3.0 Viewing F/X Alarms

When the adapter receives an alarm, it generates an alarm and processes it through the hierarchy. F/X Monitors dynamically create rich alarms with properties and values derived from a data source, using the parsing rules defined in the Monitor for the data source.

For example, consider the following CSV source file:

type,firstname,lastname,email,cellphone,office,state
Employee,Fred,Bloggs,fred@bloggs.com,17049249942,Dallas,TX
Employee,Joe,Schmoe,jschmoe@users.com,1843800002,NYC,NY
Employee,Diane,Tomeetu,dtomeetu@anyone.com,14829730924,San Jose,CA
Employee,Jane,Shame,j.shame@bigcorp.com,19320000752,Las Vegas,NV
Friend,Simon,Bennett,sbennett@people.com,13829492900,Denver,CO
Friend,Justin,Woodpuddle,justin@woodypuddle.com,13284619900,Miami,FL

It is possible to configure an F/X Monitor to monitor CSV files and parse in the content when a new file appears or is updated. By default, the Monitor parses the file content and renders alarms, in this case using the first row of the CSV file to define property (or cell) names.

In Figure 3-1, the alarms received by an F/X adapter display in the Operations Center console’s Alarms view:

Figure 3-1 The Alarms View

Each alarm displayed in the data section represents a row in the CSV file. The F/X Monitor automatically parses the CSV content as alarm properties and values.

To view the details of an alarm:

  1. In the Alarms view, double-click an alarm or right-click an alarm, then select Properties to display the alarm properties.

    The F/X Monitor page displays the hostname and IP address of the F/X Monitor that generated the alarm:

    F/X Monitor Alarm Properties
  2. Click Parsing.

    The Parsing page provides full details on the parsing used to generate the alarm. This provides information about the original file the alarm was generated from, the parser used, the file line number and date stamp, and any encoding used:

    Alarm Parsing Properties
  3. Click Properties.

    The Properties page provides data details, indicating the alarm payload in terms of data properties and values:

    Alarm Properties
  4. To open the Hierarchy editor, right-click the F/X adapter element, then select Edit Hierarchy Definition.

    For information on using the editor, see The Operations Center XML Editor in the Operations Center 5.6 Server Configuration Guide.

    F/X Monitors also generate diagnostic information pertaining to Monitor status and file status, which can provide details on parsing and files encountered. In the default hierarchy, these alarms generate a file view (File Information) showing directories that are monitored and matched files. The Monitors hierarchy shows the location of connected Monitors and the active parsers:

    The File Information and Monitors Elements

    Administrators who are familiar with the configuration of hierarchy files can use Operations Center’s Hierarchy editor to manipulate the element hierarchy to refine the structure and presentation of data.