Create event frames

Although you typically use event-frame-generation analyses or PI Event Frames Generator (PI EFGen) to create event frames, you can create an event frame manually. It is simply not recommended.

1. In the navigator, select Event Frames.

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

   • On the toolbar, click New Event Frame.

   • In the Event Frames browser, right-click the Event Frame Searches collection and click New Event Frame.

   • In the viewer, right-click and click New > New Event Frame.

3. In the Event Frame Template section of the Choose Event Frame Template window, select an event frame template and click OK.

   The new event frame is displayed in the viewer with four tabs for configuring the event frame.

4. In the General tab, enter a unique name and a description for the event frame in the Name and Description fields.

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

   Option	Description
   Template	Displays the template that you selected when you created the event frame. To review the template properties, click .
   Severity	Select a severity setting for the event frame. You can choose None (default), Information, Warning, Minor, Major, and Critical.
   Start time	Defaults to current date and time. Press F2 or click to open the Date and Time Picker window where you can select a different start time.
   End time	Defaults to no date or time. Press F2 or click to open the Date and Time Picker window where you can select a different end time.
   Categories	Optional. You can organize event frames by grouping them into element categories. To browse available categories, click .
   Default Attribute	Optional. This field is read-only if the event frame is based on a template. After you have created attributes for the event frame in the Attributes tab, you can select a default attribute from the drop-down list. For more information, see Default attributes.
   Extended Properties	This link is an advanced feature. For more information, see Storage of application-specific information.
   Annotations	Click this link if you wish to enter a comment and/or add a file attachment specific to the event frame. For more information, see Add annotations to event frames.
   Location	Click this link if you wish to specify location attribute traits for the event frame. For more information, see Set location attribute traits.
   Reason	Click this link if you wish to set up a reason attribute trait for the event frame. 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 beyond those already established at the server and database level. For more information, see Configure security for objects.

6. Optional. You can choose from the following actions, as needed.

   Option	Description
   Capture values	To improve performance, you can save event-frame attribute values in PI AF rather than have data references calculated and executed. For more information, see Value capture for event frames and transfers.
   Lock	After the underlying action for an event frame has completed, such as batch completion, you can click this link to prevent further changes to it. For more information, see Lock event frames or transfers. Note: Only Administrator users can unlock an event frame.
   Acknowledge	If the event frame is based on a template where both the Can Be Acknowledged setting and the annotation access right are enabled, click this link to indicate that you have acknowledged the event frame. For more information, see Event frame acknowledgement.

7. Edit the remaining tabs as needed.

   • To add attributes, see Create attributes on event frames.

   • To set a primary referenced element, see Primary referenced element.