Creating and Configuring Relay Output Device

Scenario: You want to configure the Relay Output device.

 

Reference: For background information, see the reference section.

 

Workflow diagram:

 

 

Prerequisites:

  • System Manager is in Engineering mode.
  • System Browser is in Management View.

 

Steps:

1 – Create and Start the Relay Output Driver
  1. Depending on where to add the driver, select one of the following:
  • Project > Management System > Servers > Main Server > Drivers
  • Project > Management System > FEPs > [FEP Station] > Drivers
  • Object Configurator tab displays in the Primary pane.
  1. Click New and select New Relay Output Driver.
  1. (Optional) In the New object dialog box, enter a unique description text.
  1. Click OK.
  • The Relay Output driver is added to System Browser.
  1. In the Operation tab navigate to the Driver Status property and click Start.
  • The Relay Output driver is created and started.

 

2 – Configure a Relay Output Driver
  1. Click the added Relay Output driver and click the Driver Editor tab.
  1. Open the Driver Settings expander.
  • A description for the driver displays. It can be edited.
  1. In the Configuration Properties expander, do the following:
  • In the Device Request Timeout field, enter 10000 (default value is 10000 ms).
  • In the Check Status Rate field, enter 30000 (default value is 30000 ms).
  1. In the Notification Integration expander, do the following:
  • In the Batch Size field, set the value as 10 (default is 100). Batch size specifies the size in which the request is processed by the driver. The batch size displays the number of devices to which Notification interacts in one instant. For example, if there are 100 devices on which a message has to be displayed and a batch size of 10 is entered, Notification will send the message to batches of 10 devices each.
  • In the Expected delivery Time field, enter the time in seconds. The default expected delivery time is 10 seconds.
    NOTE: Notification does not guarantee the message delivery will be completed within the time entered here. This value is solely used to compute delivery statistics indicating whether message delivery to Twitter was on-time or late.
  • The Service Host field displays automatically and cannot be edited.
  1. Click Save .
  • The parameters are configured for the Relay Output driver.

 

3 – Create Relay Output Field Network
  1. Select Project > Field Networks.
  • The Object Configurator tab displays in the Primary pane.
  1. Click New Object and select New Relay Output Field Network.
  • The Create New Object dialog box displays with the Child type field pre-defined as Relay Output Field Network.
  1. Enter a name and description.
  1. Click OK.
  • The Relay Output Field Network node appears under the Field Networks node.
  • The Relay Output driver is automatically associated to the field network. In the Network Editor tab, under the Network Settings expander, you can see that the values are preselected, and the driver is already assigned.

 

4 – Create Relay Output Device
  1. Select Project > Field Networks > Relay Output Field Network.
  1. In the Network Editor tab, click Create .
  1. In the New object dialog box, enter a name and description.
  1. Click OK.
  1. Open the Device Settings expander.
  1. Enter a description for the device.
  1. Open the Configuration Properties expander.
  1. In the Serial Port Number field, enter the virtual COM port number created by the TruePort driver to communicate with the Perle device. A prefix of COM should be used, so that the final value displays as COM102.
    NOTE: To check the COM ports that were used by the device, open the True Management tool.
  1. From Device Mode drop-down list, select Operational.
  1. Click Save .
  • The Relay Output device is created.

 

5 – Create Relay Device
  1. Select the Relay Output device.
  1. Select the Device Editor tab and click Create .
  1. In the New object dialog box, enter a name and description.
  1. Click OK.
  1. Open the Device Settings expander.
  1. Under Device Settings, enter a description for the device.
  1. Open the Configuration Properties expander.
  1. Set the Relay Number to the relay used for this device.
  1. Do one of the following:
  • Leave the Enable Time Limited Activation check box unselected to operate the relay in Latch Mode, which means that the relay remains activated as long as at least one message is active for the device.
  • Select the Enable Time Limited Activation check box to operate the relay in Time Limited Activation Mode, which means that after every activation the relay will automatically deactivate after the specified Deactivation Time (see the Figure below).
  1. Set the Deactivation Time to a number greater than zero and less than 3.600.000 (in milliseconds), depending on the requirements of the external device.
    NOTE: Set the deactivation time only if a pulsed output is required.
  1. Click Save .
  • The Relay device configuration details are saved.
    NOTE: If the user does not select the Enable Time Limited Activation check box, the relay will remain active only for the duration of the notification (expiration time).

Next, you need to verify the devices and the drivers by creating a recipient device, linking the recipient device with the notification template which you eventually link to the incident template before initiating the incident using Command and Reaction.