Watchdog

SUMMARY

Functionality for monitoring ALPHA-VISION®processes at runtime (watchdog). There are two possible ways of monitoring:
Note:
It is not possible to combine both types of monitoring!
E. g.: One operator station can not monitor its own processes locally and at the same time monitor the processes of another operator station via multicast.
The following processes support the watchdog functionality:
Process Process ID
Prcs Prcs
Udp2Av Udp2Av
Av2Eas Av2Eas
Av2SoftEas Av2SoftEas
Can2Av Can2Av
SoftPlc7 SoftPlc7
AvZipArchives ZipArchive
AvScript AvScript
Sapi2Av Sapi2Av

CONTENTS

  1. Local Monitoring
  2. Monitoring via Multicast
  3. Vision2000.ini

Local Monitoring

For local monitoring the process ID must be listed in section [WATCHDOG] of Vision2000.ini with the point ID of a data object AND a cycle time (in seconds).
If listed, any of the above specified processes increments the value of the given data object cyclically in the given interval.

Other ALPHA-VISION® processes on the same operator station may monitor this cyclical increment to check, wether the process is running or not.
If the given data object is hosted on a PLC and an according ALPHA-VISION® driver is running on the operator station, the value change is sent to the PLC as well.

Monitoring via Multicast

For monitoring via multicast the process ID must be listed in section [WATCHDOG] of Vision2000.ini with ONLY a cycle time (in seconds).
If listed, any of the above specified processes sends a watchdog life sign cyclically over multicast adress 234.145.91.51, port number 0xab88. The watchdog life sign ID is station number-process ID (e. g. 101-Udp2Av), therefore this combination must be unique within the watchdog multicast network.
If for whatever reasons two operator stations have the same station number and are both involved in monitoring, the entry FakeOsNo in section [WATCHDOG] of Vision2000.ini must be set on one of these operator stations. The watchdog life sign of this operator station is then sent with the fake operator station number instead of its own. The fake operator station number must be within the range of 101 to 999.

The evaluation of watchdog life signs is configured by section [WATCHDOG_CHECK] of Vision2000.ini.
For every watchdog life sign ID that is to be evaluated on the operator station, there must be an entry in the above named section specifying the point ID of a data object, the time-out interval (in seconds) and the alarm value. If a time-out occurs, the value of the data object is set to alarm value.
If the given data object is hosted on a PLC and an according ALPHA-VISION® driver is running on the operator station, the value change is sent to the PLC as well.
To avoid unwanted alarms at start-up, a start delay (in seconds) for the watchdog check may be set.

INI-FILES

Vision2000.ini

Section [WATCHDOG]

Entry Type Description / Example Default
<process> string
The point ID (for local monitoring only) and cycle time (seconds) for the watchdog touch of the process whose process ID is specified in the entry name <process>.
For a list of processes that support the watchdog functionality and further details, see: Watchdog
Example
Local monitoring: 
[WATCHDOG]
Prcs=PRCS_WDOG,10
Upd2Av=UDP_WDOG,25
Monitoring via multicast: 
[WATCHDOG]
Prcs=10
Upd2Av=25
FakeOsNo integer
Applies for monitoring via multicast only:
If this entry is active, the watchdog life signs of the operator station are sent with the fake operator station number instead of its own.
Example 
[WATCHDOG]
FakeOsNo=201

Section [WATCHDOG_CHECK]

Entry Type Description / Example Default
<station number>-<process ID> string
The point ID, time-out (seconds) and alarm value for evaluating watchdog life signs of the process running on the operator station specified in the entry <station number-process ID>.
For a list of processes that support the watchdog functionality and further details on receiving watchdog life signs via multicast, see: Watchdog
Example 
[WATCHDOG_CHECK]
101-Prcs= OS101_PRCS, 30, 2 
105-Udp2Av= OS105_UDP2AV, 20, 3
StartDelay integer
A delay time (in seconds) for the start of the watchdog check to avoid unwanted alarms at start-up.
Example 
[WATCHDOG_CHECK]
StartDelay=30