Copyright 2012 ICONICS, Inc. Page 1 of 2 AlarmWorX64 Multimedia - Best Practices July 2012 AlarmWorX64 Multimedia Best Practices Description: Guide to making an optimal AlarmWorX64 Multimedia configuration. OS Requirement: Windows Server 2003 x64/Vista x64/ Server 2008 x64/Windows 7 x64/ Server 2008 R2 x64 General Requirement: Basic knowledge of AlarmWorX64 Multimedia. Introduction: There are a variety of ways to configure an AlarmWorX64 Multimedia system, but not all configurations run at the same speed or perform as efficiently. This application note will make some suggestions on how to get the most out of your AlarmWorX64 Multimedia application. NOTE: This application note assumes you have read the AlarmWorX64 Multimedia Quick Start application note. As Few Configurations as Possible: Under the Configurations tree, its possible to have more than one Configuration item. However AlarmWorX64 Multimedia runs best when there are as few Configuration items as possible. Figure 1 - Good example versus bad example Inefficient Example: Some users will want to create multiple Subscription items under Alarm Inputs ? Alarm Subscriptions as a way to filter their alarms by source or area, and then they will create multiple Configuration items, one for each Subscription item. Each Configuration may only have one Action Set under it. Efficient Example: Instead, create only one Alarm Subscription item that encompasses all of the alarms you will want AlarmWorX64 Multimedia to be aware of, and only one Configuration item for that Subscription. Then use the Alarm Filters on your Action Sets to determine which alarms trigger which actions. One common question is how to use Alarm Filters to filter by area, since area is not one of the available attributes. To create a filter for a specific area, follow these steps: 1) Go to Alarm Inputs ? Alarm Subscriptions and double- click your Subscription object (ex: Sample A&E Server Subscription). 2) Select your subscription to the alarm server and click the Edit Categories Filter button (). Figure 2 - Edit Categories Filter button 3) Go to the Attributes tab. 4) Choose an Event Category that matches at type of alarm you are using (such as Limit or Digital). 5) If it does not already exist in the Subscribed column, select Area in the Available column and hit the Add button to move it into the Subscribed column. Remember the number given to Area. For example, in Figure 3 below, area is in position 4. Figure 3 - Area as attribute 4 6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each type of alarm you are using, making sure that Area always has the same number in each Subscribed box. NOTE: You may want to repeat steps 4 and 5 for every Event Category where Area is an available attribute, even for alarm types that you are not using. If you do not subscribe to the Area column for a particular type of alarms and you later add an alarm of that type to your project, then AlarmWorX64 Multimedia will not be able to read the area for those alarms. This could cause AlarmWorX64 Multimedia to not work for those new alarms, and the reason for this problem may not be obvious. You could potentially save yourself hours of troubleshooting time by adding Area for every Event Category now instead of only mapping it for Event Categories that you are using. Copyright 2012 ICONICS, Inc. Page 2 of 2 AlarmWorX64 Multimedia - Best Practices July 2012 AlarmWorX64 Multimedia Best Practices 7) When you have subscribed to Area for all of the necessary Event Categories, click OK until you get back to the AlarmWorX64 Multimedia Configurator, then click Apply. 8) Create a new filter under Alarm Inputs ? Alarm Filters and click Edit Filter. 9) In the Filter Wizard, check the Attribute box, and pick Attribute X, where X is the number that the Area attribute was assigned in the subscription. If your configuration looked like Figure 3, you should pick “Attribute 4”. 10) In the String Compare box, type the name of the area. Figure 4 - Filter wizard, using Attribute 4 11) Click OK and Apply. You have created a filter for an alarm area. Figure 5 - Finished filter No “No Action” Action Sets: Each enabled action set should always have at least one action. If you have an action set that has no actions, or if the only actions have set to all of their Action Destinations, then either delete that action set or uncheck the “Enabled” box. It is okay to have an action in an action set that is set to as long as is it preceded or followed by an action that actually has some destination. Figure 6 - Good example versus bad example As Few Action Sets as Possible: One action set is capable of performing many different actions. If you find yourself creating multiple action sets with the same filter, the same stop conditions, and the same looping, consider putting all of those actions into one action set. If all of the actions have a 0 delay then they will be performed