Application Note

PlantPAx Process Objects Alarming with FT A&E

of FT View SE 6.0
Author(s): Martin Wach
Date: 5 August 2011

Version: 1.1

Revision Author Date Description

1.0 Martin Wach 11-Apr-2011 Original, reviewed by David Board
1.1 Martin Wach 5-Aug-2011 Chapter 3 added

DISCLAIMER

This application note is intended to provide general technical information on a particular subject or subjects and
is not an exhaustive treatment of such subjects. Accordingly, the information in this document is not intended to
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Scope of this Document ........................................................................................................... 3

2. Alarm Configuration Steps ........................................................................................................ 4

2.1 Alarm and Event setup ............................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Remote Acknowledgement....................................................................................................... 9

3. Additional RSLogix 5000 Steps ............................................................................................... 11

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1. Introduction

The PlantPAx Process Objects Library available from Rockwell Automation‟s knowledge base ships
with a document describing how to configure the alarming in FT View SE. The current version of this
document (Version 1.5 of the library) does not cover the new features of FT Alarm & Events
introduced with FT View SE 6.0.

This application note describes how to simplify the alarm configuration by using this new feature.

1.1 Abbreviations

Symbol Description
FT Factory Talk
FT View SE Factory Talk View Site Edition - for brevity FT View SE, HMI software
HMI Human Machine Interface. The operator interface station
FT A&E Factory Talk Alarms & Events
KB Knowledge Base

1.2 Scope of this Document

The intention of this document is to describe the steps to set up the tag-based FT A&E alarm
configuration in FT View SE 6.0 for an object of the Process Library.

It does not cover the legacy alarming based on HMI tags nor device-based FT A&E.

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2. Alarm Configuration Steps

This document describes the steps required to create a tag-based FT A&E alarm in FT View SE 6.0
for an object of the Process Library.

The following examples use the „Fail To Start‟ alarm from the P_Motor object. However, the methods
described in this document can be used to configure any alarm in the Process Library (assuming the
alarm is based on the P_Alarm AOI).

The P_Motor „Fail To Start‟ alarm uses the tag FailToStart for the P_Alarm AOI. In this section, the
P_Motor object name is “[PO_17]P101_Motor”.

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2.1 Alarm and Event setup

In the Alarm and Event Setup window, create a new digital alarm.

On the “Digital” tab of the Alarm Properties window, configure the alarm as follows:

Name: The alarm name should include a unique designator for the object as well as a short
description of the alarm. In this example the alarm name for the „Fail To Start‟ alarm is “PO_17 P101
Fail To Start”, where “PO_17 P101” identifies the P_Motor object and “Fail To Start” identifies the
alarm.

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Input Tag: In the Process Library, objects with alarms have an alarm status tag that starts with the
prefix “Alm_”. This tag should be used for the Input Tag. In this example, the “Fail To Start” alarm has
the alarm status tag “Alm_FailToStart”. Thus the complete input tag name for this example is
“[PO_17]P101_Motor. Alm_FailToStart”.

Condition: The condition should be “Input <> 0”.

Severity: The Severity may be set to any valid value at the user‟s discretion.

Minimum Duration: The Minimum Duration should be set to zero. Alarm duration is handled by the
controller.

Latched Checkbox: Leave the “Latched” checkbox unchecked. Alarm Reset is handled by the
controller.

Acknowledge Required Checkbox: The “Acknowledge Required” checkbox configuration must

match the Acknowledge Required configuration for the alarm in the controller. This can be set using
the Alarm Configuration tab on the device faceplate.

Show Alarm as Tag Checkbox: In opposition to the alarm configuration document shipped with
Process library V1.5, do not check the “Show Alarm as Tag” checkbox.

Message: The Message may be configured as required by the end user.

Associated Tags: Associated Tags may be configured as required by the end user.

Alarm Class: The Alarm Class may be configured as required by the end user.

FactoryTalk View Command: Optionally configure the FactoryTalk View Command as

“Display {faceplate name} /T{object}”. In this example, the command is
“Display (RA-BAS) P_Motor-Faceplate /T[PO_17]P101_Motor”.

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The Status Tags configuration allows the updates made in the FactoryTalk Alarm and Event screens
to be sent to the controller. On the “Status Tags” tab of the Alarm Properties window, configure the
alarm as follows:

Disabled Tag: Enter “{object}.{alarm tag}.Disabled” for the Disabled Tag. In this example, the
Disabled Tag is “[PO_17]P101_Motor.FailToStart.Disabled”.

Suppressed Tag: Enter “{object}.{alarm tag}.Suppressed” for the Suppressed Tag. In this example,
the Suppressed Tag is “[PO_17]P101_Motor.FailToStart.Suppressed”.

In Alarm Tag: Leave the In Alarm Tag field blank.

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Acknowledged Tag: Enter “{object}.{alarm tag}.Ack” for the Acknowledged Tag. In
this example, the Acknowledged Tag is “[PO_17]P101_Motor.FailToStart.Ack”.

Note: Since the Alarm Tag is a Local Tag in the AOI, the Disabled, Suppressed, and Ack tags
cannot be entered using the tag browser. They must be manually typed.

The completed configuration is shown below.

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2.2 Remote Acknowledgement

In order to process the Alarm Acknowledge from the controller in FactoryTalk View SE, some sort of
synchronization must be configured for each alarm.

Note that Alarm Acknowledge from the Process Library Faceplates goes directly to the controller.

In opposition to the alarm configuration document shipped with the Process library V1.5, with FT View
SE 6.0 it is no longer required to set up a derived tag for each alarm to remotely acknowledge it.

Instead of that, the newly introduced Control Tags could be used.

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Acknowledge Tags: Enter the alarm‟s Acknowledge Status Tag. In the Process Library, objects
with alarms have an alarm acknowledge status tag that starts with the prefix “Ack_”. This tag should
be used for the Acknowledge Tags to remotely acknowledge the alarm. The complete tag name for
this example is “[PO_17]P101_Motor.Ack_FailToStart”.

Note that this tag name is different than the ‘Acknowledged Tag’ entered in the FactoryTalk Alarm and
Event Digital Alarm Properties in the previous section.

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3. Additional RSLogix 5000 Steps

In case of any tag write errors of the alarm status tags or malfunction of disabling, suppressing or
acknowledging alarms from within the alarm summary or alarm banner, follow the attached excerpt of
the Process Objects library release notes (“PlantPAx Process Library 1.5 Release Notes
2011_06_02.pdf”).

IMPORTANT:

When using the library with RSLogix 5000 software and Logix controllers version 18.xx or 19.xx, the
P_Alarm Add-On Instruction definition must be edited to enable FactoryTalk Alarms and Events tag-
based alarming to function correctly. Here are the steps to follow:

a. Import the P_Alarm instruction definition into your RSLogix 5000 project. Note that importing an
instruction which uses P_Alarm will result in P_Alarm being imported, as all AOIs were exported
including dependent data types and embedded AOIs.

b. Right-click the P_Alarm instruction in the controller organizer and select “Open Definition.”

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c. Select the Parameters tab in the definition dialog.

d. Be sure the “External Access” column is displayed. (You will need to scroll to the right.) If it is not,
right-click any column header, select “Toggle Column” and ensure that “External Access” is checked.

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e. Change the External Access selection for these Parameters from “Read Only” to
“Read/Write” (see the highlighted items in the figure below):
• Ack
• Suppressed
• Disabled

f. Click OK to apply the change and close the definition.

g. Be sure to save the changes to your project ACD file.

The Ack, Suppressed and Disabled parameters must allow writes by the FactoryTalk Alarms and
Events (FTAE) server for alarm acknowledge, suppress/unsuppress and disable/enable to work
properly from the HMI.

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