Viewing logged data

Data and events recorded by the devices in your system are regularly transferred by the Log Inserter from each device to the database. Vista uses the ION Query Service to transfer this information from the database to your workstation. Vista provides two ways to view logged data and events: the Data Log Viewer and the Event Log Viewer.

• The Data Log Viewer displays data logs from all devices represented in the active user diagram. You can use the Data Log Viewer to display waveform and trend data in tabular format. You can also select a range of logs from the viewer and display the data graphically in the log view plotter.
• The Event Log Viewer typically displays events and alarms from each device represented in the active user diagram. The Event Log Viewer is used primarily to monitor low-priority events and alarms associated with the active user diagram. Each Event Log Viewer is associated with a single user diagram.

Using a Data Log Viewer

Use a Data Log Viewer to view system data stored in the database. Data Log Viewers display historical trend data (from data recorders) and waveform data (from waveform recorders).

You can select any data displayed in a Data Log Viewer and plot it as a graph or copy it to another application (for example, Microsoft Excel) where you can perform advanced calculations or include it in a report.

See Using the Query options for information on log viewer configuration.

Displaying a Data Log Viewer

Click on a Data Log Viewer object in your user diagram. The Data Log Viewer appears.

Each Data Log Viewer displays data as a table of columns and rows. Each labeled column contains a single type of data and each numbered row represents a single data record.

Plotting a range of data from the Data Log Viewer

You can plot data from a Data Log Viewer in the Log View Plotter.

1. Highlight the cells containing the data that you want to plot. The range of data can be selected in one of three ways:
   • To graph trends for all parameters over a particular time span, select a group of rows.
   • To graph the trend for a specific parameter using all available records, select the entire column.
   • To graph multiple parameters over a specific time span, click on the first cell in the desired range then drag to highlight the last cell of the range.
2. Select Edit > Plot Selected Data or click .

The Log View Plotter window appears, displaying a graphical representation of the selected data. See Plotting logged data for more information.

TIP: To quickly plot a single waveform, double-click on its waveform symbol in the Data Log Viewer.

Copying a selection to another application

1. Highlight the cells containing the data that you want to copy.
2. Select Edit > Copy or click . This copies the selection to the Windows Clipboard.
3. Switch to another application and paste the selection.

Using the Event Log Viewer

Events and alarms that occur in your system are recorded by the meter and transferred via Log Inserter to the database.

Vista. Use the Event Log Viewer to view event records. The Event Log Viewer displays events and alarms from the device(s) represented in the active user diagram. Use it to monitor low-priority events and alarms associated with the active user diagram. The Event Log Viewer is associated with a single user diagram, so alarms only update when the user diagram is open.

See Using the Query options for information on log viewer configuration.

Displaying an Event Log Viewer

Click an Event Log Viewer object in your user diagram to open the Event Log Viewer.

The Event Log Viewer displays logged events in a table of columns and rows. Each labeled column contains a single category or event description and each numbered row represents a single event record.

Typically, Event Log Viewers display the following information:

• Timestamp: This indicates the event’s date and time.
• Priority: This determines the relative significance of the event. Each type of event has a numeric value assigned to it that represents its relative priority level.
• Cause: This is the label and value describing the cause of the event. For example, if the label is “Setpoint #1” and the value is “Active,” then the event was caused by setpoint #1 changing to an active state.
• Effect: This is the label and value describing the effect of the event. For example, if label is “Relay #1” and the value is “Forced On,” then the effect of the event was to force relay #1 on.
• Ack Time: This is the date and time that an alarm was acknowledged.

NOTE: Because Event Log Viewers are associated with a single user diagram, they only update when the user diagram is open. All Event Log Viewers need to be re-opened if a diagram is closed or the software is shut down.

Acknowledging alarms

Every type of event has a prioritized value that identifies its relative significance on a scale of 0 (zero) to 255. By default, Vista identifies any event with a priority of 128 (default) or greater as an alarm.