Use the Create General Group button to manually create new General Group Node configurations. A General Group contains a logical collection of devices for tasks such as polling groups, reporting groups, or defining analyst areas of responsibility, operator routes, or production districts. General groups can optionally have uniqueness requirements. If no uniqueness type is configured, the device can exist in multiple general groups.
CygNet Measurement also provides a system command that can automatically create FMS group Nodes in your system. See the following topic for more information about this option.
See Group Nodes in the CygNet Measurement Concepts section for a more detailed discussion of general groups and general group membership.
See Viewing and Editing General Group Node Properties for more information about accessing properties for general groups that have already been created.
To create a new general group, open the Nodes menu in FMS Explorer, and then click Create General Group. A series of dialog boxes will appear.
The following tables list and describe property fields found on the Create General Group dialog boxes.
Group Definition is the first dialog box.
Enter the following group properties to define the new general group.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
Node ID |
The system-assigned Node ID for the group. When creating new groups this will indicate NEW. |
|
Name |
Type in the name for the new group. The name must be a unique Node identifier system-wide. Valid characters (maximum of 20) are as follows. A-Z, a-z, 0-9, . (period), #, $, &, (, ), +, -, \, /, :, <, >, =, @, [, ], ^, {, }, _ (underscore), !, ~ (tilde). Spaces are acceptable, when they are not leading or trailing. This parameter is required. |
|
Description |
Type in a free-form description for the group. This parameter is optional. |
|
Category |
This property enables you to assign an existing category to the group, or to assign a new one. The category places the group within a manually sortable list of groups. When using CygNet Dispatch, the category property allows groups to be filtered for use with the Dispatch feature set. This parameter is required when using CygNet Dispatch; otherwise it is optional. See CygNet Dispatch for more information. |
|
Security application |
Enter the security application used to validate users of the group. Use this setting to control user access, for example, to only give certain users access to particular groups. See FMS Security for more information. This parameter is optional. |
|
Sort priority |
Type in the Sort priority number to assign to the group Node. The priority number assigned places it within a manually sortable list. Higher numbers place a Node higher up on a list. Default value is 0. This parameter is optional. |
When you are done, click Next > to access the General Group Properties dialog box.
When the general Group Definition is complete, configure the General Group Properties.
Note: General group uniqueness properties cannot be edited after group creation; they will be read-only.
Enter the following properties to describe the new general group.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
Enforce uniqueness for group |
Click the check box to select/clear the option to enforce uniqueness. If used, all groups of the same Uniqueness Type (see entry below) must also have unique members. |
|
Uniqueness Types |
If Enforce uniqueness for group is selected, click to select the uniqueness type. Uniqueness type options are as follows.
Note: Only "unique" groups will be available when selecting a group for these configurations. |
When you are done, click Next > to access the General Group Entries dialog box.
When the General Group Properties are complete, configure the General Group Entries.
Once Nodes are added to the group, the dialog box will list the Node entries for the new general group.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Lists the Nodes in this general group |
|
Description |
Lists descriptions of the Nodes in this general group |
|
Edit entries |
Click Edit entries to access the Add Nodes to Group dialog box |
|
Details |
Click to select a Node name, and then click Details to access the Record Details dialog box |
Click Edit entries to access the Add Nodes to Group dialog box.
Enter the following information to add Node entries to the new general group.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
Group name |
Displays the name of the group to which you are adding Nodes. |
| Node list filter | |
|
Group |
Click to select the Group filter from the drop-down menu. Options are as follows.
Default value is All Nodes. |
|
Node category |
Click to select the Node category filter from the drop-down menu. Options are as follows.
Default value is <Any>. |
|
Filter |
Type a filter into the text box, and click the filter type desired. Options are as follows.
Defaults are * (multiple character wildcard) and Name. |
|
Use Smart Filter |
Note: This option is not available when using Point in Time mode. Click the check box to select/clear the use of smart filters to filter Node results. Selection of this option will attempt to display only the Nodes available to be added to the group. Note: Be aware that this option may not always be entirely accurate, due to the complexities of the historization feature. |
|
Retrieve Nodes |
Click to apply the filters selected for Group, Node category, and Filter, and view the results in the Filtered Node List. |
|
Filtered Node List |
Lists the filtered Node results, including the following, for each Node listed
|
|
Node Name |
Lists the Node names that meet the defined filter criteria |
|
Node Desc |
Lists the descriptions of the Nodes that meet the defined filter criteria |
| Nodes in Group | |
|
Node Name |
Lists the Nodes which have been selected to be in the group |
|
Description |
Lists the Node description |
|
>> |
Click >> to move selected Nodes from the Filtered Node List to the Nodes in Group list. |
|
<< |
Click << to move selected Nodes from the Nodes in Group list to the Filtered Node List. |
|
Save |
When all Nodes are selected, click Save to add the Nodes and return to the Group Entries dialog box. |
|
Cancel |
Click Cancel to close the dialog box without editing entries. |
Saved groups will appear on the General Group Entries page.
When you are done, click Finish to access the Save FMS Record dialog box.
Once the new General Group Node properties are configured, you'll be asked to save your changes via the Save FMS Record dialog box. Configure the date and audit information requested to historize the changes in your system.
Specify the following parameters to describe the saved record.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
Change begin |
Set the effective date and time for the record change to begin. Options are as follows.
|
|
Change end |
Note: Upon Node creation, this date selection is automatically set to Indefinite. Options become available for edits made to Node properties. |
|
Audit category |
Select an appropriate Audit category from the drop-down menu. The audit category type for Node creation is Configuration Change. Audit categories are configured on the Admin menu. See Configuring Audit Categories for more information. |
|
Comments |
Type Comments regarding creation of the Node in the text box. Although comments are optional, they become part of the record and can be helpful when auditing or reviewing records. |
When all parameters are configured, click Save to save the new general group settings.
|
|
|
