Viewing alarms in greater or less detail

Use the following tips to view alarms in greater or less detail on the Timeline Chart.

Change the container time interval in the toolbar.
Changing the container time interval either increases or decreases the number of containers visible on the timeline, depending on when the alarms occurred and how much visible space you have for your timeline chart.

For example, suppose you want to see older alarms on the timeline (those alarms currently visible on the left side of the timeline); you could increase the container time interval. Let’s say the container time interval is currently set to 3s, so the timeline is displaying containers in three-second increments and what alarms occurred during those three-second increments. Depending on how much space you have in your timeline, this may allow you to see only newer alarms. If you change the container time interval to 15m, you will then see the alarms that occurred every 15 minutes, allowing you to see older alarms on the timeline.

Another example is a situation in which you want to focus only on newer alarms; you could decrease the container time interval. Let’s say the container time interval is currently set to 2h, so the timeline is displaying containers in two-hour increments and what alarms occurred during those two-hour increments. This can result in a very large number of alarms in one container. Now suppose you change the container time interval to1m; the containers change to smaller increments, redistributing the alarms into multiple containers. This allows you to see only the newer alarms.
Note
Depending on the space you have for your timeline chart, some of these redistributed alarms may not be visible anymore.
Or suppose you move the scrollbar back in time and then decide you want to see the newer alarms that have come in (these are visible on the right side of the timeline). Click to return to current time, and now newer alarms are visible on the timeline.
Resize the application's window.
Note
When resizing the window the container time interval remains the same.

Expanding the window height increases the vertical space in each container, therefore increasing the number of alarm icons displayed. Expanding the width of the window increases the number of visible containers; the width of the containers remains constant.
Click on an overflow icon.

Clicking an overflow icon selects & highlights those alarms & corresponding events in the Alarm List and Control Actions list, allowing you to see more detail about each alarm.
Double-click on an overflow icon.
Double-clicking an overflow icon decreases the container time interval and redistributes the icons into more columns. This is helpful if a container has a large number of overflow alarms.
Select an alarm characteristic sub-item in the Characteristic Filter region.
Selecting an alarm characteristic sub-item highlights all alarm icons with that characteristic in the Timeline Chart and Alarm List. All of the highlighted alarms' corresponding events are also highlighted in the Control Actions list. This allows you to focus in on certain alarms or problem areas. Here are some examples of why you might want to focus in on one sub-item:
- You notice that a large number of alarms are occurring in a particular area, such as Area A; select the sub-item AREA_A under the Plant Area characteristic to focus on alarms occurring in Area_A.
- You want to focus on all alarms with a Critical priority; select the sub-item Critical under the Priority characteristic to highlight all the Critical alarms.
- You see that a large number of alarms are occurring in a particular unit; highlight that unit's sub-item to focus on all alarms occurring in that unit.
Filter on alarm characteristic sub-items.
In the Characteristic Filter region, you can hide sub-items in order to filter out alarms, making only the alarms you want to see visible in the timeline.