FactoryTalk Alarms and Events System Configuration Guide

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events

System Conﬁguration Guide

Version 6.40.00

Technical Publications

Original Instructions

Important User Information

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Identiﬁes information that is critical for successful application and understanding of the product.

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Labels may be on or inside the equipment, for example, a drive or motor, to alert people that dangerous voltage may be present.

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2 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Contents

What you need to get started.................................................................................................................................................................................................................9

Required software...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................9

Recommended hardware and supported operating systems.........................................................................................................................................................................................9

Studio 5000 controllers............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Compatible ﬁrmware.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Other controllers..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13

How to get the information you need............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services......................................................................................................................................................................... 14

Migrating HMI tag alarms..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Where to start........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 16

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events components................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

About monitoring for alarm conditions.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................19

About device-based alarm monitoring....................................................................................................................................................................................................................19

Device-based alarm monitoring workﬂow..................................................................................................................................................................................................20

About server tag-based alarm monitoring.............................................................................................................................................................................................................21

Server tag-based alarm monitoring workﬂow............................................................................................................................................................................................22

About OPC UA alarm monitoring..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................23

OPC UA alarm monitoring workﬂow............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 23

Choose a suitable type of alarm monitoring...................................................................................................................................................................................................................24

Graphic objects in FactoryTalk Alarms and Events........................................................................................................................................................................................................24

Plan your system...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................25

Decide what type of application you are building..........................................................................................................................................................................................................25

Decide what type of alarm monitoring you need...........................................................................................................................................................................................................26

Follow these steps................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26

What you need.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................26

Install and activate FactoryTalk software........................................................................................................................................................................................................................26

Typical stand-alone system......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................27

Install FactoryTalk software..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27

Install SQL Server for logging.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 28

Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers......................................................................................................................................................................29

Alarm buffering during loss of connection to the controller........................................................................................................................................................................................29

Before you begin...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................30

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Deﬁne a Logix tag-based alarm......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31

Create an alarm deﬁnition........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 31

Download the program to controller and test the alarm....................................................................................................................................................................................32

Deﬁne an instruction-based alarm: digital......................................................................................................................................................................................................................32

Conﬁgure the digital alarm and download to the controller..............................................................................................................................................................................32

Deﬁne an instruction-based alarm: analog..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35

Conﬁgure the analog alarm and download it to the controller......................................................................................................................................................................... 35

Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers..................................................................................................................................................38

Add a device server..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................38

Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers............................................................................................................................................................................ 45

Add an OPC data server to an application.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................45

Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, PLC-5, or third-party controllers.............................................................................................................. 48

Create an application...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................49

Add a data server.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................50

Add a Tag Alarm and Event Server....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................52

Deﬁne alarm conditions...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 52

Next steps...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................54

Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector for third-party OPC UA servers........................................................................................................................................... 55

Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................55

Set up graphic displays.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................58

4 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Create a graphic display..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 59

Create an Alarm and Event Summary...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................60

Create an Alarm and Event Banner display.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................63

Create a startup macro for the Banner display............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 68

Create an Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary...........................................................................................................................................................................................................70

Use color animation to indicate alarm state changes.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 73

Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime.......................................................................................................................................................................................82

Create and then run a FactoryTalk View Client conﬁguration.....................................................................................................................................................................................82

Monitor alarms and events................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 86

Security for alarms and events...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................86

Acknowledge an alarm...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................87

Acknowledge the selected alarm.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 87

Acknowledge the selected alarm and enter a comment..........................................................................................................................................................................88

Acknowledge all of the alarms displayed on the page.............................................................................................................................................................................89

Acknowledge all of the alarms in the event list........................................................................................................................................................................................ 89

Disable or enable an alarm......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................90

Disable selected alarms.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 91

Enable selected alarms...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................92

Suppress or unsuppress an alarm.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 92

Suppress an alarm...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................93

Unsuppress an alarm...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 93

Shelve or unshelve an alarm....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................95

Shelve an alarm................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................96

Unshelve an alarm...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................98

Set up historical alarm and event logging..........................................................................................................................................................................................100

Conﬁrm that the SQL Server software is installed........................................................................................................................................................................................................101

Add a database deﬁnition to your FactoryTalk system................................................................................................................................................................................................101

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 5

Associate a database deﬁnition with an alarm server................................................................................................................................................................................................105

Create an Alarm and Event Log Viewer display............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 108

Create a button to open the Alarm and Event Log Viewer display...................................................................................................................................................................111

Create a startup macro for the Menu Bar display.........................................................................................................................................................................................................115

View historical alarm data in a FactoryTalk View SE Client........................................................................................................................................................................................ 117

Run the application....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................117

Start the FactoryTalk View SE Client from within FactoryTalk View Studio.........................................................................................................................................117

Conﬁgure redundancy for alarms and events.....................................................................................................................................................................................120

FactoryTalk server redundancy........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 120

Develop and test your application without redundancy.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 120

Upgrade an existing device-based alarm server.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 122

Upgrade an existing tag-based alarm server................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 124

Check the status of an alarm server.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 125

Get started with language switching...................................................................................................................................................................................................127

Create device-based alarm messages............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 128

Translate alarm messages using import and export.........................................................................................................................................................................................128

Translate alarm messages in RSLogix 5000 version 16 or earlier........................................................................................................................................................ 129

Translate alarm messages using RSLogix 5000 version 17 or later...................................................................................................................................................... 131

Create tag-based alarm messages.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 134

Enter text strings in FactoryTalk View Studio.....................................................................................................................................................................................................134

Add languages to the application.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................137

Add buttons to a graphic display to switch languages at runtime............................................................................................................................................................................138

Enter alarm messages in other languages.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................143

Create a Display Client conﬁguration ﬁle to test alarm messages............................................................................................................................................................................151

Test alarm messages at runtime......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................153

Summary and tips for setting up language switching.................................................................................................................................................................................................156

Text that supports language switching................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 156

Text that does not support language switching................................................................................................................................................................................................. 156

Alarm and Event Summary and Alarm and Event Banner.................................................................................................................................................................................156

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Alarm and Event Log Viewer...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................157

System performance and limits...........................................................................................................................................................................................................158

Controller speciﬁcations.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 158

Controllers with revision 31 and later................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 158

Controllers with revision 24 and later...................................................................................................................................................................................................................159

Controllers with revision 20 or earlier..................................................................................................................................................................................................................159

System sizing recommendations......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................160

Install FactoryTalk Alarms and Events manually................................................................................................................................................................................162

Summary of steps (manual installation).........................................................................................................................................................................................................................162

Conﬁrm that FactoryTalk Services Platform is installed.............................................................................................................................................................................................162

Install FactoryTalk Alarms and Events............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 163

Install Microsoft SQL Server................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 164

Summary of steps (new SQL Server)............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 164

Step 1. Open the Redist folder.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 164

Step 2. Install the .NET Framework..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................165

Step 3. Run the SQL Server install batch ﬁle (not the .exe)........................................................................................................................................................................................165

Step 4. Conﬁgure the Windows ﬁrewall..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................165

Use an existing SQL Server database..................................................................................................................................................................................................167

Supported SQL Server databases..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 167

Remote connections to the SQL Server database.........................................................................................................................................................................................................167

Summary of steps (existing SQL server).........................................................................................................................................................................................................................167

Step 1. Install SQL Server Management Studio.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 167

Step 2. Specify Mixed Mode authentication for the SQL Server database..................................................................................................................................................... 168

Step 3. Conﬁgure TCP/IP protocol for the database..........................................................................................................................................................................................168

Step 4. Enable the SQL Server Browser service................................................................................................................................................................................................. 168

Step 5. Conﬁgure the Windows Firewall...............................................................................................................................................................................................................168

Alarm time stamping............................................................................................................................................................................................................................170

Overview of time keeping..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................170

Coordinated System Time (CST).............................................................................................................................................................................................................................170

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 170

Local Time (Wall Clock Time)...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................171

ALMD and ALMA alarm blocks............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................172

Insert time stamps manually..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................173

Example..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................174

Time synchronization........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 175

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Coordinate multiple controller wall clocks......................................................................................................................................................................................................................175

Install the Logix5000 Clock Update Tool.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................175

Start Clock Update Tool......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................176

Start the Update Tool automatically......................................................................................................................................................................................................................176

Use the Logix5000 Clock Update Tool.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................176

Synchronize devices on a schedule................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 177

Synchronization schedule........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 177

Create a synchronization schedule............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 177

Remove a synchronization schedule...........................................................................................................................................................................................................178

Modify a synchronization schedule.............................................................................................................................................................................................................178

Enable or disable a synchronization schedule..........................................................................................................................................................................................179

Add devices...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................179

Add a device...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................179

Remove a device.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................180

View details about a device................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 180

Assign devices to synchronization schedules.................................................................................................................................................................................................................181

Synchronize devices manually...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................181

View the log ﬁle...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................182

Change the location of the log ﬁle........................................................................................................................................................................................................................182

Time stamps with tag-based alarms...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................183

Supported devices...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................184

Reference for building a distributed system.......................................................................................................................................................................................185

When installing FactoryTalk Alarms & Events............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 185

Typical distributed system on a network....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 185

Language identiﬁers............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 186

Language identiﬁer list...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 186

Legal Notices.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................191

8 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 1

What you need to get started

The FactoryTalk® System Conguration Guide describes the tasks that are required to install, conﬁgure, and use

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services as part of a FactoryTalk-enabled automation system. This guide also includes

references to additional documentation that provides more detail.

IMPORTANT:

This guide describes how to set up a local station application. However, the procedure

for setting up a network station application or network distributed application is similar. This guide

provides information about the latter two applications where it is necessary. See the Help included

with the individual software products used to conﬁgure and use Alarms and Events services.

Required software

The following software is required to conﬁgure and operate FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Software Version

FactoryTalk Services Platform 2.10 or later

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events 2.10 or later (included in FactoryTalk View SE and FactoryTalk

Services)

FactoryTalk® Linx™ 5.00 or later

RSLogix 5000® 16.05 or later (or the Studio 5000 Logix Designer® version

24.02 or later)

Studio 5000 Logix Designer 24.02 or later (or RSLogix 5000 version 16.05 or later)

RSLogix 500® Version that supports FactoryTalk Services Platform version

2.10 or later

RSLogix™ 5 Version that supports FactoryTalk Services Platform version

2.10 or later

FactoryTalk View SE 5.00 or later

FactoryTalk View Studio 5.00 or later

RSLinx® Classic (used forLogixprogramming) 2.50.20 or later

ControlFLASH™ 4.00.09 (used to download firmware)

ControlFLASH Plus® 1.00 or later (used to download firmware)

SoftLogix™ 16.03 or later

Microsoft® SQL Server® Version that supports FactoryTalk Alarms and Events historical

logging. For more information, see Supported SQL Server

databases on page 167.

Recommended hardware and supported operating systems

The hardware and supported operating systems that are recommended to run FactoryTalk Alarms and Events are

the same as those recommended to run FactoryTalk View Site Edition. For details, see the FactoryTalk View Site

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 9

Chapter 1What you need to get started

Edition Installation Guide. To access the guide, on the FactoryTalk View Studio toolbar, click Help > Online Books >

Installation Guide.

Studio 5000 controllers

The Studio 5000 controllers listed in the following table support FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services. When you

use built-in alarm instructions in Studio 5000 controllers, these controllers require a ﬁrmware update to revision

16.20 or later (excluding 21 to 23). If you do not want to update the ﬁrmware in your controllers, use a Tag Alarm and

Event Server for software-based alarms and events. See Decide what type of alarm monitoring you need on page

26.

Catalog number Name

1756-L61 ControlLogix Processor

1756-L62 ControlLogix Processor

1756-L63 ControlLogix Processor

1756-L64 ControlLogix Processor

1756-5555 5555 ControlLogix Processor

1768-L43 CompactLogix L43 Controller

1769-L31 CompactLogix L31 Controller

1769-L32C CompactLogix L32C Controller

1769-L32E CompactLogix L32E Controller

1769-L35CR CompactLogix L35CR Controller

1769-L35E CompactLogix L35E Controller

1794-L34 FlexLogix L34 Controller

1756-L61S ControlLogix Safety Processor

1756-L62S ControlLogix Safety Processor

PowerFlex700S 2 DriveLogix5370

1789-L60 SoftLogix5800

EMULATE RSLogix Emulate 5000

The following controllers with ﬁrmware revision 24 and later support FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Catalog number Name

ControlLogix 1756-L71 Series B ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L71S Series B ControlLogix Safety Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L72 Series A ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L72 Series B ControlLogix Processor

GuardLogix1756-L72S Series B ControlLogix Safety Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L73 Series A ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L73 Series B ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L73XT Series B ControlLogix Processor

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Chapter 1What you need to get started

Catalog number Name

GuardLogix1756-L73S Series B ControlLogix Safety Processor

GuardLogix1756-L73SXT Series B ControlLogix Safety Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L74 Series A ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L74 Series B ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L75 Series A ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L75 Series B ControlLogix Processor

CompactLogix 1769-L16ER-BB1B CompactLogix L16ER-BB1BController

CompactLogix 1769-L18ER-BB1B CompactLogix L18ER-BB1B Controller

CompactLogix 1769-L18ERM-BB1B CompactLogix L18ERM-BB1BController

CompactLogix 1769-L24ER-QB1B CompactLogix L24ER-QB1B Controller

CompactLogix 1769-L24ER-QBFC1B CompactLogix L24ER-QBFC1BController

CompactLogix 1769-L27ERM-QBFC1B CompactLogix L27ERM-QBFC1BController

CompactLogix 1769-L30ER CompactLogix L30ERController

CompactLogix 1769-L30ER-NSE CompactLogix L30ER-NSEController

CompactLogix 1769-L30ERM CompactLogix L30ERMController

CompactLogix 1769-L33ER CompactLogix L33ER Controller

CompactLogix 1769-L33ERM CompactLogix L33ERM Controller

CompactLogix 1769-L36ERM CompactLogix L36ERM Controller

SoftLogix 1789-L60 SoftLogix5800

Tip:

Firmware revisions 21 through 23 do not support the new alarms functionality.

The following controllers with ﬁrmware revision 29 introduce support for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Catalog number Name

ControlLogix 1756-L81E ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L82E ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L83E ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L84E ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L85E ControlLogix Processor

CompactLogix 5069-L306ER CompactLogix L306ER Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L306ERM CompactLogix L306ERM Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L310ER CompactLogix L310ER Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L310ERM CompactLogix L310ERM Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L310ER-NSE CompactLogix L306ER-NSEController

CompactLogix 5069-L320ER CompactLogix L320ER Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L320ERM CompactLogix L320ERM Controller

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 11

Chapter 1What you need to get started

Catalog number Name

CompactLogix 5069-L330ER CompactLogix L330ER Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L330ERM CompactLogix L330ERM Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L340ER CompactLogix L340ER Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L340ERM CompactLogix L340ERM Controller

The following controllers with ﬁrmware revision 30 introduce support for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Catalog number Name

CompactLogix 5069-L380ERM CompactLogix L380ERM Controller

CompactLogix 5069-L3100ERM CompactLogix L3100ERM Controller

CompactLogix 1769-L37ERMO CompactLogix L37ERMO Controller

GuardLogix 1769-L37ERMOS CompactLogix Safety Processor

The following controllers with ﬁrmware revision 32 introduce support for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Catalog number Name

CompactLogix 5069-L46ERMW CompactLogix 5480 Controller

The following controllers with ﬁrmware revision 33 introduce support for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

Catalog number Name

ControlLogix 1756-L81EP ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L83EP ControlLogix Processor

ControlLogix 1756-L85EP ControlLogix Processor

Automatic Diagnostics is supported only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5480,

ControlLogix 5580, and GuardLogix 5580 controllers, and the ﬁrmware revision must be 33 or later.

Compatible ﬁrmware

The controller ﬁrmware revisions listed in the following table are compatible with FactoryTalk Alarms and Events

services:

Controller Firmware revision

ControlLogix

CompactLogix L3x and L4x

DriveLogix

16.20 or higher (excluding 21 to 23)

ControlLogix Redundant Systems 16.60 or higher (excluding 21 to 23)

SoftLogix 16.03 or higher (excluding 21 to 23)

12 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 1What you need to get started

Other controllers

These controllers also support FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services:

•

Studio 5000 controllers that communicate with FactoryTalk Linx, using Tag Alarm and Event Servers.

• PLC-5® and SLC™ 500 controllers that communicate with FactoryTalk Linx (or RSLinx Classic to bridge from

Ethernet to DH+™ or DH-485 networks), using Tag Alarm and Event Servers.

•

Third-party PLCs that communicate with OPC® data servers such as KEPWare using Tag Alarm and Event

Servers.

How to get the information you need

For more information about the products and components discussed in this guide, the following manuals and Help

ﬁles are available:

• FactoryTalk Linx Help

• FactoryTalk Services Platform Help

•

Studio 5000 Logix Designer Help (for help with developing a controller project)

•

Studio 5000 Logix Designer online books

•

FactoryTalk View Site Edition Installation Guide (publication VIEWSE-IN003)

• FactoryTalk View Site Edition User Guide (publication VIEWSE-UM006)

•

FactoryTalk Linx Getting Results Guide (publication LIXENT-GR001)

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 13

Chapter 2

Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events was introduced with FactoryTalk Services Platform 2.0 (CPR9) and FactoryTalk View

Site Edition 5.0 (CPR9) to provide a common, consistent view of alarms and events throughout a FactoryTalk system.

Starting from FactoryTalk Alarms and Events 2.30 (CPR9SR3), device-based and tag-based servers support

redundant server conﬁguration. Starting from FactoryTalk Alarms and Events 6.30 (CPR 9 SR 13), OPC UA alarm

monitoring is supported.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk View version 10.00 is the last release to support the legacy HMI tag alarms.

We highly recommend that you update your alarming strategy to use FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events supports the following alarm monitoring:

• Device-based alarms, including:

◦

Logix instruction-based alarms

Alarm instructions are programmed and then downloaded into Studio 5000 controllers. The controller

detects alarm conditions and publishes the alarm information, which is routed to FactoryTalk Alarms

and Events.

◦

Logix tag-based alarms

Logix tag-based alarms associate alarm conditions with tags for Studio 5000 controllers. Logix tag-

based alarms monitor tag values to determine the alarm condition, but they are not part of the logic

program and do not increase the scan time for a project. Logix tag-based alarms are supported

only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5480, ControlLogix 5580, and

GuardLogix 5580 controllers.

•

Server tag-based alarms

Alarm conditions are deﬁned and managed with software that monitors programmable controllers through

tags. Tag-based alarm monitoring is supported by Rockwell Automation controllers communicating through

Rockwell Automation device servers (FactoryTalk Linx), third-party controllers communicating through OPC

data servers, and HMI tags. Use server tag-based alarm monitoring if you do not want to use the pre-built

instructions in Studio 5000 Logix Designer, or do not have Studio 5000 controllers.

•

OPC UA alarms

Alarm conditions are provided by third-party OPC UA servers. The alarm data is then routed to FactoryTalk

Alarms and Events through FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events:

•

Provides a single, integrated set of alarm information.

All participating FactoryTalk products work together to provide a consistent way to deﬁne, manage, log, and

view alarm and event information across a FactoryTalk application.

•

Streamlines alarm programming and eliminates polling with device-based alarm monitoring.

If your automation system includes Studio 5000 controllers, you can use pre-built alarms or alarm

instructions, available in the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later), to

simplify coding, and then download them to the controller. Device-based alarm monitoring eliminates the

need for duplicating alarm tags in an HMI server and requires fewer controller communication resources by

eliminating polling.

•

Supports other controllers in the integrated system with server tag-based alarm monitoring.

14 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

If your automation system includes other Rockwell Automation controllers, such as PLC-5s or SLC 500s, or

if you prefer not to use the alarms or alarm instructions with Studio 5000 controllers, software-based tag

servers monitor controllers for alarm conditions and publish event information.

• Monitors alarms and events from third-party controllers.

Server tag-based alarm monitoring also makes it possible to monitor alarm conditions from third-party

controllers, which communicate through OPC data servers.

•

Provides accurate time stamps on alarm conditions that are generated from Studio 5000 controllers using

device-based alarm monitoring.

When you use device-based alarm monitoring, timestamps are applied immediately in the controller and

are not delayed until alarms reach an HMI server. To make sure that the timestamps on device-based

alarms are accurate, synchronize the clocks of all controllers that produce alarms. The event time is

propagated throughout the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system, so inaccurate timestamps can affect

where alarms are displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary or the Alarm and Event Banner as well as

reports about the alarm and event history. For more information about synchronizing controller clocks, see

Time synchronization on page 175.)

•

Subscribes to and displays diagnostic events enabled by the Automatic Diagnostics feature of Studio 5000

Logix Designer.

Automatic Diagnostics is supported only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380, CompactLogix

5480, ControlLogix 5580, and GuardLogix 5580 controllers, and the ﬁrmware revision must be 33 or later.

•

Sends process data with events and messages.

You can associate up to four tags with each alarm to include process data with event information and alarm

messages.

•

Secures access to alarm and event operations through integration with FactoryTalk Security.

•

Generates messages for logging.

Log messages include audit messages that track operator actions, system-related diagnostic messages, and

historical alarm and event messages.

•

Shows alarm messages and status information at runtime, in FactoryTalk View graphic displays.

Migrating HMI tag alarms

FactoryTalk View version 10.00 is the last release to support the legacy HMI tag alarms. We highly recommend that

you update your alarming strategy to use FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

Use the FactoryTalk View Alarm Migration tool to migrate HMI tag alarms to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

Migrate to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events if you want to:

•

Use device-based alarm monitoring. You can use a Studio 5000 controller not only to detect alarms, but also

to monitor alarms. This keeps all alarm and event processing in the controller. To use device-based alarm

monitoring, add the built-in alarm instructions, available in the Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000

software version 16 or later), to a logic project and then download the project to a Studio 5000 controller. The

controller detects alarm conditions and publishes event information, which can be displayed and logged.

•

Use language-switching with alarm messages. For Logix instruction-based and Logix tag-based alarms, you

only need to translate once in Studio 5000 Logix Designer without having to translate within HMI servers.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 15

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

• Take advantage of the richer feature set offered by FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, including:

◦

Redundant software-based Tag Alarm and Event servers that monitor controllers for alarm conditions

through data servers and publish event information that can be displayed and logged.

◦ Conﬁgurable Alarm and Event Summary that includes the ability to suppress alarms directly from the

summary, without the use of separate commands.

◦

Alarm and Event Banner, Alarm and Event Log Viewer, Alarm Status Explorer, and Automatic Diagnostic

Event Summary objects that are hosted on graphic displays. You can use the Alarm Status Explorer to

enable or disable alarms, suppress or unsuppress alarms, shelve or unshelve alarms, and view operator

comments.

◦

System-wide views in the Alarm and Event Banner, rather than just the alarms in a single HMI server.

Where to start

Here is an overview of the sections covered in this guide:

Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services on page 14

2. Plan your system on page 25

◦

Set up device-based alarm monitoring

a. Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on page 29

b. Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers on page 38

◦

Set up tag-based alarm monitoring

a. Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45

b. Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page

◦

Set up OPC UA alarm monitoring

a. Deﬁne and conﬁgure alarms in the third-party OPC UA server on page 55

b. Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector and enable alarms on page 55

Set up graphic displays on page 58

Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime on page 82

Set up historical alarm and event logging on page 100

Conﬁgure redundancy for alarms and events on page 120

16 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events components

The following diagram shows a high-level view of the components of the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system. For

more detailed information, see FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Help.

Device-based alarm monitoring

With device-based alarm monitoring that are available with the Studio 5000 Logix Designer application, pre-built

alarms or alarm instructions are conﬁgured and then downloaded into a Studio 5000 controller. The controller

detects alarm conditions and notiﬁes alarms and events services of alarm states. Software components publish this

information to a device server. From the device server, the information can be logged to a database and monitored

from FactoryTalk View graphic displays.

Use device-based alarm monitoring with Studio 5000 controllers, programmed with the Logix Designer application,

communicating through Rockwell Automation Device Servers (FactoryTalk Linx).

Server tag-based alarm monitoring

If you are not using Studio 5000 controllers, or if you do not want to use the pre-built alarming available with the

Logix Designer application, use server tag-based alarm monitoring. The server tag-based Alarm and Event servers

monitor controllers for alarm conditions through data servers and publish event information for display and logging.

These data servers serve tags, or data items, contained in OPC DA (Data Access) servers. Clients that need access

to data items, such as FactoryTalk View Studio and FactoryTalk Transaction Manager, use data server application

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 17

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

elements referenced from the FactoryTalk Directory to locate the computers that are hosting OPC DA 2.0 compliant

data servers.

Use the server tag-based alarm monitoring for Studio 5000 controllers, PLC-5 devices, and SLC 500 devices

communicating through Rockwell Automation Device Servers (FactoryTalk Linx), or for third-party controllers

communicating through OPC DA data servers.

OPC UA alarm monitoring

OPC UA alarm monitoring captures alarm information originated from third-party OPC UA servers. FactoryTalk Linx

OPC UA Connector routes the alarm information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events for display and logging.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

Device-based alarms, tag-based alarms and events, and OPC UA alarms are published to FactoryTalk Alarms and

Events services, which then routes the information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects hosted in FactoryTalk

View, the alarm and event history log, and to diagnostic logs and audit logs.

Alarm and Event Historian

The Alarm and Event Historian is a logging component that installs silently as part of the FactoryTalk Alarms and

Events software. It manages connections between alarm servers and databases and logs data from each alarm

server to an alarm history database. An Alarm and Event Log Viewer allows viewing and printing data from alarm

history databases. Third-party database tools can also retrieve, view, analyze, and print alarm history information.

To use alarm and event logging, install SQL Server separately, or use an existing SQL Server database. See the release

notes for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events for the latest qualiﬁed versions of SQL Server.

Diagnostic and audit logs

FactoryTalk Diagnostics routes messages generated by FactoryTalk Alarms and Events to Local logs on the computers

hosting FactoryTalk components, and optionally to a centralized database log. Audit messages are routed to the Local

log as well and to the FactoryTalk Audit Log if FactoryTalk AssetCentre is installed.

Alarm and event setup and monitoring

These components deﬁne alarm conditions, set up alarm servers, view and interact with alarm conditions, and view

and run reports on historical alarm information:

•

Alarm and Event Banner

Use the Alarm and Event Banner object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to monitor and

respond to the most serious alarms requiring immediate attention.

•

Alarm and Event Log Viewer

Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to view, ﬁlter,

and print historical alarm information stored in SQL Server databases.

•

Alarm and Event Summary

Use the Alarm and Event Summary object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to acknowledge,

disable, suppress, ﬁlter, and sort alarms during runtime.

•

Alarm Status Explorer

18 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

Use the Alarm Status Explorer object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to enable or disable

alarms, suppress or unsuppress alarms, shelve or unshelve alarms, and view operator comments.

• Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary

Use the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary object, embedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic display, to

suppress, unsuppress, ﬁlter, and sort diagnostic events during runtime.

•

Alarm Server Setup

Use either FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console to add Rockwell Automation

Device Servers (as part of conﬁguring FactoryTalk Linx data servers) and Tag Alarm and Event Servers to a

FactoryTalk application.

•

Database deﬁnitions

Use database deﬁnitions to deﬁne logging options from an alarm server to a SQL Server database.

•

Diagnostics Viewer

Use the Diagnostics Viewer to view, ﬁlter, and export system-generated diagnostic messages. Run the

Diagnostics Viewer from either FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console.

•

FactoryTalk Audit Log

Use the FactoryTalk Audit Log to view and manage audit messages routed by FactoryTalk Diagnostics. To

access the Audit Log, use FactoryTalk AssetCentre software.

About monitoring for alarm conditions

You can monitor for alarm conditions using:

•

Device-based alarm monitoring

• Server tag-based alarm monitoring

• OPC UA alarm monitoring

About device-based alarm monitoring

Built-in alarms or alarm instructions, that are available in the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software

version 16 or later), are programmed in a logic project and then downloaded to a Studio 5000 controller. With device-

based alarm monitoring, detection and monitoring for alarm conditions are both done in the controller. The controller

detects alarm conditions and publishes event information, which can be displayed and logged.

This is in contrast to server tag-based alarm monitoring, where alarm detection occurs in the controller, but alarm

monitoring is performed by software-based servers.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 19

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

Device-based alarm monitoring workﬂow

Alarm instructions or alarms are programmed and then downloaded into a Studio 5000 controller.

The controller detects alarm conditions and notiﬁes its device server, FactoryTalk Linx, of alarm states.

The device server extracts alarms and publishes the information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services routes the alarm information to logs and to Alarm and Event objects

embedded in graphic displays in FactoryTalk View.

Using FactoryTalk View SE Clients, operators interact with alarms through objects embedded in graphic

displays, such as Alarm and Event Summary, Alarm and Event Banner, and Alarm Status Explorer.

This approach offers a number of beneﬁts over generic methods of alarm detection:

•

Alarm instructions are programmed only once, and then downloaded to the controller, reducing programming

effort and errors.

•

Alarm conditions are detected more quickly.

•

Real-time alarming is performed in the controller.

•

HMI tags or alarms in a Tag Alarm and Event Server are not required, reducing overhead and potential tag-

mapping errors.

•

Alarm states are managed, processed, and preserved by controllers, even if a server goes down.

•

Data polling is eliminated; alarm status is communicated only when state changes, reducing network

overhead and controller processing, and improving overall system performance.

•

Time stamps on alarm conditions are more accurate, because they are applied in the controller, and not

delayed until they reach the HMI software or Tag Alarm and Event Server. Because device-based alarms are

stamped with the controller’s time, all controllers producing alarms must have their clocks synchronized. The

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Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

event time is propagated throughout the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system, so inaccurate time stamps

can affect where alarms are displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary or the Alarm and Event Banner as

well as reports based on the alarm and event history.

For more information about synchronizing controller clocks, see Time synchronization on page 175.

About server tag-based alarm monitoring

Tag-based alarm monitoring offered by FactoryTalk Alarms and Events is an example of software-based alarm

monitoring. With software-based alarm monitoring, alarm detection occurs in the controller, but alarm monitoring is

performed by software-based servers.

Software-based alarm monitoring is a generic way of monitoring controllers for alarm conditions through data

servers and publish event information, which can be displayed and logged. Tag-based alarm monitoring is supported

for Studio 5000, PLC‑5, and SLC 500 devices communicating through Rockwell Automation device servers

(FactoryTalk Linx), or for third-party controllers that communicate through OPC data servers. Choose server tag-

based alarm monitoring if you do not want to change the logic in your programmable controllers, or if you do not want

to update the ﬁrmware in Studio 5000 controllers.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 21

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

Server tag-based alarm monitoring workﬂow

Logic in a controller is programmed to detect problems and latch alarm conditions in tags.

A Tag Alarm and Event Server polls controller tags and notiﬁes clients, including FactoryTalk Alarms and Events,

of alarm conditions.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services routes the alarm information to logs and to Alarm and Event objects

embedded in graphic displays in FactoryTalk View.

Using FactoryTalk View SE Clients, operators interact with alarms through objects embedded in graphic

displays, such as Alarm and Event Summary, Alarm and Event Banner, and Alarm Status Explorer.

With the server tag-based monitoring:

•

Programming is required in both the controller and in the HMI software or Tag Alarm and Event Server.

•

Tags must be duplicated in the HMI server and mapped to the controller. For Tag Alarm and Event Servers,

controller tags must be mapped to alarms—care must be exercised to avoid errors.

•

Alarms are detected and processed twice, ﬁrst in the controller logic and then again in the HMI software or

Tag Alarm and Event Server.

•

Polling between the HMI server or Tag Alarm and Event Server and controller tags results in increased

network overhead.

•

Alarm time stamps are delayed because they are applied by the HMI server or Tag Alarm and Event Server

after polling and processing, rather than immediately when they occur. Time stamps are not synchronized

among multiple alarm servers.

•

Alarm acknowledge and enable states are held in the computer, and not in the controller. If redundant servers

are not used, alarm state information can be lost.

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Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

About OPC UA alarm monitoring

OPC UA alarm monitoring captures alarm information originated from third-party OPC UA servers. FactoryTalk Linx

OPC UA Connector routes the alarm information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events for display and logging.

Unlike server tag-based or device-based alarm monitoring, OPC UA alarm monitoring does not require a Tag Alarm

and Event Server or FactoryTalk Linx.

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector is needed as a proxy between the OPC UA servers and a FactoryTalk application,

and aggregates the alarm data and delivers the alarm information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

OPC UA alarm monitoring workﬂow

Alarm instructions or alarms are routed from third-party devices via an OPC UA server.

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector communicates with the OPC UA server for the alarms and publishes the

information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services routes the alarm information to logs and to Alarm and Event objects

embedded in graphic displays in FactoryTalk View.

Using FactoryTalk View SE Clients, operators interact with alarms through objects embedded in graphic

displays, such as Alarm and Event Summary, Alarm and Event Banner, and Alarm Status Explorer.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 23

Chapter 2Overview of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services

With the OPC UA alarm monitoring:

•

Alarm conditions are provided by third-party OPC UA servers.

• FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector is required to route alarm data from the third-party OPC UA server.

• Alarm statuses are managed in third-party OPC UA servers. FactoryTalk Alarms and Events allows you to

monitor the alarms once the alarm status changes.

Choose a suitable type of alarm monitoring

Use device-based alarm monitoring with:

•

Studio 5000 controllers, using downloaded alarms or alarm instructions programmed with the Logix Designer

application (or RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later)

Use server tag-based alarm monitoring with:

•

Studio 5000 controllers

•

PLC-5, SLC 500 devices

•

Third-party controllers that communicate through OPC data servers

Use OPC UA alarm monitoring with:

•

Third-party OPC UA servers that communicate with third-party devices

Graphic objects in FactoryTalk Alarms and Events

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events graphic objects are on the Objects menu in the graphics editor in FactoryTalk View

Site Edition.

To do this With FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, you do it this way

Acknowledge, disable, suppress, shelve, unshelve, filter, and

sort alarms during runtime

Alarm and Event Summary

Enable or disable alarms, suppress or unsuppress alarms,

shelve or unshelve alarms, and view operator comments

Alarm and Event Summary (suppress only; to unsuppress

alarms, use the Alarm Status Explorer)

Alarm Status Explorer

Monitor and respond to the most serious alarms that require

immediate attention

Alarm and Event Banner

View, filter, and print historical alarm information Alarm and Event Log Viewer

Historical alarm information is stored in Microsoft SQL Server

databases.

24 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 3

Plan your system

Before you build and deploy FactoryTalk Alarms and Events as part of a local or network application, consider which

computer hardware and operating systems you plan to use, and where to install the various hardware and software

components. The information in this chapter offers some guidelines as you begin planning. See also Required

software on page 9 and Recommended hardware and supported operating systems on page 9.

Decide what type of application you are building

You must decide whether you are building a local station application or network station application on a stand-alone

computer, or a network distributed application distributed across multiple computers. This system conﬁguration

guide primarily discusses how to install, conﬁgure, and use software on a stand-alone system.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events is not supported for use with FactoryTalk View Machine

Edition.

•

Network distributed applications are held in a FactoryTalk Network Directory. Participating software

products can be located on multiple computers, distributed across a network. All of the computers

participating in a particular network distributed application share a common Network Directory Server

located on a network computer. See Typical distributed system on a network on page 185 for a graphical

overview.

The application you create in the Network Directory can be divided into any number of areas. Each area can

contain one or more sub-areas and one or more data servers. Each area or sub-area can contain only one

HMI server. A network distributed application supports FactoryTalk Alarms and Events redundancy.

•

Network station applications are held in a FactoryTalk Network Directory. All participating software

products (except for data servers) must be installed on the same computer. Network station applications

can connect to data servers that are located on different machines. All of the computers participating in

a particular network station application share a common Network Directory Server located on a network

computer. See Typical stand-alone system on page 27 for a graphical overview.

The application you create in the Network Directory can be divided into any number of areas. Each area can

contain one or more sub-areas and one or more data servers. A network station application consists of only

one HMI server. You can add the HMI server in the root area or within the areas you have created. A network

station application supports FactoryTalk Alarms and Events redundancy.

•

Local station applications are suitable for self-contained, stand-alone processes that do not interact

with other processes or systems. Local station applications are held in a FactoryTalk Local Directory and

are accessible only from the local computer where they reside. Even if the computer is connected to a

network and even if a network application resides on the same computer, the applications you create in the

FactoryTalk Local Directory remain self-contained and do not share data or project elements.

Local station applications do not support areas, and all application components and participating software

products are located on a single computer. See Typical stand-alone system on page 27 for a graphical

overview.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 25

Chapter 3Plan your system

IMPORTANT:

To use FactoryTalk Alarms and Events with a local station application, install all

software on the same computer.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events redundancy is only supported in network station applications

and network distributed applications.

Decide what type of alarm monitoring you need

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events supports the following alarm monitoring:

•

Device-based alarm monitoring on page 19

• Server tag-based alarm monitoring on page 21

• OPC UA alarm monitoring on page 23

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to plan your system:

•

Determine network conﬁguration

• Install and activate FactoryTalk View software

Tip:

FactoryTalk Services Platform, FactoryTalk Alarms and Events, FactoryTalk Linx, and

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector are installed along with FactoryTalk View.

•

Install RSLinx Classic software

•

Install and activate RSLogix software

•

Update Studio 5000 ﬁrmware to V16 or later (optional if using Tag Alarm and Event Servers)

•

(optional) Install Microsoft SQL Server

What you need

• Decide what type of application you are building.

•

Decide what type of alarm monitoring you need.

• Install and activate FactoryTalk software.

• Update Studio 5000 ﬁrmware to revision 16.20 or later (excluding 21 to 23), if you plan to use device-based

alarm monitoring and alarm instructions that are built into Studio 5000 controllers. If you do not plan to use

device-based alarm instructions, you can skip this step and use tag-based alarm monitoring with a Tag Alarm

and Event Server instead.

Install and activate FactoryTalk software

Follow these procedures to install and activate the software products required for FactoryTalk Alarms and Events.

IMPORTANT:

This guide describes how to set up a local station application. The procedure to set

up a network station application or network distributed application is similar. This guide provides

additional information about the two applications where it is necessary. See also Reference for

building a distributed system on page 185.

26 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 3Plan your system

For more information about each software product, see its respective product Help.

Typical stand-alone system

To use FactoryTalk Alarms and Events with a local station application or a network station application as part of a

stand-alone FactoryTalk system, install all software on the same computer. Use this diagram only as a starting point

your own system will vary.

Install FactoryTalk software

For speciﬁc installation instructions, refer to the installation guide for each product.

•

To develop or run local station applications, install all the necessary software components on one computer.

• To develop or run network station applications, install all the necessary software components (except for

data servers) on one computer. Network station applications can connect to data servers that are located on

different machines.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 27

Chapter 3Plan your system

• To develop or run network distributed applications, install different combinations of software on each

computer, depending on your needs. For more information, see FactoryTalk Services Platform Help. Click Start

> All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Help.

IMPORTANT:

This guide provides additional information about network distributed

applications or network station applications where it is necessary.

To set up a FactoryTalk system, install the following software:

•

FactoryTalk Services Platform

•

FactoryTalk Activation

•

FactoryTalk View Site Edition

•

FactoryTalk Linx

•

RSLinx Classic

•

The Studio 5000 Logix Designer application (known previously as RSLogix 5000 software)

•

Update Studio 5000 ﬁrmware to revision 16.20 or later (excluding 21 to 23).

Tip:

To take advantage of the new alarms functionality in the v24 ﬁrmware, we recommend you

install FactoryTalk Services Platform v2.71 or later and update your controller ﬁrmware to revision

24 or later.

Install SQL Server for logging

If you plan to log historical alarm and event messages to a database, you must install Microsoft SQL Server software

on the computer you want to use for logging. If you do not have Microsoft SQL Server software installed, see Install

Microsoft SQL Server on page 164.

Tip:

If you already have Microsoft SQL Server installed, you may need to change the conﬁguration options

to log alarm and event messages. For conﬁguration instructions, see Use an existing Microsoft SQL Server

database on page 167.

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Chapter 4

Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

To set up device-based alarm monitoring, you program alarms or alarm instructions that are available with the Logix

Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later), and download them to a Studio 5000 controller. The

controller detects alarm conditions and notiﬁes alarms and events services of alarm states. Software components

publish this information to a device server, where it can be logged to a database, and interacted from FactoryTalk

View graphic displays.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events can handle many different types of alarms. The controller limits the alarms to Logix

tag-based alarms and instruction-based alarms. The instruction-based alarms include digital and analog alarms. An

analog alarm instruction monitors two types of alarm conditions: Level and Rate of Change. A server tag-based alarm

supports three alarm types: Digital, Level, and Deviation.

Logix tag-based alarms associate alarm conditions with tags for Studio 5000 controllers. Logix tag-based alarms

monitor tag values to determine the alarm condition, but they are not part of the logic program and do not increase

the scan time for a project.

Tip:

Logix tag-based alarms are supported only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380,

CompactLogix 5480, ControlLogix 5580, and GuardLogix 5580 controllers.

A digital alarm instruction is based on the input rung state (in ladder logic) or on the alarm input (for function block).

The trigger condition compares the value of the tag to either zero or one.

An analog alarm deﬁnes a condition that evaluates a single analog tag against up to four limit values (high-high to

low-low) and up to two rate of change limits (positive and negative).

Tip:

If your FactoryTalk application does not include Studio 5000 controllers, or if your controllers are

not programmed with the alarm instructions included in the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000

software version 16 or later), see Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45 and Add

a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

Alarm buffering during loss of connection to the controller

To receive device-based alarms, the alarm server (FactoryTalk Linx) establishes a subscription to the alarms in

the Logix controller. The controller maintains a connection to each subscriber and monitors the status of that

connection.

As alarm state changes occur, the controller caches information such as timestamps, alarm state and associated tag

values, and transmits the information to all of the subscribers.

If any subscriber fails to conﬁrm the receipt of the alarm information, or if the connection to a subscriber is not

good, the controller stores the undelivered alarm information in a 100 KB buffer. Each subscriber has its own buffer

and communication problems with one subscriber do not interfere with alarm delivery to other subscribers. When

the buffer is full, newer alarm information is discarded and a FactoryTalk Diagnostics message is logged. The buffer

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 29

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

is created when the subscriber establishes its initial connection, and is maintained for a length of time after a

subscriber loses its connection. The length of time is speciﬁed in the Buffer Timeout setting on each FactoryTalk Linx

device shortcut. See "Create a new shortcut to the controller" in Add a device server on page 38.

IMPORTANT:

Firmware revision 21 to revision 23 do not support the new alarms functionality. The

buffer timeout setting is not available to controllers with ﬁrmware revision 24 or later. For controllers

with version 20 or earlier, we recommend that you do not change the default buffering time unless

instructed by Technical Support.

Before you begin

• Review Plan your system on page 25.

•

Verify that you have installed and activated the software listed in the next section under What you need on

page 30.

• Verify that the Studio 5000 ﬁrmware has been updated to revision 16 or later (excluding revisions 21 to 23).

Tip:

To take advantage of the new alarms functionality in the revision 24 ﬁrmware, we

recommend you install FactoryTalk Services Platform software version 2.71 or later, and update

your controller ﬁrmware to revision 24 or later.

What you need

• Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software)

•

ControlFLASH

• RSLinx Classic

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to deﬁne a digital or analog alarm:

•

Plan your system

• Run Studio 5000 Logix Designer software

• Create a project

•

For a digital alarm, deﬁne a boolean tag or a rung state on which to alarm

For an analog alarm, deﬁne a analog tag on which to alarm

•

Add a digital or analog alarm instruction

• Conﬁgure the digital or analog alarm properties

•

Downland the project to the controller

•

Test the alarm instruction

•

Add a device server

•

Add a data server

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Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

Deﬁne a Logix tag-based alarm

Use Logix tag-based alarms to send alerts about speciﬁc events or conditions. Logix tag-based alarms are similar to

instruction-based alarms that are created using alarm instructions (ALMA and ALMD), but Logix tag-based alarms do

not affect the scan time of the project.

Tip:

Logix tag-based alarms are supported only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380,

CompactLogix 5480, ControlLogix 5580, and GuardLogix 5580 controllers.

To deﬁne a Logix tag-based alarm:

On the Controller Organizer, expand the Alarm Manager folder, right-click Alarms, and select New Alarm.

To create an alarm in Tag Editor or in the Ladder, Sequential Function Chart, Function Block, or

Structured Text editors, right-click a tag and select Add Alarm for [tag].

In the Name box, enter a name for the alarm.

In the Input box, add the input tag for the alarm. If you launch the New Alarm dialog box from a logic editor,

the Input box is populated with the tag that you right-clicked.

To enable the alarm, select the Use and evaluate alarm check box. All new alarms are disabled by default.

Adjust other alarm settings as necessary.

Create an alarm deﬁnition

An alarm deﬁnition is associated with an Add-On Instruction (AOI) or a deﬁned data type. When a tag is created using

a data type or an AOI that has alarm deﬁnitions, alarms are created automatically based on the alarm deﬁnitions.

You can create an alarm deﬁnition for the following components:

•

Any scalar tag or parameter of an AOI.

•

Any scalar member of a user-deﬁned data type (UDT).

•

Any scalar member of a system-deﬁned data type (SDT).

•

Any scalar member of a module-deﬁned data type (MOT).

When a tag uses a data type that has alarm deﬁnitions associated with it, alarm conditions are automatically added

for the tag based on its alarm deﬁnitions.

When an AOI is based on an AOI deﬁnition, alarm conditions are automatically added for the AOI instance based on the

alarm deﬁnitions associated with the AOI deﬁnition.

To create an alarm deﬁnition:

On the Controller Organizer, expand the Alarm Manager folder, right-click Alarm Deﬁnitions, and select

New Alarm Deﬁnition.

You can also right-click a scalar tag or parameter of an AOI or a scalar member of a data type and select Add

Alarm Deﬁnition.

In the Name box, enter a name for the alarm deﬁnition.

When creating an alarm deﬁnition for a UDT or AOI, in the Input box, add an input tag. When creating an

alarm deﬁnition for a data type, add a data type member in the Input box.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 31

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

4. To enable all instances of the alarm, select the Required to be used and evaluated for all alarm instances

check box. All new alarms deﬁnitions are disabled by default.

5. Adjust other settings as necessary.

Download the program to controller and test the alarm

You can download the program containing the Logix tag-based alarm to the controller and then use FactoryTalk View

to test the alarm.

1. If it is not already running, start RSLinx Classic to establish communications between the controller and the

Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later).

On the Logix Designer application menu, click Communications > Who Active.

Select the controller to which you want to download the project.

Click Download. At the prompt, click Download again. The controller is placed in Program mode.

To switch the controller to run mode, click Communications > Run Mode.

To test the alarm, in FactoryTalk View Studio, create a FactoryTalk Alarms and Events graphic object (for

example, Alarm and Event Summary) to read Logix tag-based alarms with the fully qualiﬁed name.

Deﬁne an instruction-based alarm: digital

Digital tags are either on or off. They have states instead of limits. The alarm trigger condition compares the value of

the tag to the conﬁgured alarm state. An alarm can be triggered if the digital alarm is in one of these two states:

• The rung evaluation or input tag is equal to zero

• The rung evaluation or input tag is not equal to zero

Tip:

If your FactoryTalk application does not include Studio 5000 controllers, or if your controllers are

not programmed with the alarm instructions included in the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000

software version 16 or later), see Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45 and Add

a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

Conﬁgure the digital alarm and download to the controller

This example uses the ladder logic editor that comes with the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software) to

deﬁne a digital alarm. You can also conﬁgure digital alarms in function blocks or structured text.

Step 1. Create a rung of logic that will trigger the alarm

Create a new project with default settings. In this example, we use West_Plant_Controller.

In the left pane, expand the folders Tasks > MainTask > MainProgram, and then double-click MainRoutine.

On the Language Element toolbar, click the Examine-on instruction button to add it to a rung on the

ladder project.

At the top of the Examine-on instruction, click the question mark to select it. On the File menu, click New

Component, and then click Tag.

In the New Tag dialog box, type a name for the tag, choose BOOL as the data type, and then click Create.

In our example, we name the tag alarm_active.

32 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

Step 2. Add a digital alarm instruction to the rung

On the Language Element toolbar, click the Alarms tab, and then click the ALMD button . The

instruction block is placed in the ladder logic.

2. Inside the alarm instruction, beside ALMD, select the question mark.

On the File menu, click New Component, and then click Tag.

In the dialog box that opens, type a name for the digital alarm tag, and then click Create.

In our example, we named the tag DigitalAlarm1.

Step 3. Specify a tag for each of the digital alarm's operands, orjustenter0

Inside the alarm instruction, select the ProgAck operand.

On the File menu, click New Component, and then click Tag.

In the New Tag dialog box, type a name for the tag, select BOOL as the data type, and then click Create.

In our example, we named the tag DigitalAlarm1_Ack. For details about using the New Tag dialog box, click

Help.

Create tags for the ProgReset, ProgDisable, and ProgEnable operands. When you are ﬁnished, the alarm

instruction should resemble the one shown here:

Step 4. Conﬁgure the properties of the new digital alarm tag

Inside the alarm instruction, click the Browse button (...).

In the ALMD Properties dialog box, specify conﬁguration settings, and then click OK. For help with specifying

conﬁguration settings, click Help.

Tip:

To create a text message with embedded variables for each alarm, click the Message box

Browse button (...). At runtime, these messages appear in Alarm and Event graphic objects, such

as the Alarm and Event Summary. The maximum length of an alarm message is 255 characters.

When importing alarm messages, the Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000 software) will

verify the message length and display a warning if the alarm message exceeds the character

limit.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 33

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

Step 5. Download the program containing the ladder logic to the controller

If it is not already running, start RSLinx Classic to establish communications between the controller and the

Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later).

On the Logix Designer application menu, click Communications > Who Active.

Select the controller to which you want to download the project.

Click Download. At the prompt, click Download again. The controller is placed in Program mode.

Step 6. Test the alarm instruction by switching to run mode and triggering the

alarm

On the Logix Designer application menu, click Communications > Run Mode. Click Yes to switch the

controller to run mode.

2. To trigger the alarm, right-click the contact on the rung (the one named alarm_active), and then click Toggle

Bit. The contact should change from a blue highlight to a green highlight.

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Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

Step 7. Finish creating alarms, and next steps

•

Deﬁne additional digital alarms or analog alarms, using either ladder logic, function blocks, or structured

text, and download the logic to the controller.

•

When you ﬁnish deﬁning alarms, create a device-based alarm server, and then conﬁgure it to subscribe to

events detected by the Studio 5000 controller. See Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500

controllersfor instructions. on page 38

Deﬁne an instruction-based alarm: analog

An analog alarm deﬁnes a condition that evaluates a single analog tag against up to four limit values (high-high, hi,

low, and low-low) and up to two rate of change limits (positive and negative).

Tip:

If your FactoryTalk application does not include Studio 5000 controllers, or if your controllers are

not programmed with the alarm instructions included in the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000

software version 16 or later), see Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45 and Add

a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

Conﬁgure the analog alarm and download it to the controller

This example uses the Function Block editor that comes with the Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software).

You can also conﬁgure analog alarms in ladder logic or structured text.

Step 1. Deﬁne a new routine

Create a new project with default settings. In this example, we use East_Plant_Controller.

Expand the Tasks folder in the left pane, right-click MainProgram, click Add, and then click New Routine.

In the New Routine dialog box, type a name for the routine. We use alarm_active.

In the Type list, click Function Block Diagram.

Select the Open Routine check box, and then click OK. The new routine appears in the Tasks folder under

MainRoutine and the routine opens on the right side of the Logix Designer window.

Step 2. Build the function block logic

To add an alarm block, go to the tabs in the center right area (Favorites, Add-On, and so on) as shown in the

following illustration. Scroll to the right, and then click the Alarms tab.

On the toolbar, click the ALMA button to add an Analog Alarm block.

Using the same Alarm objects on the Language Element toolbar, click the Input Reference icon .

Right-click the single question mark inside the symbol and then click New Tag.

In the New Tag dialog box, type a name for the tag and then click Create.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 35

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

In this example, we use AnalogAlarm1. The screen should resemble the one shown in the following

illustration:

6. Connect the input reference block to the Input of the ALMA block by dragging the block's contact point to the

contact point on the ALMA block.

Step 3. Conﬁgure the properties of the alarm block

Click the Browse button (...) on the alarm block.

In the ALMA Properties dialog box, set the Input Levels as shown in the following illustration and then

click OK. To require that an operator acknowledge the alarm at runtime, make sure the Acknowledgement

Required check box is selected.

Tip:

To enter alarm messages and add variables for analog alarms, select the Messages tab. To

create a text message with embedded variables, click the Browse button (...) beside the Level

ﬁeld, or beside the Rate of Change ﬁeld. At runtime, alarm messages are displayed in Alarm and

Event graphic objects such as the Alarm and Event Summary.

36 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 4Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers

Step 4. Add a JSR instruction to the MainRoutine to run the function block

Double-click MainRoutine to open it.

2. Right-click the ﬁrst rung and then click Add Ladder Element.

In the Add Ladder Element dialog box, scroll down to the Program Control folder and then double-click the

folder to expand the list of controls.

Select JSR and then click OK.

In the JSR instruction, double-click Routine Name and then click alarm_active.

On the toolbar, click the Save button to save the conﬁguration.

Step 5. Download the program to the controller

If it is not already running, start RSLinx Classic to establish communications between the controller and the

Logix Designer application (RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later).

2. On the Logix Designer application menu, click Communications > Who Active.

Select the controller to which you want to download the project.

Click Download. At the prompt, click Download again. The controller is placed in Program mode.

To switch the controller to run mode, click Communications > Run Mode.

Step 6. Finish creating alarms, and next steps

• Deﬁne additional digital alarms or analog alarms using either ladder logic, function block, or structured text,

and download the logic to the controller.

•

When you ﬁnish deﬁning alarms, create a device-based alarm server, and then conﬁgure it to subscribe to

events detected by the Studio 5000 controller. See Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500

controllers on page 38.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 37

Chapter 5

Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

Add a device server to your application to use:

•

Device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers.

• Tag-based alarms in PLC-5, SLC 500, or Studio 5000 controllers.

Before you begin

• If you are using device-based alarms, deﬁne your alarms, as described in Deﬁne device-based alarms in

Studio 5000 controllers on page 29.

• If you are using tag-based alarms, you create a controller program to detect alarm conditions, and then

associate those conditions with tags that are monitored by the FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Server.

What you need

• FactoryTalk Linx

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console

Tip:

This guide uses FactoryTalk View Studio to deﬁne a device server. You can also use

FactoryTalk Administration Console. For more information, in the FactoryTalk Administration

Console menu bar, select Help > Contents.

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to add a device server:

•

Deﬁne alarms

• Start FactoryTalk View Studio and open a Site Edition local application

• Add a new device server

•

Conﬁgure the device server properties

•

Open the Communication Setup editor

•

Create a new shortcut to the Studio 5000 controller and conﬁgure settings

• Set up graphic displays

•

Set up historical alarm and event logging

Add a device server

In this section, you will create a Rockwell Automation device server (FactoryTalk Linx) and then conﬁgure it to

subscribe to alarms that will be detected by a Studio 5000 controller.

IMPORTANT:

If you are using third-party controllers, you do not need a device-based alarm server.

Instead, go to Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45.

If you want to monitor OPC UA alarms, you need to add an OPC UA server. For details, go to Add

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector on page 55.

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Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

Step 1. Create an application in FactoryTalk View Studio

This example shows how to create a local station application.

1. To start FactoryTalk View Studio, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View >

FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events is not supported for use with FactoryTalk View

Machine Edition.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the New tab.

In the Application name ﬁeld, type a name for the new local station application. In this example, we name

the application My Local Site.

Leave the Description ﬁeld blank, or type a description for the application. For example, you can use this

ﬁeld to record revisions to the application, or contact information for technical support.

If it is not already selected, select the default language for the application. This is the language in which you

are creating the application.

Click Create.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 39

Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

Step 2. Conﬁgure the device server

In the Explorer window, right-click the new application My Local Site, point to Add New Server, and then

click Rockwell Automation Device Server (FactoryTalk Linx).

In the FactoryTalk Linx Server Properties dialog box, click the General tab, type a name for the new server,

and then click Apply. In this example, we name the server FTAE Server. Leave this dialog box open for the

moment.

Do one of the following:

◦

If you plan to use tag-based alarms, you can skip the rest of the steps in this section, and go on to the

next major step: "Step 3. Create a new shortcut to the controller." Click OK to close the FactoryTalk

Linx Server Properties dialog box.

◦

If you are using built-in alarm instructions in Studio 5000 controllers, continue with the steps in this

section.

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Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

4. On the Alarms and Events tab, select the Enable alarm and event support check box.

Clear the Enable history check box and then click OK. For information about historical logging, see Set up

historical alarm and event logging on page 100.

The new server is added to the My Local Site application:

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 41

Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

Step 3. Create a new shortcut to the controller

In the Explorer window, double-click the new FactoryTalk Linx server and then double-click Communication

Setup.

In the Communication Setup dialog box, click the Add button, and then type a name for the new shortcut. We

use FTAE_Controller.

Some options in this dialog box might be different if you are using PLC-5 or SLC 500 controllers.

The warning icon beside the OK button indicates that changing values in this dialog box at runtime can cause

unexpected results. For details, click Help.

Skip this step if you do not plan to use Studio 5000 controllers with built-in alarm instructions. In the

Subscribe to list, click All Alarms & Events Notiﬁcation Messages or Only Alarms Notiﬁcation Messages

to enable Alarms and Events.

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Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

If you do not see the Subscribe to list, then Enable alarm and event support was not selected in the

previous step 4.

Tip:

Set Buffer Timeout (min.) for the length of time (zero to 120) you want to cache alarm

information if the connection to the controller is lost. To disable alarm buffering, set the value to

zero. See Alarm Buffering during loss of connection on page 29.

On the Primary tab, expand the list of networks and devices until the controller you plan to use is visible, and

then click the controller.

To set the path to the primary controller, click the Apply button.

To save the shortcut conﬁguration and close the Communication Setup dialog box, click OK.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events server redundancy is only supported in network

station applications and network distributed applications.

Step 4. Finish creating data servers, and next steps

If your FactoryTalk application includes third-party OPC-DA controllers, add an OPC Data Server, create a tag-

based alarm server, and then deﬁne alarms. See Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page

45 and Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page

48.

If your FactoryTalk application is communicating with PLC-5 or SLC 500 controllers, or Studio 5000

controllers that are not using built-in alarm instructions, you must add a device server (FactoryTalk Linx) to

your application and then create a tag-based alarm server and deﬁne alarms. See Add a tag-based alarm

server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

If you want to monitor OPC UA alarms that originate from third-party OPC UA servers, you must add

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector to enable the OPC UA alarm monitoring. OPC UA alarm monitoring does

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 43

Chapter 5Add a device server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, or PLC-5 controllers

not require a Tag Alarm and Event Server or FactoryTalk Linx. See Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector on

page 55.

4. After you create data servers and alarms, add FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects to graphic displays. See

Set up graphic displays on page 58.

If your FactoryTalk network distributed application or network station application plan calls for data

redundancy, you will want to conﬁgure your device-based alarm server for redundancy. We recommend

leaving this step until after the FactoryTalk application is fully conﬁgured and all HMI features have been

tested using non-redundant servers. Adding data server redundancy does not affect the conﬁguration

of the graphic displays in the HMI application. See Conﬁgure redundancy for alarms and events for more

information. on page 120

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk data server redundancy is only supported in network station

applications and network distributed applications.

44 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 6

Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers

To monitor alarms in a third-party controller, create a controller program to detect alarm conditions and

communicate them through tags. Use an OPC Data Server (for example, KEPWare server) to obtain tag values from the

controller, and use a Tag Alarm and Event Server to monitor those tags for alarm conditions.

This chapter shows an example using RSLinx Classic as an OPC Data Server. In most situations FactoryTalk Linx is

used to communicate with a PLC-5 or SLC500 controller. However, at times RSLinx Classic is used to communicate

with a controller that is bridged over Ethernet to a DH+ or DH-485 network.

Before you begin

• Review Plan your system on page 25.

•

Verify that you have installed and activated the software listed under What you need on page 45.

What you need

• PLC-5, SLC 500 or third-party OPC-DA programmable controller

•

RSLogix 5 or RSLogix 500 software

• RSLinx Classic software

• FactoryTalk Linx software

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to add a data server:

•

Plan your system

• Run RSLinx Classic and conﬁgure a device driver

• Run RSLogix software and conﬁgure system

•

Develop a ladder ﬁle and assign symbols to tags

•

Create OPC topics

•

Run FactoryTalk View Studio

• Add a link between controller tags and FactoryTalk Directory

•

Add a tag-based alarm server for PLC, SLC, or third-party OPC-DA controllers and Studio 5000* controllers

* Studio 5000 controllers that have not been programmed with alarm instructions in RSLogix 5000 V16 or

later

Add an OPC data server to an application

When you add a data server to an application or area, tags published by the data server can be accessed by any

clientin this case, the Tag Alarm and Event Server.

IMPORTANT:

This guide uses FactoryTalk View Studio to add a data server. You can also use

FactoryTalk Administration Console. For more information, select Help > Contents from the

FactoryTalk Administration Console window.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 45

Chapter 6Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers

Step 1. Open an existing application in FactoryTalk View Studio

To run FactoryTalk View Studio, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View >

FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab and select

the application you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC on page 38 (we use ‑5, or SLC 500

controllersMy Local Site).

Step 2. Add a data server

In the Explorer window, right-click the application, point to Add New Server, and then click OPC DA Server.

2. In the OPC Data Server Properties dialog box, type a name for the server. We use My OPC Server.

Beside the OPC Server name (ProgID) ﬁeld, click the Browse button.

In the Available OPC Data Servers dialog box, select RSLinx OPC Server, and then click OK.

Tip:

When creating a network station application or network distributed application, select

RSLinx Remote OPC Server.

Click OK to close the OPC Data Server Properties dialog box.

Next, add a Tag Alarm and Event Server and deﬁne alarm conditions. See Add a tag-based alarm server for

Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

If your FactoryTalk network station application or network distributed application plan calls for data

redundancy, you will want to conﬁgure your tag-based alarm server for redundancy. We recommend

completing this step after the FactoryTalk application is fully conﬁgured and all HMI features have been

46 FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Chapter 6Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers

tested using non-redundant servers. Adding data server redundancy does not affect the conﬁguration of the

graphic displays in the HMI application.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events server redundancy and data server redundancy

are only supported in network station applications and network distributed applications.

Rockwell Automation, Inc. FTAE-RM001P-EN-E - November 2023 47

Chapter 7

Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, PLC-5, or third-party

controllers

FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Servers provide software-based alarms and events. Use tag alarm and event

servers to monitor alarm conditions in Studio 5000 controllers, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party OPC-DA programmable

controllers.

Tip:

If your FactoryTalk system does not include PLC, SLC, or third-party controllers, you can skip this

chapter.

A FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Server provides a link between a hardware device that contains data and the

FactoryTalk Directory. This includes third-party controllers. All that is required is a data server (such as KEPWare) to

communicate with the controller.

FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Servers can be used to provide an alternative to device-based alarmsalarms

provided by devices such as Studio 5000 controllers or sensors using built-in alarm instructions.

Before you begin

• If you are using third-party controllers, you do not need a device-based alarm server. Instead, go to Add an

OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45.

What you need

• Studio 5000 controllers, PLC-5, or SLC 500 devices communicating through Rockwell Automation device

servers (FactoryTalk Linx)

• RSLogix 5 or RSLogix 500 software

• FactoryTalk Linx, RSLinx Classic (or RSLinx Classic for bridging from Ethernet to DH+ or DH-485 networks)

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to add a tag-based alarm server:

•

Add a data server for PLC, SLC, third-party, or Studio 5000 controllers

Tip:

To user tag-based alarms in PLC-5, SLC 500, or Studio 5000 controllers, you must add a

device server (FactoryTalk Linx) to your application.

•

Run FactoryTalk View Studio

•

Add a new device server (FactoryTalk Linx)

•

Add a new tag alarm and event server

•

Conﬁgure the server properties

•

Set up conditions for triggering alarms in your FactoryTalk system

•

Add Alarm and Event objects to graphic displays

•

Set up graphic displays

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Chapter 7Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, PLC-5, or third-party controllers

Create an application

In this section, you will create a Rockwell Automation device server (FactoryTalk Linx) and then conﬁgure it to

subscribe to alarms that will be detected by a Studio 5000 controller. In this example, the Rockwell Automation device

server (FactoryTalk Linx) is used as a data server for tag values, not as an alarm server.

Create an application in FactoryTalk View Studio

Tip:

If you created a local station application previously, you can skip the steps in this section. Open the

application you created and go on to the next section Add a data server.

This example shows how to create a local station application.

To start FactoryTalk View Studio, in Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software >

FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events is not supported for use with FactoryTalk View

Machine Edition.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box click the New tab.

In the Application name ﬁeld, type a name for the new application. In this example, we name the application

My Local Site.

Leave the Description ﬁeld blank, or type a description for the application. For example, you can use this

ﬁeld to record revisions to the application, or contact information for technical support.

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Chapter 7Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, SLC 500, PLC-5, or third-party controllers

6. If it is not already selected, select the default language for the application. This is the language in which you

are creating the application.

7. Click Create.

Add a data server

Step 1. Conﬁgure the device server (FactoryTalk Linx)

When you add a data server to an application or area, tags published by the data server can be accessed by

any clientin this case, the Tag Alarm and Event Server.

IMPORTANT:

This guide uses FactoryTalk View Studio to add a data server. You can also use

FactoryTalk Administration Console. For more information, select Help > Contents from the

FactoryTalk Administration Console window.

In this example a device server (FactoryTalk Linx) is added to the application to act as a data server.

In the Explorer window, right-click the application (My Local Site), point to Add New Server, and then click

Rockwell Automation Device Server (FactoryTalk Linx).

In the FactoryTalk Linx Server Properties dialog box, click the General tab, type a name for the server, and

then click Apply. In this example, we name the server FTAE Server.

The new server is added to the My Local Site application:

Step 2. Create a new shortcut to the controller

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Tip:

If you already created a shortcut to the controller in a previous chapter, you can skip this step.

In the Explorer window, double-click the new FactoryTalk Linx server and then double-click Communication

Setup.

In the Communication Setup dialog box, click the Add button and then type a name for the new shortcut. We

use FTAE_Controller.

Some options in this dialog box might be different if you are using PLC-5 or SLC 500 controllers.

The warning icon beside the OK button indicates that changing values in this dialog box at runtime can cause

unexpected results. For details, click Help.

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3. On the Primary tab, expand the list of networks and devices until the controller is visible, and then click the

controller. To set the path to the primary controller, click the Apply button.

4. To save the shortcut conﬁguration and close the Communication Setup dialog box, click OK.

Add a Tag Alarm and Event Server

To create a server and deﬁne alarm conditions that monitor tags for PLC-5, SLC 500 controllers, or Studio 5000

controllers, complete the following steps.

These instructions apply to FactoryTalk View Studio. For help with FactoryTalk Administration Console, click Start >

All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Tools > FactoryTalk Help.

Add a Tag Alarm and Event Server

In the Explorer window, right-click the application. Point to Add New Server, and then click Tag Alarm and

Event Server.

In the Tag Alarm and Event Server Properties dialog box, click the General tab.

Type a name for the server, and then click OK. In this example, we use TagAE.

On the Priorities and History tab, clear the Enable history check box.

The Priorities and History tab is used to conﬁgure alarm and event logging. Set up historical alarm and

event logging on page 100 describes how to set up alarm logging for a Tag Alarm and Event Server.

5. To create the Tag Alarm and Event Server and close the dialog box, click OK.

Deﬁne alarm conditions

After creating a Tag Alarm and Event Server, deﬁne the conditions that will trigger alarms at runtime.

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This example shows how to create a digital alarm in a Tag Alarm and Event Server.

In the Explorer window, expand the TagAE server, and then double-click Alarm and Event Setup.

2. In the Alarm and Event Setup dialog box, click the New button on the toolbar, and then click Digital.

In the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, type a name for the alarm. In this example we use Valve1FTO.

To select an Input Tag for the alarm, click the Browse button (...), and then expand the folder tree until you

can select the online tag you plan to monitor.

Select the tag you plan to monitor and then click OK. In this example we used Valve1FTO_alm.

In the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, type a message. In this example, in the Message ﬁeld we type

The valve failed to open.

You can also embed variables within the message. For details, click Help on any tab in the Alarm Setup

dialog box.

To close the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, click OK.

To save the alarm and start monitoring for the alarm condition, click Save.

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Next steps

Do the following:

Deﬁne additional alarms and (optionally) deﬁne alarm groups.

2. After you deﬁne alarms and groups, you can add FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects to graphic displays.

See Set up graphic displays on page 58.

If your FactoryTalk network station application or network distributed application plan calls for data

redundancy, you will want to conﬁgure your tag-based alarm server and tag data servers for redundancy. We

recommend completing this step after the FactoryTalk application is fully conﬁgured and all HMI features

have been tested using non-redundant servers. Adding data and alarm server redundancy does not affect the

conﬁguration of the graphic displays in the HMI application. See Conﬁgure redundancy for alarms and events

on page 120 for more information.

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events redundancy and data server redundancy are

only supported in network station applications and network distributed applications.

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Chapter 8

Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector for third-party OPC UA servers

OPC UA alarm monitoring captures alarm information originated from third-party OPC UA servers. To monitor OPC UA

alarms, deﬁne and conﬁgure alarms in the third-party OPC UA server. Use FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector as the

proxy to route the alarm information to FactoryTalk Alarms and Events for display and logging.

Unlike tag-based or device-based alarm monitoring, OPC UA alarm monitoring does not require a Tag Alarm and Event

Server or FactoryTalk Linx.

This chapter shows an example in FactoryTalk View Studio, where you add and enable FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA

Connector for alarm and event.

Before you begin

• Review Plan your system on page 25.

•

Verify that you have installed and activated the software listed under What you need on page 45.

What you need

• Third-party OPC UA servers

•

FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector (installed as part of FactoryTalk Services Platform)

• FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console

Follow these steps

• Deﬁne and conﬁgure alarms in the third-party OPC UA server

For more information on how to deﬁne and conﬁgure alarms, see the user document of your OPC UA server.

• Run FactoryTalk View Studio

• Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector and enable alarms

•

Add Alarm and Event objects to graphic displays

•

Set up graphic displays

Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

In this section, you will create FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector in FactoryTalk View Studio, and then conﬁgure it to

subscribe to alarms that originate from third-party OPC UA servers.

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Step 1. Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

In the Explorer window, right-click the application (My Local Site), point to Add New Server, and then click

OPC UA Server.

In FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector, enter the connector name. This example uses the default name

Connector1.

In the left pane, click OPC UA Servers.

Under General, enter the OPC UA server name. This example uses the default name UAServer 01.

Under Endpoint URL, enter the network path to the OPC UA server.

Click Apply to verify the connection to the OPC UA server.

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Step 2. Enable alarm and event

Go to Alarm Settings, and then select Enable alarm and event support.

Click Apply to verify the connection to the OPC UA server.

Click OK.

The new server is added to the My Local Site application:

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Chapter 9

Set up graphic displays

Create graphic displays in FactoryTalk View Studio. These are containers for objects, such as the FactoryTalk Alarm

and Event Summary object. Add FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects to graphic displays so that an operator can

monitor and interact with device-based, tag-based, OPC UA alarms, and diagnostic events at runtime.

Other graphic objects (for example, objects representing equipment) can be animated (for example, to change color)

using FactoryTalk View Site Edition expression functions that monitor the state of alarms. See Use color animation to

indicate alarm state changes on page 73. Also see FactoryTalk View Site Edition Help.

This section describes how to create graphic displays, and then create and conﬁgure the FactoryTalk Alarms and

Events graphic objects and macros that determine how the graphic displays open in the FactoryTalk View Site Edition

Client. This section is one example of how you might create your graphic displays.

Before you begin

• Deﬁne the alarms you plan to use, as described in Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on

page 29.

• Add the required server, as described in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers.

on page 38Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page

48, Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45, or Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

for third-party OPC UA servers on page 55.

What you need

• FactoryTalk Linx software

•

FactoryTalk View Studio software

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to set up graphic displays:

•

Add a device server, a tag-based alarm server, an OPC data server, or FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

• Run FactoryTalk View Studio and open an application

• Create a graphic display

•

Add an Alarm and Event Summary object

•

Conﬁgure the object's properties

•

Create a graphic display

• Add an Alarm and Event Banner object

•

Conﬁgure the object's properties

•

Create a startup macro

•

Create a graphic display

•

Add an Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary object

•

Conﬁgure the object's properties

•

Animate a display with expressions

•

Monitor and interact with alarms during runtime

•

Set up historical alarm and event logging

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Chapter 9Set up graphic displays

Create a graphic display

Create a graphic display to host FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects, such as the Alarm and Event Summary.

Step 1. Open an existing application in FactoryTalk View Studio

1. To run FactoryTalk View Studio, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View >

FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab, and select the

application you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers on page 38 (we

used My Local Site).

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Step 2. Create a graphic display to host FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder, right-click Displays, and then click New.

A blank display appears in the workspace. Next, add Factory Talk Alarm and Event objects to the graphic

display.

Create an Alarm and Event Summary

Use the Alarm and Event Summary object to view and interact with a summary of all the current alarms and events in

an application. You can acknowledge, suppress, disable, shelve, or unshelve alarms.

Tip:

You cannot use the Alarm and Event Summary to enable or turn alarm suppression off. To enable or

turn alarm suppression off, use the Alarm Status Explorer. See Monitor alarms and events on page 86.

To silence an alarm, use the Alarm and Event Banner.

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You can use FactoryTalk Security to control which users can acknowledge, enable, disable, reset, suppress, shelve, or

unshelve alarms at runtime in an application (or in an area). To do this, right-click the application (or area) and then

click Security. For details, see the FactoryTalk Security System Conguration Guide.

Step 1. Add an Alarm Summary to a graphic display

On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, click Summary (or in the toolbox, select Alarm and Event

Summary), and then place the cursor approximately where the object is to be on the display.

Hold the left mouse button down and drag it to create a rectangle the size that the Alarm and Event Summary

object should be.

When the object is the desired size, release the left mouse button. The Alarm and Event Summary object is

drawn on the display.

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Step 2. Change the settings of the Alarm and Event Summary display

On the menu bar, click Edit > Display Settings.

Tip:

In any application, do not include more than two graphic displays that have Cache After

Displaying and Always Updating set because these options can consume large numbers of

processor cycles.

In the Display Settings dialog box, on the Properties tab, make the following changes and then click OK.

◦

Under Cache After Displaying, click Yes and then select the Always Updating check box.

When you set Cache After Displaying to Yes, the display stays in memory cache when you close it.

This shortens the time required to open the graphic display the next time.

When you select the Always Updating check box, the display continues to be updated with changes

in alarm states when it is cached. This shortens the time necessary to update the Alarm and Event

Summary with current alarms when you open it again.

If Cache After Displaying is set to No, and the Always Updating check box is cleared, every time you

close the graphic display, all alarms are removed from the Alarm and Event Summary. When you re-

open the graphic display, the Alarm and Event Summary is blank, and then begins to receive the most

recent alarms when they occur.

◦

Clear the Title Bar check box.

◦

Select the Size to Main Window at Runtime check box.

◦

Select the Allow Display to be Resized check box.

◦

Under When Resized, select the Scale check box is if it is not already selected.

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Step 3. Save the display

On the File menu, click Save.

2. In the Save dialog box, type a name for the new display and then click OK.

We use Alarm and Event Summary in this example.

Close the graphic object.

Create an Alarm and Event Banner display

This section describes how to add an Alarm and Event Banner object to a graphic display, and then create a startup

macro that docks the Banner to the bottom of the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client window.

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Step 1. Create a new graphic display

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder.

2. Right-click Displays, and then click New.

Step 2. Add an Alarm and Event Banner object to the display

On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, click Banner (or, in the toolbox, select Alarm and Event

Banner), and then place the cursor approximately where the object is to be on the display.

Hold the left mouse button down and drag it to create a rectangle the size that the Alarm and Event Banner

should be.

When the object the desired size, release the left mouse button. The Alarm and Event Banner object is drawn

on the display.

Resize the graphic display so that the Banner ﬁlls the graphic display (do not leave white space). Do so

because the Banner displays no more than ﬁve alarms at a time.

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Step 3. Conﬁgure the properties of the Alarm and Event Banner

To open the Alarm and Event Banner Properties dialog box, double-click the Alarm and Event Banner object.

For details about all of the properties in the dialog box, click Help.

On the General tab, click the Browse button (...) under Alarm and Event Summary command.

This opens the Command Wizard where you will create a command to start the Alarm and Event Summary

graphic display from the Alarm and Event Banner.

Scroll down the list of commands on the right side of the wizard, select Display, and then click Next.

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4. In the File list, click Alarm and Event Summary.

Select the Window Position check box. Scroll down the list on the right and then click Centered of the

screen.

Click Finish to save the Display command and add it to the Alarm and Event Banner Properties dialog box.

Click OK to close the dialog box.

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Step 4. Change the display settings for the Alarm and Event Banner display

On the Edit menu, click Display Settings.

2. In the Display Settings dialog box, on the Properties tab, make the following changes, and then click OK:

◦

Clear the Title Bar check box.

◦

Select Size to Main Window at Runtime.

◦

Select Allow Display to be Resized.

◦

Under When Resized, select Scale if it is not already selected.

The Alarm and Event Banner graphic display is always visible because it is docked. You do not need to turn

on Cache After Displaying, as you did for the Alarm and Event Summary object. See step 2: "Change the

settings of the Alarm and Event Summary display" in Create an Alarm and Event Summary on page 60.

Step 5. Save the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the graphic display and then click OK.

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In this example, we use Alarm and Event Banner.

Close the graphic display.

Create a startup macro for the Banner display

This section describes how to create a startup macro. You will use the macro when you conﬁgure the FactoryTalk

View Site Edition Client. See Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime on page 82.

Step 1. Conﬁgure a startup macro

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This startup macro docks the Banner display to the bottom of the FactoryTalk View SE Client window.

In FactoryTalk View Studio, in the Explorer window, right-click Macros and then click New to open the editor.

To open the Command Wizard, double-click anywhere in the body of the macro editor.

3. In the Command Wizard, scroll down the list of commands on the right side of the wizard, click Display, and

then click Next.

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4. In the File list, click Alarm and Event Banner.

Select the Window Position check box. Scroll down the list on the right and then select Docked to the

bottom.

To save the Display command and add it to the macro, click OK.

Step 2. Save the macro

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the new macro and then click OK. In this example, we use Start

Alarm and Event Banner.

Create an Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary

Use the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary object to subscribe to and show diagnostic events collected by

Rockwell Automation controllers via Ethernet. It is enabled by the Automatic Diagnostics feature.

Automatic Diagnostics is supported only on Compact GuardLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5380, CompactLogix 5480,

ControlLogix 5580, and GuardLogix 5580 controllers, and the ﬁrmware revision must be 33 or later.

With the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary, you can suppress, unsuppress, ﬁlter, and sort diagnostic events at

runtime.

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You can use FactoryTalk Security to control which users can suppress or unsuppress events at runtime in an

application (or in an area). To do this, right-click the application (or area) and then click Security. For details, see the

FactoryTalk Security System Conguration Guide.

Step 1. Create a new graphic display

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder.

Right-click Displays, and then click New.

Step 2. Add an Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary object to the display

On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, click Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary (or, in the

toolbox, select Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary), and then place the cursor approximately where the

object is to be on the display.

2. Hold the left mouse button down and drag it to create a rectangle the size that the Automatic Diagnostic

Event Summary should be.

When the object the desired size, release the left mouse button. The Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary

object is drawn on the display.

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Step 3. Conﬁgure the properties of the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary

•

To open the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary Properties dialog box, right-click the Automatic

Diagnostic Event Summary object. For details about all of the properties in the dialog box, click Help.

Step 4. Change the display settings for the Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary

display

On the Edit menu, click Display Settings.

In the Display Settings dialog box, on the Properties tab, make the following changes, and then click OK:

◦

Clear the Title Bar check box.

◦

Select Size to Main Window at Runtime.

◦

Select Allow Display to be Resized.

◦

Under When Resized, select Scale if it is not already selected.

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Step 5. Save the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

2. In the Save dialog box, type a name for the graphic display and then click OK.

In this example, we use Automatic Diagnostic Event Summary.

Close the graphic display.

Use color animation to indicate alarm state changes

In this section, you use alarm expressions in FactoryTalk View to animate a rectangle on a graphic display so that it

changes color when the alarm state changes at runtime:

• If there are active unacknowledged alarms, the rectangle ﬂashes red.

• If all active alarms have been acknowledged, the rectangle is a steady red.

•

If there are no active alarms but there are normal unacknowledged alarms, the rectangle is yellow.

•

If there are no active or unacknowledged alarms, the rectangle is green.

Step 1. Create a new graphic display

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder.

Right-click Displays, and then click New.

Step 2. Add an Alarm and Event Summary to the graphic display

On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, and then click Summary (or in the toolbox, click Alarm and

Event Summary).

Hold the left mouse button down and drag it to create a rectangle the size that the Alarm and Event Summary

object should be.

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3. When the object is the desired size, release the left mouse button. The Alarm and Event Summary object is

drawn on the display.

If necessary, resize either the Alarm and Event Summary object or the graphic display to expose enough

white space at the top, bottom, or on one side to add a rectangle object that will be the alarm status

indicator.

On the Objects menu, point to Drawing and then click Rectangle.

In the graphic display, hold down the left mouse button and then drag the mouse to draw a box for the alarm

status indicator.

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Step 3. Add an expression to animate the rectangle

Right-click the rectangle, point to Animation and then click Color.

To create an expression for the color animation, you can compose the expression step by step, as explained

in the following steps, or you can type the following expression in the Expression box:

If AE_InAlmUnackedCount( "*" ) > 0 Then 0 Else

If AE_InAlmAckedCount( "*" ) > 0 Then 1 Else

If AE_NormalUnackedCount( "*" ) > 0 Then 2 Else 3

Tip:

In the preceding expression, "*" means include all alarms that are in the same location (area) as

the HMI server. If the preceding expression is used in a network station application or network

distributed application with areas, the expression would include all alarms from the alarm servers

that are located in the same area as the HMI server.

If you want to include alarms from other areas, use the absolute path syntax. For example,

("/AreaName::*").

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If you type the expression instead of composing it, skip to the next major step "Step 4. Set up colors for the alarm

states" to apply colors to each state.

In the Animation dialog box, click Expression.

In the Expression Editor, click the If button and then click If to add the IF condition.

In the Expression Editor, click Functions.

In the Functions dialog box, in the list of Function Categories, click Alarm and Event.

In the list of functions on the right, click AE_InAlmUnackedCount(AlarmName), and then click OK.

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6. In the Expression Editor, the AE_InAlmUnackedCount( ) function appears in the Expression box, with the

cursor between the parentheses. Next, type "*" to return a count of all alarms that are in the same location

(area) as the HMI server and are in the In Alarm and Unacknowledged state. Next, move the cursor to the right

of the closing parenthesis.

To count the number of instances of a speciﬁc alarm, you can type a tag name instead of the asterisk.

To include alarms from other areas, use the absolute path syntax. For example,

("/AreaName::*").

7. Click Relational and then click > GT for greater than.

In the Expression box, type 0, click If and then click Then to add a THEN condition.

This completes the IF condition: "If the number of In Alarm, Unacknowledged alarms is greater than 0 . . ."

In the Expression box, type 0, click If and then click Else to add an ELSE condition.

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This completes the THEN condition: "If the number of In Alarm, Unacknowledged alarms is greater than 0,

then animate the rectangle to show the colors for state 0."

10.

Follow the same process, substituting the necessary selections to add the remaining two expressions, and

then click OK.

If AE_InAlmAckedCount( "*" ) > 0 Then 1 Else (animates the rectangle to show the colors for state 1)

If AE_NormalUnackedCount( "*" ) > 0 Then 2 Else 3 (animates the rectangle to show the colors for state 2.

If none of the conditions are true, the expression animates the rectangle to show the colors for state 3.)

Step 4. Set up colors for the alarm states

This step describes how to set up colors for the rectangle for each solution to the expression.

In the Animation dialog box, under Expression, click state A.

In the Value box, type 0.

Beside Fill, select the Blink check box. A colored box is displayed so that you can specify an alternative color.

Beside Fill, make sure the colored boxes are set to red (for the ﬁll color) and black (for the blinkalternative

color).

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5. Set up the colors for the remaining states:

◦

State B: Value = 1, Line = Black, Fill = Red

◦ State C: Value = 2, Line = Black, Fill = Yellow

◦ State D: Value = 3, Line = Black, Fill = Green

When you are ﬁnished setting up the colors, click Apply and then click Close.

Step 5. Save the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the graphic display and then click OK.

In this example, we use Alarm Status Indicator.

Step 6: Test run the display

On the View menu, click Test Display, or click the Test Display button (shown at left) on the toolbar.

If there are unacknowledged alarms whose alarm condition is In Alarm, the rectangle ﬂashes red.

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2. Right-click one of the alarms, and then click Ack All. Because all active alarms have been acknowledged, the

rectangle changes to a steady red.

Continue experimenting to observe the effects of acknowledging alarms:

◦

If there are no active alarms, but there are normal unacknowledged alarms, the rectangle is yellow.

◦

If there are no active or unacknowledged alarms, the rectangle is green.

When you are ﬁnished, on the View menu, click Edit Display, or click the Edit Display button on the

toolbar.

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Next steps

Do one of the following:

•

Use the graphic displays you just created to monitor and interact with alarms and events. See Monitor and

interact with alarms at runtime on page 82.

• Set up historical alarm and event logging. See Set up historical alarm and event logging on page 100.

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Chapter 10

Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime

To interact with alarms and events at runtime, set up a FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client and conﬁgure one or more

graphic displays that host Alarm and Event objects. Next, run the client and then monitor the alarms and events that

are shown.

Before you begin

• Be sure you have deﬁned alarms as described in Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on

page 29.

• Add the required server, as described in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers.

on page 38Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page

48, Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45, or Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

for third-party OPC UA servers on page 55.

•

Set up and conﬁgure any graphic display objects as described in Set up graphic displays on page 58.

What you need

• FactoryTalk Linx software

•

FactoryTalk View SE software

• FactoryTalk View SE Client software

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to monitor and interact with alarms during runtime:

•

Set up graphic displays

• Run FactoryTalk View SE Client wizard and create a conﬁguration ﬁle

• Run the FactoryTalk View SE Client

•

Monitor graphic displays with Alarm and Event objects

•

Acknowledge an alarm

•

Disable and enable an alarm

• Suppress and unsuppress an alarm

•

Set up historical alarm and event logging

Create and then run a FactoryTalk View Client conﬁguration

To run an application and monitor graphic displays for alarm messages, start the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client.

IMPORTANT:

For this example, be sure that the controller is running the West_Plant_Controller

program that we created in Chapter 4, and that you have tripped the alarm (right-click the rung

contact and then click Toggle Bit).

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Step 1. Create a FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client conﬁguration ﬁle

To open the FactoryTalk View SE Client Wizard, in Windows, click Start > Rockwell Software >

FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client.

In the FactoryTalk View SE Client Wizard, click Create a FactoryTalk View SE Client conﬁguration ﬁle.

On the File name and location page, in Client ﬁle name, type a name for the conﬁguration ﬁle. In this

example, we used Alarms and Events Demo. Select a path for the conﬁguration ﬁle and click Continue.

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Chapter 10Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime

4. On the Startup components page, select Local Station.

In the Connect to the application list, select the name of the application you plan to connect to. In this

example, use the My Local Site application created in Set up graphic displays on page 58.

In the Startup macro list, select Start Alarm and Event Banner, and then click Advanced.

On the Client window properties page, conﬁgure how the FactoryTalk View SE Client window will look at

runtime. In this example, we entered Show Me Alarms in the Title bar text box. At runtime, this text is

displayed at the top of the Client window. Click Security and debugging.

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6. On Security and debugging page, you can conﬁgure the Client to log out automatically after a period of

inactivity.

Click Save, and then Run.

The Client window opens with the Alarm and Event Banner docked at the bottom.

Step 2. Open the Alarm and Event Summary from the Alarm and Event Banner

In the Alarm and Event Banner, click the Alarm and Event Summary button (shown at left). The Alarm and Event

Summary opens, and is similar to the following graphic display.

Step 3. Next steps

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Chapter 10Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime

Do either of the following:

•

Monitor and interact with alarms and events as shown in the next section.

• Set up historical logging for alarms and events using the graphic displays and startup macros created in this

chapter and in Set up graphic displays on page 58. See Set up historical alarm and event logging on page

100.

Monitor alarms and events

The data ﬁelds in the Alarm and Event Banner window are organized in columns, and represent various alarm and

event data. At runtime, only the columns that were conﬁgured at design time to be visible are displayed in the Alarm

and Event Banner.

In this example, the alarm list shows these columns:

•

Priority - Medium

•

Alarm State - In Alarm and Unacknowledged

•

Event time and date stamp

•

Message

The status bar shows (from left to right):

The connection status of the Tag Alarm and Event Server  whether connected or disconnected from

the Alarm and Event Banner. The green icon shows that the Tag Alarm and Event Server is connected. When

disconnected, the icon ﬂashes red.

The number of alarms that are In Alarm and Unacknowledged

The number of alarms that are In Alarm and Acknowledged

The number of alarms that are Normal and Unacknowledged

The number of alarm faults

For all of the possible priorities and alarms states that can be shown in the Alarm and Event objects, see FactoryTalk

Alarms and Events Help.

Security for alarms and events

You can use FactoryTalk Security to control which users can acknowledge, enable, disable, reset, suppress, or shelve

alarms at runtime in an application (or in an area).

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To do this, in FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console, right-click the application (or area)

where the alarms are located and then click Security. For details, see the FactoryTalk Security System Conguration

Guide. In Windows, click Start > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Security System Conﬁguration Guide.

Acknowledge an alarm

When you acknowledge an alarm it does not correct the condition causing the alarm, but it indicates that an operator

is aware of the alarm.

Tip:

The Digital Alarm Properties, Level Alarm Properties, and Deviation Alarm Properties dialog

boxes each contain a Control Tags tab that allows you to acknowledge alarms by using tags in the

controller (remote acknowledgment).

• At runtime, the alarm state in graphic objects changes to Acknowledged when the remote

acknowledge tag value is changed to positive.

•

The alarm import and export functions support remote acknowledgment.

See FactoryTalk Alarms and Events Help for more information on using the Control Tags tab.

A single tag might have several alarm conditions In Alarm. Each alarm condition must be acknowledged separately.

For example, a tag that monitors a temperature might trigger HI and HIHI alarm conditions by the time it is

acknowledged. The alarm could also go In Alarm and Out of Alarm several times before it is acknowledged.

Previous occurrences of an alarm that have gone Out of Alarm and then back In Alarm cannot be acknowledged.

These older occurrences are referred to as out of scope and are displayed in the alarm list with a different icon. When

the most recent occurrence of an alarm is acknowledged, previous occurrences are removed from the alarm list.

Acknowledge the selected alarm

In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

•

Select the alarms you want to acknowledge, and then click the Acknowledge selected alarm button .

• Select the alarms you want to acknowledge, right-click the selected alarms, and then click Ack.

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Acknowledge the selected alarm and enter a comment

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

◦

Select the alarms you want to acknowledge, and then click Acknowledge selected alarm with

comment .

◦ Select the alarms you want to acknowledge, right-click the selected alarms, and then click Ack

Comment.

In the Acknowledge Alarm with Comment dialog box, type a comment, and then click Acknowledge. If

historical logging is set up, the comment is displayed in the Alarm and Event Log as part of the Tracking

event that is generated from the Acknowledge command.

Tip:

You can view the last comment that was entered for an operation (for example, ack, disable,

suppress) in the Alarm Details dialog box. To view a comment associated with an alarm state,

select an alarm and then click the Show details for the selected alarm button on the toolbar. In

the Alarm Details dialog box, expand an alarm state (Disabled, Suppressed, Acknowledged, and

so on) to view the comment associated with that state.

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Acknowledge all of the alarms displayed on the page

In the Alarm and Event Summary toolbar, do one of the following:

•

Click Ack page of alarms . All alarms currently visible in the event list are acknowledged.

• Right-click one of the alarms and then click Ack Page.

Acknowledge all of the alarms in the event list

In the Alarm and Event Summary toolbar, do one of the following:

•

Click Acknowledge all alarms contained in list . All alarms in the event list are acknowledged, even if

they are not all visible. However, if the list is ﬁltered, alarms that are ﬁltered out are not acknowledged.

• Right-click one of the alarms, and then click Ack All.

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Chapter 10Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime

Disable or enable an alarm

When an alarm is disabled the operator is not notiﬁed when the alarm condition occurs and the alarm is removed

from the Alarm and Event Banner.

• An alarm that is disabled is effectively turned off in the controller.

• The alarm condition is no longer monitored and notiﬁcations are not generated by the controller.

•

Disabled alarms do not sound the alarm bell in the Alarm and Event Banner.

•

Unacknowledged disabled alarms are displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary.

Unlike a silenced alarm, a disabled alarm does not trigger the alarm bell in the Alarm and Event Banner if the alarm

condition occurs again after the alarm was disabled.

Tip:

Disable alarms that are related to equipment that is being shut down or serviced.

To enable alarms, use the Alarm Status Explorer. See Enable selected alarms on page 92.

When an alarm is enabled, the operator is notiﬁed when the alarm condition occurs. Enabled alarms sound the alarm

bell, and continue appearing as new events in the Alarm and Event Summary, unless they are suppressed.

IMPORTANT:

You can use FactoryTalk Security to control who can disable or suppress alarms. If

a user attempts to perform an operation for which they do not have the required security rights,

the operation will fail and a message will be displayed stating that the user has insucient rights

to perform the operation. To add another level of security, the Alarm and Event Summary can be

conﬁgured not to show the toolbar buttons, which also hides those operations on the context

(shortcut) menu.

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Disable selected alarms

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

◦

Select the alarms you want to disable, and then on the toolbar, click the Disable selected alarm

button.

◦ Select the alarms you want to disable, right-click the selected alarms, and then click Disable.

In the Disable Alarm dialog box, type a comment (for example, to explain why the alarm is disabled) and then

click Disable.

This comment is stored with the alarm and is logged to the Comment ﬁeld in the Alarm and Event Log, which

you can view using the Alarm and Event Log Viewer.

Tip:

Any alarms you disable stay in that state until you enable them again. You must use the

Alarm Status Explorer to enable alarms.

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Enable selected alarms

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary window, do one of the following:

◦

If it is visible on the toolbar, click the Display the Alarm Status Explorer button .

◦ If the toolbar button is not visible, right-click an alarm in the Alarm and Event Summary event list, and

then click Alarm Status.

In the Alarm Status Explorer window, select the alarms you want to enable and then click the Enable

selected alarm button .

Any alarms you enable stay in that state until you disable them again.

For details about the other features of the Alarm Status Explorer, click Help in the dialog box.

Suppress or unsuppress an alarm

You can suppress an alarm that is not needed temporarily, for example, suppress an alarm that is caused by another

alarm that you are already addressing. You can suppress or unsuppress up to 2000 alarms at one time.

• A suppressed alarm is not displayed in the Alarm and Event Banner.

If an alarm is displayed in the Alarm and Event Banner and then suppressed, it is removed from the alarm list.

•

An unacknowledged suppressed alarm is displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary.

If an alarm is displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary and then suppressed, it is only removed from the

alarm list when it is acknowledged.

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• A suppressed alarm continues to be logged in the alarm history log, which you can view using the Alarm and

Event Log Viewer. See Set up historical alarm and event logging on page 100 for more information.

• A suppressed alarm also continues to set the appropriate InAlarm parameters of an alarm instruction in the

controller.

Disable an alarm instead of suppressing it if you want to completely turn off the alarm detection logic for the alarm

source and prevent the alarm from being detected. See Disable selected alarms on page 91.

Suppress an alarm

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

◦

Select the alarms you want to suppress and then click the Suppress selected alarm button .

◦ Select the alarms you want to suppress, right-click the selected alarms, and then click Suppress.

In the Suppress Alarm window, optionally type a comment, and then click Suppress.

A comment is stored with the alarm and is logged to the Comment ﬁeld in the Alarm and Event Log, which

you can view using the Alarm and Event Log Viewer.

Unsuppress an alarm

Unsuppress an alarm that was previously suppressed if it now needs to be monitored again. For example, an operator

might have suppressed an alarm because the alarm was caused by another alarm that an operator was already

attending to.

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An unacknowledged suppressed alarm is displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary.

To unsuppress an alarm, follow these steps:

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary, right-click an alarm and then click Alarm Status.

In the Alarm Status Explorer window, select the alarm or alarms you want to unsuppress, and then on the

toolbar click the Unsuppress selected alarm button.

Tip:

You can ﬁlter alarm sources to make it easier to ﬁnd the alarm you want. In the Name box,

type all or part of an alarm name, or select an alarm status from the list. You can use the * and ?

wildcard characters in the ﬁlter. For details about ﬁltering alarm sources, see FactoryTalk Help. In

Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk Help.

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3. In the Unsuppress Alarm dialog box, optionally type a comment on why the alarm is unsuppressed, and then

click Unsuppress.

This comment is stored with the alarm and is logged to the Comment ﬁeld in the Alarm and Event Log, which

you can view using the Alarm and Event Log Viewer if historical logging has been conﬁgured.

For details about the other features of the Alarm Status Explorer, click the Help button .

Shelve or unshelve an alarm

Shelving an alarm temporarily suppresses it. When shelving, the operator speciﬁes a duration for the alarm to remain

shelved. The alarm is automatically unshelved when the duration runs out.

Tip:

Shelving is supported in the Logix Designer application version 21 or later.

A shelved alarm is displayed in the Alarm and Event Summary or Alarm Status Explorer. However, a shelved alarm is

not displayed in the Alarm and Event Banner.

Disable an alarm, instead of shelving it, if you want to completely turn off the alarm detection logic for the alarm

source, and prevent the alarm from being detected. See Disable selected alarms on page 91 for more information.

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Shelve an alarm

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

◦

Select the alarm you want to shelve and click the Shelve selected alarm button on the toolbar.

◦ Right-click the alarm you want to shelve and select Shelve.

The Shelve Alarm dialog box appears.

In the dialog box, enter the following information if desired:

Field Description

Alarm name Shows the name of the selected alarm.

If multiple alarms are selected, this shows as Multiple (x

alarms selected) where x is the total count of selected

alarms.

Shelve duration Specifies the period of time the alarm should be shelved.

Once the shelve duration expires, the alarm is unshelved.

The value must be a whole number.

◦ Default: 1

◦

Minimum: 1

◦ Maximum: 2147483647

Comment (optional) Specifies the reason for shelving the alarm.

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Field Description

The default value is empty. The maximum length is 512

characters.

This comment is stored with the alarm and is logged to the

UserComment field in the alarm database, which you can

view using the Alarm and Event Log Viewer.

3. When complete, click Shelve.

When you reshelve alarms, the conditions vary depending on the type of alarms:

Alarm type Alarm condition

A digital alarm The alarm is shelved with the new specified duration. The alarm

unshelve time is also updated accordingly.

An analog alarm If one or more of the alarm conditions you reshelve were

previously shelved, the alarm condition is shelved with the new

specified duration and the alarm unshelve time is also updated

accordingly.

If none of the alarm conditions you reshelve were previously

shelved, the alarm condition is shelved targeting to the old

unshelve time.

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Unshelve an alarm

If alarms that were previously shelved need to be monitored again, you can unshelve the speciﬁed alarms in the

Alarm Status Explorer.

1. In the Alarm and Event Summary window, right-click an alarm and then click Alarm Status.

In the Alarm Status Explorer, select the alarm or alarms you want to unshelve, and then click the Unshelve

selected alarm button on the toolbar.

In the Unshelve Alarm dialog box, optionally enter a comment about why the alarm is unshelved, and then

click Unshelve.

The comment is stored with the alarm and is logged to the Comment ﬁeld in the Alarm and Event Log, which

you can view using the Alarm and Event Log Viewer if historical logging has been conﬁgured.

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You can also unshelve all shelved alarms in the Alarm and Event Summary:

In the Alarm and Event Summary event list, do one of the following:

2. On the toolbar, click the Unshelve all alarms button .

◦ Right-click an alarm in the list, and then click Unshelve All.

The Unshelve All Alarms dialog box appears. Optionally enter a comment on why the alarms are unshelved

and then click Unshelve All.

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Chapter 11

Set up historical alarm and event logging

Use the FactoryTalk Alarm and Event Log Viewer to view alarms and events that have been logged to a Microsoft SQL

Server database that is conﬁgured to store historical alarm and event data.

Tip:

If you do not have a Microsoft SQL Server database installed, we recommend that you install it using

the batch ﬁle available in the FactoryTalk View installation package in the Redist folder. For installation

instructions, see Install Microsoft SQL Server on page 164.

If you already have Microsoft SQL Server installed, you may need to change the conﬁguration options to

log alarm and event messages. For conﬁguration instructions, see Use an existing Microsoft SQL Server

database on page 167.

Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer to display entries corresponding to all event types or to ﬁlter the events you want

to view. Alarms and events generated during runtime can be logged to a Microsoft SQL Server database.

IMPORTANT:

Simple Events are not currently supported. A simple event describes a simple

occurrence in the system, such as failure to access a computer or device. Condition-related events

those that relate to changes in alarm state, and tracking-related eventsthose that monitor audited

changes to the system,are supported.

To set up historical alarm and event logging, here is an overview of the steps to follow. Each step is explained in detail

in this chapter.

•

Conﬁrm that the Microsoft SQL Server software is installed.

•

Add a database deﬁnition to your FactoryTalk system.

•

Associate a database deﬁnition with an alarm and event server.

•

Add an Alarm and Event Log Viewer object to a graphic display.

•

Run the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client software and then monitor the graphic display.

Before you begin

• If you do not already have Microsoft SQL Server software installed, you can install it from the FTView\Redist

folder in the FactoryTalk View installation package. For installation instructions, see Install Microsoft SQL

Server on page 164.

• Deﬁne alarms as described in Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on page 29.

•

Add the required server, as described in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers.

on page 38Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page

48, Add an OPC data server for third-party controllers on page 45, or Add FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector

for third-party OPC UA servers on page 55.

•

Set up graphic display objects as described in Set up graphic displays on page 58.

What you need

• FactoryTalk Linx software

•

FactoryTalk View Studio software

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• FactoryTalk View SE Client software

•

Microsoft SQL Server software

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to set up historical logging:

•

Plan your system

• Conﬁrm that the Microsoft SQL Server software is installed

Tip:

Microsoft SQL Server Express is available in the FactoryTalk View installation package in the

Redist folder.

•

Run FactoryTalk View Studio

•

Add a database deﬁnition to your FactoryTalk system

•

Associate the database deﬁnition with an alarm server

•

Add an Alarm and Event Log Viewer object to a graphic display

•

Run FactoryTalk View SE Client software and then monitor the graphic display

•

Monitor and interact with alarms during runtime

Conﬁrm that the SQL Server software is installed

To log historical alarms and events, you can either install Microsoft SQL Server or you can use an existing SQL Server

database already installed on your network. If you are using an existing SQL Server database you need to set up your

database for alarm and event logging.

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events can log historical data to any of the supported SQL Server databases. For more

information, see Supported SQL Server databases on page 167.

Tip:

Microsoft SQL Server Express is available in the FactoryTalk View installation package in the Redist

folder.

To install SQL Server, see Install Microsoft SQL Server on page 164.

If you are using an existing SQL Server database, see Use an existing SQL Server database on page 167.

Add a database deﬁnition to your FactoryTalk system

Create a database deﬁnition that speciﬁes the connection information for the database and creates the required

database objects.

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Step 1. Open an existing application in FactoryTalk View Studio

Open FactoryTalk View Studio.

2. In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab, and then select

the My Local Site application that you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500

controllers. on page 38

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Step 2. Create a new database connection

In the Explorer window,

expand the folders System > Connections and then right-click the Databases folder. Click Add Database

Connection.

In the Database Connection Properties dialog box, conﬁgure properties for the new database deﬁnition.

Select FactoryTalk Alarms & Events History Database in the Database type list.

In this example, we used FTAE_History for the deﬁnition name and database name. The authentication

includes Windows authentication and SQL Server authentication. We used SQL Server authentication with

FTAE_Historian as the database user name, and password as the password.

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(optional) You can also force encryption of the connection to SQL Server and validate the certiﬁcate on the

SQL Server computer for certiﬁcate handshake. For more information, click Help.

Tip:

To improve eciency when writing to the database, information is sent to a cache ﬁle

located on the computer hosting the alarm server before writing to the database.

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3. Click the Alarms Advanced settings tab. The system will attempt to create the database, the user account,

and the tables that are necessary to store the alarm and event information. If the database or user does not

already exist in SQL Server, you are prompted to create them. Click Yes.

Conﬁgure the settings for the Alarm and Event History Database.

If the connection to the database is lost, alarm and event information will continue to be cached to ﬁles. After

the connection is restored, the cached information will be sent to the database.

To limit how much information is cached, reduce the amount of days or % of available disk space for

database buffering. When the limit is reached, the oldest information is overwritten.

When you ﬁnish, click OK. If you are prompted to create the database, click Yes. The database deﬁnition is

added to the Databases folder and is ready for use.

Associate a database deﬁnition with an alarm server

To set up a FactoryTalk Linx device server (device-based server), a FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Server (tag-

based server), or FactoryTalk Linx OPC UA Connector for third-party OPC UA servers to log historical alarm and event

data to a database, you must associate a database deﬁnition with the alarm server.

If no alarm history database is associated with an alarm server, the alarm server does not log any historical data. You

can associate different alarm servers with different alarm history databases, or you can have all alarm servers log

their data to the same database.

The example shows you how to conﬁgure a FactoryTalk Linx device server for alarm logging.

Step 1. Open an existing application in FactoryTalk View Studio

Open FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab, and then select

the My Local Site application that you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500

controllers. on page 38

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Chapter 11Set up historical alarm and event logging

Step 2. Conﬁgure the alarm server

In the Explorer window, expand the application tree until each alarm server is visible.

Right-click the alarm server named FTAE Server that you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000,

PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers on page 38. Click Properties.

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3. For a FactoryTalk Linx Device Server, do the following and then click OK:

◦

In the FactoryTalk Linx Server Properties dialog box, click the Alarms and Events tab.

◦

Under Alarm and Event History, select the Enable history check box.

◦

In the Database deﬁnition list, select a deﬁnition (for this example, we use FTAE_History).

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4. For a Tag Alarm and Event Server, do the following and then click OK:

◦

In the FTAE Server Properties dialog box, click the Priorities and History tab.

◦

Under Alarm and Event History, select the Enable history check box.

◦

In the Database Deﬁnition list, select a deﬁnition. In this example, we use FTAE_History.

Create an Alarm and Event Log Viewer display

Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer to view alarm and event information previously logged in a Microsoft SQL

database conﬁgured to store historical data.

Step 1. Open an existing application in FactoryTalk View Studio

Open FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab, and select

the My Local Site application that you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500

controllers. on page 38

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Step 2. Create a new graphic display

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder, right-click Displays, and then click New.

A blank display appears in the workspace.

If necessary, resize the graphic display to about the same size as the one you created for the Alarm and

Event Summary.

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Step 3. Add an Alarm and Event Log Viewer object to the display

On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event and then click Log Viewer (or select Alarm and Event Log

Viewer in toolbox).

Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse to create a rectangle that is the size required for the

Alarm and Event Log Viewer object.

When the object is the correct size, release the left mouse button. The Alarm and Event Log Viewer object is

drawn on the graphic display.

Step 4. Conﬁgure the properties of the Alarm and Event Log Viewer

1. To open the Alarm and Event Log Viewer Properties dialog box, double-click the Alarm and Event Log

Viewer object.

On the General tab, select the alarm log whose entries you want to view. In the previous example, we selected

FTAE_History. This is the SQL database we created in Associate a database deﬁnition with an alarm server

on page 105.

Click the Columns tab, and then clear the Area check box.

On the other tabs, set properties to customize the Log Viewer display, as desired. For details, click Help.

When you are ﬁnished, click OK to close the dialog box.

Step 5. Save the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the new display and then click OK.

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In this example, we use Alarm and Event Log Viewer for the name of the graphic display.

Close the graphic display.

Create a button to open the Alarm and Event Log Viewer display

In this section, we add a button to open the Alarm and Event Log Viewer display in the same FactoryTalk View Client

window as the Alarm and Event Banner display.

Step 1. Create a new graphic display

In the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder, right-click Displays, and then click New.

If necessary, resize the graphic display to about the same size as the one you created for the Alarm and

Event Summary.

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Step 2. Add a button to the graphic display

On the Objects menu, point to Push Button, and then click Button (or select Button in the toolbox).

2. Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse to create a rectangle the correct size for the button and

then release the mouse button.

In the Button Properties dialog box, click the Action tab.

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Step 3. Conﬁgure the button commands

Click the Browse button (...) to the right of the Press action ﬁeld to open the Command Wizard.

In the Command Categories pane on the left, expand Graphics > Graphic Displays > Navigation.

3. In the list of commands on the right, click Display, and then click Next.

In the File box, click the browse button to select the name of the graphic display that is to open when the

button is clicked.

In this example, we want the button to start the Alarm and Event Log Viewer, so we select Alarm and Event

Log Viewer.

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5. To close the Command Wizard, click Finish. In the Button Properties dialog box, the command Display

"Alarm and Event Viewer" appears in the Press action box.

6. Click the Up Appearance tab.

In the Caption box, type Run the Alarm and Event Log Viewer. Press the Enter key after the word Alarm so

that the text wraps to the next line. This is the text that will appear on the button.

Click OK to save the button conﬁguration. The button is drawn on the graphic display.

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Step 4. Conﬁgure the properties of the graphic display

On the main menu bar Edit menu, click Display Settings.

In the Display Settings dialog box, make the following changes on the Properties tab:

◦

Clear the Title Bar check box.

◦ Select the Size to Main Window at Runtime check box.

◦ Select the Allow Display to be Resized check box.

◦

Under When Resized, select Scale option if it is not already selected.

Click OK when ﬁnished.

Step 5. Save the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the new graphic display, and then click OK.

In this example, we use Menu Bar for the name of the graphic display.

Create a startup macro for the Menu Bar display

This section shows you how to modify the startup macro you created in Set up graphic displays on page 58. This

example also shows you how to add commands to the startup macro that will open the button display you just created

and dock it to the top of the client window.

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Step 1. Edit the startup macro

In FactoryTalk View Studio, in the Explorer window, double-click the Start Alarm and Event Banner macro.

The macro editor opens, showing the Banner display command Display "Alarm and Event Banner" /DB.

To open the Command Wizard, double-click anywhere in the body of the macro editor.

In the list of commands on the right, select Display and then click Next.

In the File list, click Menu Bar.

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5. Select the Window Position check box. In the list of window positions, click Docked to the Top.

To save the conﬁguration and display it in the macro editor, click Finish.

Step 2. Save the startup macro in the application

On the File menu, click Save.

Close the macro editor.

View historical alarm data in a FactoryTalk View SE Client

Use the Alarm and Event Log Viewerembedded in a FactoryTalk View graphic displayto view, sort, ﬁlter, and export

historical alarm information stored in Alarm and Event Logs.

With the Alarm and Event Log Viewer, you can:

•

Display alarm and event information that has been logged by the FactoryTalk Alarm and Event Historian.

•

Deﬁne ﬁlters to determine which logged alarms and events will be displayed.

•

Sort the alarms and events that will be displayed.

Run the application

You can open the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client in these ways:

•

From the Windows Start menu. See Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime on page 82.

• From within FactoryTalk View Studio, which is covered in this section.

• By double-clicking a FactoryTalk View SE Client conﬁguration ﬁle (*.cli).

Start the FactoryTalk View SE Client from within FactoryTalk View Studio

1. If FactoryTalk View Studio is not still open, click Start > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View Site Edition

Client.

2. In the FactoryTalk View SE Client Wizard, select Run an existing FactoryTalk View SE Client

conﬁguration ﬁle, and then select Alarms and Events Demo.cli. Click OK.

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The FactoryTalk View SE Client opens after a few moments. The button appears at the top of the window and

the Alarm and Event Banner appears at the bottom.

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3. Click the Run Alarm and Event Log Viewer button to make the Log Viewer appear in the middle of the client

window:

Click the Run Alarm and Event Summary button on the Banner display at the bottom of the window. The

Summary display replaces the Log Viewer.

For details about enabling, disabling, suppressing, unsuppressing, shelving, unshelving, and acknowledging alarms,

see Monitor and interact with alarms at runtime on page 82.

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Chapter 12

Conﬁgure redundancy for alarms and events

This chapter describes how to conﬁgure FactoryTalk Alarms and Events device-based and tag-based alarm server

redundancy.

Server redundancy is typically used to maximize system availability in case of:

•

Computer hardware failure.

•

Software failure on one server computer.

•

Power failure on one server computer.

Redundancy requirements are unique to each application. The ideal redundant solution involves having at least

two instances of everythinghardware, software, and networks. In practice, this is seldom necessary. Redundant

FactoryTalk server components duplicate server information on a secondary computer that is used if a primary

server computer fails.

FactoryTalk server redundancy

FactoryTalk server redundancy can be conﬁgured for:

•

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events servers

• Data servers (FactoryTalk Linx or OPC data server)

• FactoryTalk Site Edition HMI servers

IMPORTANT:

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events server redundancy and data server redundancy

are only supported in network station applications and network distributed applications.

FactoryTalk HMI server redundancy is only supported in network distributed applications.

For more information on planning and implementing a FactoryTalk distributed network application, see Reference for

building a distributed system on page 185.

Develop and test your application without redundancy

It is good practice when developing a FactoryTalk Alarms and Events application to develop and test with all alarm

servers conﬁgured without redundancy. This approach effectively reduces the size and complexity of the application

during the development and test phases.

Adding alarm server redundancy at the end of development to a properly planned network station application or

network distributed application will not require any changes in graphic displays that are already developed and

working properly.

Existing alarm servers and tag data servers can be conﬁgured to support redundancy if the distributed system

supporting your FactoryTalk application has been adequately planned and prepared beforehand.

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Before you begin

To implement redundant servers, the procedure depends on whether you are using a device-based alarm server or a

tag-based alarm server.

• Plan and implement your FactoryTalk distributed system, taking into consideration which components

require redundancy, the network layout of the components in the system, the CPU processing load that is

expected for each component, and the software required to be installed on each component.

•

Conﬁgure alarm servers and tag data servers as required. Initially, conﬁgure these servers without

redundancy. Verify that all of the conﬁgured tags and alarms are working properly.

• Be sure all graphic displays are working properly on the FactoryTalk application with alarm servers

conﬁgured without redundancy.

•

For each redundant alarm server, determine if it will use favor primary or favor current switchover behavior.

Favor current. When a redundant switchover occurs, the secondary server remains active in the application

even after the primary server is recovered and available once again. This is the default behavior, set in the

Server Properties dialog box Redundancy tab under Switchover options by selecting Continue using

the secondary server even when the primary server becomes available again. When it is selected you

can perform manual switchovers from primary to secondary and back again. This can be useful for testing

redundant applications. You can change this selection at any time.

Favor primary. After a redundant switchover has occurred, and the primary server is recovered and

available again, control passes back to the primary server. This is set in the Server Properties dialog box

Redundancy tab under Switchover options by selecting Switch over to primary server when it becomes

available again.

You can change the redundant server conﬁguration from favor current to favor primary any time that both

servers are running and connected to the network station application or network distributed application.

What you need

If you are using device-based alarm servers:

•

FactoryTalk Linx and FactoryTalk Alarms and Events installed and running on the primary server computer,

conﬁgured and working as a non-redundant component.

• FactoryTalk Linx and FactoryTalk Alarms and Events installed and running on the secondary server computer.

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console running on a development station or other

component connected in the FactoryTalk application.

If you are using server tag-based alarm servers:

•

FactoryTalk Linx or OPC Data Server installed, conﬁgured, and running on a separate component conﬁgured

in the FactoryTalk application, or conﬁgured for redundancy and running on the primary and secondary

server computers as a redundant pair.

•

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events installed and running on the primary server computer, conﬁgured and

working as a non-redundant component.

•

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events installed and running on the secondary server computer.

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console running on a development station or other

component conﬁgured in the FactoryTalk application.

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Follow these steps

Follow these steps for device-based alarm servers:

•

Add a device-based alarm server

• Start FactoryTalk View Studio and open the Site Edition network application

• Select the device alarm server

•

Conﬁgure the server properties

•

Open the Communication Setup editor

•

Conﬁgure the secondary path to the Studio 5000 controller

• Check the server status

Follow these steps for tag-based alarm servers:

•

Add a tag-based alarm server

•

Start FactoryTalk View Studio and open the Site Edition network application

•

Select the tag alarm server

•

Conﬁgure the tag alarm server properties

•

Check the server status

Upgrade an existing device-based alarm server

In this section, you will upgrade a conﬁgured Rockwell Automation device-based alarm server (FactoryTalk Linx)

to support redundancy using a secondary computer already conﬁgured in the FactoryTalk network distributed

application.

Step 1. Open the application in FactoryTalk View Studio

This example shows how to open an existing network distributed application in FactoryTalk View Studio.

To run FactoryTalk View Studio, in Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk

View > FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Network Distributed) and then click

Continue.

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3. In the New/Open Site Edition (Network Distributed) Application dialog box with the Existing tab selected,

under the heading Application Name, select the name of the existing application. In this example, we name

the application My Network App.

Click Open.

Step 2. Select the device alarm server

In the Explorer window, open the application My Network App and ﬁnd the device alarm server FTAE

Server.

Step 3. Conﬁgure the alarm server properties

In the Explorer window, right-click the alarm server FTAE Server and then select Properties.

In the FactoryTalk Linx Server Properties dialog box, click the Redundancy tab. Select the Provide

redundancy using a secondary server check box.

In the Redundancy tab, click Browse.

Tip:

If your distributed network application has been planned and implemented beforehand as

recommended, then the secondary server computer name will be listed in the Select Computer

dialog box.

Select the name of the secondary server computer in the Select Computer dialog box and then click OK.

In the Redundancy tab, the switchover option Continue using the secondary server even when the

primary server becomes available again is selected by default. This allows you to use manual switchover

to test the redundant pair. You can change the selection when testing is complete. If you select Switch over

to primary server when it becomes available again manual switchover is not available.

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Step 4. Open the Communication Setup editor

In the Explorer window, click the FactoryTalk Linx server FTAE Server, and then double-click

Communication Setup.

Before the Communication Setup dialog box appears, a FactoryTalk Linx information dialog box appears. To

save the changes, click OK.

Tip:

The secondary controller is normally the same device as the primary controller but a

different path may be used on the Primary tab. For instance, the secondary path may pass

through an alternate bridge device in order to provide redundancy at the communications level.

To set the path to the secondary controller, click the Apply button.

To save the shortcut conﬁguration and close the Communication Setup dialog box, click OK.

Upgrade an existing tag-based alarm server

In this section, you will upgrade a conﬁgured Rockwell Automation tag-based alarm server to support redundancy

using a secondary computer conﬁgured in the FactoryTalk network distributed application.

Step 1. Open the application in FactoryTalk View Studio

This example shows how to open an existing network distributed application in FactoryTalk View Studio.

To start FactoryTalk View Studio, in Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software >

FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Network Distributed) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Network Distributed) Application dialog box with the Existing tab selected,

under the heading Application Name, select the name of the existing application. In this example, we name

the application My Network App.

Click Open.

Step 2. Select the tag alarm server

In the Explorer window, open the application My Network App and ﬁnd the tag-based alarm server, for

example, TagAE.

Step 3. Conﬁgure the alarm server properties

In the Explorer window, right-click the alarm server TagAE and then select Properties.

In the Tag Alarm and Event Server Properties dialog box, click the General tab. Select the Load when

operating system initializes startup type option.

IMPORTANT:

The conﬁguration options on the Redundancy tab will be disabled if the

Load when operation system initialized option is not selected on the General tab. This is

because redundant servers need to be running and available in order to exchange redundant

information in preparation for an unexpected switchover, even when the HMI application is

not actually running.

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3. In the Tag Alarm and Event Server Properties dialog box, click the Redundancy tab.

Select the Provide redundancy using a secondary server check box.

5. Select the secondary server computer from the computer list and then click OK.

Tip:

If your distributed network application has been planned and implemented beforehand as

recommended, then the secondary server computer name will be listed in the Select Computer

dialog box.

In the Tag Alarm and Event Server Properties dialog box, the switchover option Continue using the

secondary server even when the primary server becomes available again is selected by default.

This allows you to use manual switchover to test the redundant pair. You can change the selection when

testing is complete. If you select Switch over to primary server when it becomes available again manual

switchover is not available.

Check the status of an alarm server

Follow this example anytime you change the conﬁguration properties and settings of an alarm server.

After changing the alarm server conﬁguration you need to reboot the server computer. For a network distributed

application or network station application, the recommended start up sequence is:

FactoryTalk Directory server

Primary server computers

Secondary server computers

Operator workstations

This example demonstrates how to check the status of a redundant alarm server in FactoryTalk View Studio using the

device alarm server FTAE Server created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers. on

page 38

Step 1. Open the application in FactoryTalk View Studio

To start FactoryTalk View Studio, in Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software >

FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Network Distributed), and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Network Distributed) Application dialog box, on the Existing tab, select the

name of the existing application. In this example, we named the application My Network App.

Click Open.

Step 2. Select the device alarm server

In the Explorer window, open the application My Network App and ﬁnd the device alarm server, for example,

FTAE Server.

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Step 3. Check server status

In the Explorer window, right-click the alarm server FTAE Server, and then click Server Status.

Tip:

To test your redundant server conﬁguration, trigger a manual switchover by clicking the

Switchover button. The Switchover button is enabled if the server is conﬁgured for redundancy,

the Switchover options selection is Continue using the secondary server, even when the

primary becomes available again (default), and both the primary and secondary servers are

currently available.

To close the Server Status dialog box without making any changes, click Cancel.

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Appendix A

Get started with language switching

You can use language switching to display text strings that you deﬁne when you create an application, in up to 40

different languages. At runtime, a FactoryTalk View SE Client can switch between any of the languages the application

supports. In a network distributed application or network station application, multiple clients can run in different

languages at the same time.

For more information on supported languages, see Language identiﬁers for language switching on page 186. For

additional information about conﬁguring language switching conﬁguration in FactoryTalk View Studio, see "Setting up

Language Switching" in the FactoryTalk View Studio Site Edition Help.

IMPORTANT:

Time and date formats do not switch. Alarm and Event objects in FactoryTalk View

always display the date and time format of the operating system. The rest of a FactoryTalk View

application shows the format for the language FactoryTalk View is displaying.

Dialog boxes that are part of the graphical user interface of FactoryTalk Alarms and Events but

not user conﬁgurable—for example, the Acknowledge with Comment dialog box—do not switch

languages. They are displayed in the language of the operating system.

Historical alarm and event messages do not switch languages. They are displayed in the language in

which they were logged.

Before you begin

To implement language switching, the procedure depends on whether you are using device-based alarm monitoring

or tag-based alarm monitoring. If you are not sure what type of alarm monitoring to use, see Plan your system on

page 25.

If you are using device-based alarm monitoring

•

Review Deﬁne device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on page 29.

•

Verify that you have installed and activated the software listed in What you need on page 30.

•

Verify that the Studio 5000 ﬁrmware has been updated to revision 16 or later (excluding 21 to 23).

If you are using tag-based alarm monitoring

•

Review Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48.

•

If your alarms and events system uses a data server, review Add an OPC data server for third-party

controllers on page 45.

What you need

If you are using device-based alarms

•

The Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later)

• ControlFLASH

•

RSLinx Classic

•

FactoryTalk Linx

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Appendix AGet started with language switching

• FactoryTalk View Studio

•

FactoryTalk View SE Client

If you are using tag-based alarms

•

PLC-5, SLC 500, third-party, or Studio 5000 controllers that have not been programmed with alarm

instructions included in the Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or later)

•

RSLogix 5 or RSLogix 500 software

•

FactoryTalk Linx, RSLinx Classic (for bridging from Ethernet to DH+ or DH-485 networks), or a third-party OPC

Data Server (for example, KEPWare server) for communicating with third-party controllers

•

FactoryTalk View Studio or FactoryTalk Administration Console

•

Microsoft Excel® (for editing exported alarm messages in multiple languages)

Follow these steps

Follow these steps to get started with language switching:

•

Add a device server or add a tag-based alarm server

• Create device-based or tag-based alarm messages

• Add buttons to a graphic display to switch languages

•

Add languages to the application

•

Edit alarm messages in alternate languages

•

Create a display client conﬁguration ﬁle

• Test alarm messages at runtime

Create device-based alarm messages

To create device-based alarm messages in multiple languages you can use the import and export features in the

Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000 software). At runtime, alarm messages located in Studio 5000 controllers

can be displayed in the language of the FactoryTalk View application in which they are displayed.

When FactoryTalk Linx connects to the controller, all alarm messages and their languages are uploaded from the

controller. When a FactoryTalk View SE Client runs, the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events objects (Alarm and Event

Summary, for example) connect to the FactoryTalk Alarms and Events system and request alarm messages in the

current language. When you switch languages on the client computer, the alarm monitoring system and all of the

client screens switch to the appropriate language on that speciﬁc client.

IMPORTANT:

Historical alarm messages are logged in the language currently associated with the

Alarm and Event Log. The Alarm and Event Log displays messages in the language in which they were

logged. For example, a message logged in English will be displayed in English, even if the language is

switched to Italian.

Translate alarm messages using import and export

A system may have thousands of alarm messages that need to be translated. To simplify this process, you can export

alarm messages to a ﬁle, add translated messages in multiple languages to the ﬁle, and then import the ﬁle back into

your project. Any of the languages you translate the strings into must be supported by FactoryTalk View.

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You can enter text strings in multiple languages in two ways.

In RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or earlier, create alarm messages in one language, and use the RSLogix

5000 Export tool to export the project's tags, logic comments, descriptions and alarm messages from

RSLogix 5000 to a comma-separated value (*.csv) ﬁle or a text (*.txt) ﬁle. The text strings can be translated

into other languages and added to the ﬁle. Then use the RSLogix5000 Import tool to import the strings back

into the project.

In RSLogix 5000 software version 17 or later, you select a language for the project, and then in the

Project Documentation Language Conﬁguration dialog box you export a localization ﬁle that contains

documentation from the project. The documentation included in the text (*.txt) ﬁle includes user-deﬁned

logic comments, component names, and alarm messages. The text strings can be translated into other

languages and added to the ﬁle. Use the Project Documentation Language Conﬁguration dialog box to

import strings back into the project. See Translating alarm messages using RSLogix 5000 version 17 or later

on page 131.

Translate alarm messages in RSLogix 5000 version 16 or earlier

To translate alarm messages using RSLogix 5000 software version 16 or earlier, complete the following steps. To

translate alarm messages in RSLogix 5000 software version 17 or later, using the project documentation language

feature, see Translating alarm messages using RSLogix 5000 version 17 or later on page 131.

Step 1. Export alarm messages from RSLogix 5000

Start RSLogix 5000 (version 16 or earlier) and open the West_Plant_Controller project you created in Deﬁne

device-based alarms in Studio 5000 controllers on page 29. If you have not yet created the project, do so

before continuing.

In the RSLogix 5000 window, on the Tools menu, click Export.

In the Export dialog box, click Export.

If your RSLogix 5000 project includes a large number of programs, and you want to translate alarm messages

from only one of them, you can make selections in the Export dialog box to limit the data that is exported.

For details, click Help.

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Tip:

When translating to or from Unicode character sets (for example, Asian languages), you

must export and then import the RSLogix 5000 tag database as a .txt ﬁle. The .csv format does

not support Unicode character sets. This limitation does not apply to Tag Alarm and Event

Servers.

Step 2. Translate the exported alarm messages

In Windows Explorer, locate the ﬁle you exported and then double-click it to open it in Notepad. You can also

edit the ﬁle using Microsoft Excel.

The last line of text in the ﬁle is the alarm deﬁnition. The ﬁrst element from the left is the instruction type

(ALMMSG:) and the language string for the alarm message (en-us for English in the United States).

The alarm message text appears as the fourth element from the left (Tank Temperature is High).

2. Copy the ALMMSG line and paste it at the end of the ﬁle.

Change en-us to it-it (for Italian in Italy), and then change the alarm message text to read La temperatura

del serbatoio e alta.

Paste another copy of the ALMMSG line at the end of the ﬁle.

Change en-us to de-de (for German in Germany), and change the alarm message text to read Hohe

Tanktemperatur!.

On the File menu, click Save.

Tip:

When you import alarm messages, the system veriﬁes the message length and displays a

warning if the alarm message exceeds the character limit.

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Step 3. Import the translated alarm messages

In the RSLogix 5000 software, on the Tools menu, click Import.

2. In the Import window, select the ﬁle you modiﬁed and then click Import.

The import process produces warnings because it overwrites existing tags.

Step 4. Download the project to the controller

To update the controller with additional alarm messages in the new languages, download the project to the controller.

Next, either continue setting up tag-based alarm messages, or set up a graphic display for language switching. See

Add buttons to a graphic display to switch languages at on page 138.runtime

Translate alarm messages using RSLogix 5000 version 17 or later

The steps in this procedure apply to RSLogix 5000 software version 17 and later, and the Studio 5000 Logix Designer

application version 21 and later, both referred to in this procedure as the application.

To translate alarm strings use the project documentation import and export feature. Only the information that is

necessary for localization is included in the exported ﬁle.

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Step 1. Export alarm messages

Run the application and open the West_Plant_Controller project you created in Deﬁne device-based alarms in

Studio 5000> controllers on page 29. If you have not created the project, do so before continuing.

To open the Project Documentation Language dialog box, click the Documentation Language

Conﬁguration icon or click Documentation Languages on the Tools menu.

To associate the existing product documentation with a language, select a language from the Select a

language list or click Custom and then add a custom language. For example, select English (United States)

from the list and then click OK.

After you select a language for the project, the Project Documentation Language Conﬁguration dialog

box opens. If the dialog box does not open after a short time, click Documentation Languages on the Tools

menu. To export a localization ﬁle, click Export.

In the Export Project Documentation dialog box, select the languages to include in the localization ﬁle and

then click Next. For example, select German (Germany) and Italian (Italy) if the project documentation will be

translated into German and Italian.

To add the conﬁguration information to the localization ﬁle, click Next.

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7. Specify the name and location of the exported localization ﬁle and then click Export.

Click OK.

Step 2. Translate the exported alarm messages

In Windows Explorer, locate the ﬁle you exported. Right-click the ﬁle, point to Open With and then click

Microsoft Excel.

The ﬁrst column contains the instruction type ALMMSG. Column C is labeled KEY:en-US [English (United

States)] and the alarm message is displayed in English.

Column D is labeled de-DE [Deutsch (Deutschland)], and Column E is labeled it-IT [italiano (Italia)]. These

are the languages you selected for the export.

Type Hohe Tanktemperatur! in column D in the same row that shows Tank Temperature is High.

3. Type La temperatura del serbatoio e alta in column E in the same row that shows Tank Temperature is

High.

On the File menu, click Save.

Step 3. Import the translated alarm messages

In the application, on the Tools menu, click Documentation Languages.

2. In the Project Documentation Language Conﬁguration dialog box, click Import.

In the Select File dialog box, select the ﬁle you modiﬁed and then click Import.

Verify the languages you want to import in the Import Project Documentation dialog box, and then click

Import.

Click OK.

Tip:

When you import alarm messages, the application veriﬁes the message length and displays

a warning if the alarm message exceeds the 255 character limit.

Step 4. Download the project to the controller

To update the controller with additional alarm messages in the new languages, download the project to the controller.

Next, either continue with setting up tag-based alarm messages, or set up a graphic display for language switching.

See Add buttons to a graphic display to switch languages at on page 138.runtime

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Create tag-based alarm messages

The alarm messages in a tag-based alarm server also support language switching. As with device-based alarms, in

FactoryTalk View you can also enter text strings in multiple languages in two ways:

1. The messages in the Alarm and Event Setup editor are saved in the language you select when opening an

application in FactoryTalk View.

After creating alarm messages in one language, you can export them from FactoryTalk View to a Microsoft

Excel (*.xls ) or XML ﬁle (*.xml ), add translated versions of the strings to the exported ﬁle, and then import

them into FactoryTalk View again.

The maximum length for alarm messages is 255 characters. When you import alarm messages, anything over

255 characters is truncated.

Enter text strings in FactoryTalk View Studio

Step 1. In FactoryTalk View Studio, choose a language in which to open an

application

1. To start FactoryTalk View Studio, in Windows click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk

View > FactoryTalk View Studio.

In the Application Type Selection window, select View Site Edition (Local Station) and then click

Continue.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab, select the

application you created in Add a device server for Studio 5000, PLC-5, or SLC 500 controllers on page 38(we

used My Local Site).

In the Language list, select the language in which you are creating your application (in this example, English

(United States), en-US), and then click Open.

Step 2. Create a digital alarm

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This section uses the FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Server you created in Add a tag-based alarm server for Studio

5000, PLC-5, SLC 500, or third-party controllers on page 48. If you have not yet created the server, do so before

continuing.

1. In the Explorer window, expand the new Tag Server, and then double-click Alarm and Event Setup.

In the Alarm Setup dialog box, click the Digital tab.

On the toolbar, click the New button .

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3. In the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, in the Name box, type TankTempThreshold.

In the Input Tag ﬁeld, type system\Second. This tag uses the second count from the computer's internal

clock to trigger the alarm. You can also click the Browse button (...) beside the Input Tag ﬁeld to select the

system\Second tag and then click OK.

In the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, in the Condition list, select Input. This triggers the alarm every

time the value of the system\Second tag is 0, which happens every minute.=0

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6. In the Message ﬁeld, type Tank Temperature is High, and then click OK.

Close the Alarm and Event Setup editor and save your changes.

Add languages to the application

1. In FactoryTalk View Studio, on the Tools menu, click Languages.

In the Language Conﬁguration dialog box, select the Display undeﬁned strings using the default

language check box, and then click Add.

When the Display undeﬁned strings using the default language check box is selected, any strings that are

not deﬁned in the current language are displayed in the default language at runtime.

When this check box is not selected, any strings that are not deﬁned in the current language are displayed as

question marks (???) at runtime.

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3. In the Add Language dialog box, click German (Germany) and then click OK.

4. In the Language Conﬁguration dialog box, click Add to add the next language.

In the Add Language dialog box, click Italian (Italy) and then click OK.

In the Language Conﬁguration dialog box, click OK.

Add buttons to a graphic display to switch languages at runtime

In this section, we add a button to a graphic display which can be used to switch among available languages at

runtime.

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Step 1. Create a new graphic display

In FactoryTalk View Studio, in the Explorer window, expand the Graphics folder.

2. Right-click Displays, and then click New.

Step 2. Add buttons to the graphic display

On the Objects menu, select Push Button > Button.

2. In the graphic display, hold down the left mouse button and then drag the mouse to draw a box for the button.

On the Edit menu, click Copy.

On the keyboard, press Ctrl-V twice, to paste two more copies of the button in the graphic display.

Drag the copies of the button apart on the display.

On the keyboard, press Ctrl-A to select all of the buttons.

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7. On the Arrange menu, click Align Top to align the tops of the buttons.

On the Arrange menu, click Space Horizontal to space the buttons equally apart.

Step 3. Add captions to the buttons

Double-click the ﬁrst button to edit it.

In the Button Properties dialog box, click the Action tab.

Click the Browse button to the right of the Release action ﬁeld. The Command Wizard opens.

In the Command Categories pane on the left, expand All Commands and Macros.

5. In the list of commands on the right, click Language, and then click Next.

In the Language ID list, select the name of the language and then click Finish.

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In this example, we are using English (United States), en-US.

7. In the Button Properties dialog box, click the Up Appearance tab.

In the Caption ﬁeld, type English and then click OK.

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9. Repeat the steps above to add captions to the other two buttons:

◦

For the second button, the press action is Language it-IT (Italian for Italy).

◦ For the second button, the caption is Italiano.

◦ For the third button, the press action is Language de-DE (German for Germany).

◦

For the third button, the caption is Deutsch.

Step 4. Add an Alarm and Event Summary to the graphic display

1. On the Objects menu, point to Alarm and Event, and then click Summary (or in the toolbox, click Alarm and

Event Summary).

In the graphic display, hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse to create a box for the Alarm and

Event Summary object.

When you have the object the required size, release the left mouse button. The Alarm and Event Summary

object is drawn on the display.

Step 5. Save and then close the graphic display

On the File menu, click Save.

In the Save dialog box, type a name for the graphic display and then click OK.

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In this example, we used Alarm Summary Multilingual.

On the File menu, click Close to close the graphic display.

Enter alarm messages in other languages

In this section, we edit our application twice. The ﬁrst time, we open the application in Italian, and enter the Italian

alarm message in the Alarm Properties dialog box.

Next, we export the alarms and events to an Excel spreadsheet, enter the German alarm message in Excel, and then

import the alarm messages again into our application.

When you enter alarm messages in multiple languages in Excel, you can add the text strings for all languages to one

Excel ﬁle, and then import the translated text for all languages into the application in one operation.

When you import alarm messages, the maximum length that is allowed is 255 characters. Alarm messages longer than

255 characters are truncated.

Step 1. Open the application in a new language

On the File menu, click Close Application.

In the New/Open Site Edition (Local Station) Application dialog box, click the Existing tab.

In the list of applications, click the name of your application (in this example, My Local Site).

In the Language list, select Italian (Italy), it-IT and then click Open.

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Step 2. Enter the alarm message for the digital alarm

In the Explorer window, expand the Tag Server, and then double-click Alarm and Event Setup.

In the Alarm and Event Setup editor, click the Digital tab and then double-click the TankTempThreshold

alarm to edit it.

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3. In the Digital Alarm Properties dialog box, in the Message ﬁeld, type La temperatura del serbatoio e alta

and then click OK.

Step 3. Export alarm messages to an Excel spreadsheet

1. Right-click the Tag Alarm and Event Server where the alarms are deﬁned, and then click Import and Export.

In this example, right-click the Tag Alarm and Event Server called Tag Server.

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2. In the Alarm Import Export Wizard - Operation Type window, leave Export alarm conﬁguration to Excel

ﬁle selected and then click Next.

In the Alarms to Export window, leave the TankTempThreshold alarm in the list of alarms to export and

then click Next.

If you have many alarms and you want to export only some of them, you can ﬁlter the list of alarms to ﬁnd

the ones you want, and then you can include only those alarms you need in the exported ﬁle. For details, click

Help.

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4. In the Messages to Export window, leave Export messages for all alarms selected, leave all of the

languages selected, and then click Next.

In this window you can choose whether to export all alarm messages, the messages for only the alarms

you selected in the previous step, or no alarm messages, which then exports only the alarm data. If you are

exporting alarm messages, you can also select which languages you want to export.

In the Specify Output File window, leave the ﬁle name as it is. You can specify a location where you want the

ﬁle to be save or use the default location that is displayed, and then click Finish.

To browse for a location, click the Browse button .

After the export is complete, click OK.

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Step 4. Enter alarm messages in Excel

Locate the exported alarm ﬁle and then double-click it to open it in Microsoft Excel. The default location is in

your My Documents folder. In this example, the ﬁle is called My Local Site_Tag Server_AlarmExport.xls.

Each alarm is located in a new row in the spreadsheet. The column names correspond to the settings for

each alarm. At the bottom of the Excel window there are tabs that organize the alarms by type (Digital, Level,

Deviation).

Two additional tabs contain the alarm messages and the tag update rates. These items are located on their

own tabs because they can apply to multiple alarms.

For example, if you had 50 alarms, you could use the same alarm message for 10 of them, but have different

messages for the rest. Instead of editing the same alarm message 10 times, you only need to edit it once.

Each alarm message has its own numeric identiﬁer (in the Message column located in column H in our

example), which links a message to each alarm (level alarms can have a different message for each level).

The maximum length for an alarm message is 255 characters. Messages that are longer than 255 characters

are truncated when they are imported.

At the bottom of the Excel window, click the Messages tab.

To add a new language for messages, add a new column and then type the associated language identier

as the column heading. For example, click cell D1 and then type de-DE. This is the language identiﬁer for

German.

For example, the column heading, en-US is the language identiﬁer for English (United States). For more

information, see Language identiﬁers for language switching on page 186.

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4. To add messages, type the new message in a row under the column speciﬁed for that language. For example,

click cell D2 and then type Hohe Tanktemperatur!

At the bottom of the Excel window, click the Tag Update Rates tab. The columns are labeled with the update

rates. For example cell A-1, is labeled 0.10and cellSeconds E-1 is labeled 2 Seconds.

To update an input tag every 2 seconds, enter the name of the input tag in the column labeled 2 Seconds.

7. To save your changes, on the File menu, click Save.

Close Microsoft Excel.

Step 5. Import the alarm messages

In FactoryTalk View Studio, right-click the Tag Alarm and Event Server where the alarms are deﬁned, and

then click Import and Export.

In this example, right-click the Tag Alarm and Event Server called Tag Server.

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2. In the Alarm Import Export Wizard, in the Operation Type window, select Import alarm conﬁguration

from Excel ﬁle and then click Next.

In the File to Import window, select the Excel spreadsheet to which you added the German alarm message

and then click Next.

To browse for the ﬁle, click the Browse button .

In the Alarms to Import window, select Import only alarm messages, and then click Next.

In this window you can choose to overwrite any existing alarms, add only the new alarmsleaving all existing

alarms unchanged, or delete all existing alarms and then import only those that are in the import ﬁle.

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5. In the Messages to Import window, select Update existing messages and create new messages from the

import ﬁle, and then click Finish.

Do not select either of the other two options in this window. In our Excel spreadsheet, we added a language to

an existing alarm message; we did not create a new alarm message. If you do not choose to update existing

messages, the translated text will not appear in your alarm messages.

After the import is complete, click OK.

Create a Display Client conﬁguration ﬁle to test alarm messages

Because the Language command is ignored when you test run an application, you need to run the application from

the FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client.

Step 1. Run FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client

In Windows, click Start > All Programs > Rockwell Software > FactoryTalk View > FactoryTalk View Site

Edition Client. The FactoryTalk View SE Client Wizard opens.

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Step 2. Create a FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client conﬁguration ﬁle

In the FactoryTalk View Client Wizard, click Create a FactoryTalk View SE Client conﬁguration ﬁle.

2. On the File name and location page, in Client ﬁle name, type a name for the conﬁguration ﬁle. In this

example, we used Multilingual Alarms. Select a path for the conﬁguration ﬁle and click Continue.

On the Startup components page, click Local Station.

In the Connect to the application list, select the name of the application you want to connect to. In this

example, we used the My Local Site application that we created in Set up graphic displays on page 58.

In the Initial display list, click Alarm Summary Multilingual, and then click Advanced.

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4. On the Client window properties page, conﬁgure how the FactoryTalk View SE Client window will look at

runtime. In this example, we entered Show Me Alarms in the Title bar text box. At runtime, this text is

displayed at the top of the Client window. Click Security and debugging.

On Security and debugging page, you can conﬁgure the Client to log out automatically after a period of

inactivity.

Click Save, and then Run.

Test alarm messages at runtime

For details about triggering an alarm in the Logix Designer application (or RSLogix 5000 software), see step 6: "Test

the alarm instruction by switching to run mode and triggering the alarm" in Conﬁgure the alarm and download to the

controller on page 32.

In a Tag Alarm and Event Server, the TankTempThreshold alarm we created triggers automatically once every minute.

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When an alarm conditions occurs, the alarm appears in the Alarm and Event Summary in the default runtime

language (in this case, English for the United States).

When you click the Italiano button, the alarm message appears in Italian. Notice that the other parts of the Alarm

and Event Summary (for example, the Details pane) currently appear in the language version of the FactoryTalk

View software you have installed on your computer. However, you can make these items switch languages by editing

the properties of the Alarm and Event Summary to modify the column heading text. You can also export the graphic

display's language strings in FactoryTalk View, and then translate them before importing them again.

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The behavior of the display is the same when you click the Deutsch button to display the alarm message in German.

The labels on the buttons do not change when switching languages. This is the expected behaviorbecause there are

no translated strings for the buttons, and the Display undeﬁned strings using the default language check box is

selected. If you do not select this check box, undeﬁned strings are displayed as question marks (?) at runtime.

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Summary and tips for setting up language switching

To set up language switching for an application:

Develop the application in a base language.

2. Export the application's user-deﬁned text strings.

When translating to or from Unicode character sets (for example, Asian languages), you must export and then

import the Logix Designer tag database as a .txt ﬁle. The .csv format does not support Unicode character

sets. This limitation does not apply to FactoryTalk Tag Alarm and Event Servers.

Translate the strings. You can use Notepad or Microsoft Excel. Excel is useful for large numbers of strings.

4. Import the translated strings back into the application.

Tip:

For more detailed information about setting up language switching, see the FactoryTalk

View Site Edition Help in FactoryTalk View Studio. Also see the FactoryTalk View User's Guide in

FactoryTalk Viewclick Help > Online Books.

Text that supports language switching

In general, the user-deﬁned strings that support language switching are those that an operator sees in an application

at runtime. Speciﬁcally, these are:

• Text you specify for graphic objects and global objects including captions, tool tip text, time and date

embedded variables, and numeric embedded variables.

•

Graphic and global object display titles speciﬁed in the Display Settings dialog box.

•

Text objects created in graphic displays and global object displays.

Text that does not support language switching

Text that does not support language switching:

•

Text that is part of the language version of the FactoryTalk View Studio Site Edition or Client software, such

as information from system tags, which is displayed in the same language as the operating system. These

are translated when FactoryTalk View is localized.

•

Text that can be displayed at runtime but is used to operate the application, such as the names of graphic

displays, and command strings.

•

Tag descriptions and string constants in expressions.

• Text in the title bar of a FactoryTalk View Site Edition Client window, which is part of the setup of the client,

not part of the application.

Alarm and Event Summary and Alarm and Event Banner

If the Alarm and Event Summary or the Alarm and Event Banner is notiﬁed of a language switch, the contents are

reloaded in the new language.

Any Alarm Fault List messages that you created in Logix Designer (in the Alarm Properties dialog box) do not

currently switch languages.

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Appendix AGet started with language switching

You can use the Alarm and Event Banner Properties dialog box to conﬁgure tooltips and panel captions in multiple

languages. Deﬁne strings in one language at a time. FactoryTalk View controls which language is displayed. You

cannot switch the text labels for the alarm states and priorities.

Tip:

When conﬁguring language switching for the Alarm and Event Banner, see the FactoryTalk View Site

Edition Help in FactoryTalk View Studio.

Alarm and Event Log Viewer

You can use the Alarm and Event Log Viewer to conﬁgure column headings, button captions, and button tooltips in

multiple languages. Deﬁne strings in one language at a time. FactoryTalk View controls which language is displayed.

When the Alarm and Event Log Viewer is notiﬁed of a language switch, the contents of the viewer, which consists of

report data, are not translated. This data continues to be displayed in the language that was used when the alarm or

event was logged.

If text for a language is not available, the text for the default language is used.

Tip:

When conﬁguring language switching for the Alarm and Event Log Viewer, see the FactoryTalk View

Site Edition Help in FactoryTalk View Studio.

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Appendix B

System performance and limits

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events has been tested to conform to the following performance limits.

Tip:

All testing was performed with the recommended hardware. For details, see the FactoryTalk View Site

Edition Installation Guide.

Controller speciﬁcations

The speciﬁcations vary depending on the controller ﬁrmware revisions.

Controllers with revision 31 and later

Starting from revision 31, Logix tag-based alarms (conﬁgured alarms) are supported.

Specification Value

Number of subscribers (FactoryTalk Linx servers) per L7x

controller

Number of subscribers (FactoryTalk Linx servers) per L8z

controller

Active alarm state transitions every 5 minutes per L7x or L8z

controller

3,000

Maximum number of instruction alarms per L7x or L8z controller 3,000

Configured alarms only

Maximum number of configured alarms only per L8z controller 10,000

Maximum number of "used" configured alarms per L8z controller 7,500

Configured alarms with instruction based alarms

Maximum of configured alarms with instruction based alarms

per L8z controller

10,000

Maximum number of "used" alarms per L8z controller 7,500

Maximum number of instruction based alarms within "used"

alarms per L8z controller

3,000

Approximate controller memory used for each instruction based

alarm

Digital 1 KB

Analog 2.5 KB

Using associated tags, string tags consume 750-1600 bytes per

string tag depending on the alarm type.

Supported languages for alarm messages All languages supported by FactoryTalk View.

Execution times for alarms

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Appendix BSystem performance and limits

Execution times

Rung State

ALMDinstruction ALMAinstruction

False with no alarm state change 7μs 5μs

False with alarm state change 16μs 5μs

True with no alarm state change 7μs 15μs

True with alarm state change 16μs 25μs

Controllers with revision 24 and later

The following table lists information for controllers with revision 24 and later.

Specification Value

Number of subscribers (FactoryTalk Linx servers) per L7x

controller

Number of subscribers (FactoryTalk Linx servers) per L8z

controller

Active alarm state transitions every 5 minutes per L7x or L8z

controller

3,000

Maximum number of instruction alarms per L7x or L8z controller 3,000

Approximate controller memory used for each instruction based

alarm

Digital 1 KB

Analog 2.5 KB

Using associated tags, string tags consume 750-1,600 bytes per

string tag depending on the alarm type.

Supported languages for alarm messages All languages supported by FactoryTalk View.

Execution times for alarms

Execution times

Rung State

ALMDinstruction ALMAinstruction

False with no alarm state change 7μs 5μs

False with alarm state change 16μs 5μs

True with no alarm state change 7μs 15μs

True with alarm state change 16μs 25μs

Controllers with revision 20 or earlier

The following table lists information for controllers with revision 20 or earlier.

Specification Value

Number of subscribers (FactoryTalk Linx servers) per controller 3

Controller memory used for buffering by each subscriber

(FactoryTalk Linx)

100KB

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Appendix BSystem performance and limits

Specification Value

Typical number of alarm state transitions per subscriber 1,000

Recommended maximum number of alarms per controller 2,000

Approximate controller memory used for each instruction based

alarm

Digital 1 KB

Analog 2.2 KB

Using associated tags, string tags consume 750-1,600 bytes per

string tag depending on the alarm type.

Supported languages for alarm messages All languages supported by FactoryTalk View.

Execution times for alarms

Execution times

Rung State

ALMD instruction ALMA instruction

False with no alarm state change 8 μs 17 μs

False with alarm state change 35 μs 17 μs

True with no alarm state change 8 μs 65 μs

True with alarm state change 35 μs 126 μs

Scan times increase during a scan when many alarms change state at the same time. An alarm state change is any

event that changes the condition of the alarm. Minimize the potential for large alarm bursts by creating dependencies

on related alarms. Large alarm bursts can have a signiﬁcant impact on application code scan time.

Tip:

Firmware revisions 21 to 23 do not support the new alarms functionality.

System sizing recommendations

When you design and set up a FactoryTalk system, we recommend using the following guidelines. If you ﬁnd that

your system needs to expand beyond these guidelines, contact your Rockwell Automation sales or distributor

representative to discuss your application design.

Component Recommended guidelines

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events

FactoryTalk Alarms and Events servers per FactoryTalk