Alarms and Audit-Trail Tutorial

Alarms → Tutorial | Concept | How-to Guide | FDA 21 CRF 11 | Reference

1. Configure Alarm Groups

1. Navigate to Alarms → Groups
2. Verify pre-defined groups exist:

Modify Critical group:

• • Open the ComboBox Sound field
  • Select Exclamation
  • Press Enter

2. Create Alarm Items

1. Go to Alarms → Items
2. Add high temperature alarm:

1. Add low level alarm:

3. Configure Alarm Areas

1. Navigate to Alarms → Areas
2. Create hierarchy:

• Plant
  • Production
    • Tank1
    • Tank2
  • Utilities

Assign alarms to areas:

• • Return to Alarms → Items
  • Set Area = Plant_Production_Tank1 for both alarms

4. Enable Audit Trail

1. Go to Alarms → Global Settings
2. In Audit Trail section:
   • Check Enable Audit Trail
   • Enable options:
     • User Logon/Logoff
     • Tag Changes
     • Operator Actions
     • Custom Messages
3. Configure database retention:
   • Life Time: 2555 days (7 years for FDA compliance)

5. Create Alarm Display

1. Navigate to Displays → New
2. Name: AlarmMonitor
3. Add AlarmViewer control from toolbox
4. Configure properties:
   • List: OnlineAlarms
   • ShowAcknowledged: False
   • Columns: Time, TagName, Message, Value, Group
5. Add AlarmArea control for navigation
6. Save display

6. Test Alarms

1. Start Runtime (Runtime → Startup)
2. Open Alarms→ Alarms Monitor
3. Simulate alarm conditions by changing tag values
4. Verify the alarms showing in the alarm viewer

7. Verify Audit Trail

1. Change AlarmViewer List to AuditTrail
2. Verify logged events:
   • User login
   • Alarm triggers
   • Acknowledgments
   • Tag changes

In this section...