Create event frame templates

Create and configure event frame templates to ensure consistent definitions for event frames in your asset structure.

1. In the navigator, click Library.

2. In the Library browser, click Event Frame Templates.

3. To create a new event frame template, choose one of the following actions:

   • On the toolbar, click New Template.

   • Right-click Event Frame Templates and click New Template.

   • Right-click in the Event Frame Templates pane and click New Template.

4. In the General tab of the Event Frame Template Properties window, enter a unique name and a description for the event frame template in the Name and Description fields.

5. Adjust settings on tabs to configure the event frame template. PI System Explorer provides defaults for all required settings, but you can configure settings yourself. The settings include:

   Option	Description
   Base Template	You can base the template on an existing event frame template, which you select from the drop-down list. For more information on base templates, see Base and derived templates.
   Severity	Select a severity setting for event frames based on the template. You can choose None (default), Information, Warning, Minor, Major, and Critical. Note: Event frames that have already been created with a specific severity setting are not updated automatically if the Severity setting in an event frame template is later changed.
   Categories	Optional. Organize event frame templates by grouping them into element categories. To browse available categories or to create a new category, click .
   Default Attribute	Optional. After you have created attributes for the template, you can select a default attribute from the drop-down list. For more information, see Default attributes.
   Naming Pattern	Optional. You can enter a text string, or click to choose from the following substitution parameters to define a naming pattern. %STARTTIME:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff% The current local start time of the object using the specified formatting. If no formatting is specified, the default formatting is used. The formatting uses standard format strings supported by the DateTime.ToString method, as described in Format strings for time substitution parameters. %UTCSTARTTIME:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff% The current Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) start time of the object using the specified formatting. If no formatting is specified, the default formatting is used. %TEMPLATE% The name of the object's template. %@Attribute% The value of the object's attribute template, represented by the path. %ELEMENT% The name of the primary referenced element of the object's event frame. %ELEMENTDESCRIPTION% The description of the primary referenced element of the object's event frame. You can also use other naming pattern substitution parameters. For example, if you want an event frame generation analysis name included in the naming pattern, enter %ANALYSIS% as a substitution parameter. For a complete list of naming pattern substitution parameters, see Naming patterns. Each element derived from the template will have a unique, identifiable name. To ensure that new elements created from the template have an incremental number, enter * at the end of any pattern you enter here. Naming patterns are re-evaluated on an event frame when the Start time, End time, or primary referenced element is modified after it has been created. It will not be re-evaluated when loaded from another application. To force an element or event frame to re-evaluate its naming pattern, right-click the object and click Reevaluate Naming Pattern. Some substitution parameters may not be applied when a derived event frame is created. To ensure a derived event frame's name fully reflects the naming pattern, right-click the event frame and click Reevaluate Naming Pattern. Note: The name generated by the naming pattern must be less than the maximum name length of 260 characters. If left blank, PI System Explorer uses the following rules: Event frames that are generated by event frame generation analyses use a default naming pattern of: %ANALYSIS% %STARTTIME:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff% Event frames that are created by other methods use the name of the event frame template and the current date: %TEMPLATE%yyyyMMdd
   Allow Extensions	Select this check box to enable additional attributes to be defined for an event frame, beyond those defined in its template. For more information, see Learn about extensions. Note: Categories, analyses and notifications are not affected by whether the Allow Extensions check box is enabled.
   Can Be Acknowledged	Select this check box to enable users to acknowledge an event frame. For more information, see Event frame acknowledgement. Note: This setting only affects event frames that are created after a template is created or modified.
   Base Template Only	Select this checkbox to assign the Base Template Only (BTO) property to an event frame template. An event frame cannot be created directly from a BTO template. For more information, see Base and derived templates.
   Extended Properties	This link is an advanced feature. For more information, see Storage of application-specific information.
   Location	Click this link if you wish to specify location attribute traits for the event frame template. For more information, see Set location attribute traits.
   Reason	Click this link if you wish to set up reason attribute traits for the event frame template so that users can select reason codes for downtime, excursions, and other events. For more information, see Set reason attribute traits.
   Security	Click this link if you wish to set up custom access permissions to the event frame template beyond those already established at the server and database level. For more information, see Configure security for objects.

6. Use the Attribute Templates tab to create an attribute template for each property or data item for the template. See Create attribute templates.