Group table

Note: Group records cannot be edited from ADE. For information on how to edit this table, see the Tools Administrator documentation.

Group records are used to define collections of devices that should be viewed / controlled together.

A group record is assigned to all records associated with this collection of devices, which are generally in close proximity to each other within a given geographical area. This area-group relationship is typically established by listing all of the different views (or areas) that must be present on the system and then grouping together all devices not split by an area boundary. The collection of devices will have a variety of points that correspond to analog, status, rate, multistate, and remote records. All of these records are assigned to the same group record for the devices to which they belong, creating groups of data.

When views are required by station and geographical area, then the group is used to display the devices that can be controlled at each operating station. The operating station includes all groups in the geographical areas that they are supposed to monitor.

The Group table is used to associate individual telemetry points the collections of devices, which are then associated with areas of responsibility. The group record provides a logical grouping of remotes and attached end-devices.

• Group assignments are specified for each remote in the remote table and for each field device in a RealTime database (RTDB) table such as the analog, rate, or status table. Any field device whose data is gathered by an RTDB table (remote, analog, rate, or status) can belong to only one group.

• A group may belong to multiple areas. To indicate that a telemetry point belongs to all areas of responsibility, you must specify group 0 in the appropriate record (remote, analog, status, rate, etc.). If you specify group 0, meaning no group is configured, the point’s record appears in all table summaries on all Controller stations even when no view areas are selected. Alarms from these points are sent to all Controller stations configured to receive system alarms.

Each group record also specifies a spooler to which alarms and messages are sent. The spooler can be one or more of the following:

• A direct connection to a printer

• A connection to a printer on an easy eXtended Operator Station (ezXOS) PC

• A file

If only one group record is defined in your system, all event messages are printed through the specified spooler, which can address up to 10 printers. Additional group records, which reference other printers on the system, may be defined. If records that are already associated with remotes and other end-devices are linked to these additional group records, then the event messages concerning these remotes and end-devices are routed accordingly. Any or all groups can specify the same printer.