Creating and Configuring ASCII Input Device

Scenario: You want to configure ASCII Input device.

 

Reference: For background information, see the reference section.

 

Workflow diagram:

 

 

Prerequisites:

  • ASCII Input Device is installed and configured.
  • System Manager is in Engineering mode.
  • System Browser is in Management View.

 

Steps:

1 – Create and Start a ASCII Input Driver
  1. Depending on where to add the ASCII Input 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 ASCII Input Driver.
  1. In the New object dialog box that displays, do the following:
    a. (Optional) Enter a unique description by changing the default.
    b. Click OK.
  • The ASCII Input Driver is added to System Browser.
  1. In the Operation tab navigate to the Driver Status property and click Start.
  • The ASCII Input Driver is created and started.

 

2 – Configure an ASCII Input Driver
  1. In the System Browser, select the ASCII Input Driver and click the Driver Editor tab.
  1. In the Driver Settings expander, modify the Description, if required.
  1. In the Configuration Properties expander, proceed as follows
  • In the Device Request Timeout field, enter 20000. (The time is measured in milliseconds).
  • Enter 60000 in the Check Status Rate field, enter 180000. (The time is measured in milliseconds).
  • Open the Event Triggers expander and configure the parameters.
  • Open the Input Message Analysis expander.
  • Configure the parameters:
  1. Click Save .
  • The parameters are configured for the ASCII Input driver.

 

3 – Create ASCII Input Perle Field Network
  1. Select Project > Field Networks.
  • The Object Configurator tab displays in the Primary pane.
  1. Click New and select New ASCII Input Perle Field Network.
  1. In the New object dialog box that displays, proceed as follows:
    a. Enter a unique name and description.
    b. Click OK.
  • The ASCII Input Perle Field Network node appears in the field networks hierarchy.
  • The ASCII Input 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 ASCII Input Perle Device
  1. Select ASCII Input driver to 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.
  • The Device Editor tab displays.
  1. In the Device Settings expander, enter a description for the device.
  1. Open the Configuration Properties expander.
  1. Enter the values for the fields as detailed in ASCII Input Device Workspace.
  1. Click Save .
  • The ASCII Input Perle device is created.

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

Creating an incident trigger rule: To verify the ASCII input driver, the user must create triggers. When incoming ASCII matches the Regular expression defined in the trigger rule, a management station event is raised. This event can be used to verify that ASCII data is being received, analyzed, and handled properly. To verify that the extracted text for field mapping is set correctly, the user must select the event and check that the correct data appears in the Event Cause or Additional Information field for that event.