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Version: v4 (Stable)

Message Format

This dialog box is used to define a multilingual formatting string for the alarm message (return to normal state, acknowledgment or exceeding the maximum alarm duration) for a specific tag.

The language used for the format definition is the language selected for the message definition.

If no format is defined for the selected type, the format used will be the default format defined for the language selected in the the alarm options..

Tag reference​

This field displays the reference of the tag whose message format you want to define.

Format​

The message format is used to define a composite message that will be created when the relevant alarm is triggered (return to normal state, acknowledgment or exceeding the maximum alarm duration).

When no format is defined for the tag and the type of message selected, the format displayed is the default format. The default format is the first format in the drop-down list and is displayed in square brackets "[]".

The message format can be entered or selected from the drop-down list among the formats that have been previously defined for other tags.

To select another format that has already been defined, click on the arrow in the drop-down list to select the desired format.

To modify the selected format or define a new format, click on the button to the right of the drop-down list. In the popup menu displayed, select the "Modify" command (to modify the selected format), or the "New" command (to define a new format). To validate the entered text, press the "Enter" or "Tab" key ("Esc" key to cancel). The "Modify" command is not validated if the selected format is the default format.

The "Alarm" and "Max duration exceeded" radio buttons are used to select the format to be used for the alarm message attached to the triggering of the alarm (choice "Alarm") and for the alarm message attached to the exceeding of the maximum duration of the alarm in the active state (choice "Max duration exceeded"). These buttons are only displayed when the maximum duration of the alarm is defined (> 0).

Syntax​

The format can contain fixed parts, reproduced as they are, and variable parts, which refer to alarm parameters, using the following syntax:

  • &M: This field will be replaced by the alarm message (long message) defined for the tag.

  • &N: This field will be replaced by the name of the tag.

  • &R: This field will be replaced by the date path of the external variable (DDE/OPC reference or other).

  • &C: This field will be replaced by the alarm code (short message) defined for the tag.

  • &S: This field will be replaced by the name of the station attached to the tag.

  • &L: This field will be replaced by the name of the station attached to the tag only if the station is not the local station.

  • &J: This field will be replaced by the name of the data server of the tag.

  • &A: This field will be replaced by the name of the first call group associated with the tag.

  • &X: This field will be replaced by the location associated with the tag. The button on the right of this filed gives access to the definition of the location format.

  • &Z: This field will be replaced by the maximum duration of the alarm (multiplied by the number of times this duration is exceeded in case of an active alarm), in the format: "X minutes" if the duration is less than 1 hour, "X hours" if the duration is a multiple of 60, "X hours Y minutes" in the other cases.

  • &O: This field will be replaced by the unique numeric identifier of the tag (Oid).

  • &G: This field will be replaced by the name of the base tag group associated with the tag.

  • &P: This field will be replaced by the value of the priority set for the tag.

  • &U: This field will be replaced by the name of the user who acknowledged the alarm (valid only for acknowledgment processes).

  • &D: This field will be replaced by the date and time of the alarm in the format "DD/MM/YY HH:MM:SS".

  • &V: This field will be replaced by the value of the tag when the alarm was triggered.

  • &V*: This field will be replaced by the current value of the tag at the time of sending the message.

  • &(n): This field will be replaced by the value of the tag identified by "n" (object identifier in the tag list), when the alarm was triggered.

  • &(n)*: This field will be replaced by the current value of the tag identified by "n" (object identifier in the tag list), at the time of sending the message.

  • &[xxx]: This field will be replaced by the value of the tag identified by "xxx" (alphanumeric identifier (*)), when the alarm was triggered.

  • &[xxx]: This field will be replaced by the current value of the tag identified by "xxx" (alphanumeric identifier ()), at the time of sending the message.

It is also possible to introduce certain special ASCII characters in the message using the following syntax:

  • &<CR>: insert ASCII character "CR"

  • &<LF>: insert ASCII character "LF"

  • &<TAB>: insert ASCII character "TAB"

(*) The alphanumeric identifier can be the simple tag identifier in the same data server or the complete tag identifier in any data server of the same station.

The buttons displayed on the right of the fields &(n) and &(n)* allow you to insert the value of a contextual variable (current value or alarm trigger value) more simply than by entering the syntax "&(n)" as described above. Click on this button and select the desired tag on the main screen. It is possible to select any defined tag, even in another data server. The selected tag will automatically be inserted in the text, in the syntactic form " (n)" or "&(n)*" at the end of the text already defined in the format.

NOTE

The &D, &V, &V*, &(n), &(n)* fields can be supplemented by a display format shown in brackets. The display format defined here is the same as the format used to define the display format of a tag (see Tag Value). If a display format is defined at the level of the inserted tag, the display format defined here replaces it.

Example: "&V[#.0]" -> the value 12 will be replaced by 12.0

Example: "&D[dd-mm-yy hh:nn:ss]" -> the date value will be replaced by the specified format

Date format type:

  • dd or d : numerical day with or without 0
  • mm or m : numerical month with or without 0
  • yy or yyyy : year with 2 or 4 digits
  • hh or h : hours with or without 0
  • nn or n : minutes with or without 0
  • ss or s : seconds with or without 0

Preview

Click this button to preview the message generated by the defined format. The parameter values taken into account are the current values.

Listen​

Click this button to listen to the audio message generated by the text displayed in the preview. This button is only enabled if voice synthesis is active.