Filter Field Button
The Filter Field Button tool is used to filter the current alarm list by a single criterion. For example, if the current alarm list is showing alarm list is showing the history, you can filter this list to display only those that occurred while operator "JSmith" was logged on.
You can create several instances of the Filter Field Button tool in order to filter the list by different criteria.
Note: Filter Field Button tools only allow filtering by one criterion at a time; however, VTS includes the Filter Dialog Button tool (see Filter Dialog Button) that enables you to filter by multiple criteria simultaneously.
The image below is an example of the Filter Field Button’s graphic editor dialog.
The result of the above configuration is a button labeled "Filter By Area" that can be clicked to filter the alarm list to display only those alarms that have been configured with an "Area" property of "East". When the mouse pointer is rested over this button, a tool tip reading, "Display alarms from the city’s eastern zone" will be displayed.
Filtering Rules
You can configure multiple Filter Field Button objects to change the filter on the alarm list according to different criteria; however, you can only apply one filter to the alarm list at a time using this method. While the alarm list is being filtered using a Filter Field Button object, the active button stays latched in to indicate the filter that has been applied to the alarm list. Clicking a second Filter Field Button object removes the first filter, releases the first button, latches in the second button, and applies the second filter to the alarm list.
Removing Filters
To remove all filters from the alarm list, you should create a single "No Filter" or "Remove Filter" button. A Filter Field Button can be configured to remove all filters from the alarm list simply by leaving its Field Value field blank. Only one button is required to remove all filters, regardless of the number of filter buttons you configure.
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Required to associate this button with an existing alarm list. This must be a list that you have created. For instructions, see: Alarm List.
Enter the text that you wish to be displayed on this button. Labels should be kept short and precise, as the length of the label ultimately determines the size of the button.
Enter the text that you wish to be displayed on this button's tool tip (which opens when the mouse pointer is rested on this button). Use this field to compensate for the brevity of the button label by providing a more complete description.
The Field Number drop-down list enables you to select the alarm database field by which you'd like to filter. This can be one of:
Area: The Area option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific Area property.
Note: The VTS alarm system logs security-related events, operator control action-related events, remote configuration-related events, and Alarm Dialer system-related events for reporting in the History list on the Alarm page. These entries have the following Areas:
Security-related events have a default area of "Security".
Operator control action-related events and remote configuration-related events have a default area of "OperatorLog".
Alarm Dialer system-related events have a default area of "Alarm Dialer".
Operator: The Operator option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific operator.
Type: The Type option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific alarm type.
Note: By default, all system alarms in VTS (security, modem, operator logging, and report) have a type of "1000". VTS programmers may specify their own type values for custom alarm tags, and can therefore use the Type field to filter them. Custom alarm tags and applying type filtering is beyond the scope of this guide.
Priority: The Priority option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific alarm priority. The available default alarm priority index numbers for use in the Field Value field are as follows:
Message: The Message option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific Description property. Note: Wildcard characters are not permitted. The full description must be entered as it appears in the alarm tag's Description field. In the event that a Description property has not been configured for an alarm tag, the message for the alarm will contain the name of the alarm tag, as it appears in its Name field.
Status: The Status option can be selected if you wish this button to filter the alarm list based on a specific alarm or event status. The available default alarm status index numbers for use in the Field Value field are as follows:
|
Alarm Priority |
Index |
Associated Alarm Priority Tag Name |
|
No Alarm |
0 |
AlarmPriority0 |
|
Critical Alarm |
1 |
AlarmPriority1 |
|
High Alarm |
2 |
AlarmPriority2 |
|
Warning Alarm |
3 |
AlarmPriority3 |
|
Notice |
4 |
AlarmPriority4 |
|
Alarm Status |
Index |
|
Active |
b1 |
|
Unacknowledged |
b2 |
|
Normal Acknowledged |
0 |
|
Active Acknowledged |
1 |
|
Normal Unacknowledged |
2 |
|
Active Unacknowledged |
3 |
|
Disabled |
4 |
The Field Value field enables you to enter a single, valid criterion by which you wish to filter the alarm list, according to the option you selected in the Field Number drop-down list.
For example: If you select "Priority" in the Field Number drop-down list, you may enter "1" (critical) in the Field Value field. The result is that when this button is clicked, the alarm list will display only those alarms that have a critical priority.