AckSignature.MinPriority Property
The AckSignature.MinPriority property is a read-write
integer property, which gets or sets the minimum priority
value for alarms that require a signature to be
acknowledged. The value must range between 1 and 999, and
must be less than or equal to the AckSignature.MaxPriority
value. The default value of AckSignature.MinPriority is 1.
Syntax
To Set:
<EAC instance name>.<Property Name> = <integer value>;

Example
AlarmClient1.AckSignature.MinPriority = 100;

Syntax
To Get:
To Get:
integer <variable name> = <EAC instance name>.<Property
Name>;

Example
dim iMin as integer;
iMin = AlarmClient1.AckSignature.MinPriority;

Remarks

For more information, see Providing a Signature to

Acknowledge Alarms on page 70.

AckSignature.Required Property
The AckSignature.Required property is a read-write Boolean
property, indicating whether a signature is required for
acknowledging the alarms. The default value of
AckSignature.MinPriority is True.
Syntax
To Set:
<EAC instance name>.<Property Name> = <boolean value>;

Example
AlarmClient1.AckSignature.Required = true;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

90

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Syntax
To Get:
boolean <variable name> = <EAC instance name>.<Property
Name>;

Example
dim bIsACKSigned as boolean;
bIsACKSigned

= AlarmClient1.AckSignature.Required;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Alarm Control to

Require ACK Signature on page 62.

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround property is an array of
read-write integer properties that get or set the background
colors of all acknowledged alarm records.
Index

Purpose

Sets the background color of all acknowledged

alarm records in all priority ranges.

Gets or sets the background color of

acknowledged alarm records in the priority range
1 to AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the background color of

acknowledged alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[1] to AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the background color of

acknowledged alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[2] to AlarmColor.Range[3].

Gets or sets the background color of

acknowledged alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[n] = Color;

Parameters

n
Index from 0 to 4.
Color
Color of background.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties91

Examples
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[0] = Color.Red;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[1] =
Color.FromARGB(0,128,0);
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[2] = Color.Grey;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[3] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround[4] =
Color.Black;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround property is an array of
read-write integer properties that get or set the text colors of
all acknowledged alarm records.
Index

Purpose

Sets the text color of all acknowledged alarm

records in all priority ranges.

Gets or sets the text color of acknowledged alarm

records in the priority range 1 to
AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the text color of acknowledged alarm

records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[1] to AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the text color of acknowledged alarm

records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[2] to AlarmColor.Range[3].

Gets or sets the text color of acknowledged alarm

records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[n] = Color;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

92

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Parameters

n
Index from 0 to 4.
Color
Color of text.
Examples
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[0] =
Color.Black;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[1] = Color.Blue;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[2] =
Color.Green;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[3] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround[4] =
Color.FromARGB(0,128,0);

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround property is a
read-write color property that gets or sets the background
color of acknowledged alarm records that "return to normal"
(ACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Return Value

Returns the background color of acknowledged alarms that

"return to normal".
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround =
Color.Blue;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties93

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround property is a
read-write color property that gets or sets the text color of
acknowledged alarm records that "return to normal"
(ACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround =
Color.Black;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.Range Property
The AlarmColor.Range property is an array of read-write
integer properties that get or set the boundaries of the
priority ranges.
You can use priority ranges to classify, group, and emphasize
alarms and events belonging to a certain priority range.
The boundaries must fulfill the following condition:
1 < Range[1] < Range[2] < Range[3] < 999

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

94

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

By default, the boundaries are set as follows:

AlarmColor.Range[1]

250

AlarmColor.Range[2]

500

AlarmColor.Range[3]

750

Syntax
RangeN = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Range[N];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.Range[1] = RangeN;

Parameters

N
Range index 1, 2, or 3.
Example

The following example defines four priority ranges (1 to 50,

51 to 600, 601 to 800, and 801 to 999):
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Range[1] = 50;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Range[2] = 600;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.Range[3] = 800;

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Priority Ranges for Alarm

Records on page 36.

AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround property is a read-write
color property that gets or sets the background color of alarm
records that "return to normal" (ACK_RTN and
UNACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround = Color.Blue;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties95

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Return To Normal Record

Colors on page 34.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround property is a read-write
color property that gets or sets the text color of alarm records
that "return to normal" (ACK_RTN and UNACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround = Color.Yellow;

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Return To Normal Record

Colors on page 34.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

96

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround property is an array of
read-write integer properties that get or set the background
colors of all unacknowledged alarm records.
Index

Purpose

Sets the background color of all unacknowledged

alarm records in all priority ranges.

Gets or sets the background color of

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range 1 to AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the background color of

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[1] to
AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the background color of

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[2] to
AlarmColor.Range[3].

Gets or sets the background color of

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[n] = Color;

Parameters

n
Index from 0 to 4.
Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[0] =
Color.Blue;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[1] =
Color.ARGB(223,113,76);
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[2] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[3] =
Color.Green;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround[4] =
Color.White;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties97

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround property is an
array of read-write color properties that get or set the
background colors of all flashing unacknowledged alarm
records.
Index

Purpose

Sets the background color of all flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in all priority
ranges.

Gets or sets the background color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range 1 to AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the background color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[1] to
AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the background color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[2] to
AlarmColor.Range[3].

Gets or sets the background color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color =
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[n] =
Color;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

98

Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Parameters

n
Index from 1 to 4.
Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[1] =
Color.ARGB(223,113,76);
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[2] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[3] =
Color.Green;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround[4] =
Color.White;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround property is an
array of read-write color properties that get or set the text
colors of all flashing unacknowledged alarm records.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Index

Purpose

Sets the text color of all flashing unacknowledged

alarm records in all priority ranges.

Gets or sets the text color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range 1 to AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the text color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[1] to
AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the text color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[2] to
AlarmColor.Range[3].

Alarm Control Properties99

Index

Purpose

Gets or sets the text color of flashing

unacknowledged alarm records in the priority
range AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color =
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[n] =
Color;

Parameters

n
Index from 1 to 4.
Color
Color of text.
Examples
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[1] =
Color.ARGB(223,113,76);
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[2] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[3] =
Color.Green;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround[4] =
Color.White;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

100 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround property is an array of
read-write integer properties that get or set the text colors of
all unacknowledged alarm records.
Index

Purpose

Sets the text color of all unacknowledged alarm

records in all priority ranges.

Gets or sets the text color of unacknowledged

alarm records in the priority range 1 to
AlarmColor.Range[1].

Gets or sets the text color of unacknowledged

alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[1] to AlarmColor.Range[2].

Gets or sets the text color of unacknowledged

alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[2] to AlarmColor.Range[3].

Gets or sets the text color of unacknowledged

alarm records in the priority range
AlarmColor.Range[3] to 999.

Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[n];
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[n] = Color;

Parameters

n
Index from 0 to 4.
Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[0] =
Color.Blue;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[1] =
Color.ARGB(223,113,76);
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[2] =
Color.Yellow;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[3] =
Color.Green;
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround[4] =
Color.White;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties101

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround property is a
read-write color property that gets or sets the background
color of unacknowledged alarm records that "return to
normal" (UNACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround =
Color.Blue;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

102 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround Property
The AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround property is a
read-write color property that gets or sets the text color of
unacknowledged alarm records that "return to normal"
(UNACK_RTN).
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround;
AlarmClient.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround =
Color.FromARGB(0,0,0);

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

AlarmQuery Property
The AlarmQuery property is a read-write string property
that gets or sets the alarm query.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AlarmQuery;
AlarmClient.AlarmQuery = AlmQry;

Parameters

AlmQry
Alarm query string in format \\node\provider!group where
node is optional.
Example
AlarmClient.AlarmQuery = "\intouch!GroupA";

Remarks

After you write a new value to the AlarmQuery property, the

Alarm Control is updated. If you are using the default query
filter, the query is updated with the new node, provider, and
group name.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties103

AllowColumnResize Property
The AllowColumnResize property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the ability to resize the columns at
run time.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AllowColumnResize;
AlarmClient.AllowColumnResize = allowColResizing;

AutoResumeDuration Property
The AutoResumeDuration property is a read-write integer
property that gets or sets the time in seconds after which the
grid becomes unfrozen and resumes showing alarms.
Set this value to 0 to disable auto resume.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AutoResumeDuration;
AlarmClient.AllowColumnResize = timeout;

AutoScroll Property
The AutoScroll property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets automatic scrolling to new alarms.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.AutoScroll;
AlarmClient.AutoScroll = allowAutoscroll;

ClientMode Property
The ClientMode property is a read-write integer property
that gets or sets the client mode for the Alarm Control. Use
one of the following values:
Value

Client Mode

Current Alarms

Recent Alarms and Events

Historical Alarms

Historical Events

Historical Alarms and Events

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ClientMode;
AlarmClient.ClientMode = clientMode;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

104 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Example
AlarmClient1.ClientMode = 2;
LogMessage("Alarm client set to Recent Alarms and
Events");

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Current Alarms or

Recent Alarms and Events on page 28.

ConnectStatus Property
The ConnectStatus property is a read-only string property
that gets the status of the connection to the Alarm Database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ConnectStatus;

Return Value

Returns the status of the connection to the alarm database.

Can be "Connected," "Not connected," or "In progress."
Example
alive = AlarmClient1.ConnectStatus;
if alive == "Connected" then
LogMessage("The Alarm Control is currently connected
to the Alarm Database");
else
LogMessage("The Alarm Control is either currently
connecting to the Alarm Database or not
connected.");
endif;

ContextMenu.AckAll Property
The ContextMenu.AckAll property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Ack All option
on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckAll;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckAll = AckAllVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties105

ContextMenu.AckOthers Property
The ContextMenu.AckOthers property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Ack
Others option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckOthers;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckOthers = AckOthersVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.AckSelected Property
The ContextMenu.AckSelected property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Ack
Selected option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelected;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelected = AckSelectedVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups Property
The ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups property is a
read-write Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance
of the Ack Selected Groups option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups =
AckSelGrpsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

106 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities Property
The ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities property is a
read-write Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance
of the Ack Selected Priorities option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities =
AckSelPriVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags Property
The ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Ack
Selected Tags option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags =
AckSelTagsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.AckVisible Property
The ContextMenu.AckVisible property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Ack
Visible option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckVisible;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.AckVisible = AckVisVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties107

ContextMenu.Favorites Property
The ContextMenu.Favorites property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Query Filters
option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Favorites;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Favorites = FavsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.Freeze Property
The ContextMenu.Freeze property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Freeze option
on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Freeze;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Freeze = FreezeVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.Hidden Property
The ContextMenu.Hidden property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hidden
option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Hidden;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Hidden = HiddenVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

108 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

ContextMenu.HideAll Property
The ContextMenu.HideAll property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hide All
option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideAll;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideAll = HideAllVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.HideOthers Property
The ContextMenu.HideOthers property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hide
Others option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideOthers;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideOthers = HideOthersVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.HideSelected Property
The ContextMenu.HideSelected property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hide
Selected option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelected;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelected = HideSelVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties109

ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups Property
The ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups property is a
read-write Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance
of the Hide Selected Groups option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups =
HideSelGrpsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities Property
The ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities property is a
read-write Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance
of the Hide Selected Priorities option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result =
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities =
HideSelPrisVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags Property
The ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hide
Selected Tags option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags =
HideSelTagsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

110 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

ContextMenu.HideVisible Property
The ContextMenu.HideVisible property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the Hide
Visible option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideVisible;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.HideVisible = HideVisVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.Requery Property
The ContextMenu.Requery property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Requery
option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Requery;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Requery = RequeryVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.Reset Property
The ContextMenu.Reset property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Reset option
on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Reset;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Reset = ResetVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties111

ContextMenu.Sort Property
The ContextMenu.Sort property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Sort option
on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Sort;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Sort = SortVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ContextMenu.Statistics Property
The ContextMenu.Statistics property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the appearance of the Statistics
option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Statistics;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.Statistics = StatsVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

112 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

ContextMenu.UnhideAll Property
The ContextMenu.UnhideAll property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the appearance of the
Unhide All option on the shortcut menu.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ContextMenu.UnhideAll;
AlarmClient.ContextMenu.UnhideAll = UnhideAllVis;

Remarks

For more information, see Configuring the Run-Time

Shortcut Menu on page 63.

Database.Authentication Property
The Database.Authentication property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the authentication mode to connect
to the Alarm Database. Possible values are:

Windows Integrated

Windows Account

SQL Server

The default value is "Windows Integrated".

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Database.Authentication;
AlarmClient.Database.Authentication = AuthMode;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

Database.Name Property
The Database.Name property is a read-write string property
that gets or sets the name of the Alarm Database. The
default value is "WWALMDB".
If you change the Database.Name property at run time, you
need to call the Connect method to connect to the new alarm
database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Database.Name;
AlarmClient.Database.Name = AlmDBName;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties113

Database.Password Property
The Database.Password property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the password associated with the
user name to connect to the Alarm Database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Database.Password;
AlarmClient.Database.Password = Psswrd;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

Database.ServerName Property
The Database.ServerName property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the name of the server that hosts
the Alarm Database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Database.ServerName;
AlarmClient.Database.ServerName = SrvName;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

Database.UserID Property
The Database.UserID property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the name of user authorized to
access the Alarm Database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Database.UserID;
AlarmClient.Database.UserID = UserName;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

114 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Domain Property
The Domain property is a read-write string property that
gets or sets the domain name of the user to connect to the
Alarm Database.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Domain;
AlarmClient.Domain = DomName;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

Enabled Property
The Enabled property is a read-write Boolean property that
gets or sets the enablement of Alarm Control. When the
Alarm Control is disabled, alarm records are still updated,
but the operator cannot interact with the control.
The operator can still use scripting to interact with the
control.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Enabled;
AlarmClient.Enabled = EnableFlag;

EventColor.BackGround Property
The EventColor.BackGround property is a read-write color
property that gets or sets the background color of event
records.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.EventColor.BackGround;
AlarmClient.EventColor.BackGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.EventColor.BackGround = Color.Blue;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties115

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

EventColor.ForeGround Property
The EventColor.ForeGround property is a read-write color
property that gets or sets the text color of event records.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.EventColor.ForeGround;
AlarmClient.EventColor.ForeGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.EventColor.ForeGround = Color.Blue;

Remarks

Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various

Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

Favorite Property
The Favorite property is a read-write string property that
gets or sets the name of the current query filter favorite.
Syntax
QueryFilterName = AlarmClient.Favorite;
AlarmClient.Favorite = QueryFilterName;

Parameters

QueryFilterName
The name of a query filter favorite.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

116 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Example

The following example sets the current Alarm Control grid to

the Query Filter Favorite with the name "All Hi Priority
Alarms".
AlarmClient1.Favorite = "All Hi Priority Alarms";

Remarks

You can also use this property to reset the currently used
query filter to its default with the following script:
AlarmClient.Favorite = "Default";

FlashUnAckAlarms Property
The FlashUnAckAlarms property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the flashing of unacknowledged
alarm records.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.FlashUnAckAlarms;
AlarmClient.FlashUnAckAlarms = FlashUnAckRecs;

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Unacknowledged Alarms

to Flash on page 38.

GridColor Property
The GridColor property is a read-write color property that
gets or sets the color of the grid lines.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.GridColor;
AlarmClient.GridColor = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of the grid lines.
Example
AlarmClient1.GridColor = Color.Black;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties117

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Heading, Grid, and

Window Color on page 35.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

HeadingColor.BackGround Property
The HeadingColor.BackGround property is a read-write color
property that gets or sets the background color of the
heading.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.HeadingColor.BackGround;
AlarmClient.HeadingColor.BackGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.HeadingColor.BackGround = Color.Blue;

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Heading, Grid, and

Window Color on page 35.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

118 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

HeadingColor.ForeGround Property
The HeadingColor.ForeGround property is a read-write color
property that gets or sets the text color of the heading.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.HeadingColor.ForeGround;
AlarmClient.HeadingColor.ForeGround = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of text.
Example
AlarmClient1.HeadingColor.ForeGround = Color.Blue;

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Heading, Grid, and

Window Color on page 35.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

Height Property
The Height property is a read-write integer property that
gets or sets the height of the Alarm Control in pixels.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Height;
AlarmClient.Height = Hght;

HiddenAlarms Property
The HiddenAlarms property is a read-only integer property
that gets the number of hidden alarms.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.HiddenAlarms;

Example
LogMessage("There are " +
Text(AlarmClient1.HiddenAlarms,"#")+" hidden
alarms.");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties119

HideErrors Property
The HideErrors property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets the Hide Errors option.

TRUE - Run-time errors, warnings, and status messages

are written to the ArchestrA Logger. No pop-ups appear.

FALSE - Run-time errors, warnings, and status messages

pop-up and are also written to the ArchestrA Logger.

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.HideErrors;
AlarmClient.HideErrors = SilentMode;

Remarks

For more information, see Hiding Errors, Warnings, and

Status Messages on page 59.

MaxDatabaseRecords Property
The MaxDatabaseRecords property is a read-write integer
property that gets or sets the maximum database records to
retrieve. The valid range is 1 to 32766.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.MaxDatabaseRecords;
AlarmClient.MaxDatabaseRecords = MaxRecs;

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

NewAlarmEventMode Property
The NewAlarmEventMode property is an read-write integer
property that gets or sets the trigger behavior of the New
Alarm event.
Syntax
EMode = AlarmClient.NewAlarmEventMode;
AlarmClient.NewAlarmEventMode = EMode;

Parameters

EMode

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

120 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Event mode with following possible values:

Value

Description

The NewAlarm event cannot be triggered.

(default).

The NewAlarm event is triggered only one

time the first time a new alarm occurs.

The NewAlarm event is triggered every

time a new alarm occurs.

NoRecordsMessage.Enabled Property
The NoRecordsMessage.Enabled property is a read-write
Boolean property that gets or sets the visibility of a custom
message when no alarm records are available.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.NoRecordsMessage.Enabled;
AlarmClient.NoRecordsMessage.Enabled = showMessage;

Example
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Enabled = 1;
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Message = "There are no
alarm records available";

Remarks

Use this property in combination with the

NoRecordsMessage.Message property.

NoRecordsMessage.Message Property
The NoRecordsMessage.Message property is a read-write
string property that gets or sets the custom message text
when no alarm records are available and the
NoRecordsMessage.Enabled property value is TRUE.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.NoRecordsMessage.Message;
AlarmClient.NoRecordsMessage.Message = myCustomMessage;

Example
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Enabled = 1;
AlarmClient1.NoRecordsMessage.Message = "There are no
alarm records available";

Remarks

Use this property in combination with the

NoRecordsMessage.Enabled property.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties121

QueryStartup Property
The QueryStartup property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets or sets the automatic update of the Alarm
Control on startup.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.QueryStartup;
AlarmClient.QueryStartup = AutoQry;

Remarks

For more information, see Automatically Querying for

Alarms on Start Up on page 58.

RetainHidden Property
The RetainHidden property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets the retention of hidden alarms or events
when the alarm query or query filter to retrieve records
changes at run time.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.RetainHidden;
AlarmClient.RetainHidden = RetainHddn;

Remarks

For more information, see Retain Hiding when Changing

Alarm Query Filter on page 60.

RowCount Property
The RowCount property is a read-only integer property that
gets the number of records shown in the Alarm Control grid.
For current alarms (and recent alarms and events), the
RowCount property value is always the same as the
TotalRowCount property value.
For historical alarms, if the Alarm Control retrieves more
alarm records than specified by the MaxDatabaseRecords
property value, it splits these into multiple pages.
The RowCount property shows how many alarm records are
currently shown on the current page. The RowCount
property value is the same as the MaxDatabaseRecords
property value, with exception of the last page.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.RowCount;

Example
NRows = AlarmClient1.RowCount;
LogMessage("There are " + Text(NRows, "#") + " alarm
records on the retrieved page.");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

122 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

RowSelection Property
The RowSelection property is a read-write string property
that determines if row selection is allowed at run time. The
following values are possible:
Value

Description

No

Operator cannot select rows.

Single

Operator can only select one row at a time.

Multiple

Operator can select one or more rows.

The default value is "Multiple".

Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.RowSelection;
AlarmClient.RowSelection = RwSel;

Example
AlarmClient1.RowSelection = "Multiple";

Remarks

For more information, see Restricting User Access to Rows

and Columns on page 59.

SelectedCount Property
The SelectedCount property is a read-only integer property
that gets the total number of selected alarm records.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.SelectedCount;

Return Value

Returns the number of selected alarm records.

Example
NSelRows = AlarmClient1.SelectedCount;
If NSelRows > 5 Then
LogMessage("There are more than 5 rows selected.");
Endif;

ShowContextMenu Property
The ShowContextMenu property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the ability to open the shortcut
menu at run time.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ShowContextMenu;
AlarmClient.ShowContextMenu = ContxtMnuAvail;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties123

ShowGrid Property
The ShowGrid property is a read-write Boolean property that
gets or sets the appearance of grid lines.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ShowGrid;
AlarmClient.ShowGrid = showGrid;

ShowGroupByHeader Property
The ShowGroupByHeader property is a read-write Boolean
property to show or hide the column grouping label at the top
of the run-time Alarm Control in the historical mode. Set the
ShowGroupByHeader property to true to show the label
"Drag a column header here to group by that column".
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ShowGroupByHeader;
AlarmClient.ShowGroupByHeader = ShowGroupByHeader;

ShowHeading Property
The ShowHeading property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets the visibility of the grid heading at run time.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ShowHeading;
AlarmClient.ShowHeading = showHeading;

ShowStatusBar Property
The ShowStatusBar property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the visibility of the status bar at
run time.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.ShowStatusBar;
AlarmClient.ShowStatusBar = showStatusBar;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

124 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

SortColumn.First Property
The SortColumn.First property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the first sort column.
The default value is "Time (LCT)".
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortColumn.First;
AlarmClient.SortColumn.First = sortByFirst;

Example
AlarmClient1.SortColumn.First = "Class";

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortOrder.First to

determine the sorting direction.

SortColumn.Second Property
The SortColumn.Second property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the second sort column.
The default value is blank.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortColumn.Second;
AlarmClient.SortColumn.Second = sortBySecond;

Example
AlarmClient1.SortColumn.Second = "Type";

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortOrder.Second to

determine the sorting direction.

SortColumn.Third Property
The SortColumn.Third property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the third sort column.
The default value is blank.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortColumn.Third;
AlarmClient.SortColumn.Third = sortByThird;

Example
AlarmClient1.SortColumn.Third = "State";

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortOrder.Third to

determine the sorting direction.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties125

SortOrder.First Property
The SortOrder.First property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the sorting direction of the first sort
column. The following values are possible:
Value

Description

FALSE

Ascending sorting direction

TRUE

Descending sorting direction

The default value is FALSE (Ascending).

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortOrder.First;
AlarmClient.SortOrder.First = sortDirFirst;

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortColumn.First to

determine which column is sorted.

SortOrder.Second Property
The SortOrder.Second property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the sorting direction of the second
sort column. The following values are possible:
Value

Description

FALSE

Ascending sorting direction

TRUE

Descending sorting direction

The default value is FALSE (Ascending).

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortOrder.Second;
AlarmClient.SortOrder.Second = sortDirSecond;

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortColumn.Second

to determine which column is sorted.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

126 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

SortOrder.Third Property
The SortOrder.Third property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the sorting direction of the third
sort column. The following values are possible:
Value

Description

FALSE

Ascending sorting direction

TRUE

Descending sorting direction

The default value is FALSE (Ascending).

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.SortOrder.Third;
AlarmClient.SortOrder.Third = sortDirThird;

Remarks

Use this property in connection with the SortColumn.Third

to determine which column is sorted.

Time.Format Property
The Time.Format property is a read-write string property
that gets or sets the date and time formats of the alarm
records in the Alarm Control.
You can either use the .NET time format or the Wonderware
time format. Set the Time.Type property to determine which
time format type to use.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Time.Format;
AlarmClient.Time.Format = TmFormat;

Example

This example shows the time format in French format

(day/month/year) using the .NET datetime type.
AlarmClient1.Time.Type = 1;
AlarmClient1.Time.Format = "dd/MM/yyyy";

Remarks

For more information about the .NET time format, see

Setting the .NET Datetime Format on page 54.
For more information about the Wonderware time format,
see Setting the Wonderware Time Format on page 53.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties127

Time.Type Property
The Time.Type property is a read-write Boolean property
that gets or sets the time format type of the alarm records.
The following values are possible:
Value

Description

FALSE

Wonderware time format

TRUE

.NET time format (default)

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Time.Type;
AlarmClient.Time.Type = TmType;

Example

This example shows the time format in German format

(day.month.year) using the Wonderware datetime type.
AlarmClient1.Time.Type = 0;
AlarmClient1.Time.Format = "%d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S";

Remarks

For more information about the .NET time format, see

Setting the .NET Datetime Format on page 54.
For more information about the Wonderware time format,
see Setting the Wonderware Time Format on page 53.

TimeSelector Property
The TimeSelector property gets the Time Range Picker object
used in the Alarm Control. You can use it in scripting to
shorten the code using its properties and methods.
For the individual properties and methods, see the following
properties, or the methods starting at
TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes() Method on page 151.
Example 1
dim TRP as object;
TRP = AlarmClient1.TimeSelector;
Timeselect = TRP;
StartDate = TRP.StartDate;
EndDate = TRP.EndDate;
duration = TRP.TimeDuration;

Example 2
dim TRP as object;
TRP = AlarmClient1.TimeSelector;
TRP.SetStartAndEndTimes(StartDate, EndDate, Duration);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

128 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

TimeSelector.DurationMS Property
The TimeSelector.DurationMS property is a read-write
integer property that gets the time duration measured in
milliseconds.
The start time of the Alarm control (TimeSelector.StartDate)
is calculated as the end time (TimeSelector.EndDate) minus
the new time duration (TimeSelector.DurationMS).
When you set the value of the TimeSelector.DurationMS
property, the TimeSelector.TimeDuration property is set to
0.
The default value is 3600000.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.TimeSelector.DurationMS;
AlarmClient.TimeSelector.DurationMS = Value;

Example
AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.DurationMS = 1800000;
// The Alarm Control now retrieves alarms from the last
30 minutes.

TimeSelector.EndDate Property
The TimeSelector.EndDate property is a read-only string
property that gets the end date and time of the Alarm
Control.
The default value is the time the Alarm Control is placed on
the canvas. If the Update to Current Time option is enabled,
the TimeSelector.EndDate property is updated with the
current time.
Note To set the end date and time of the Alarm Control, use the
TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes() Method.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.TimeSelector.EndDate;

Example
LogMessage(AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.EndDate);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties129

TimeSelector.StartDate Property
The TimeSelector.StartDate property is a read-only string
property that gets the start date and time of the Alarm
Control.
The default value is the time the Alarm Control is placed on
the canvas. If the Update to Current Time option is enabled,
the TimeSelector.StartDate property is updated as current
time minus duration.
Note To set the start date and time of the Alarm Control,use the
TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes() Method.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.TimeSelector.StartDate;

Example
LogMessage(AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.StartDate);

TimeSelector.TimeDuration Property
The TimeSelector.TimeDuration property is a read-write
integer property that gets or sets the time duration. The start
time of the Alarm control (TimeSelector.StartDate) is
calculated as the end time (TimeSelector.EndDate) minus
the new time duration.
The TimeSelector.TimeDuration can have one of the
following values:
Value

Description

Custom

The last minute.

The last five minutes.

The last ten minutes.

The last 15 minutes.

The last 30 minutes.

The last hour.

The last two hours.

The last four hours.

The last eight hours.

10

The last 12 hours.

11

The last 24 hours.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

130 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Value

Description

12

The last two days.

13

The last week.

14

The last two weeks.

15

The last month.

16

The last three months.

17

One minute.

18

Five minutes.

19

Ten minutes.

20

15 minutes.

21

30 minutes.

22

One hour.

23

Two hours.

24

Four hours.

25

Eight hours.

26

12 hours.

27

24 hours.

28

Two days.

29

One week.

30

Two weeks.

31

One month.

32

Three months.

33

Yesterday: 0:00:00 of the previous day to

0:00:00 of the current day.

34

Current day: 0:00:00 of the current day to the

current time.

35

Previous hour: The start of the previous hour to

the start of the current hour.

36

Current hour: The start of the current hour to

the current time.

The default value is 6 (Last Hour).

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties131

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.TimeSelector.TimeDuration;
AlarmClient.TimeSelector.TimeDuration = Value;

Example
AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.TimeDuration = 5;
// The Alarm Control now retrieves alarms from the last
30 minutes.

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

TimeZone.TimeZone Property
The TimeZone.TimeZone property is a read-write string
property that gets or sets the time zone of the Alarm Control.
The default value depends on the current setting of the
operating system.
If you want to show time stamps using the local time of the
computer, set the TimeZone.TimeZone property to an empty
string.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.TimeZone.TimeZone;
AlarmClient.TimeZone.TimeZone = TimeZone;

Example
AlarmClient1.TimeZone.TimeZone = "(GMT-09:00) Alaska";

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Time Zone and Format on

page 52.

TotalRowCount Property
The TotalRowCount property is a read-only integer property
that gets the total number of alarm records in the Alarm
Control.
For current alarms (and recent alarms and events), the
RowCount property value is always the same as the
TotalRowCount property value.
For historical alarms, if the Alarm Control retrieves more
alarm records than specified by the MaxDatabaseRecords
property value, it splits these into multiple pages.
The RowCount property value shows how many alarm records
are currently shown on the current page, whereas the
TotalRowCount property value shows how many alarm
records are retrieved from the alarm database.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

132 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.TotalRowCount;

Return Value

Returns the end date and time of the Alarm Control in

historical mode.
Example
NTRows = AlarmClient1.TotalRowCount;
If (NTRows > 1000) then
LogMessage("More than 1000 records are currently in
the Alarm Control");
Endif;

UnAckAlarms Property
The UnAckAlarms property is a read-only integer property
that gets the number of unacknowledged alarm records in
the Alarm Control.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.UnackAlarms;

Return Value

Returns the number of unacknowledged alarm records in the

Alarm Control.
Example
NUnack = AlarmClient1.UnAckAlarms;
If NUnack > 10 Then
LogMessage("There are more than 10 unacknowledged
alarms in the grid!");
Endif;

UpdateToCurrentTime Property
The UpdateToCurrentTime property is a read-write Boolean
property that gets or sets the Update to Current Time option.
If you set this property to TRUE, the Alarm Control end time
is set to the current time and the start time is calculated as
the difference of end time and duration. Whenever you
refresh the Alarm Control, the end time is set as current
time.
If you set this property to FALSE, the Alarm Control uses
the end time, duration, and start time as defined by the Time
Range Picker control.
The default value is TRUE.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Properties133

Syntax
result = AlarmClient.UpdateToCurrentTime;
AlarmClient.UpdateToCurrentTime = UpdToCurrTime;

Example
AlarmClient1.UpdateToCurrentTime = 1;
AlarmClient1.Requery();

Remarks

For more information, see Showing Historical Alarms and/or

Events on page 30.

Visible Property
The Visible property is a read-write Boolean property that
gets or sets the visibility of the Alarm Control.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Visible;
AlarmClient.Visible = Boolean;

Width Property
The Width property is a read-write integer property that gets
or sets the width of the Alarm Control in pixels.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Width;
AlarmClient.Width = Wdth;

WindowColor Property
The WindowColor property is a read-write color property
that gets or sets the color of the Alarm Control background.
Syntax
Color = AlarmClient.WindowColor;
AlarmClient.WindowColor = Color;

Parameters

Color
Color of background.
Example
AlarmClient1.WindowColor = Color.FromARGB(240,200,198);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

134 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Remarks

For more information, see Setting Heading, Grid, and

Window Color on page 35.
Color is a .NET Framework data type. You can use various
Color methods to set the color, such as a predefined color
name, FromARGB(), FromKnownColor(), and FromName().
For a list of the .NET color names and the hexadecimal codes,
see .NET Colors on page 156.
For more information on the color methods, see the online
Microsoft documentation for .NET Framework Development.

X Property
The X property is a read-write integer property that gets or
sets the horizontal position of the Alarm Control in relation
to the left edge of the InTouch window in which it appears.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.X;
AlarmClient.X = LeftPos;

Y Property
The Y property is a read-write integer property that gets or
sets the vertical position of the Alarm Control in relation to
the top edge of the InTouch window in which it appears.
Syntax
result = AlarmClient.Y;
AlarmClient.Y = TopPos;

Alarm Control Methods

This section describes the methods available for scripting in
the Alarm Control.

AboutBox() Method
The AboutBox method shows the About dialog box of the
Alarm Control.
Syntax
AlarmClient.AboutBox();

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods135

Ack.All() Method
The Ack.All method acknowledges all alarms in the Alarm
Control, including those not shown.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.All(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.All("Alarm is acknowledged");

Ack.Group() Method
The Ack.Group method acknowledges all alarms for a given
alarm source and group.
The alarm source and group names are case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.Group(AlarmSource, Group, AckComment);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.Group("\\machine1\galaxy", "Area_001",
"All alarms in Area_001 acknowledged");

Ack.Priority() Method
The Ack.Priority method acknowledges all alarms for a given
alarm source, group, and priority range.
The alarm source and group names are case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.Priority(AlarmSource, Group,
FromPriority, ToPriority, AckComment);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

136 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.
AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
GrpName = "ValveGroup";
AlarmClient1.Ack.Priority("\intouch", GrpName, 250,
500, "All local InTouch alarms in the ValveGroup
alarm group with priorities from 250 to 500 are now
acknowledged.");

Ack.Selected() Method
The Ack.Selected method acknowledges all selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.Selected(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.Selected("This selected alarm is
acknowledged");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods137

Ack.SelectedGroup() Method
The Ack.SelectedGroup method acknowledges all alarms
that have the same alarm sources and groups as one or more
selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.SelectedGroup(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.SelectedGroup("Alarm acknowledged");

Ack.SelectedPriority () Method
The Ack.SelectedPriority method acknowledges all alarms
that have the same alarm sources, groups, and within the
priority ranges as one or more selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.SelectedPriority(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.SelectedPriority("Alarm
acknowledged");

Ack.SelectedTag() Method
The Ack.SelectedTag method acknowledges all alarms that
have the same alarm sources, groups, tags, and within the
priority ranges as one or more selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.SelectedTag(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.SelectedTag("Alarm acknowledged");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

138 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Ack.Tag() Method
The Ack.Tag method acknowledges all alarms for a given
alarm source, group, tag name, and priority range.
The alarm source, group names, and tag names are
case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.Tag(AlarmSource, Group, Tag,
FromPriority, ToPriority, AckComment);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
Tag
The name of the alarm tag. For example, ValveTag1.
FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.
AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AckComment = "All ArchestrA alarm records of the
attribute Valve17 in the group (area) Vessel_25B of
the galaxy on machine25 with priorities from 1 to 99
are now acknowledged.";
AlarmClient1.Ack.Tag("\\machine25\galaxy",
"Vessel_25B", "Valve17", 1, 99, AckComment);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods139

Ack.Visible() Method
The Ack.Visible method acknowledges all alarms currently
visible in the Alarm Control.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Ack.Visible(AckComment);

Parameters

AckComment
A string indicating the alarm acknowledgement comment.
Example
AlarmClient1.Ack.Visible("Alarm acknowledged");

Connect() Method
The Connect method connects the Alarm Control to the
Alarm Database.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Connect();

Disconnect() Method
The Disconnect method disconnects the Alarm Control from
the Alarm Database.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Disconnect();

Favorites.Export() Method
The Favorites.Emport method exports the list of query filter
favorites list to an XML file.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Favorites.Export(FilePath, FileName);

Parameters

FilePath
Name of the path to export the query filter favorites file.
FileName
Name of the query filter favorites file to export.
Example
AlarmClient1.Favorites.Export("c:\",
"MyFavorites.xml");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

140 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Favorites.Import() Method
The Favorites.Import method imports the list of query filter
favorites list from an XML file. You can either overwrite the
exisiting query filter favorites with the new favorites, or
append them.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Favorites.Import(FilePath, FileName,
OverwriteAppend);

Parameters

FilePath
Name of the path to the query filter favorites file to import.
FileName
Name of the query filter favorites file to import.
OverwriteAppend
String determining if the import of the query filter favorites
overwrites existing favorites, or appends to existing
favorites. Set to one of the following:

Overwrite to overwrite existing query filter favorites.

Append to append to existing query filter favorites.If

a query filter with the same name already exists, it is
not overwritten by the query filter in the file.

Example
AlarmClient1.Favorites.Import("c:\MyFavs\", "Favs.xml",
"Overwrite");

FreezeDisplay() Method
The FreezeDisplay method freezes or unfreezes the Alarm
Control. The following values are possible:
Value

Description

TRUE

Freezes the Alarm Control.

FALSE

Unfreezes the Alarm Control.

Syntax
AlarmClient.FreezeDisplay(FreezeFlag);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods141

Parameters

FreezeFlag
Boolean value or expression (TRUE = freeze control,
FALSE = unfreeze control)
Example
AlarmClient1.FreezeDisplay($hour > 17 OR $hour<9 );
LogMessage("The Alarm Control is frozen between 6 PM
and 8 AM.");

GetItem() Method
The GetItem method returns the data at the given row and
column. The row is given as a zero-based index. You need to
specify 0 to retrieve data from the 1st row. The column name
can either be the original column name, or the displayed
column name.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.GetItem(RowNumber, ColumnName);

Parameters

RowNumber
An integer row number for the alarm record containing the
value you want to fetch.
ColumnName
Name of the column.
Return Value

Returns the data at the given row and column as a string

value.
Example
Data1 = AlarmClient1.GetItem(5, "Current Value");
LogMessage("The current value of the 6th alarm record
is " + Data1);

Remarks

To get alarm record data from the currently selected row in a

given column name, use the GetSelectedItem method.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

142 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

GetLastError() Method
The GetLastError method returns the last error message.
This is useful if the Hide Errors option is selected.
Syntax
ErrMsg = AlarmClient.GetLastError();

Return Value

Returns the last error message.

Example
ErrMsg = AlarmClient1.GetLastError();
ComboBox1.AddItem(ErrMsg);

GetSelectedItem() Method
The GetSelectedItem method returns the data at the
currently selected row and specified column. The column
name can either be the original column name, or the
displayed column name.
Syntax
Result = AlarmClient.GetSelectedItem(ColumnName);

Parameters

ColumnName
Name of the column.
Return Value

Returns the data in the currently selected row and specified

column as a string value.
Example
Data2 = AlarmClient1.GetSelectedItem ("State");
LogMessage("The current state of the selected alarm
record is " + Data2);

Remarks

To get alarm record data from a given column name and row
index, use the GetItem method.

Hide.All() Method
The Hide.All method hides all current alarms in the Alarm
Control, including future alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.All();

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods143

Hide.Group() Method
The Hide.Group method hides all alarms for a given alarm
source and group.
The alarm source and group names are case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.Group(AlarmSource, Group);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
Example
AlarmClient1.Hide.Group("\\machine1\galaxy",
"Area_001");
LogMessage("All alarms in Area_001 hidden.");

Hide.Priority() Method
The Hide.Priority method hides all alarms for a given alarm
source, group, and priority range.
The alarm source and group names are case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.Priority(AlarmSource, Group,
FromPriority, ToPriority);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

144 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Example
GrpName = "ValveGroup";
AlarmClient1.Hide.Priority("\intouch", GrpName, 250,
500);
LogMessage("All local InTouch alarms in the ValveGroup
alarm group with priorities from 250 to 500 are now
hidden.");

Hide.Selected() Method
The Hide.Selected method hides all selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.Selected();

Hide.SelectedGroup() Method
The Hide.SelectedGroup method hides all alarms that have
the same alarm sources and groups as one or more selected
alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.SelectedGroup();

Hide.SelectedPriority() Method
The Hide.SelectedPriority method hides all alarms that have
the same alarm sources, groups, and within the priority
ranges as one or more selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.SelectedPriority();

Hide.SelectedTag() Method
The Hide.SelectedTag method hides all alarms that have the
same alarm sources, groups, tag names, and within the
priority ranges as one or more selected alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.SelectedTag();

Remarks

None

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods145

Hide.Tag() Method
The Hide.Tag method hides all alarms for a given alarm
source, group, tag name, and priority range.
The alarm source, group name, and tag names are
case-insensitive.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.Tag(AlarmSource, Group, Tag,
FromPriority, ToPriority);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
Tag
The name of the alarm tag. For example, ValveTag1.
FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.
Example
AlarmClient1.Hide.Tag("\\machine25\galaxy",
"Vessel_25B", "Valve17", 1, 99);
LogMessage("All ArchestrA alarm records of the
attribute Valve17 in the group (area) Vessel_25B of
the galaxy on machine25 with priorities from 1 to 99
are now hidden.");

Hide.Visible() Method
The Hide.Visible method hides all alarms currently visible in
the Alarm Control.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Hide.Visible();

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

146 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

MoveWindow() Method
The MoveWindow method scrolls the alarm records in the
control in a given direction.
Syntax
AlarmClient.MoveWindow(ScrollDir, Repeat);

Parameters

ScrollDir
String indicating the direction to scroll. This parameter is
case-insensitive. See the following table.
ScrollDir

Description

LineDn

Line down. The Repeat parameter controls

the number of lines to be scrolled.

LineUp

Line up. The Repeat parameter controls the

number of lines to be scrolled.

PageDn

Page down. The Repeat parameter controls

the number of pages to be scrolled.

PageUp

Page up. The Repeat parameter controls the

number of pages to be scrolled.

Top

To the top of the control

Bottom

To the bottom of the control.

PageRt

Page to the right. The Repeat parameter

controls the number of pages to be scrolled.

PageLf

Page to the left. The Repeat parameter

controls the number of pages to be scrolled.

Right

Scrolls right. The Repeat parameter controls

the number of columns to be scrolled.

Left

Scrolls left. The Repeat parameter controls

the number of columns to be scrolled.

Home

Scrolls to the top row and left most column of

the control.

Repeat
Number of times to repeat the scroll action.
Example
AlarmClient1.MoveWindow ("Bottom", 0);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods147

Requery() Method
The Requery method refreshes the alarm records in the
Alarm Control.
For current alarms and recent alarms and events, the control
requeries the Alarm Manager. For historical alarms or
events, the control retrieves alarm records from the Alarm
Database.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Requery();

Reset() Method
The Reset method resets column widths and the column
order to their last known design-time settings. The Reset
method also resets the current query filter to the default
query.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Reset();

Select.All() Method
The Select.All method selects all alarms in the Alarm
Control.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Select.All();

Select.Group() Method
The Select.Group method selects all alarms for a given
provider and group.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Select.Group(AlarmSource, Group);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

148 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
Example
AlarmClient1.Select.Group("\\machine1\galaxy",
"Area_001");
LogMessage("All galaxy alarms of group Area_001 from
machine1 are now selected.");

Select.Item() Method
The Select.Item method selects an alarm record at a given
zero-based row number.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Select.Item(RowNumber);

Parameters

RowNumber
An integer row number for the alarm record to select. The
first row in the control is 0.
Example
AlarmClient1.Select.Item(5);
LogMessage("The alarm record in the 6th row (index 5)
is now selected.");

Select.Priority() Method
The Select.Priority method selects all alarms for a given
alarm source, group, and priority range.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Select.Priority(AlarmSource, Group,
FromPriority, ToPriority);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods149

FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.
Example
GrpName = "ValveGroup";
AlarmClient1.Select.Priority("\intouch", GrpName, 250,
500);
LogMessage("All local InTouch alarms in the ValveGroup
alarm group with priorities from 250 to 500 are now
selected.");

Select.Tag() Method
The Select.Tag method selects all alarms for a given alarm
source, group, tag name, and priority range.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Select.Tag(AlarmSource, Group, Tag,
FromPriority, ToPriority);

Parameters

AlarmSource
The name of the provider and optionally node providing
alarms including backslash. For example:
\\node1\galaxy
\intouch

Group
The name of the alarm group. For example, $system.
Tag
The name of the alarm tag. For example, ValveTag1.
FromPriority
Starting priority of alarms. For example, 100.
ToPriority
End priority of alarms. For example, 900.
Example
AlarmClient1.Select.Tag("\\machine25\galaxy",
"Vessel_25B", "Valve17", 1, 99);
LogMessage("All ArchestrA alarm records of the
attribute Valve17 in the group (area) Vessel_25B of
the galaxy on machine25 with priorities from 1 to 99
are now selected.");

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

150 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

SetSort() Method
The SetSort method sets the level of sorting according to the
defined sort columns and sort orders.
Syntax
AlarmClient.SetSort(Level);

Parameters

Level
The level of sorting:
Value

Description

Only use the primary sort column.

Use primary and secondary sort columns.

Use primary, secondary, and tertiary sort

columns.

Example
AlarmClient1.SetSort(2);

Remarks
Use the Show.Sort method to open the Sort dialog box instead.

Show.Context() Method
The Show.Context method opens the shortcut menu at run
time. This method ignores the ShowContextMenu property
setting and always shows the context menu.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Show.Context();

Show.Favorite() Method
The Show.Favorite method opens the Query Filters dialog
box.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Show.Favorite();

Show.Hidden() Method
The Show.Hidden method opens the Hidden Alarms dialog
box.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Show.Hidden();

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods151

Show.Sort() Method
The Show.Sort method opens the Sort dialog box.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Show.Sort();

Show.Statistics() Method
The Show.Statistics method opens the Alarm Statistics dialog
box.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Show.Statistics();

TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes() Method
The TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes method gets the
start and end times for the query.
Syntax
AlarmClient.GetStartAndEndTimes(StartTime, EndTime);

Parameters

StartTime
String attribute, custom property, or element property to
retrieve the start time.
EndTime
String attribute, custom property, or element property to
retrieve the end time.
Example
dim SDate as string;
dim EDate as string;
AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes(SDate,
EDate);
StartDate = SDate;
EndDate = EDate;

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

152 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

TimeSelector.RefreshTimes() Method
The TimeSelector.RefreshTimes method sets the time period
for the query by updating the end time to current time and
recalculates the start time based on the new end time and
duration.
If you set the Boolean parameter to TRUE, the OnChange
event is triggered if the time is updated.
Only use this method, if the Update to Current Time option is
cleared or the UpdateToCurrentTime property is FALSE.
Note This method does not work if the UpdatetoCurrentTime
property value is TRUE.
Syntax
AlarmClient.TimeSelector.RefreshTimes(TriggerEvent);

Example
dtag = 1;
AlarmClient.TimeSelector.RefreshTimes(dtag);

TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes() Method
The TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes method sets the
start and end times for the query.
You must specify one of the following parameter
combinations:

Start time and end time. Set the Duration parameter to

0.

Start time and duration. Set the EndTime parameter to

.

End time and duration. Set the StartTime parameter to

.

Start time, duration, and end time. The Alarm Control

shows an error message if start time plus duration is not
equal to end time.

Syntax
AlarmClient.SetStartAndEndTimes(StartTime, EndTime,
Duration);

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Alarm Control Methods153

Parameters

StartTime
String value or expression indicating the start time.
EndTime
String value or expression indicating the end time.
Duration
Duration enum. For more information on possible values,
see TimeSelector.TimeDuration Property on page 129.
Example
AlarmClient1.TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes("08/31/2
008 15:33:43","09/01/2009 15:33:43",0);

Toggle.All() Method
The Toggle.All method reverses the selection of all alarm
records. Selected alarms are cleared, and unselected alarms
are selected.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Toggle.All();

Toggle.Item() Method
The Toggle.Item method reverses the selection of a given
alarm record. If the given alarm record is selected, the
selection is cleared; otherwise, it is selected.
Syntax
AlarmClient.Toggle.Item(RowNumber);

Parameters

RowNumber
An integer row number for the alarm record to reverse the
selection. The first row in the control is 0.
Example
AlarmClient1.Toggle.Item(5);
LogMessage("The selection of the alarm record in the
6th row (index 5) is now reversed.");

UnhideAll() Method
The UnhideAll method unhides all hidden alarms.
Syntax
AlarmClient.UnhideAll();

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

154 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

UnSelectAll() Method
The UnSelectAll method unselects all alarm records.
Syntax
AlarmClient.UnSelectAll();

Configuring Events
You can execute an action script when the Alarm Control
triggers an event. Examples of basic events are:

Click: The user clicks the Alarm Control.

DoubleClick: The user double-clicks the Alarm Control.

Startup: The Alarm Control opens at run time.

Shutdown: The Alarm Control closes at run time.

The Click, DoubleClick, Startup, and Shutdown events are

standard for all .NET client controls. For more information,
see the Creating and Managing ArchestrA Graphics Users
Guide.
The Alarm Control has one event of its own that is triggered
when a new alarm occurs, the NewAlarm event.

Configuring the NewAlarm Event

You can configure the NewAlarm event to execute an
ArchestrA symbol script whenever a new alarm occurs.
You can control the trigger behavior with the
NewAlarmEventMode property. For more information, see
NewAlarmEventMode Property on page 119.
To configure the NewAlarm event

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Double-click the Alarm Control. The Edit Animations

dialog box appears.

Click Event. The Event page appears.

Configuring Events155

In the Event list, click NewAlarm.

In the script area, type the script you want to execute

when a new alarm occurs, for example:
AlertIcon.Visible = true;

You must also set the NewAlarmEventMode property to

1 or 2 to enable the NewAlarm event trigger. Do the
following:
a

On the Special menu, click Scripts. The Edit Scripts

dialog box appears.

Make sure Trigger type is set to On Show.

In the script area, type the following:

AlarmClient1.NewAlarmEventMode = 1;

If you want the script to be executed every time a new

alarm occurs, set the NewAlarmEventMode property
to 2 instead.

Click OK.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

156 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

.NET Colors
The following table is an overview of the color .NET color
names with hexadecimal code.
Color with Hex Code

Color with Hex Code

Color with Hex Code

AliceBlue #F0F8FF

AntiqueWhite #FAEBD7

Aqua #00FFFF

Aquamarine #7FFFD4

Azure #F0FFFF

Beige #F5F5DC

Bisque #FFE4C4

Black #000000

BlanchedAlmond
#FFEBCD

Blue #0000FF

BlueViolet #8A2BE2

Brown #A52A2A

BurlyWood #DEB887

CadetBlue #5F9EA0

Chartreuse #7FFF00

Chocolate #D2691E

Coral #FF7F50

CornflowerBlue #6495ED

Cornsilk #FFF8DC

Crimson #DC143C

Cyan #00FFFF

DarkBlue #00008B

DarkCyan #008B8B

DarkGoldenrod #B8860B

DarkGray #A9A9A9

DarkGreen #006400

DarkKhaki #BDB76B

DarkMagenta #8B008B

DarkOliveGreen #556B2F

DarkOrange #FF8C00

DarkOrchid #9932CC

DarkRed #8B0000

DarkSalmon #E9967A

DarkSeaGreen #8FBC8B

DarkSlateBlue #483D8B

DarkSlateGray #2F4F4F

DarkTurquoise #00CED1

DarkViolet #9400D3

DeepPink #FF1493

DeepSkyBlue #00BFFF

DimGray #696969

DodgerBlue #1E90FF

Firebrick #B22222

FloralWhite #FFFAF0

ForestGreen #228B22

Fuchsia #FF00FF

Gainsboro #DCDCDC

GhostWhite #F8F8FF

Gold #FFD700

Goldenrod #DAA520

Gray #808080

Green #008000

GreenYellow #ADFF2F

Honeydew #F0FFF0

HotPink #FF69B4

IndianRed #CD5C5C

Indigo #4B0082

Ivory #FFFFF0

Khaki #F0E68C

Lavender #E6E6FA

LavenderBlush #FFF0F5

LawnGreen #7CFC00

LemonChiffon #FFFACD

LightBlue #ADD8E6

LightCoral #F08080

LightCyan #E0FFFF

LightGoldenrodYellow
#FAFAD2

LightGray #D3D3D3

LightGreen #90EE90

LightPink #FFB6C1

LightSalmon #FFA07A

LightSeaGreen #20B2AA

LightSkyBlue #87CEFA

LightSlateGray #778899

LightSteelBlue #B0C4DE

LightYellow #FFFFE0

Lime #00FF00

LimeGreen #32CD32

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

.NET Colors157

Color with Hex Code

Color with Hex Code

Color with Hex Code

Linen #FAF0E6

Magenta #FF00FF

Maroon #800000

MediumAquamarine
#66CDAA

MediumBlue #0000CD

MediumOrchid #BA55D3

MediumPurple #9370DB

MediumSeaGreen
#3CB371

MediumSlateBlue
#7B68EE

MediumSpringGreen
#00FA9A

MediumTurquoise
#48D1CC

MediumVioletRed
#C71585

MidnightBlue #191970

MintCream #F5FFFA

MistyRose #FFE4E1

Moccasin #FFE4B5

NavajoWhite #FFDEAD

Navy #000080

OldLace #FDF5E6

Olive #808000

OliveDrab #6B8E23

Orange #FFA500

OrangeRed #FF4500

Orchid #DA70D6

PaleGoldenrod #EEE8AA

PaleGreen #98FB98

PaleTurquoise #AFEEEE

PaleVioletRed #DB7093

PapayaWhip #FFEFD5

PeachPuff #FFDAB9

Peru #CD853F

Pink #FFC0CB

Plum #DDA0DD

PowderBlue #B0E0E6

Purple #800080

Red #FF0000

RosyBrown #BC8F8F

RoyalBlue #4169E1

SaddleBrown #8B4513

Salmon #FA8072

SandyBrown #F4A460

SeaGreen #2E8B57

SeaShell #FFF5EE

Sienna #A0522D

Silver #C0C0C0

SkyBlue #87CEEB

SlateBlue #6A5ACD

SlateGray #708090

Snow #FFFAFA

SpringGreen #00FF7F

SteelBlue #4682B4

Tan #D2B48C

Teal #008080

Thistle #D8BFD8

Tomato #FF6347

Transparent #FFFFFF

Turquoise #40E0D0

Violet #EE82EE

Wheat #F5DEB3

White #FFFFFF

WhiteSmoke #F5F5F5

Yellow #FFFF00

YellowGreen #9ACD32

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

158 Chapter 4 Scripting the Alarm Control

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

159

Chapter 5
Transferring Alarm Configuration
from InTouch

You can transfer the configuration of the InTouch Alarm

Viewer control and the InTouch Alarm DB View control to
the configuration of the ArchestrA Alarm Control.
You can also map the InTouch alarm control properties and
methods to the properties and methods of the ArchestrA
Alarm Control.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer

Control Configuration
You can transfer the configuration of the InTouch Alarm
Viewer control tabs options to the ArchestrA Alarm Control.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

160 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring Configuration of the Control Name

Tab
You can transfer the configuration of the Control Name tab
options of the InTouch Alarm Viewer control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

ControlName

You can rename the ArchestrA Alarm

Control the same way as any other
elements on the canvas. For more
information, see the Creating and
Managing ArchestrA Graphics Users
Guide.

Left, Top, Width,

and Height

You can directly edit the positioning

options in the same way as any other
element on the canvas. Edit the
following properties in the Properties
Editor: X, Y, Width, and Height.

Visible

You can directly edit the visibility

option in the same way as any other
element on the canvas. In the
Properties Editor, edit the Visible
property.

GUID

This option has no meaning in the

ArchestrA Alarm Control.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer Control Configuration161

Transferring Configuration of the General Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the General tab options
of the InTouch Alarm Viewer control to the ArchestrA Alarm
Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Perform Query
on Startup

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Query on Startup. You
can configure this option on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Show Context
Sensitive Menu

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Show Context Menu.
You can configure this option on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Configure
Context Menus

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the availability of
individual shortcut menu options at
run-time directly on the Run-Time
Behavior page.

Use Default Ack

Comment

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Use Default Ack
Comment option on the Alarm Mode
page, when either Current Alarms or
Recent Alarms and Events is selected
as client type.

Retain
Suppression

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Retain Hidden. You can
configure it on the Run-Time Behavior
page.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

162 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Show Status Bar

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Status Bar
option on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Show Heading

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Heading option
on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Resize Column

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Allow Column Resizing.
You can configure it on the Run-Time
Behavior page.

Row Selection

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Row Selection. You can
configure it on the Run-Time Behavior
page.

Use Extended
Selection

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Row Selection. You can
configure it on the Run-Time Behavior
page.

Show Grid

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Grid option on
the Run-Time Behavior page.

Silent Mode

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Hide Errors and
Warnings. You can configure it on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Flash Unack
Alarms

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Flash Unack Alarms
option on the Colors page.

Show Message

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Show Custom No
Records Message. You can configure it
on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Font

You can configure this option from the

ArchestrA Symbol Editor page. Select
the ArchestrA Alarm Control on the
canvas and select an appropriate font
type, size, and style on the menu bars.

Column Details

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the column details
directly on the Column Details page.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer Control Configuration163

Transferring Configuration of the Color Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Color tab options of
the InTouch Alarm Viewer control to the ArchestrA Alarm
Control.

All the options of the Color tab in the InTouch Alarm Viewer
control can be set on the Colors page of the ArchestrA Alarm
Control.
The following table shows you some minor differences in
wording:
InTouch Alarm Viewer
control

ArchestrA Alarm Control

Title Bar Text

Heading Text

Title Bar Back

Heading Background

Alarm Return

Alarm RTN

You can also set the background color in addition to the text
color for most of the alarm records.
You can set the alarm priority range breakpoints directly in
the table in the From Pri column.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

164 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring Configuration of the Time Format

Tab
You can transfer the configuration of the Time Format tab
options of the InTouch Alarm Viewer control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Time Format

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Time Format option
on the Time Settings page.

Displayed Time

This option has no meaning in the

ArchestrA Alarm Control. All alarm
records are shown with the following
time stamps in the Alarm Control grid:

Displayed Time
Zone

Time (OAT): Original Alarm Time

Time (LCT): Last Changed Time

Time (LCT, OAT): Last Changed

Time, but Original Alarm Time if
the alarm record is
unacknowledged.

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Time Zone. You can
configure it on the Time Settings page.
You need to explicitly configure the
time zone for the correct time stamp.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer Control Configuration165

Transferring Configuration of the Query Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Query tab options of
the InTouch Alarm Viewer control to the ArchestrA Alarm
Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

From Priority,
To Priority

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can only set the priority limits as part
of a query filter on the Query Filters
page. For more information, see
Filtering Alarms on page 45.

Alarm State

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can only set the alarm state limitation
as part of a query filter on the Query
Filters page. For more information, see
Filtering Alarms on page 37.

Query Type

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can set the Client Mode option on the
Alarm Mode page as follows:

Alarm Query

For query type "Summary", set the

client mode to Current Alarms.

For query type "Historical", set the

client mode to Recent Alarms and
Events.

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Alarm Query option
on the Alarm Mode page.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

166 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Query Favorites
File, Edit Query
Favorites

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, all

query favorites and filter favorites are
managed on one page and are
interchangeable between different
client modes. To access the Query
Filter Favorites, open the Query Filters
page.

Sort Column

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the sorting of alarm
records on the Column Details page.

Auto Scroll to
New Alarms

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Auto Scroll to New
Alarms on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Secondary Sort
Column, Sort
Direction

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the sorting of alarm
records on the Column Details page.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm Viewer Control Configuration167

Transferring Configuration of the Properties Tab

You can set the properties of the ArchestrA Alarm Control in
the Properties Editor when the Alarm Control is selected on
the canvas.

For more information on the exact mapping between the

InTouch Alarm Viewer control properties and ArchestrA
Alarm Control properties, see Mapping Properties and
Methods on page 178.
The advanced property filtering feature does not exist in the
ArchestrA Alarm Control. However, when you browse for
properties of the ArchestrA Alarm Control from other
elements with the Galaxy Browser, you can filter the
properties. Also, the properties of the ArchestrA Alarm
Control are logically grouped in the Properties Editor.

Transferring Script Configuration on the Events

Tab
You can configure scripts for events of the ArchestrA Alarm
Control on the Event animation page. The events are the
same as the events for the InTouch Alarm Viewer control:

Click

Shutdown

DoubleClick

StartUp

New Alarm

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

168 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View

Control Configuration
You can transfer the configuration of the InTouch Alarm DB
View control tabs options to the ArchestrA Alarm Control.

Transferring Configuration of the Control Name

Tab
You can transfer the configuration of the Control Name tab
options of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

ControlName

You can rename the ArchestrA Alarm

Control the same way as any other
elements on the canvas. For more
information, see the Creating and
Managing ArchestrA Graphics Users
Guide.

Left, Top, Width,

and Height

You can directly edit the positioning

options in the same way as any other
element on the canvas. Edit the
following properties in the Properties
Editor: X, Y, Width, and Height.

Visible

You can directly edit the visibility

option in the same way as any other
element on the canvas. In the
Properties Editor, edit the Visible
property.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control Configuration169

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

GUID

This option has no meaning in the

ArchestrA Alarm Control.

Transferring Configuration of the General Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the General tab options
of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the ArchestrA
Alarm Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Enable Refresh
Menu

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the availability of the
Requery shortcut menu option on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Enable Sort
Menu

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the availability of the
Sort shortcut menu option on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Enabled Reset
Menu

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the availability of the
Reset shortcut menu option on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Enabled Filter
Menu

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the availability of the
Query Filters shortcut menu option on
the Run-Time Behavior page.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

170 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Display Mode

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, set

the Client Mode on the Alarm Mode page
to the same setting as the Display Mode
setting in the InTouch Alarm DB View
control.

Column Details

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the column details
directly on the Column Details page.

Show Grid

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Grid option on
the Run-Time Behavior page.

Show Heading

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Heading option
on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Row Selection

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Row Selection. You can
configure it on the Run-Time Behavior
page.

Resize Column

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Allow Column Resizing.
You can configure it on the Run-Time
Behavior page.

Show Status Bar

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Show Status Bar
option on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Retrieve Buttons

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, the

retrieve buttons are not available. The
underlying grid technology handles the
alarm retrieval from the alarm
database.

Silent Mode

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Hide Errors and
Warnings. You can configure it on the
Run-Time Behavior page.

Font

You can configure this option from the

ArchestrA Symbol Editor page. Select
the ArchestrA Alarm Control on the
canvas and select an appropriate font
type, size, and style on the menu bars.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control Configuration171

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Show Message

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, this

option is called Show Custom No
Records Message. You can configure it
on the Run-Time Behavior page.

Transferring Configuration of the Color Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Color tab options of
the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the ArchestrA Alarm
Control.

All the options of the Color tab in the InTouch Alarm DB

View control can be set on the Colors page of the ArchestrA
Alarm Control.
The following table shows you some minor differences in
wording:
InTouch Alarm DB View
control

ArchestrA Alarm Control

Forecolor

Text

Backcolor

Background

Alm

n/a

Return

RTN

You can set the alarm priority range breakpoints directly in

the table in the From Pri column.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

172 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring Configuration of the Database Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Database tab
options of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you can configure the

following options on the Alarm Mode page:

Server Name

Database Name

User

Password

Test Connection

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, the Auto Connect option is

called Query on Startup. You can configure it on the Run-Time
Behavior page.
The configuration for the Alarm Database only appears if the
Client Mode is set to Historical Alarms, Historical Events, or
Historical Alarms and Events.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control Configuration173

Transferring Configuration of the Selection Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Selection tab
options of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Use Specific
Time, Start
Time, End Time

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can set these options directly in the
Time Range Picker control on the
Alarm Mode page.
When you select a time from either the
start time or end time part of the Time
Range Picker control, the Alarm
Control is automatically set to use a
specific time.
To keep the specific start and end time,
you must also clear Update to Current
Time. When you refresh the Alarm
Control grid at run time, the time
range stays fixed to the given start and
end time.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

174 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Duration

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can set this option directly in the Time
Range Picker control on the Alarm
Mode page.
When you select a duration from the
center part of the Time Range Picker
control, the Alarm Control is
automatically set to use a time offset.
To keep the duration, you must also
select the Update to Current Time check
box. When you refresh the Alarm
Control grid at run time, the end time
is set to the current time and the
Alarm Control shows the alarms
within the set duration.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

UnAck Duration,
Alarm Duration

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

cannot configure the Unack Duration
and Alarm Duration settings. The
Alarm Control grid shows both UnAck
Duration and Alarm Duration in
separate columns.

Query Time
Zone

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Time Zone setting on
the Time Settings page.

Maximum
Records

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Maximum Records
setting on the Alarm Mode page.

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control Configuration175

Transferring Configuration of the Time/Sort Tab

You can transfer the configuration of the Time/Sort tab
options of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

InTouch option

Alarm Control option

Time Format

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Time Format setting
on the Time Settings page.

Displayed Time
Zone

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the Time Zone setting on
the Time Settings page.

Primary Sort
Column,
Secondary Sort
Column, Sort
Order

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, you

can configure the sorting options on
the Column Details page.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

176 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring Configuration of the Query Filter

Tab
You can transfer the configuration of the Query Filter tab
options of the InTouch Alarm DB View control to the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

In the ArchestrA Alarm Control, all query favorites and filter

favorites are managed on one page and are interchangeable
between different client modes. To access the Query Filter
Favorites, open the Query Filters page.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Transferring the InTouch Alarm DB View Control Configuration177

Transferring Configuration of the Properties Tab

You can set the properties of the ArchestrA Alarm Control in
the Properties Editor when the Alarm Control is selected on
the canvas.

For more information on the exact mapping between the

InTouch Alarm DB View control properties and ArchestrA
Alarm Control properties, see Mapping Properties and
Methods on page 178.
The advanced property filtering feature does not exist in the
ArchestrA Alarm Control. However, when you browse for
properties of the ArchestrA Alarm Control from other
elements with the Galaxy Browser, you can filter the
properties. Also, the properties of the ArchestrA Alarm
Control are logically grouped in the Properties Editor.

Transferring Scripts Configuration on the Events

Tab
You can configure scripts for events of the ArchestrA Alarm
Control on the Event animation page. The events are the
same as the events for the InTouch Alarm DB View control:

Click

Shutdown

DoubleClick

StartUp

NewAlarm

For more information, see Configuring Events on page 154.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

178 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

Transferring Query Favorites Configuration

You can only transfer query favorites configuration from
InTouch to the ArchestrA Alarm Control by recreating the
filters on the Query Filters page.
If you intend to use a the query filter in one of the current
client modes, make sure you also include Provider and Group
as filter criteria.

Mapping Properties and Methods

The following table shows all properties and methods of the
InTouch Alarm Viewer control and InTouch Alarm DB View
controls and their corresponding properties and methods of
the ArchestrA Alarm Control.
InTouch alarm control property or
method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

AboutBox()

AboutBox() Method on page 134

AckAll()

Ack.All() Method on page 135

AckAllMenu

ContextMenu.AckAll Property on
page 104

AckAlmBackColor

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
on page 90

AckAlmBackColorRange1

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
on page 90

AckAlmBackColorRange2

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
on page 90

AckAlmBackColorRange3

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
on page 90

AckAlmBackColorRange4

AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround Property
on page 90

AckAlmColorRange1

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmColorRange2

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmColorRange3

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmColorRange4

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Mapping Properties and Methods179

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

AckAlmForeColor

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmForeColorRange1

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmForeColorRange2

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmForeColorRange3

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckAlmForeColorRange4

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround Property on
page 91

AckGroup()

Ack.Group() Method on page 135

AckOthersMenu

ContextMenu.AckOthers Property on
page 105

AckPriority()

Ack.Priority() Method on page 135

AckRtnBackColor

AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround Property
on page 94

AckRtnForeColor

AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround Property
on page 95

AckSelected()

Ack.Selected() Method on page 136

AckSelectedGroup()

Ack.SelectedGroup() Method on page 137

AckSelectedGroupsMenu

ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups
Property on page 105

AckSelectedMenu

ContextMenu.AckSelected Property on
page 105

AckSelectedPrioritiesMenu

ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities
Property on page 106

AckSelectedPriority()

Ack.SelectedPriority () Method on
page 137

AckSelectedTag()

Ack.SelectedTag() Method on page 137

AckSelectedTagsMenu

ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags Property
on page 106

AckTag()

Ack.Tag() Method on page 138

AckVisible()

Ack.Visible() Method on page 139

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

180 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

AckVisibleMenu

ContextMenu.AckVisible Property on
page 106

AlarmQuery

AlarmQuery Property on page 102

AlarmState

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

AlmRtnBackColor

AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround Property
on page 94

AlmRtnColor

AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround Property
on page 95

AlmRtnForeColor

AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround Property
on page 95

ApplyDefaultQuery()

Favorite Property on page 115

ApplyQuery()

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

AutoConnect

QueryStartup Property on page 121

AutoScroll

AutoScroll Property on page 103

ColorPriorityRange1

AlarmColor.Range Property on page 93

ColorPriorityRange2

AlarmColor.Range Property on page 93

ColorPriorityRange3

AlarmColor.Range Property on page 93

ColumnResize

AllowColumnResize Property on
page 103

Connect()

Connect() Method on page 139

ConnectStatus

ConnectStatus Property on page 104

CustomMessage

NoRecordsMessage.Message Property on
page 120

DefaultAckComment

AckComment.DefaultValue Property on
page 87

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Mapping Properties and Methods181

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

DisplayedTime

This option has no meaning in the

ArchestrA Alarm Control. All three
times are shown in the Alarm Control:
Original Alarm Time
Last Changed Time
Last Changed Time, but Original Alarm
Time for unacknowledged alarms

DisplayedTimeZone

TimeZone.TimeZone Property on
page 131

DisplayMode

ClientMode Property on page 103

Duration

TimeSelector.TimeDuration Property on
page 129

EndTime

TimeSelector.EndDate Property on
page 128

EventBackColor

EventColor.BackGround Property on
page 114

EventColor

EventColor.ForeGround Property on
page 115

EventForeColor

EventColor.ForeGround Property on
page 115

ExtendedSelection

RowSelection Property on page 122

FilterFavoritesFile

No corresponding property. The file

name is used as a parameter for the
Favorites.Export() Method and
Favorites.Import() Method methods.

FilterMenu

ContextMenu.Favorites Property on
page 107

FilterName

Favorite Property on page 115

FlashUnackAlarms

FlashUnAckAlarms Property on
page 116

FlashUnAckAlmColorRange1

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround
Property on page 98

FlashUnAckAlmColorRange2

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround
Property on page 98

FlashUnAckAlmColorRange3

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround
Property on page 98

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

182 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

FlashUnAckAlmColorRange4

AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround
Property on page 98

Font

You can only set the font at design time,

not at run time.

FreezeDisplay()

FreezeDisplay() Method on page 140

FreezeMenu

ContextMenu.Freeze Property on
page 107

FromPriority

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

GetItem()

GetItem() Method on page 141

GetLastError()

GetLastError() Method on page 142

GetNext()

No corresponding property. Alarm

records are retrieved one by one from the
Alarm Database after the initial set of
alarm records is retrieved. The initial set
is defined by the Maximum Records
setting.

GetPrevious()

No corresponding property. Alarm

records are retrieved one by one from the
Alarm Database after the initial set of
alarm records is retrieved. The initial set
is defined by the Maximum Records
setting.

GetSelectedItem()

GetSelectedItem() Method on page 142

GridColor

GridColor Property on page 116

GroupExactMatch

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

GroupName

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Mapping Properties and Methods183

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

MaxRecords

MaxDatabaseRecords Property on
page 119

MoveWindow()

MoveWindow() Method on page 146

NewAlarmEventMode

NewAlarmEventMode Property on
page 119

Password

Database.Authentication Property on
page 112

PrimarySort

SortOrder.First Property on page 125

ProviderExactMatch

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

ProviderName

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

QueryFavoritesFile

No corresponding property. The file

name is used as a parameter for the
Favorites.Export() Method and
Favorites.Import() Method methods.

QueryFavoritesMenu

ContextMenu.Favorites Property on
page 107

QueryName

Favorite Property on page 115

QueryStartup

QueryStartup Property on page 121

QueryTimeZone

TimeZone.TimeZone Property on
page 131

QueryType

ClientMode Property on page 103

Refresh()

Requery() Method on page 147

RefreshMenu

ContextMenu.Requery Property on
page 110

Requery()

Requery() Method on page 147

RequeryMenu

ContextMenu.Requery Property on
page 110

Reset()

Reset() Method on page 147

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

184 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

ResetMenu

ContextMenu.Reset Property on
page 110

RetainSuppression

RetainHidden Property on page 121

RowCount

RowCount Property on page 121

RowSelection

RowSelection Property on page 122

SecondarySort

SortColumn.Second Property on
page 124

SecondarySortColumn

SortColumn.Second Property on
page 124

SelectAll()

To select all records, see Select.All()

Method on page 147.
To reverse the selection of all records, see
Toggle.All() Method on page 153.

SelectedCount

SelectedCount Property on page 122

SelectGroup()

Select.Group() Method on page 147

SelectItem()

To select a given alarm record, see

Select.Item() Method on page 148.
To reverse the selection of a given alarm
record, see Toggle.Item() Method on
page 153.

SelectPriority()

Select.Priority() Method on page 148

SelectQuery()

Favorite Property on page 115

SelectTag()

Select.Tag() Method on page 149

ServerName

Database.ServerName Property on
page 113

SetQueryByName

Favorite Property on page 115

SetSort()

SetSort() Method on page 150

ShowContext()

Show.Context() Method on page 150

ShowContextMenu

ShowContextMenu Property on page 122

ShowDate

There is no equivalent functionality in

the ArchestrA Alarm Control.

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Mapping Properties and Methods185

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

ShowFetch

No corresponding property. The buttons

for retrieving sets of alarm records from
the Alarm Database do not exist in the
ArchestrA Alarm Control.

ShowFilter()

Show.Favorite() Method on page 150

ShowGrid

ShowGrid Property on page 123

ShowHeading

ShowHeading Property on page 123

ShowMessage

NoRecordsMessage.Enabled Property on
page 120

ShowQueryFavorites()

Show.Favorite() Method on page 150

ShowSort()

Show.Sort() Method on page 151

ShowStatistics()

Show.Statistics() Method on page 151

ShowStatusBar

ShowStatusBar Property on page 123

ShowSuppression()

Show.Hidden() Method on page 150

SilentMode

HideErrors Property on page 119

SortColumn

You can set three sort columns in the

ArchestrA Alarm Control. To set the first
column, see SortColumn.First Property
on page 124.

SortMenu

ContextMenu.Sort Property on page 111

SortOnCol()

To set the first sort column, see

SortColumn.First Property on page 124.
To set the sort order of the first sort
column, see SortOrder.First Property on
page 125.

SortOrder

SortOrder.First Property on page 125

SpecificTime

UpdateToCurrentTime Property on
page 132

StartTime

TimeSelector.StartDate Property on
page 129

StatsMenu

ContextMenu.Statistics Property on
page 111

SuppressAll()

Hide.All() Method on page 142

SuppressAllMenu

ContextMenu.HideAll Property on
page 108

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

186 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

SuppressedAlarms

HiddenAlarms Property on page 118

SuppressGroup()

Hide.Group() Method on page 143

SuppressionMenu

ContextMenu.Hidden Property on
page 107

SuppressOthersMenu

ContextMenu.HideOthers Property on
page 108

SuppressPriority()

Hide.Priority() Method on page 143

SuppressSelected()

Hide.Selected() Method on page 144

SuppressSelectedGroup()

Hide.SelectedGroup() Method on
page 144

SuppressSelectedGroupsMenu

ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups
Property on page 109

SuppressSelectedMenu

ContextMenu.HideSelected Property on
page 108

SuppressSelectedPrioritiesMenu

ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities
Property on page 109

SuppressSelectedPriority()

Hide.SelectedPriority() Method on
page 144

SuppressSelectedTagsMenu

ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags
Property on page 109

SuppressSelectedTag()

Hide.SelectedTag() Method on page 144

SuppressTag()

Hide.Tag() Method on page 145

SuppressVisible()

Hide.Visible() Method on page 145

SuppressVisibleMenu

ContextMenu.HideVisible Property on
page 110

Time

Time.Type Property on page 127 and

Time.Format Property on page 126

TimeFormat

Time.Format Property on page 126 and

Time.Type Property on page 127

TitleBackColor

HeadingColor.BackGround Property on
page 117

TitleForeColor

HeadingColor.ForeGround Property on
page 118

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

Mapping Properties and Methods187

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

ToPriority

No corresponding property. Configure a

Query Filter favorite at design time
instead and use the Favorite Property.
For more information, see Favorite
Property on page 115.

TotalAlarms

TotalRowCount Property on page 131

TotalRowCount

TotalRowCount Property on page 131

UnAckAlarms

UnAckAlarms Property on page 132

UnAckAlmBackColor

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround
Property on page 96

UnAckAlmBackColorRange1

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround
Property on page 96

UnAckAlmBackColorRange2

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround
Property on page 96

UnAckAlmBackColorRange3

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround
Property on page 96

UnAckAlmBackColorRange4

AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround
Property on page 96

UnAckAlmColorRange1

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmColorRange2

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmColorRange3

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmColorRange4

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmForeColor

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmForeColorRange1

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmForeColorRange2

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmForeColorRange3

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

UnAckAlmForeColorRange4

AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround
Property on page 100

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

188 Chapter 5 Transferring Alarm Configuration from InTouch

InTouch alarm control property or

method

ArchestrA Alarm Control property or

method

UnAckOrAlarmDuration

No corresponding property. UnAck

Duration and Alarm Duration are shown
in the Alarm Control grid.

UnSelectAll()

UnSelectAll() Method on page 154

UnSuppressAll()

UnhideAll() Method on page 153

UnsuppressAllMenu

ContextMenu.UnhideAll Property on
page 112

UseDefaultAckComment

AckComment.UseDefault Property on
page 88

UserID

Database.UserID Property on page 113

Visible

Visible Property on page 133

WindowColor

WindowColor Property on page 133

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

189

Index

A
about the ArchestrA alarm control 13
AboutBox 134
access to rows and columns, restricting
user 59
Ack.All 135
AckComment.DefaultValue 87
AckComment.UseDefault 88
Ack.Group 135
acknowledged alarms, setting colors
for 37
acknowledging alarms 17, 69
Ack.Priority 135
Ack.Selected 136
Ack.SelectedGroup 137
Ack.SelectedPriority 137
Ack.SelectedTag 137
AckSignature.MaxPriority 88
AckSignature.MinPriority 89
AckSignature.Required 89
Ack.Tag 138
Ack.Visible 139
adding a new query filter 46, 74
alarm configuration from InTouch,
transferring 159
alarm control
about 13
configuring 25

placing into an ArchestrA symbol 26

properties 27
scripting 87
using at run-time 65
using in ArchestrA symbols 16
alarm control colors
setting 33
alarm control grid
freezing 22
refreshing 66
unfreezing 82
alarm control methods 134
alarm control properties 87
alarm database 15
alarm DB view control configuration,
transferring the InTouch 168
alarm filtering 20
alarm hiding 21
alarm manager 14
alarm queries 18, 21
alarm query filter 60
alarm records, setting priority ranges
for 36
alarm sorting 22
alarm statistics, showing 81
alarm viewer control configuration,
transferring the InTouch 159
AlarmColor.Ack.BackGround 90

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

190Index

AlarmColor.Ack.ForeGround 91
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.BackGround 92
AlarmColor.Ack.RTN.ForeGround 93
AlarmColor.Range 93
AlarmColor.RTN.BackGround 94
AlarmColor.RTN.ForeGround 95
AlarmColor.UnAck.BackGround 96
AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.BackGround 9
7
AlarmColor.UnAck.Flash.ForeGround 9
8
AlarmColor.UnAck.ForeGround 100
AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.BackGround 10
1
AlarmColor.UnAck.RTN.ForeGround 10
2
AlarmQuery 102
alarms and events, recent 14
alarms and events, showing current
alarms or recent 28
alarms and/or events, showing
historical 30
Alarms at run-time, Sorting 73
alarms or recent alarms and events,
showing current 28
alarms to flash, setting
unacknowledged 38
alarms, acknowledging 17, 69
alarms, current 14
alarms, filtering 45
alarms, hiding 79
alarms, historical 15
alarms, scrolling automatically to new 58
alarms, setting colors 37, 38
alarms, sorting 43
AllowColumnResize 103
ArchestrA alarm control, about 13
ArchestrA symbols, placing the alarm
control into 26
ArchestrA symbols, using the alarm
control in 16
automatically querying for alarms on
start up 58
AutoResumeDuration 103
AutoScroll 103

B
bar, status 23

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

C
changing alarm query filter 60
changing column order 42
changing the language of the No
Records message 61
client modes 14
switching between 15, 83
client-based filtering 76
ClientMode 103
color tab 163, 171
colors
setting alarm control 33
setting event record 33
setting return to normal record 34
colors for acknowledged alarms,
setting 37
colors for unacknowledged alarms,
setting 38
column headers, renaming 41
columns, changing the order of 42
columns, resizing 41
columns, restricting user access to rows
and 59
configuration
transferring query favorites 178
transferring the InTouch alarm DB
view control 168
transferring the InTouch alarm viewer
control 159
configuration from InTouch, transferring
alarm 159
configuring alarms to require ACK
signature 62
configuring events 154
configuring run-time behavior 56
configuring the alarm control 25
configuring the newalarm event 154
configuring the run-time shortcut
menu 63
Connect 139
ConnectStatus 104
constructing filters 48
ContextMenu.AckAll 104
ContextMenu.AckOthers 105
ContextMenu.AckSelected 105
ContextMenu.AckSelectedGroups 105
ContextMenu.AckSelectedPriorities 106
ContextMenu.AckSelectedTags 106
ContextMenu.AckVisible 106

Index191

ContextMenu.Favorites 107
ContextMenu.Freeze 107
ContextMenu.Hidden 107
ContextMenu.HideAll 108
ContextMenu.HideOthers 108
ContextMenu.HideSelected 108
ContextMenu.HideSelectedGroups 109
ContextMenu.HideSelectedPriorities 109
ContextMenu.HideSelectedTags 109
ContextMenu.HideVisible 110
ContextMenu.Requery 110
ContextMenu.Reset 110
ContextMenu.Sort 111
ContextMenu.Statistics 111
ContextMenu.UnhideAll 112
control colors, setting alarm 33
control configuration
transferring the InTouch alarm DB
view 168
transferring the InTouch alarm
viewer 159
control grid, refreshing the alarm 66
control name tab 160, 168
conventions, documentation 12
current alarms 14
current alarms, showing 28
current modes, using status bar
information of 66
current value and quality display 17
customizing the No Records
message 61

D
database tab, transferring configuration
of the 172
database, alarm 15
Database.Authentication 112
Database.Name 112
Database.Password 113
Database.ServerName 113
Database.UserID 113
DB view control configuration,
transferring the InTouch alarm 168
deleting a query filter 75
deleting a query filter favorite 50
Disconnect 139
display, current value and quality 17
Documentation conventions 12
Domain 114

E
Enabled 114
errors, hiding 59
event record colors, setting 33
EventColor.BackGround 114
EventColor.ForeGround 115
events 14
configuring 154
historical 15
events tab 167, 177
events, showing 28, 30
existing query filter, modifying 50, 75
existing query filter, using 46, 74
exporting query filter favorites 50, 76

F
Favorite 115
favorites, exporting query filter 50, 76
favorites, importing query filter 51, 76
Favorites.Export 139
Favorites.Import 140
filter
modifying an existing query 50, 75
retain hiding when changing alarm
query 60
using an existing query 46, 74
filter tab 176
filtering alarms 45
filtering alarms at run-time 74
filtering alarms with client-based
filtering 76
filtering, alarm 20
filters, constructing 48
flashing alarms 38
FlashUnAckAlarms 116
format
setting the Wonderware time 53
setting time zone and 52
format tab 164
FreezeDisplay 140
freezing the alarm control grid 22, 82
frozen grid, overriding the 60

G
general tab 161, 169
GetItem 141
GetLastError 142
GetSelectedItem 142

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

192Index

grid, overriding the frozen 60

grid, refreshing the alarm control 66
grid, resetting 79
GridColor 116

H
headers, renaming column 41
HeadingColor.BackGround 117
HeadingColor.ForeGround 118
Height 118
HiddenAlarms 118
Hide.All 142
HideErrors 119
Hide.Group 143
Hide.Priority 143
Hide.Selected 144
Hide.SelectedGroup 144
Hide.SelectedPriority 144
Hide.SelectedTag 144
Hide.Tag 145
Hide.Visible 145
hiding
errors 59
status messages 59
warnings 59
hiding alarms 21, 79
hiding when changing alarm query filter,
retain 60
historical alarms 15
historical alarms, showing 30
historical events 15
historical modes, using status bar
information of 68

I
importing query filter favorites 51, 76
InTouch alarm DB view control
configuration 168
InTouch alarm viewer control
configuration 159
InTouch, transferring alarm
configuration from 159

L
language, changing the No Records
message 61
languages, switching run-time 84

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

M
mapping properties 178
MaxDatabaseRecords 119
methods, alarm control 134
methods, mapping properties and 178
modes
switching between client 15, 83
using status bar information of
current 66
using status bar information of
historical 68
modes, client 14
modifying an existing query filter 50, 75
MoveWindow 146

N
name tab 160, 168
new alarms, scrolling automatically to 58
newalarm event, configuring 154
NewAlarmEventMode 119
NoRecordsMessage.Enabled 120
NoRecordsMessage.Message 120
normal record colors, setting return to 34

O
or recent alarms and events, showing
current alarms 28
overriding the frozen grid 60

P
placing the alarm control into an
ArchestrA symbol 26
priority ranges for alarm records,
setting 36
properties
alarm control 87
setting 27
properties and methods, mapping 178
properties tab 167, 177
providing signature to acknowledge
alarms 70

Q
queries, alarm 18
queries, using wildcards in 45
query favorites configuration,
transferring 178

Index193

query filter
adding 46, 74
deleting 75
modifying an existing 50, 75
retain hiding when changing alarm 60
translating from alarm queries 21
using an existing 46, 74
query filter favorite, deleting 50
query filter favorites
exporting 50, 76
importing 51, 76
query filter tab 176
query tab 165
querying for alarms on start up 58
QueryStartup 121

R
ranges for alarm records, setting
priority 36
recent alarms and events 14
recent alarms and events, showing 28
record colors
setting event 33
setting return to normal 34
refreshing the alarm control grid 66
renaming column headers 41
reordering column headers 40
Requery 147
Reset 147
resetting the grid 79
resizing column headers 40
resizing columns 41
restricting user access to rows and
columns 59
retain hiding when changing alarm query
filter 60
RetainHidden 121
return to normal record colors, setting 34
RowCount 121
rows and columns, restricting user access
to 59
RowSelection 122
run time, sorting alarms 73
run-time
filtering alarms 74
sorting alarms 73
using the alarm control 65

run-time behavior, configuring 56

run-time languages, switching 84
run-time shortcut menu, configuring 63

S
script configuration on the events tab,
transferring 167
scripting the alarm control 87
scripts configuration on the events tab,
transferring 177
scrolling automatically to new alarms 58
Select.All 147
SelectedCount 122
Select.Group 147
selection tab, transferring configuration
of the 173
Select.Item 148
Select.Priority 148
Select.Tag 149
SetSort 150
setting alarm control colors 33
setting colors for acknowledged
alarms 37
setting colors for unacknowledged
alarms 38
setting event record colors 33
setting heading, grid, and window
color 35
setting priority ranges for alarm
records 36
setting return to normal record colors 34
setting the alarm control properties 27
setting the time zone 52
setting the Wonderware time format 53
setting time zone and format 52
setting unacknowledged alarms to
flash 38
Show.Context 150
ShowContextMenu 122
Show.Favorite 150
ShowGrid 123
ShowGroupByHeader Property 123
ShowHeading 123
Show.Hidden 150
showing alarm statistics 81
showing current alarms or recent alarms
and events 28
showing historical alarms 30

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

194Index

showing historical alarms and/or

events 30
Show.Sort 151
Show.Statistics 151
ShowStatusBar 123
smart cards
providing signature to acknowledge
alarms 71
SortColumn.First 124
SortColumn.Second 124
SortColumn.Third 124
Sorting Alarms 43
sorting alarms 22
Sorting Alarms at run-time 73
SortOrder.First 125
SortOrder.Second 125
SortOrder.Third 126
start up, automatically querying for
alarms 58
statistics, showing alarm 81
status bar 23
status bar information 66
status bar information of current
modes 66
status bar information of historical
modes 68
status messages, hiding 59
switching between client modes 15, 83
switching run-time languages 84

T
technical support, contacting 12
time format tab 164
time format, setting the Wonderware 53
time zone and format, setting 52
time zone, setting 52
time, using the alarm control at run 65
time/sort tab, transferring configuration
of the 175
Time.Format 126
TimeSelector 127
TimeSelector.DurationMS 128
TimeSelector.EndDate 128
TimeSelector.GetStartAndEndTimes 151
TimeSelector.RefreshTimes 152
TimeSelector.SetStartAndEndTimes 152
TimeSelector.StartDate 129
TimeSelector.TimeDuration 129
Time.Type 127
ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

TimeZone.TimeZone 131
Toggle.All 153
Toggle.Item 153
TotalRowCount 131
transferring alarm configuration from
InTouch 159
transferring configuration
color tab 163, 171
control name tab 160, 168
database tab 172
general tab 161, 169
properties tab 167, 177
query filter tab 176
query tab 165
selection tab 173
time format tab 164
time/sort tab 175
transferring query favorites
configuration 178
transferring script configuration on the
events tab 167, 177
transferring the InTouch alarm DB view
control configuration 168
transferring the InTouch alarm viewer
control configuration 159
translating alarm queries to query
filters 21

U
UnAckAlarms 132
unacknowledged alarms 38
unacknowledged alarms, setting colors
for 38
unfreezing the alarm control grid 82
UnhideAll 153
UnSelectAll 154
UpdateToCurrentTime 132
user access to rows and columns,
restricting 59
using an existing query filter 46, 74
using status bar information 66
using status bar information of current
modes 66
using status bar information of historical
modes 68
using the alarm control at run-time 65
using the alarm control in ArchestrA
symbols 16
using wildcards in queries 45

Index195

V
view control configuration, transferring
the InTouch alarm DB 168
viewer control configuration, transferring
the InTouch alarm 159
Visible 133

wildcards in queries, using 45

WindowColor 133
Wonderware time format, setting the 53

X
X property 134

warnings, hiding 59
welcome 11
when changing alarm query filter, retain
hiding 60
Width 133

Y property 134

Z
zone and format, setting time 52
zone, setting the time 52

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide

196Index

ArchestrA Alarm Control Guide