Shelve Alarms
- Last UpdatedFeb 06, 2024
- 5 minute read
Alarm shelving allows an operator to temporarily disable nuisance or low value alarms that are causing an unnecessary distraction.
With Plant SCADA, you can shelve alarms by setting the EndTime argument for the following Cicode functions:
When the specified EndTime is reached, the alarm is automatically enabled and normal operation is resumed.
If you apply a new EndTime value to an alarm that is already shelved, the current setting will be overwritten; the values will not accumulate.
Note:
• If the parameter [Alarm]DisplayDisable is set to 1, the system will continue to process state changes for alarms that are
disabled or shelved. This means any state changes can continue to be displayed at
runtime, for example, on the SOE and Disabled Alarms page.
• If [Alarm]DisplayDisable is set to 1, the User Name and User Location recorded at the time an alarm was disabled
will be maintained, despite any subsequent state changes; these properties will not
be overwritten by the System User account.
• If you would like an alarm list to display "Shelve End Time" in the header row
instead of the default alarm field name "DisableEndTime", you can use the parameter
[AlarmHeading]AlarmField.
You can also shelve alarms using the default runtime interface for the following projects.
Shelve alarms in a Situational Awareness project
Alarms can be shelved during runtime in the following locations:
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Active Alarms page (see Default Alarm Pages)
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Shelved Alarms page (see Default Alarm Pages)
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Active Alarms Zone (UHD4K projects only)
-
Top 5 Active Alarm list on the Header Bar
-
Information Zone Alarms tab.
To shelve a selected alarm:
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In an alarms list, right-click the alarm that you would like to shelve.
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On the menu that appears, select one of the following options:
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Shelve for ... — opens a dialog that allows you to Shelve Indefinitely or set a Maximum Shelve Time. You can also provide a Reason For Shelving.
-
Shelve until ... — opens a dialog that allows you to set a Shelve Until Date and Shelve Until Time. You can also provide a Reason for Shelving.
Note: To extend the shelved period, repeat these steps on the Shelved Alarms page.
-
To restore a shelved alarm:
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Go to the Shelved Alarms page.
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Right-click on the alarm you want to restore.
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On the menu that appears, select Restore.
Shelve alarms in a project based on the SxW templates
If your project is based on the SxW templates, you can shelve alarms at runtime from the following alarm pages:
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Active Alarms
-
Alarm Summary
-
Disabled Alarms.
These pages provide commands that disable an alarm for a specified period of time, or until a specified time is reached.
Note: In projects based on the SxW templates, the ability to disable alarms may be restricted by the privilege level set in the parameter [Privilege]DisableAlarms.
To shelve alarms:
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On an alarms page, select the alarm(s) you would like to shelve.
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Right-click on the selected alarms.
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On the menu that appears, select one of the following options:
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Disable for ... — opens a dialog that allows you to disable an alarm for a specified number of hours.
-
Disable until ... — opens a dialog that allows you to disable an alarm until a specified date and time.
In both cases, you can add a comment that describes why the alarm has been disabled.
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To shelve all alarms on a page:
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Display the drop-down menu for the Acknowledge Page Command Bar button.
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Select Disable page for ... to disable all alarms for a specified number of hours.
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Select Disable page until ... to disable all alarms until a specified date and time.
-
Shelve alarms in a project based on the Tab Style templates
If your project is based on the Tab Style templates, you can shelve alarms at runtime from the following alarm pages:
-
Active Alarms
-
Alarm Summary
-
Disabled Alarms.
These pages provide commands that disable an alarm for a specified period of time, or until a specified time is reached.
Note: In projects based on the Tab Style templates, the ability to disable alarms may be restricted by the privilege level set in the parameter [Privilege]DisableAlarms.
To shelve alarms:
-
On an alarms page, select the alarm(s) you would like to shelve.
-
Right-click on the selected alarms.
-
On the menu that appears, select one of the following options:
-
Disable for ... — opens a dialog that allows you to disable an alarm for a specified number of hours.
-
Disable until ... — opens a dialog that allows you to disable an alarm until a specified date and time.
In both cases, you can add a comment that describes why the alarm has been disabled.
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To shelve all alarms on a page:
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Go to the Action tab, and display the drop-down menu for the Acknowledge Page button.
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Select Disable page for ... to disable all alarms for a specified number of hours.
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Select Disable page until ... to disable all alarms until a specified date and time.
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Note: If Plant SCADA is installed on an English operating system and you want to add a comment or reason for shelving an alarm using a Unicode language (such as Korean, Russian or Chinese), you will need to change the Windows™ Region setting for the runtime computer. To do this, go to Windows Control Panel and open the Region dialog box. On the Administrative tab, use the Change system locale button to select the required system locale. Be aware that you will have to restart your computer. When you launch Plant SCADA runtime, select the matching language on the login form. Your runtime comments will be recorded using the specified language characters.