Reconfigure Existing Alarms
- Last UpdatedJul 09, 2026
- 4 minute read
If you need to make changes to an existing alarm, there are certain configuration changes that will have implications for the runtime system. These include:
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Changing an alarm to a different alarm type.
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Changing the equipment.item associated with an alarm.
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Changing the equipment.item to a value previously used by another tag.
The following procedures explain how to approach these types of changes and the limitations they may cause.
Change an alarm tag to a different alarm type
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Locate the alarm tag you would like to change in the Grid Editor. Note the name used for the Alarm Tag property.
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Delete the alarm.
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Create a new alarm in the Grid Editor for the new alarm type.
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Configure the alarm using the name of the deleted alarm in the Alarm Tag field.
When you change the type for an alarm in Plant SCADA Studio, the Sequence of Events (SOE) and alarm summary records associated with the original alarm will not be deleted for the period prior to the change. However, only a subset of the fields will be retained.
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For the SOE, the retained fields will include:
Date, Time, Message, Classification, User Name and User Location. -
For the alarm summary, the retained fields will include:
On Time, On Date, Off Time, Off Date, Delta Time, Description, Comment, User Name, User Location, and Sum State.
Change the equipment.item associated with an alarm
When you change the Equipment and Item Name properties for an alarm in Plant SCADA Studio, the SOE and alarm summary records associated with the alarm will not be deleted for the period prior to the change. However, only a subset of the fields will be retained.
-
For the SOE, the retained fields will include:
Date, Time, Message, Classification, User Name and User Location. -
For the alarm summary, the retained fields will include:
On Time, On Date, Off Time, Off Date, Delta Time, Description, Comment, User Name, User Location, and Sum State.
Note: If you the update the Equipment and Item Name properties for an alarm, you will need to restart the alarm servers to view the changes on the display clients. The Reload command in Runtime Manager will also generate an error message.
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UNINTENDED EQUIPMENT OPERATION On updating the Equipment Name or Equipment Item for an alarm, the update will not be reflected on the client side until the alarm servers have been restarted. The reload procedure will indicate a reload error on Runtime Manager. Reloadlog.dat and Syslog.dat of the server process will show the details of the unsupported changes. You can use this information to revert the changes, or restart all servers after deploying your updated project. Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, or equipment damage. |
Change the equipment.item to a value previously used by another tag
When you change an alarm's equipment.item configuration, you cannot use something that was associated with a different tag at the time the alarm server was started. This situation requires a process that includes a server restart between each step.
For example, you may have two alarm tags with the following equipment.item configurations.
|
Tag |
Equipment |
Item |
|
DIG_1 |
Cluster1.Pump1 |
Running |
|
DIG_2 |
Cluster1.Pump2 |
Running |
You may need to swap the equipment for these tags to create the following.
|
Tag |
Equipment |
Item |
|
DIG_1 |
Cluster1.Pump2 |
Running |
|
DIG_2 |
Cluster1.Pump1 |
Running |
To achieve this, the following steps are required:
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Go to the Equipment view in Plant SCADA Studio and create temporary equipment. For example:
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Cluster1.TempPump1
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Cluster1.TempPump2
Make sure this does not duplicate equipment already used by another alarm.
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Change the Equipment field for the alarm DIG_1 to "Cluster1.TempPump2'.
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Change the Equipment field for the alarm DIG_2 to "Cluster1.TempPump1".
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Compile the project and restart the alarm server (or both alarm servers if using redundancy).
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For the alarm DIG_1, change "Cluster1.TempPump2" to "Cluster1.Pump2".
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For the alarm DIG_2, change "Cluster1.TempPump1" to "Cluster1.Pump1".
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Delete the temporary equipment created in step 3.
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Compile and restart the server(s) again.
If you do not follow this procedure, one or both of the alarm tags may not function correctly. You may not be able to acknowledge the alarms and their records may not be added to the SOE or alarm summary. However, the situation can be rectified by doing a full compile of the project. If you run an incremental compile, select Yes when prompted about there being nothing to compile. Then restart the alarm server (or both alarm servers if using redundancy).
When you change the Equipment and Item Name properties for an alarm, the SOE and alarm summary records associated with the alarm will not be deleted for the period prior to the change. However, only a subset of the fields will be retained. For more details, see the list of fields described above in Change the equipment.item associated with an alarm.
Note: If you the update the Equipment and Item Name properties for an alarm, you will need to restart the alarm servers to view the changes on the display clients. The Reload command in Runtime Manager will also generate an error message. See the WARNING message above.