ADS Alarm Marquee Application

This application works in conjunction with the Metasys® building management system and the Adaptive Micro Systems Alpha 7200c Marquee displays.  It allows you to display Date, Time, Selected Points and Alarms on up to two marquees.  You can also display a different custom message on either marquee.  

Once configured, the application will reside in the System Tray with this Icon    Double-Clicking the icon will open the interface.

Right clicking on the Icon brings up the menu.   The only way to close this application is to click on Close.  File - Exit and the X in the title bar do not close it, it will still be running in the System Tray.

Home        Normal Display Tab        Alarm Monitoring Tab        Setup Tab         ODBC Setup

Normal Display Tab

Both marquees display the Date/Time and Point Display.  Then if the check box above the text box is checked, the message in the text box is sent to the individual marquee.  This will be followed by any monitored alarms from the Alarm Monitoring tab.  Each marquee has it's own settings for Color, Font, Mode and Position.  Clicking the Preview button brings up the Alpha 7200C simulator window, shown below, for the selected marquee.  The To Notepad button sends the current display for the selected marquee to a text file and displays it in Notepad.

Home        Normal Display Tab        Alarm Monitoring Tab        Setup Tab         ODBC Setup

Alarm Monitoring Tab

The Watch List contains a list of Item References that are being watched for alarms.  Once a minute the JCIEvents database is monitored for any alarms from the points in this list.  If an current alarm is found, it is displayed in the Current Alarms list.  The Current Alarms list is appended to the information from the Normal Display tab and sent to the marquees.  The Modify List button brings up the display below.  You need to Double-Click the items to penetrate to the point that you want to add to the watch list.  You can select multiple points in a list using the shift click or ctrl click.  Once you have selected the points to add, click the Add Selected button.  When you are finished adding points, click the Save List button.  To Delete points from the Watch List, click on the point in the Watch List and hit the delete key on your keyboard.  Don't forget to click on the Save List button after making any changes or they will be lost.  Clicking the Save List button returns the display to the Current Alarms list.

The Item Reference To Clipboard button is to assist you in getting the item reference for the Point Display.  See Setup Tab for more details.

Home        Normal Display Tab        Alarm Monitoring Tab        Setup Tab         ODBC Setup

Setup Tab

This application needs a valid Site Director, User Name and Password.  The Test Login button verifies the ability to log in properly. 

The IP address of each marquee needs to be specified.  Any time you change the IP address, the application must be restarted before your change will take effect.

The Alarm Report Setup box determines what information to include in the alarm report.

Date and Time format boxes determine the format of the date and time display.

Modify button will load the point display configuration file AlarmMarquee.lst file into notepad for editing as shown below.  The format of the file is:

Description    TAB    ItemReference    TAB    Units

The ItemReference and be obtained from the Alarm Monitor Tab using the Item Reference To Clipboard button.  Go to the Alarm Monitor Tab and click the Modify button.  Double-Click to penetrate to the point you want to display, then click the Item Reference To Clipboard button.  Now you can paste the item reference in the AlarmMarquee.lst file.  When you are finished modifying the file, save it.

Clicking the Update button causes the application to read the data found in the AlarmMarquee.lst file and update the list that will be displayed.

Home        Normal Display Tab        Alarm Monitoring Tab        Setup Tab         ODBC Setup

ODBC Setup

You must have an ODBC connection to the JCIEvents database.

From the Control Panel, select Administrative Tools then Data Sources (ODBC).  Click the System DSN tab then the Add button. 

Select SQL Server, then Finish. 

For Name enter JCIEvents, description is optional.  Select the proper Server from the list and click Next.  Click Next again twice and then Finish. 

Click the Test Data Source button to verify proper connection.

If you have any questions, email david@davidhagemann.com

Send mail to david@davidhagemann.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2003 Custom Computer Systems
Last modified: October 19, 2007