Event Handling

How Operators are Alerted to Alarms

Desigo CC displays all the detected alarms/events in Event List, with each one on a separate row. This is your main starting point for dealing with events. In addition:

  • The Summary bar along the top of the screen provides an overview of the events in the system grouped by category. This lets you keep an eye on events even when in some Client Profiles Event List is collapsed to an event bar. A blinking indication signals when there are unprocessed events.
  • An audible alert is sounded by the Desigo CC station when there are unprocessed events.
  • In some Client Profiles, the highest category event is also displayed in an Event Detail bar underneath the Summary bar.

For details about these user-interface elements, see Overview of the Standard UI Client.

 

Methods of Handling an Event
  • Fast treatment. You can view information about events and send event-handling commands from directly inside Event List. This is the most straightforward method of handling an event. You can also send commands in the same way from the Event Detail bar, where available.
    For instructions, see Handling Events from Event List.
  • Investigative treatment. To handle an event as you would in System Manager, you can open a dedicated window, with the event descriptor that displays along the top, and the object that caused the event already selected in System Browser. This feature enables you to:
    • Investigate the source of the event, check or command its properties, and so forth, using all the tools normally available in System Manager.
    • At the same time, you can send event-handling commands from the event descriptor at the top of the window, just as you would from inside Event List.
    • For instructions, see Handling an Event with Investigative Treatment.
  • Assisted treatment. If an operating procedure was configured for a specific event, the icon in the event button indicates that you can open a dedicated window, with the event descriptor displayed along the top, that provides a step-by-step checklist of actions you must complete for handling that situation. For example, these might include printing out a report, completing a form, reading a document, and so on. At the same time, you can send event-handling commands from the event descriptor at the top of the window, just as you would from inside Event List.
    For instructions, see Handling Events with Assisted Treatment.

 

Simultaneous Handling of Events by Different Operators

A Desigo CC installation can have one or multiple client stations from which operators monitor and respond to events.

  • At any given time, you can see which operators and stations are handling an event. This information is available in the event button tooltip and in the In Process by column of the event descriptor.
  • Even if an event is being handled by another operator/station, you can still also handle the same event from your own station, using any of the available methods. The only limitation is that:
    • If another operator/station is handling an event using assisted treatment, you cannot also initiate assisted treatment for that event.
    • However, you can still start investigative treatment, or send event-handling commands from within Event List.

The system continually updates the list of users who are handling the same event and removes any users who are disconnected for any reason.

 

Visibility of Events in the System

Your user visibility rights affect the specific events that the Summary bar and the Event List, Investigative Treatment, and Assisted Treatment windows display. If an event is generated by a point not visible to you in System Browser, it does not display on your Desigo CC station.

 

Validation for Event Handling

Validation might be required for commanding events. This means when an event occurs, to be able to send any event-handling commands, the operator will be asked to provide a comment (Validation Profile = Enabled) or a comment and a password (Validation Profile = Supervised).

The event-handling comment that explains the reason for the action is recorded and stored in the Detail Log tab.

 

Auto-Event Handling

Desigo CC can be configured to automatically start the handling of certain events when specified conditions occur on the site. In this case, certain actions such as opening Event List or selecting the event might happen automatically, so you will not need to do them manually.

 

Activity Log and Event Log

During event treatment, entries are recorded in the History Database for the following:

  • Operator’s activities relating to event handling (for example, initiating/suspending event handling, acknowledging/resetting an event, and so on). This log data is available when you generate an Activity Log report.
  • Evolution of the events in the system (for example, a new event occurs in the system, an event is acknowledged/reset and so on), and progression through the operating procedure steps in assisted treatment (for example, an operating procedure is initiated or closed and so on). This log data is available when you generate an Event Log report.

For background information about Desigo CC activities and events historical data, see Log Viewer.

 

Alarm Suppression

If the alarm suppression feature is enabled on specific system objects, depending on the alarm class you want to suppress, any events coming from those objects are suppressed in the management station. This means that any events relating to those objects will not be visible in the Summary bar and Event List, will not be available in the Event Log, and any event-based procedures (such as, event-handling procedures, or reactions) will not be activated. Anyway, unlike the out-of-scan feature, the objects properties are always updated even when alarm suppression is enabled.

When this feature is enabled for a specific object/subtree, it will suppress the next events that occur in the field panel. Any events detected prior to enabling this feature will remain visible in the Summary bar and Event List. When this feature is disabled for a specific object/subtree, any detected events relevant to that object/subtree display immediately in the Summary bar and Event List.

You can check whether the alarm suppression is active for an object in the Alarm Suppression column (Enabled or Disabled) of the Textual Viewer. You can also filter the System Browser tree to display those system objects or generate a report of system objects affected by alarm suppression. For instructions, see Handling Alarm Suppression for System Objects.

When alarm suppression is present for at least a system object, the management station generates an event. Also, if alarm suppression is available for your configuration, this icon displays on the Summary bar with a tooltip that tells you the number of objects affected by alarm suppression.