Viewing Alarms in Canvas and TWC Screens

Point alarm information can be displayed in Canvas and Thin Web Client in the several ways:

• Any control that can be configured to show attributes of a primary point can be configured to show point status information in addition to the point property. For example, a Text Tool can show a point’s value in its label and reflect the point state in its background color.
• Any control that can be configured to show primary point attributes, and that point's current value meets or exceeds the alarm setpoint, will display the point in alarm.
• Canvas Native view — Any point-based control showing points in alarm can be right-clicked in run mode to acknowledge the point’s alarm from the object's context menu. You can also view the point’s alarm settings and alarm history from the context menu.
• CygNet TWC web view — Any point-based control showing points in alarm can be right-clicked in run mode to acknowledge the point’s alarm from the TWC context menu. You can also view the point’s alarm settings and edit alarm summary properties.
• Any screen viewed in Canvas.View and Canvas.View.Lite that is configured to display the Alarm Notifier will display all active (unacknowledged) alarms. Information about each alarm is accessible from customizable links within alarm notifier.

CygNet Alarm Configuration

CygNet alarms are configured in the point configuration record for each point type in the Point Service (PNT). Alarm bits and alarm reporting can be enabled for any point in the system. Alarm notification is configured in the General Notification Service (GNS). The following items must be considered when configuring alarms for a point: Setpoint value, Alarm category, Alarm suppression, Alarm calculation, Alarm priority, Reporting to the Common Alarm Service (CAS), Reporting to the General Notification Service (GNS), Alarm delay, Alarm deadband (analog points only), and Alarm notification recipients (primary, secondary, tertiary).

Alarm Settings

Several Canvas objects provide access to the point properties associated with the alarm settings for a selected point via the right-click context menu in the Canvas Native view run mode. Select Point Configuration > on the context menu to view and/or edit various point configuration record properties for the selected point. These properties can also be manipulated via script using the COM API exposed through the CxPnt.dll or the CygNet .NET API through the CygNet.API.Points namespace.

Acknowledging Alarms

Canvas Native view

When an alarm is reported to the CAS, its state is "unacknowledged", meaning that the alarm is new and that a user or the system has not acknowledged its presence. An unacknowledged alarm may be identified by the color settings for the control (background, text, border, ring, bar, fill, or marker color), if configured to represent the point state of the associated point. Additionally, some controls may blink to warn of a point in alarm, if configured to do so.

Acknowledge the alarm from the context menu: Select the object when it is displaying an alarm color or blink action. Some controls can be configured to blink to indicate that the object's point has an unacknowledged alarm. Right-click the object and select Acknowledge alarm from the context menu. The Acknowledge alarm option is removed once the alarm is acknowledged. See the control properties for more information about configuring alarm acknowledgment options.

Canvas Native view Context Menu

CygNet TWC web view

The CygNet Thin Web Client supports its own context menu visible in the web view. Perform the following actions from the TWC context menu: Right-click on a control to view the context menu for a selected point. When the context menu is active the main part of the page is dimmed. The context menu is divided into four sections: Current Value — View read-only Current Value attributes for the selected point. Acknowledge Alarm — If the point is in alarm, the Acknowledge Alarm icon will indicate this state. Click on the icon to acknowledge it and the icon will change to an unacknowledged state. Alarm Summary — Click the toggle switch to view Alarm Summary values. From here you can edit alarm threshold values or the alarm priority in the context menu, which will be written back to the point on the CygNet host server. A warning will show if you do not have the appropriate security access level to edit points. Click (Edit) then click on the Value or Priority you want to edit. Enter a new value or use the spin control to increase or decrease the value. Click (Save) to write the new value back to the point configuration on the CygNet host server. Or click (Cancel) to abort and return to the read-only mode. Chart — Click the toggle switch to view a quick Chart for a selected point. The series shows the last eight hours of value history and will update with each new point value received. Hover over any point in the series to reveal a small popup showing the UDC, point value, and timestamp. From here you can add the currently viewed point to a new or existing ad hoc chart which will display in a new browser tab. Click the to close the context menu and return to the TWC page that launched the menu.

TWC Context Menu: Current Value Normal TWC Context Menu: Current Value in Alarm TWC Context Menu: Alarm Summary in edit mode