HWg Monitor application allows the user to read values from sensors and detectors connected to a local device (in the same LAN) or using the Portal it’s showing values from all devices connected to defined Portal user account.

Sensors on the same LAN 

You can display DI / sensor values or control relay outputs on Poseidon2, Damocles2, STE2 series, HWg-PWR, WLD2 and others. Typical application is a wall mounted tablet showing all sensor values from the room. 

For each data source within the local network, the application displays the sensor status using color codes: red for sensors in alarm, yellow for disconnected and the white tile for normal. Users can set the source polling frequency in the settings or leave the default of 1 minute.

Compatible HW group devices that can be used with the HWg Monitor application must be on the same network as the connected device, whether the device is connected via the Ethernet port or using the Wi-Fi connection.

The Mobile App LAN connection can be used for all HW group products except the Ares family, NB xxx and SD xxx products, as they require the Portal to be connected to the HWg Monitor Mobile App.

Control of outputs

HWg Monitor application is also able to remotely control the outputs of directly (LAN) connected Poseidon2 and Damocles2 devices.

- Android / iOS mobile App
- Unlimited number of devices and sensors to monitor
- Favorites - option to select preferred sensors in the list
- Sorting - Select the sort type by name or state
- Zoom - Adjustable row or tile display with 1 to 64 values on one screen
- Integrated HWg Config for discovering devices on the local network
- Widgets for quick preview

Summary

With HWg Monitor connected to the monitoring device via LAN (local), a tablet can be used as a display available to everyone. When manually adding or editing a source, there is also an option to enter the username and password for the device. 

Using the HWg Monitor as a mobile application on the smartphone could fetch the data directly from the device and widgets can be very useful. But for this usage it is more convenient to use the LTE connectivity of the mobile phone & SensDesk technology based Portal as data source.

What is Node-RED

Node-RED is a low-code development tool for visual programming that is flow-based and designed to wire together hardware devices, APIs and online services.

It provides a web browser-based flow editor to create JavaScript functions and allows users to save or share individual elements of their applications. The runtime of Node-RED is built on Node.js and the flows are stored using JSON. It can run locally, on a Raspberry Pi, or on Android, in the cloud, and on various other platforms (For further information, visit: https://nodered.org).

The HWg-NR2 Node-RED Project

• Fetches data from the Sensdesk.com portal;
• Uses HTTP and XML API for communication;
• Uses Node-RED;
• Outputs the data via a web dashboard;
• Dashboard can display 4, user-selected sensors or digital inputs;
• You can add additional sensors or digital inputs to the dashboard manually;
• The project is compatible with PC, Raspberry Pi, and cloud platforms.

HWg-NR2 Dashboard

HWg-NR2 Node-RED Flow

Simple Deployment

To utilize the HWg-NR2 example, first you need to download and install Node-RED module. You can refer to https://nodered.org/docs/getting-started/ for more information.

Once you have Node-RED running in the browser, click the hamburger menu in the top right corner, go to “import”, paste in the (don’t forget to change file extension from .txt to .json) JSON of the HWg-NR1 example, which you can find here: https://www.hw-group.com/files/support/10809-hwg-nr2-node-red-ste2-nb-wld-integration-example-sensdeskcom-portal/portalprojectsrc.txt and click “Import”.

New nodes should now appear.

Before deploying the project, you must configure various parameters in the CONFIG node. Locate the node and double-click to display the UI on the right side of your screen with multiple options.

Change the value of the msg.url to either your team or user link in your Sensdesk account’s values.xml tab.

The 4 following options (g1_id, g2_id etc.) correspond to the 4 groups in the UI. Each value represents the ID of the sensor which will be displayed in that group. Adjust the values of these 4 options and click “Done” in the top-right corner (the IDs correspond to the Sensdesk ID of the sensors/digital input!).

Click “Deploy” in the top right corner and press Ctrl + Shift + D to go to the dashboard. You should see something like this:

Detailed Walkthrough

The flow is split 2 sections: GET XML, and GROUPS (which is then further split into: Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4).

Section 1: Get XML

This part fetches the XML file, converts it to a JSON object and passes it to the four Group sections.

The Inject Node

Starts the flow every 2 minutes (in this context, a flow is a series of connected nodes).

The Change Node (“CONFIG”)

Sets the ms.url and saves the sensor IDs that should be in each group. The data is saved to the ‘flow’ scope (the tab in this context), meaning it can be accessed anywhere in this flow (by any node in this tab). The user inputs this data.

Http Request Node

Fetches the XML from the Sensdesk portal. The url is fetched from the msg.url property automatically.

XML Parse Node

Converts the XML string to a JSON Object.

Function Node (“format data”)

Creates an array (msg.sensors) of the sensors and digital inputs. Each sensors/digital input is a JavaScript object with properties including the name, ID, and state.

Link Out Node

Sends out the msg object to the groups. Link nodes function as a sort of tunnel. The msg object is sent out from the Link Out node and is received by the Link In node. It is used to make the flow more readable.

Section 2: Groups

Link In Node

Get the msg object from the Link Out node.

Function Node (“func 1”)

Grabs the data for the correct sensor/di (in respect to the ID specified in the CONFIG node) and checks if the value is reasonable.

If the value is above -100, a copy is made and saved to flow.g1_dat and relevant information gets parsed into individual sensor/di properties (e.g., sensor.name).

If the value is below -100 (indicating a disconnected sensor) the input (msg.sensors) is ignored and data is loaded from flow.g1_dat until the sensor is found again or the ID is changed in the CONFIG node.
 

The node has 3 outputs: msg, sensor, and di.

Msg output & UI Control Node (“hide/show groups”)

The node is responsible for hiding/showing either the sensor or di group (group_1_sen or group_1_di).

Sensor output

Connects to the individual UI elements through a pair of link nodes (these elements are only visible if the group ID corresponds to a sensor).

Text Node (“name”, “id”, etc.)

Displays text in the dashboard. In this example the name, ID, and the state of the sensor.

Function Node (“Range”)

Parses the min, max, value, and name properties for the Gauge node connected to it.

Gauge Node

The gauge displays the current value of the sensor in the dashboard.

Function Node (“func”)

Resets the following Chart node by sending an empty array as the value if the ID has been changed (checked for in the “func 1”).

Chart Node

Displays a chart of the value in the dashboard. The time span is 1 week but it can be changed in the chart settings menu (long time spans are not recommended due to the risk of the RAM overload).

Smooth Node

Creates of the mathematical average (mean) of the past 2 values (can be changed). This ensures reliability of the application.

Di output & Text Node

Displays text in the dashboard. In this example the name, ID, and the value (0 or 1) of the digital input and the alarm state (0 or 1).

Notes and Disclaimers

Gauge min & max

The values for the gauges in the UI are calculated from the Safe Range values with an extension of 10 or 2, meaning that if the Low Safe Range is 30 the min. for the gauge is going to be 20. This can be changed in the functions of individual groups.

Adding a new Group to the dashboard

Adding a new group to the dashboard may be challenging and time-consuming but it is still achievable.

1) Copy-paste one of the groups;

2) To keep things clean, change the number in the comment and the function (e.g., func 5);

3) In the sidebar, navigate dashboard tab and then to the LAN Sensors tab and create 2 new groups. Click ‘edit’ and change their names to group_5_sen and group_5_di (or the corresponding number);

4) In the “func n” node, change all of the following numbers to the relevant one (if you are creating a fifth group all the numbers should be changed to a 5);

5) Now the tedious part, go through all the UI nodes in the new group and change the dashboard group to the either of the two you have just created (keep in mind that there is a group for the sensors – G5_sen and a group for the digital inputs – G5_di);

6) Congratulations, you have just created a new Group for the dashboard.

Resize Groups

You can change the width of the groups to fit to a smaller/larger display, individually in their edit UI.

More data points on the graph

If you want your graphs to have a different data point density, you can change the action value in the Smooth Node. The default is 2 -> a new data point is added to the graph every 4 minutes.

What is Node-RED

Node-RED is a low-code development tool for visual programming that is flow-based and designed to wire together hardware devices, APIs and online services.

It provides a web browser-based flow editor to create JavaScript functions and allows users to save or share individual elements of their applications. The runtime of Node-RED is built on Node.js and the flows are stored using JSON. It can run locally, on a Raspberry Pi, or on Android, in the cloud, and on various other platforms (For further information, visit: https://nodered.org).

The HWg-NR1 Node-RED Project

• Fetches data via LAN;
• Uses HTTP and XML API for communication;
• Uses Node-RED;
• Outputs the data via a web dashboard;
• Dashboard can display 4 user-selected sensors or digital inputs;
• You can add additional sensors or digital inputs to the dashboard manually;
• The project is compatible with PC, Raspberry Pi, and cloud platforms.

HWg-NR1 Dashboard

HWg-NR1 Node-RED Flow

Simple Deployment

To utilize the HWg-NR1 example, first you need to download and install Node-RED module. You can refer to https://nodered.org/docs/getting-started/ for more information.

Once you have Node-RED running in the browser, click the hamburger menu in the top right corner, go to “import”, paste in the (don’t forget to change file extension from .txt to .json) JSON of the HWg-NR1 example, which you can find here: https://www.hw-group.com/files/support/10808-hwg-nr1-node-red-ste2-r2-integration-example-lan/lanprojectsrc.txt and click “Import”.

New nodes should now appear.

Before deploying the project, you must configure various parameters in the CONFIG node. Locate the node and double-click to display the UI on the right side of your screen with multiple options.

Change the value of the flow.ip_address to the IP address of your device.

The 4 following options (g1_id, g2_id etc.) correspond to the 4 groups in the UI. Each value represents the ID of the sensor which will be displayed in that group. Adjust the values of these 4 options and click “Done” in the top-right corner.

Click “Deploy” in the top right corner and press Ctrl + Shift + D to go to the dashboard. You should see something like this:

Detailed Walkthrough

The flow is split into 2 sections: GET XML, and GROUPS (which is then further split into: Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4).

Section 1: Get XML

This part fetches the XML file, converts it to a JSON object and passes it to the four Group sections.

The Inject Node

Starts the flow every 3 seconds (in this context, a flow is a series of connected nodes).

The Change Node (“CONFIG”)

Saves the IP address and sensor IDs that should be in each group. The data is saved to the ‘flow’ scope (the tab in this context), meaning it can be accessed anywhere in this flow (by any node in this tab). The user inputs this data.

Template Node

The Template node creates the url to get the XML file and saves it msg.url, which can be accessed by the Http Request node.

Http Request Node

Fetches the XML from the device. The url is fetched from the msg.url property automatically.

XML Parse Node

Converts the XML string to a JSON object.

Function Node (“format data”)

Creates an array (msg.sensors) of the sensors and digital inputs. Each sensors/digital input is a JavaScript object with properties including the name, ID, and state.

Catch Node

Catches errors from the http Request and XML Parse Nodes. Used when the device is disconnected.

Change Node

Sets the msg.sensors property to an empty array which will result in “INVALID ID” name in the dashboard.

Link Out Node

Sends out the msg object to the groups. Link nodes function as a sort of tunnel. The msg object is sent out from the Link Out node and is received by the Link In node. It is used to make the flow more readable.

Section 2: Groups

Link In Node

Get the msg object from the Link Out node.

Function Node (“func 1”)

Grabs the data for the correct sensor/di (in respect to the ID specified in the CONFIG node) and checks if the value is reasonable.

If the value is above -100, a copy is made and saved to flow.g1_dat and relevant information gets parsed into individual sensor/di properties (e.g., sensor.name).

If the value is below -100 (indicating a disconnected sensor) the input (msg.sensors) is ignored and data is loaded from flow.g1_dat until the sensor is found again or the ID is changed in the CONFIG node.

The node has 3 outputs: msg, sensor, and di.

Msg output & UI Control Node (“hide/show groups”)

The node is responsible for hiding/showing either the sensor or di group (G1_sen or G1_di).

Sensor output

Connects to the individual UI elements through a pair of link nodes (these elements are only visible if the group ID corresponds with a sensor).

Text Node (“name”, “id”, etc.)

Displays text in the dashboard. In this example the name, ID, and the state of the sensor.

Function Node (“Range”)

Parses the min, max, value, and name properties for the Gauge node connected to it.

Smooth Node

Creates of the mathematical average (mean) of the past 60 values (can be changed). This ensures reliability of the application.

Gauge Node

The gauge displays the current value of the sensor in the dashboard.

Function Node (“func”)

Resets the following Chart node by sending an empty array as the value if the ID has been changed (checked for in the “func 1”).

Chart Node

Displays a chart of the value in the dashboard. The time span is 1 week but it can be changed in the chart settings menu (long time spans are not recommended due to the risk of the RAM overload).

Di output & Text Node

Displays text in the dashboard. In this example the name, ID, and the value (0 or 1) of the digital input and the alarm state (0 or 1).

Notes and Disclaimers

Gauge min & max

The values for the gauges in the UI are calculated from the Safe Range values with an extension of 10, meaning that if the Low Safe Range is 30 the min. for the gauge is going to be 20. This can be changed in the functions of individual groups.

Adding a new Group to the dashboard

Adding a new group to the dashboard may be challenging and time-consuming but it is still achievable.

1) Copy-paste one of the groups;

2) To keep things clean, change the number in the comment and the function (e.g., func 5);

3) In the sidebar, navigate to the dashboard tab and then to the LAN Sensors tab and create 2 new groups. Click ‘edit’ and change their names to G5_sen and G5_di (or the corresponding number);

4) In the “func n” node, change all of the following numbers to the relevant one (if you are creating a fifth group all the numbers should be changed to a 5);

5) Now the tedious part. Go through all the UI nodes in the new group and change the dashboard group to the either of the two you have just created (keep in mind that there is a group for the sensors – G5_sen and a group for the digital inputs – G5_di);

6) Congratulations, you have just created a new Group for the dashboard.

Resize Groups

You can change the width of the groups to fit to a smaller/larger display, individually in their edit UI.

More data points on the graph

If you want your graphs to have a different data point density, you can change the action value in the Smooth Node. The default is 60 -> a new data point is added to the graph every 3 minutes. If you wish to change this, please bear in mind that can cause RAM overload and cause the application to crash.

Adding Another Device

1) Add a new property in the Change Node (“CONFIG”) to the Flow scope and name it ‘ip_address_2’ and set the value to the desired IP address;

2) Select all the nodes between the Template Node and the Function Node (“format data”) (inclusive) and copy them;

3) Delete the link between the Function Node (“format data”) and paste your selection between these two nodes (you will have to move the link node);

4) In the new Template Node, change the ‘flow.ip_address’ to ‘flow.ip_address_2’;

5) In the new Function Node (“format data”) delete the “msg.sensors = []”;

6) Delete the new Change Node (“set msg.sensors”);

7) In the new Catch Node make sure the two new Function and XML Parse Nodes are selected and connect it to the Link Out Node;

8) Connect the old Function Node (“format data”) to the new Template Node and the new Function Node (“format data”) to the Link Node;

9) Your flow should now be looking something like this:

Thanks to Templates, a message about a communication problem with a device can be very different from a message about an exceeded range. It is no longer necessary to refer to tables and lists to find out which particular sensor is the cause of the alarm and why. Of course, to maintain backward compatibility, the original messages remain in the system, and the Templates are there for optional customization.

Templates are created in Settings under Templates.

There, new ones can be created and existing ones can be edited. Templates can be currently created for e-mails and text messages (SMS). In the case of e-mail messages, the Subject field and HTML formatting are supported.

Users can compose simple or complex messages according to their needs. A set of tools and variables is available to do that. Some technical knowledge is needed; however, we have prepared a set of examples that you can modify to suit your needs.

Example: Loss of communication with a device

E-mail subject:

[PORTAL:NAME] reports: Problem communicating with device: [SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS] - [SRC:DEVICE:STATE]

E-mail body:

The <a href="[SRC:DEVICE:URL]">[SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS]</a> device at the <a href="[PORTAL:URL]">[PORTAL:NAME]</a> portal is experiencing a communication problem and reports the following status: <b>[SRC:DEVICE:STATE]</b>

The resulting message looks like this:

By default, all messages are sent as plain text. In order to send messages in HTML, simply use HTML tags in the Body field or compose the message in the WYSIWYG editor (available under the Switch to rich text editor link).

The WYSIWYG editor cannot be used to create loops!

List of all available variables and their description

• Source URL: [SRC:URL] – Complete URL of the sensor, digital input or device that triggered the alarm message. If the source is a device, this variable contains the device URL and both [SRC:URL] and [SRC:DEVICE:URL] are the same.
• URL device:  [SRC:DEVICE:URL] – Complete URL of the device that triggered the alarm message or the device whose sensor or digital input triggered the alarm message.
• PortalName: [PORTAL:NAME] – Name of the portal sending the alarm message. Standard users may not modify this item.
• PortalUrl: [PORTAL:URL] – URL of the portal sending the alarm message. Standard users may not modify this item.
• Pid: [SRC:PROCESS:PID] – ID of the process that created the message. For debugging only.
• Type: [SRC:TYPE] – What caused the alarm, i.e. either a sensor (digital input) or a device.
• Team: [SRC:TEAM] – Name of the team to which the device belongs.
• AlarmSeq: [SRC:ALARM:SEQ] – Alarm ID – virtual ID for pairing together beginnings and ends of alarms.
• AlarmTime: [SRC:ALARM:TIME] – Time of the alarm beginning or end (i.e. the creation time of the message) in UTC.
• AlarmState: [SRC:ALARM:STATE] – Information indicating whether the alarm status begins or ends: Activated / Deactivated
• AlarmSubState: [SRC:ALARM:SUBSTATE] – Information indicating whether the alarm begins or ends: Begin / End / Interstage – Allows handling transitions among different alarm states. Begin means the beginning of an alarm. End is the end of an alarm. Interstage is a transition between two alarm states (such as from Alarm Hi to Alarm Lo without a Normal state in between or from Alarm Hi to Dev.Inv.).
• AlarmDesc: [SRC:ALARM:DESC] – Complete description of the type and status: Alarm Hi / Alarm Lo / Sensor Invalid / Device Invalid / Unknown + ACTIVATED/ DEACTIVATED
• SensID: [SRC:SENSOR:SENSID] – ID (within the portal) of the sensor that triggered the alarm.
• ID: [SRC:SENSOR:ID] – ID (within the device) of the sensor that triggered the alarm.
• Name: [SRC:NAME] – Name (within the device) of the sensor that triggered the alarm.
• Alias: [SRC:ALIAS] – Name alias (within the portal) of the sensor that triggered the alarm.
• LogTime: [SRC:LOGTIME] – Time of the last logged sensor status change that triggered the alarm, in UTC.
• ValueNum: [SRC:SENSOR:VALUE:NUM] – Measured value as a number (float with a decimal dot). In Dev.Inv. or Sens.Inv states, the value is -2 147 483 648.
• ValueTxt: [SRC:SENSOR:VALUE:TXT] – Measured value as a string. Disconnected devices or disconnected sensors read as Dev.Inv. or Sens.Inv. respectively.
• UnitKey: [SRC:SENSOR:UNIT:KEY] – Machine identifier of the unit of measurement. Does not contain any special symbols such as ° (degrees); however, a symbol is provided even for dimensionless quantities.
• UnitName: [SRC:SENSOR:UNIT:NAME] – Unit of measurement as a string, such as °C.
• State: [SRC:STATE] – Sensor/device state: Normal, Alarm Hi, Alarm Lo, Sensor Invalid, Device Invalid, Unknown.
• NoticeID: [SRC:NOTICE:ID] – ID of the Notice Range that triggered the alarm message. If the alarm was triggered by SafeRange, i.e. value coming from the device itself, this variable is 0.
• NoticeName: [SRC:NOTICE:NAME] – Name of the Notice Range that triggered the alarm message. If the alarm was triggered by SafeRange, i.e. value coming from the device itself, this variable is empty.
• Min: [SRC:SENSOR:MIN] – Range Min – Minimum allowed value of the safe range that triggered the alarm message.
• Max: [SRC:SENSOR:MAX] – Range Max – Maximum allowed value of the safe range that triggered the alarm message.
• Hyst: [SRC:SENSOR:HYST] – Hysteresis – Hysteresis value of the safe range that triggered the alarm message.
• DevID: [SRC:DEVICE:DEVID] – ID of the device where the message originated.
• DeviceName: [SRC:DEVICE:NAME] – Name (in the device) of the device where the message originated.
• DeviceAlias: [SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS] – Name alias (in the portal) of the device where the message originated.
• DeviceState: [SRC:DEVICE:STATE] – Status of the device where the message originated.
• TemlateID:: [SRC:TEMPLATE:ID] – ID of the currently used alarm message template.
• TemlateName: [SRC:TEMPLATE:NAME] – Name of the currently used alarm message template.
• ActionID: [SRC:ACTION:ID] – ID of the action that triggered the alarm message.
• ActionName: [SRC:ACTION:NAME] – Name of the action that triggered the alarm message.
• QueueID: [SRC:ACTION:QUEUE:ID] – Primary key into a table which temporarily holds alarm processing requests. For debugging only.
• MAC: [SRC:DEVICE:MAC] – MAC address of the device where the message originated.
• IMEI: [SRC:DEVICE:IMEI] – IMEI of the device where the message originated.
• HWID: [SRC:DEVICE:HWID] – HWID of the device where the message originated; unique HW identifier in the portal. MAC address or IMEI, depending on what ID the device supports.
• Address: [SRC:DEVICE:ADDR] – IP address of the device where the message originated.
• SrcID: [SRC:ID] – ID of the message source – usually corresponds to SensID, representing the ID of the sensor, digital input etc. If the source is a device, then [SRC:ID] = [SRC:DEVICE:DEVID]
• TargetID: [SRC:TARGET:ID] – ID of the current target of the alarm message. Multiple targets are separated with commas.
• TargetName: [SRC:TARGET:NAME] – Name of the current target of the alarm message. Multiple targets are separated with commas.

Loops for displaying concise overviews

The portal supports two types of loops to create status overview messages.

• List of sensors: [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] – Lists all sensors in the Team.
• List of sensors in Alarm: [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL:ALARM] – Lists all sensor in the Team that are in Alarm state.
• List of devices: [LOOP:DEVICE] – Lists all devices in the Team.
• List of non-communicating devices: [LOOP:DEVICE:DEVINV] – Lists all devices in the Team that do not communicate.

A loop starts with a [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] or a [LOOP:DEVICE] and ends with a [LOOP:END]. Inside the loop, modified variables from the list above are used:

• [$I] – ID of the variable.
• [SENSID:$I] – ID of the sensor.
• [DEVID:$I] – ID of the device.
• [ID:$I] – ID of the variable.
• [NAME:$I] – Name of the sensor or device (in a [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] or [LOOP:DEVICE] loop respectively).
• [ALIAS:$I] – Name alias of the sensor or device (in a [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] or [LOOP:DEVICE] loop respectively).
• [VALUE:NUM:$I] – Sensor reading as a number (float with a decimal dot).
• [VALUE:TXT:$I] – Sensor reading as a string.
• [UNIT:KEY:$I] – Machine identifier of the unit of measurement. Does not contain any special symbols such as ° (degrees); however, a symbol is provided even for dimensionless quantities.
• [UNIT:NAME:$I] – Unit of measurement as a string, such as °C.
• [STATE:$I] – State of the sensor or device (in a [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] or [LOOP:DEVICE] loop respectively): Normal, Alarm Hi, Alarm Lo, Sensor Invalid, Device Invalid, Unknown.
• [MIN:$I] – Saferange MIN of the sensor.
• [MAX:$I] – Saferange MAX of the sensor.
• [HYST:$I] – Hysteresis of the sensor.
• [DEVICE:NAME:$I] – Device name.
• [DEVICE:ALIAS:$I] – Device name alias.
• [URL:$I] – URL of the sensor or device (in a [LOOP:SENSOR:ALL] or [LOOP:DEVICE] loop respectively).
• [DEVICE:URL:$I] – URL of the device.

All tokens are also listed in the help window directly in the portal. When clicked, a token is inserted into the text field at the cursor position.

The following are examples of using the tokens in various types of alarm messages. If you need another variable or are facing problems composing a message you need, please support [at] hwg [dot] cz (subject: Templates) (contact us). 

Examples of alarm message templates

Loss of communication with a device – short e-mail

Template – subject

[PORTAL:NAME] reports: Problem communicating with device: [SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS] - [SRC:DEVICE:STATE]

Template – body

<p>The <a href="[SRC:DEVICE:URL]">[SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS]</a> device at the <a href="[PORTAL:URL]">[PORTAL:NAME]</a> portal is experiencing a communication problem and reports the following status: <strong>[SRC:DEVICE:STATE]</strong></p>

Result

Loss of communication with a device – e-mail with the states of all devices

Template – subject

[[PORTAL:NAME] reports: Problem communicating with device: [SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS] - [SRC:DEVICE:STATE]

Template – body

<p>The <a href="[SRC:DEVICE:URL]">[SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS]</a> device at the <a href="[PORTAL:URL]">[PORTAL:NAME]</a> portal is experiencing a communication problem and reports the following status: <strong>[SRC:DEVICE:STATE]</strong></p>
<h3>Overview of all devices in the [SRC:TEAM] team</h3>
<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Device ID</th>
			<th>Name</th>
			<th>Alias</th>
			<th>Device status</th>
			<th>Device alias</th>
		</tr>[LOOP:DEVICE]
		<tr>
			<td>[DEVID:$I]</td>
			<td><a href="[$I:URL]">[NAME:$I]</a></td>
			<td>[ALIAS:$I]</td>
			<td>[STATE:$I]</td>
			<td><a href="[$I:DEVICE:URL]">[DEVICE:ALIAS:$I]</a></td>
		</tr>[LOOP:END]
	</tbody>
</table>

Result

Range of allowed values exceeded – short e-mail

Template – subject

[SRC:ALIAS] sensor at [PORTAL:NAME] portal reports: [SRC:STATE]

Template – body

<p>The <a href=" [SRC:URL]"><strong>[SRC:ALIAS]</strong></a> sensor at the <strong>[SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS]</strong> device connected to the <a href="[PORTAL:URL]"><strong>[PORTAL:NAME]</strong></a> portal reports, since [SRC:ALARM:TIME], the <strong>[SRC:STATE]</strong> status with respect to the <strong>[SRC:NOTICE:NAME]</strong> range.</p>
 
<p>The current reading of the <strong>[SRC:STATE]</strong> sensor is <strong>[SRC:SENSOR:VALUE:TXT] [SRC:SENSOR:UNIT:NAME]</strong>.</p>
 
<p>A history of the readings can be seen at [SRC:URL] </p>

Result

Range of safe values exceeded – e-mal listing the states of all sensors and devices

Template – subject

[SRC:ALIAS] sensor at [PORTAL:NAME] portal reports: [SRC:STATE]

Template – body

<p>The <a href="[SRC:URL]"><strong>[SRC:ALIAS]</strong></a> sensor at the <strong>[SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS]</strong> device connected to the <a href="[PORTAL:URL]"><strong>[PORTAL:NAME]</strong></a> portal reports, since [SRC:ALARM:TIME], the <strong>[SRC:STATE]</strong> status with respect to the <strong>[SRC:NOTICE:NAME]</strong> range.</p>
 
<p>The current reading of the <strong>[SRC:STATE]</strong> sensor is <strong>[SRC:SENSOR:VALUE:TXT] [SRC:SENSOR:UNIT:NAME]</strong>.</p>
 
<p>A history of the readings can be seen at [SRC:URL] </p>
 
<h3>Overview of all sensors in the [SRC:TEAM] team</h3>
<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Sensor ID </th>
			<th>Alias</th>
			<th>Value</th>
			<th>Unit</th>
			<th>Sensor state</th>
			<th>SafeRange MIN</th>
			<th>SafeRange MAX</th>
			<th>Hysteresis</th>
			<th>Device ID</th>
			<th>Device alias</th>
		</tr>[LOOP:SENSOR:ALL]
		<tr>
			<td>[SENSID:$I]</td>
			<td><a href="[$I:URL]">[ALIAS:$I]</a></td>
			<td>[VALUE:TXT:$I]</td>
			<td>[UNIT:NAME:$I]</td>
			<td>[STATE:$I]</td>
			<td>[MIN:$I]</td>
			<td>[MAX:$I]</td>
			<td>[HYST:$I]</td>
			<td>[DEVID:$I]</td>
			<td><a href="[$I:DEVICE:URL]">[DEVICE:ALIAS:$I]</a></td>
		</tr>[LOOP:END]
	</tbody>
</table>
 
<h3>Overview of all devices in the [SRC:TEAM] team</h3>
<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<th>Device ID</th>
			<th>Alias</th>
			<th>Device status</th>
		</tr>[LOOP:DEVICE]
		<tr>
			<td>[DEVID:$I]</td>
			<td><a href="[$I:DEVICE:URL]">[DEVICE:ALIAS:$I]</a></td>
			<td>[STATE:$I]</td>
		</tr>[LOOP:END]
	</tbody>
</table>

Result

Loss of communication with a device – SMS

Template

[PORTAL:NAME] reports: Problem communicating with device: [SRC:DEVICE:ALIAS] - [SRC:DEVICE:STATE]

Result

Range of allowed values exceeded – SMS

Working with graphs in SensDesk is similar to working with device groups, locations or user-defined dashboards. To work with graphs, use the Graphs item in the menu. There, you can see an overview of your graphs. To add a new graph, click the Create new My Graph icon.

Specify a name for the graph and select the sensors to show. Sensors are selected in a way similar to sublocations – first click a device name to display the sensors connected to that device, and then select sensors. Selected sensors are highlighted in blue and also shown in the pane at the right-hand side.

After saving, the graph page appears. After a little while, the data are plotted.

Users of SensDesk Technology can create one My Graph. If more are needed, users are advised to contact their distributor and agree on the conditions of using extended SensDesk functions, such as increased number of supported devices, extended datalog length or increased number of custom dashboards or graphs.

For more information about the graph functions and their use, see a separate Application note or the video below.

In the SensDesk portal, graphs are shown in three places. First, there is a chart with measurements and Safe Range boundaries on the sensor details page. All connected sensors, grouped by the measured quantity, are plotted in a chart on the device details page. The third option is My Graph, where sensor and detector plots can be customized regardless of the measured quantities in order to compare them.

The graph area consists of several parts. At the top, there is a bar to set the chart properties. That is, what time range is plotted, what timezone is used, and what SD range is shown (individual sensor graphs only).

By default, a chart shows the last 7 days. For example, Wednesday to Wednesday or Saturday to Saturday. This default setting cannot be changed. However, the user can select another time interval – a day, a week, a month, or a custom interval.

In case of the pre-defined day, week and month intervals, the chart is scaled to show the entire interval. Therefore, if an unsuitable interval is selected (e.g. one month), it may happen that the chart appears incomplete. The two orange arrows change the interval. The fields for selecting specific dates are enabled only when the Custom interval is selected.

The Timezone field allows to specify the timezone to use for displaying time when hovering over a measured value. This can be important for monitoring the Safe Range and diagnosing problems. The default is UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), a globally unified time formerly called GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). The next option is by device; this means that the time settings in the device are used (only for future devices capable of working with real time, such as Poseidon2, Damocles2). The last option is by user, that is, the time zone is taken from the user’s profile (https://sensdesk.com/user).

When displaying the measured values, SensDesk can also indicate whether they fall within the Safe Range or not. Values outside of the Safe Range are plotted with a red line, other values with a green line. At the same time, the SafeRange is highlighted in green in the entire chart, so that it is immediately apparent whether or not the measured value is near the boundary. The SD range field allows toggling the displayed SafeRange between the SD range of the sensor and the Notice range used to work with Alarms (future use only – Notice Range is estimated to be available starting from Q3/2019). The SD range selection box is only available for individual sensor graphs.

Below the graph properties controls, there is a bar for switching among the displayed quantities (device details graphs only). It allows to quickly go from one measured value to another within one device to get a concise overview.

Below the bar, there is the actual graph that differs according to the page it is on. Missing values are indicated by a missing line. The start of an interval is indicated with an orange dot with a cross, so that even a short measurement outage is clearly visible.

The sensor details always show one value, which is either green (if inside the SafeRange) or red (if outside). The graph at the device details page can plot several sensors that measure the same quantity; in that case, different sensors are plotted with different colors. However, to avoid clutter, such a graph does not show the SafeRange because it can be different for each sensor. In a My Graph, each quantity has its own color and different sensors are distinguished by the line type (solid, dashed, dotted, and so on).

A legend describing the colors or line types is shown at the very bottom. By clicking a sensor in the legend, it is possible to exclude that sensor from a multi-value graph in order to simplify the view.

The Zoom function or the auxiliary timeline can be used to zoom into the measurements for a sensor or in a time interval. The auxiliary timeline only changes the displayed portion of the loaded data; the vertical axis scale is dynamically adjusted according to the actual displayed values.

The Zoom function allows to select a part of the range to see more details (it may need a little practice). The required portion is selected by clicking and dragging with the mouse. The Reset button in the upper right-hand corner of the graph cancels the selection.

Another useful feature is the ability to export graphs and measured values. The available options are accessed by clicking the “hamburger” icon in the upper right-hand corner of the graph.

The graph can be printed or exported to PNG, JPG, SVG or PDF.

The measured values in the displayed range can be exported to a CSV or XLS file for later processing, or displayed as a table directly in the browser.

It is also possible to export the values into the Highcharts cloud and display them in a chart of another type.

For an example of working with charts in SensDesk, see the SensDesk tutorial video below.