Status (Digital) Inputs
Status inputs monitor digital input signals. These can be relay contacts, TTL logic levels or higher voltage logic levels. The inputs are all individually opto isolated and can also be set for internal pull-up resistors with internal signal returns, or totally external signals.
When configuring the Cortex for the first time, the main Status input menu screen will be empty, like the one shown below, but entries will show-up as inputs are added.
Please see this article for details about the generic Main screen, Description screen and Vocal Description screen.
1 – SELECT ALL: Select / unselect all inputs at once.
2 – STATE: Current state of the inputs (normal, active, minor, major).
3 – ID: ID of the inputs.
4 – DESCRIPTION: Description of the inputs.
5 – VALUE: Shows current value of the inputs, either High (H) or low (L).
6 – CONFIGURATION: Access the configuration menu of the selected inputs. Bulk edition is allowed. A configuration and control popup menu like the one shown below can also be accessed by right-clicking anywhere on an input line.
7 – DELETE: Delete selected inputs.
8 – REFRESH / READ: Refresh / read the screen content.
9 – ACTIVITY MONITORING: Access the Activity Monitoring menu.
10 – ADD: Add an input.
11 – EXIT: Exit menu.
Status input configuration menu
1 – ID: ID of the selected input. Select from the drop-down menu.
2 – I/O DESCRIPTION RETRIEVAL: Click to retrieve and display the current normal description of that ID. Normally hidden to minimize data transfers on low speed or high fee data connections.
3 – ACTION TYPE: Selects the action type that will happen when an out-of-limit condition occurs. 3 types are available: Major alarm, Minor alarm, and Command (CMD). On CMD, no alarm will be triggered. Use this Action when you want to take actions without triggering any alarms.
4 – QUALIFIER: Qualifying element (operand) which can be any input, output, flag, timer, SNMP GET, Logic Gate, etc. Essentially any ID in the Cortex can be used to mute or unmute the input to prevent it from taking any action. When the Qualifier is active, the input will be monitored and be able to generate alarms. When the qualifier is non-active (or normal), the input will be muted and it will not be able to generate an alarm. To invert the Qualifier’s level, simply put a ! in front of its ID. For example, use !1D01 to invert it. Leave the Qualifier field blank for a “don’t care” condition.
5 – CONTROLLED OUTPUT: Outputs to be controlled (on/off) based on the state of this input. The two output types allowed are relays (both physical and virtual) and SNMP SETs. For the relays, adding a P suffix will Pulse the relay (ex: 1R01P), L will Latch it and R will Release it.
6 – DELAY BEFORE ACTION: Delay before the input changes into an active state when an out-of-limit condition occurs. Prevents glitches from setting-off any alarms.
7 – DELAY BEFORE RETURN TO NORMAL: Delay before the input returns to a normal state once an out-of-limit condition is over. Prevents too-brief returns-to-normal from causing multiple repeated alarms.
8 – ENABLE: Enable / disable the input. Useful to deactivate an input, without losing all its settings, when the input is causing intermittent problems or nuisance alarms.
9 – SYSTEM LOG: Log the input’s activity in the System Log. Useful when inputs do not need to be logged, but are required for day-to-day operation.
10 – ACTIVE LEVEL: Level of the input signal that will bring the status input into an Active state. Can be set to high or low, so it is easy to invert the logic should a wiring error have been made during site installation.
11 – SIGNALLING ON – ALARM: Enables / disables alarming. When checked, any out-of-limit condition will automatically generate an alarm. When unchecked, no alarm will be triggered when an out-of-limit condition occurs.
12 – SIGNALLING ON – RETURN TO NORMAL: Enables / disables Return To Normal signalling. When checked, a notification will be generated when the input changes back to its normal state after an out-of-limit alarm condition. When unchecked, no notification will be sent when the initial alarm condition returns to normal.
13 – REFRESH / READ: Refresh / read the screen content.
14 – ACTIVITY MONITORING: Access the Activity Monitoring menu. See this article for details.
15 – SAVE / WRITE: Save the screen content.
16 – EXIT: Exit menu.
