Information Zone

The Information Zone appears on the Operator Dashboard. It includes a set of tabs that present different types of information about the object that is currently in context. These tabs include Alarms, Trends and Interlocks.

Alarms

The Alarms tab displays alarms associated with the object that is currently in context. Alarms are sorted in order of importance with the highest priority alarms displayed at the top of the list. When an alarm clears, it is removed from the list.

If your project is based on the Situational Awareness Starter Project, the default columns presented for each row in the alarms list will include:

• Time – the time the alarm became active.

• Item – the associated equipment item.

• Tag Name – the name of the alarm tag.

  Note: The default arrangement of columns is based on a display format that is defined in the SA_Include system project. The format will be named "InfoAlarm_HD1080" or "InfoAlarm_UHD4K", depending on the resolution of the workspace master page. You can adjust this format by modifying [Format]FormatName in the Parameters view of the Setup activity (see Project Database Parameters).

Each alarm also has an icon that indicates the severity and state of the alarm. If your project is based on the Situational Awareness Starter Project, the following default icons will be used to indicate priority:

If these icons have been customized, their appearance will be determined by the display properties specified for each alarm priority (see Configure Display Properties for an Alarm Priority).

If an alarm icon is flashing it means the alarm is unacknowledged. If the color of a flashing icon appears at half-intensity, it indicates that the alarm has cleared but remains unacknowledged. The icon will remain transparent and continue to flash until the alarm is acknowledged or reactivated.

You can use the right-click menu on the alarms list to perform the following actions at runtime:

1. Acknowledge an alarm.

2. Shelve an alarm. Select one of the following options:

   • Shelve for ... — switches the view to the Shelve form, which allows you to disable an alarm for a specified period of time, or indefinitely.

   • Shelve until ... — switches the view to the Shelve form, which allows you to disable an alarm until a specified date and time.

3. Restore an alarm.

The panel below the alarms list shows user-configured Provide Cause and Response Information to Operators information for the selected alarm. Up to eight sets of cause and response information can be associated with an alarm; the arrow buttons to the right of the panel allow an operator to navigate through the suggested responses. To add cause and response information to alarms, see Add Cause and Response Information to Alarms.

Note: If an object with an active alarm indicator does not display any alarms in the Information Zone when selected at runtime, it may mean that the alarm indicator has been configured to respond to "child" levels down the equipment hierarchy, or referenced equipment. These indirect equipment locations are not reported in the Alarms Information Zone for a selected piece of equipment. If this situation occurs, use a higher-level alarm count or an alarm page to determine the location of the active alarm.

Trends

The Trend tab displays a graphical view of data associated with the object that is currently in context. This is presented using a compact version of Plant SCADA's Process Analyst.

The chart view displays data for the selected object using a set of pens that are color-coded and listed to the right of the chart. Each pen draws sample values against time. By default, the view will show the first five trends in alphabetical order by tag name.

Pens can be configured in one of the following ways:

• For each equipment item to be displayed on the chart: add an Define Equipment Runtime Parameters named "InfoZoneTrends" for each equipment to be displayed on the chart.

• As a global default: Configure the INI parameter [Workspace]InfoZoneTrends to display the required Items.

• By a specific Equipment Type: Configure the INI parameter [Workspace]InfoZoneTrends.<Type> where <Type> matches a name in the Equipment Type view. For example, "InfoZoneTrends.Drive". The value of the parameters is a comma-separated list of equipment item names.

The following display commands are available from the navigation bar that runs along the bottom of the chart view.

You can also use the following command buttons:

Interlocks

An interlock is a physical connection between two pieces of equipment that links their operation, so that an event in one piece of equipment will trigger an action in the other (see Interlocks).

The Interlocks tab provides details of any active interlocks that may be associated with the currently selected piece of equipment. It includes a secondary set of tabs that reflect the categories used to identify the nature of an interlock. The Situational Awareness Starter Project provides the following default categories.

• Safety — conditions that cause equipment to stop running.

• Process — conditions that cause equipment within a process to stop running.

• Permissive — conditions that stop equipment from starting.

If there are any active interlocks within a category, a lock symbol is displayed on the associated category tab.

The interlocks are listed on each tab from oldest (triggered first) to most recent. The list includes the following set of default columns.

Note: The default arrangement of columns is based on a display format that is defined in the SA_Include system project. The format will be named "Interlock_HD1080" or "Interlock_UHD4K", depending on the resolution of the workspace master page. You can adjust this format by modifying [Format]FormatName in the Parameters view of the Setup activity (see Project Database Parameters).

To go directly to the page on which the interlocking piece of equipment is homed, right-click on an interlock and select Navigate.

See Also

Default Layout