Once you've created a data source, you can add a large amount of alarm triggers more easily by preparing a CSV file and importing that into your data source. For long lists of alarm triggers, this method is faster than adding each variable manually through the IXON Cloud interface.

Additionally, you can export the variables of an existing data source and import it at another data source or even at another edge gateway to easily copy them over.

• Copy alarm triggers from one data source to another
• Prepare a CSV file to import a large amount of alarm triggers

Copy alarm triggers from one data source to another

If you have a list of alarm triggers that you wish to copy over to another data source, simply export the alarm triggers and import them at the other data source.

1. Go to the original data source and open the list of alarm triggers.
2. In the top right, click Export to CSV-file.
   • You can also make a selection of alarm triggers you wish to export before pressing this button. If no selection is made, all alarm triggers will be exported.
3. Go to the new data source and then to the alarm triggers.
4. In the top right, click Import from CSV-file and select your CSV file.

Prepare a CSV file to import a large amount of alarm triggers

The structure of the CSV file need to be correct for the import function to work properly. It's easiest if you first create a template so you have an example of what the file and exact contents need to look like.

1. Add a single alarm trigger to your data source.
2. In the top right, click Export to CSV-file.
3. Edit the CSV file in any text editor and add all the alarm triggers you wish to add.
   • The structure and content of the CSV file is explained in detail below, in chapter CSV file structure.
4. Once you've added all the alarm triggers, save the file.
   • If you used Microsoft Excel to edit the CSV file, it may not be ready yet. Make sure that the used delimiter is supported by opening the edited CSV file in a plain text editor, like Notepad, and comparing it with the information in the below support article.
     • Which delimiters are supported in a CSV import and how do I change it?
5. Go back to the alarm triggers of your data source in IXON Cloud.
6. In the top right, click Import from CSV-file and select your CSV file.

CSV file structure

The structure of the CSV file needs to be correct for the import function to work properly. The headers (first row) should look like this:

Each column represents a different setting and these are all explained below. You can easily navigate to the desired section by pressing the corresponding header above.

Type

This is the alarm type. SMTP based alarm triggers have type "unary". All other alarm triggers, since they're a triggered based event (true or false), have type "boolean".

Name

You can name the alarm triggers freely. It is advised to enter a very brief description of the alarm, i.e. "emergency stop zone B".

Severity

There are three severity options to choose from:

• High: for critical alarm triggers
• Medium: for important alarm triggers
• Low: for "nice to know" alarm triggers

Address

Here you enter the address of the variable you want to use for the alarm trigger. The address is fully explained in the "Import variables" article. Below you will find an example address of every supported protocol.

Condition

Here you enter the logical operator of your alarm trigger condition. These are listed in the table below, including support per data type.

Treshold

Here you enter the threshold of your alarm trigger condition. This is the variable value at, below, or above which the alarm is triggered, depending on the condition. The table below shows the available options and examples per data type.

On delay

In some cases it may only be important to trigger an alarm when the condition is met for a specific time period, i.e. if a temperature exceeds 800°C for longer than 5 minutes. These "5 minutes" can be set here in milliseconds.

Operator instructions

Here you enter the text message, instructions, and any additional information that is important to be enclosed with the alarm.

Access Category

Here you enter the access category that will receive the alarm. Everybody in this access category will receive the alarm, so please consider this when setting up your alarm.