Understanding the Historian
Note: The Historian is an optional feature under the Flex SCADA license.
The Web Workspace Tools, Flex SCADA, Historian... option allows you to view the historians configured in the system. To display the Historian tool, select the Historian... option. The Historian tool will open displaying the Device Class Rules tab,
The Historian tool provides access to the Device Class Rules, Audit Log, and Header Details for each configured Historian.
The Device Class Rules tab allows you to configure which SCADA measurement are reported to a historian based on device class.
The Audit Log tab allows you to examine a full audit of all operator initiated updates to the historian configuration.
The Header Details allows you to change configuration information for a specific historian.
Historian Menus and Toolbar
File Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Toggle Dockable Window
Changes a standalone window to a pane that may be moved or docked in another window or frame. See Understanding Windows, Frames, and Dock Panes for more information on dockable and standalone windows.
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Exit
Closes the window.
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Tools Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
View Device Class Rules...
Opens the Device Class Rules tab to view all device class rules. See Understanding the Device Class Rules Tab for details.
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View PI Details...
Opens the PI Historian tab to see configuration details for the PI Historian. See Understanding the PI Historian Tab for details.
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View Audit Log...
Opens the Audit Log. See Understanding the Audit Log for details.
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Help Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Help
Opens the online help content.
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Understanding the Device Class Rules Tab
The Device Class Rules tab provides a list of all Device Class Rules in the system. The Device Class Rules consists of three parts:
• Device Class Rules Menu and Toolbar
• Device Class Rules Table
• Device Class Rules Filters
Device Class Rules Menu and Toolbar
File Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Export
Export the data in the Device Class Rules table. See Exporting and Copying Table Data for details.
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Toggle Dockable Window
Changes a standalone window to a pane that may be moved or docked in another window or frame. See Understanding Windows, Frames, and Dock Panes for more information on dockable and standalone windows.
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Exit
Closes the window.
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Sort Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Sort Dialog…
Opens the Sort Dialog, allowing you to create, modify, apply, and save user-defined sorts. See Using the Sort Dialog Box.
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Default
Applies the default sort.
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Actions Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Rule Details...
Invokes the Historian Details dialog box for the rule. See Understanding the Historian Details Dialog Box for details.
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Create...
Invokes the Historian Details dialog Box to allow a new rule to be created. See Understanding the Historian Details Dialog for details.
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Copy...
Invokes the Historian Details dialog box to allow a new rule to be copied from an existing rule. See Understanding the Historian Details Dialog Box for details. Depending on the selection the fields available in the Historian Details Dialog Box may differ. If a single row is selected in the table then all fields will be available but pre-populated based on the selected rule. If multiple rows are selected associated with the same device class then only the Device field will be displayed in the dialog allowing you to create copies of the selected rules and apply them to a new device class.
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Delete
Opens the Delete dialog box for the selected rules. See Understanding the Delete Device Class Rule Dialog Box for details.
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Help Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Help
Opens the online help content.
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Understanding the Delete Device Class Rule Dialog Box
Multiple rules can be selected and deleted. A dialog box is invoked to confirm the deletion of the rules. The dialog box contains the following buttons:
• The Yes button deletes the selected rules and closes the dialog box.
• The No button cancels the delete operation and closes the dialog box.
Device Class Rules Table
The Device Class Rules Table contains the following information for each rule.
• The Device Class contains the device class associated with the rule.
• The Measurement contains the SCADA measurement associated with the rule.
• The Trigger On Timestamp determines whether the measurements value will be sent even if the value and SCADA quality have not changed.
• The On Change Type determines what triggers the value to be sent. Valid values are:
• On Change: report the measurements value each time its value or quality changes.
• Periodic: report the measurement value periodically
• On Change and periodic: report the measurement value on change and periodically.
• The Period is the frequency the value is reported if periodically.
• If the PI Historian is enabled, the PI column indicates whether the rule applies to the PI Historian or not.
• The Type column indicates the type of measurement, analog or digital.
Device Class Rules Filters
The Device Class Rules provides a set of global filters that can be applied to the contents of the Device Class Rules Table.
The global filters provided are:
• All: Show all device class rules.
Understanding the Historian Details Dialog
The Historian Details dialog allows you to create or copy new Device Class Rules. The dialog box has three sections:
Details
The details section holds configuration applicable to all Historians and consists of two tabs.
• The Details tab contains the following components:
• Device: The name of the device associated with the measurement.
• Measurement: The name of the SCADA measurement.
• On Change Type: The trigger for reporting changes in value to the historian. Valid values are:
• On Change: report the measurements value each time its value or quality changes.
• Periodic: report the measurement value periodically
• On Change and periodic: report the measurement value on change and periodically.
• Period: If reporting periodically this is the time between each report.
• The Advanced tab contains the following component:
• Trigger on timestamp: determines whether the value of the measurement will be sent to the historian even if the value and quality have not changed. This is reserved for IED's that report half hour periodic data as SCADA measurements and the value should be processed even if the value and quality remain the same between periods.
Interfaces
The interface section contains a tab for each enabled long-term Historian.
The PI tab contains the configuration details for the PI historian and contains the following components:
• Enabled: Whether the SCADA measurement is stored in PI or not.
• Units: The units of measurement.
• Point Type: The PI point type
• Point Class Name: The PI point class name.
Buttons
The buttons section contains the following components:
• Save: Save any changes and close the dialog.
• Help...: Invoke the on-line help for the dialog.
• Cancel: Close the dialog without making any changes.
Understanding the PI Historian Tab
Note: The PI Historian tab is only available if the PI Historian is enabled on the NMS system. The tab consists of the PI Historian Menus and Toolbar and the PI Details.
PI Historian Menus and Toolbar
File Menu
Menu Option
Description
Toolbar Icon
Export
Export the data in the Device Class Rules table. See Exporting and Copying Table Data for details.
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Toggle Dockable Window
Changes a standalone window to a pane that may be moved or docked in another window or frame. See Understanding Docked Panes and Standalone Window Tools for more information on dockable and standalone windows.
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Exit
Closes the Trend Graph window.
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Actions Menu
Menu Option
Description
Toolbar Icon
Save
Saves any changes to the PI details.
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Help Menu
Menu Option
Description
Toolbar Icon
Help...
Opens the online help content.
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PI Details
The PI Details consists of the following components:
• The Reporting Enabled filed indicates whether change of state reporting is enabled or disabled for all SCADA measurements configured to report to the PI Historian.
• The PI Server field indicates the name or IP address of the server that hosts the PI Historian.
• The Connection Status field indicates whether NMS is currently connected or disconnected from the PI Historian.
Understanding the Audit Log
The Audit Log provides an audit of all operator actions associated with historian and device class rules. The Audit Log consists of three parts:
• Audit Log Menu and Toolbar
• Audit Log Table
• Audit Log Filter
Audit Log Menus and Toolbar
File Menu
Menu Option
Description
Toolbar Icon
Export
Export the data in the table. See Exporting and Copying Table Data for details.
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Toggle Dockable Window
Changes a standalone window to a pane that may be moved or docked in another window or frame. See Understanding Docked Panes and Standalone Window Tools for more information on dockable and standalone windows.
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Exit
Closes the tab.
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Sort Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Sort Dialog…
Opens the Sort Dialog, allowing you to create, modify, apply, and save user-defined sorts. See Using the Sort Dialog Box.
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Default
Applies the default sort.
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Help Menu
Option
Description
Toolbar Button
Help
Opens the online help content.
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