PI Notifications 2010 R2

User Guide
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PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide

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Version: 1.2.1205
Published: 12 May 2011
Table of Contents
Part I PI Notifications ....................................................................................................................1

Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................3

What is PI Notifications? ....................................................................................................3
Components of PI Notifications..........................................................................................4
Terminology of PI Notifications ..........................................................................................4
PI Notifications and PI Clients............................................................................................6
Security ..............................................................................................................................6
Documentation Overview ...................................................................................................7

Chapter 2 PI System Explorer Overview .....................................................................................9

Start PI System Explorer ....................................................................................................9
Navigate the PI System Explorer .......................................................................................9
Check in, Apply, or Undo Changes ..................................................................................12
Refresh the Current Database .........................................................................................12

Chapter 3 Notification Contacts.................................................................................................13

Individual Contact.............................................................................................................14
Search for Individual Contacts .........................................................................................16
Group Contact ..................................................................................................................17
Escalation Team...............................................................................................................19
Standalone Delivery Endpoint..........................................................................................20
Change Icons for Notification Contacts............................................................................21
Security for Notification Contacts .....................................................................................21
Delivery Endpoint Reference ...........................................................................................22

Chapter 4 Notification Rules ......................................................................................................25

Prerequisite Knowledge ...................................................................................................25
Trigger ..............................................................................................................................26
Message...........................................................................................................................45
Subscriptions....................................................................................................................63
Notification Templates......................................................................................................73
Change Icons for Notifications .........................................................................................77
Security for Notification Rules and Templates .................................................................77
Notification Management .................................................................................................77
Troubleshooting Notification Rules ..................................................................................85
Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab)........................................................................85

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide iii

Table of Contents

Chapter 5 View Notification Events ...........................................................................................89

View My Notifications with MyPI ......................................................................................89
View the History of a Notification Rule .............................................................................90
View Active Notification Instances ...................................................................................90
View Recent Notification Instances..................................................................................91
View Notification Instances within a Time Range ............................................................91
Show or Hide Columns in the History ..............................................................................92
Customize the Display of Notifications.............................................................................92
Sort History.......................................................................................................................92
View Notification Rule Summary......................................................................................93
Acknowledgments and Comments...................................................................................93
Notification History View ..................................................................................................94

Chapter 6 PI Notifications Desktop Alert ..................................................................................95

Receive a Desktop Alert...................................................................................................95
Start PI Notifications Desktop Alert ..................................................................................95
Configure Desktop Alert ...................................................................................................95
Menu Commands .............................................................................................................97

Chapter 7 Troubleshooting.........................................................................................................99
Running Notification Rules...............................................................................................99
Creating or Editing a Notification Rule ...........................................................................103
Subscribing to Notification Rules ...................................................................................104
Acknowledging and Commenting on Notification Rule Events ......................................104
Viewing Notification Rule Events ...................................................................................107
Security ..........................................................................................................................107
Installation ......................................................................................................................109
Tools...............................................................................................................................109

Part II PI System Notifications..................................................................................................113

Chapter 8 Installation ................................................................................................................115

Components of PI Notifications......................................................................................115
System Requirements ....................................................................................................115
History PI Server ............................................................................................................117
Common Installation Scenarios .....................................................................................117
Upgrade PI Notifications ................................................................................................123
Configure PI Notifications Service for Buffering.............................................................125
PI Notifications OCS Relay Service ...............................................................................125

Chapter 9 PI Notifications for Administrators ........................................................................129

Notification and Contact Security ...................................................................................129
Configure PI Notifications OCS Relay Service ..............................................................133
Register Custom Delivery Channels ..............................................................................135
System-Wide Parameters ..............................................................................................136
Manage PI Notifications Service ....................................................................................144

iv
 Appendix A Migrate to PI Notifications ...................................................................................153

Appendix B Technical Support and Resources .....................................................................155

Index ............................................................................................................................................159

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide v

Part I

PI Notifications
The chapters in this section provide the information required to create, edit, and troubleshoot
notifications:
Chapter 1, Introduction (page 3), provides a general description of PI Notifications features,
terminology, and documentation.
Chapter 2, PI System Explorer Overview (page 9), summarizes the features of PI System
Explorer, the browser that you use to create notifications. For details about other uses of PI
System Explorer, see the PI AF User's Guide.
Chapter 3, Notification Contacts (page 13), describes how to configure individual entities and
groups of entities to receive notification by email, instant message, or other channels.
Chapter 4, Notification Rules (page 25), describes how to define the conditions that cause
notification to be sent, the information in the notification message, and the contacts who
receive notification (subscribers).
Chapter 5, View Notification Events (page 89), describes MyPI, a convenient interface to
view all of the notifications to which you are subscribed.
Chapter 6, PI Notifications Desktop Alert (page 95), describes the desktop tray application
that automatically monitors all your notifications when you log on to a machine and alerts
you when you receive a notification.
Chapter 7, Troubleshooting (page 99), provides answers to frequently-asked questions on
creating and editing notifications and notification contacts.

Note: The information in this guide assumes that you have previously created an AF
database in PI Asset Framework (PI AF) that contains AF elements to represent
the physical and logical entities in your process. For more information on PI AF,
see the PI AF User's Guide.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

What is PI Notifications?
PI Notifications is a core component of the PI System for building and maintaining real-time
PI System notifications. Important PI Notifications features include:
d Simplicity: PI Notifications provides a simple, consistent, and intuitive set of tools for
using notification features across the PI System.
d Enterprise: All the notifications are shared, managed, and maintained enterprise-wide.
You can integrate PI Notifications services within your existing IT infrastructure.
d Availability: PI Notifications provides system redundancy, and persistence.
d Integration: PI Notifications integrates with and leverages the PI Server, PI AF, and
other PI System services. The Notifications platform also provides a software
development kit upon which users can build custom applications.
d Archiving: Every notification action is archived. Such actions include start and end
times, notification times, acknowledgments, entry of comments and escalations.
d Unification: PI Notifications unifies all the existing PI System alarm tools, products and
packages, expanding the notification feature set significantly.
d Acknowledgment: Notifications are acknowledgeable, meaning there will be a written
record that a subscriber acted on the condition that caused notification to be sent.
d MyPI: Your notifications of interest are saved explicitly and keyed on your Windows
authentication. When you log into a Windows machine, these notifications will
automatically be available to you in one convenient place.
d Extensible Delivery: A notification can be configured to send email messages, to call a
Web service, or to send instant messages using Microsoft Office Communications Server.
Optionally, you can create custom delivery channels that allow you to connect to any
software system.
d Escalation: You can set up escalation structures to ensure that the right people get the
right information in the right order.
d Customizable content: You can specify the notification-related data to be included in
notifications.
d Flexible alert criteria: The criteria that cause notification to be sent can be as simple as
comparing a PI point value to a constant, or can consist of multiple conditions combined
with AND and OR. Conditions based on complex equations or on results of Western
Electric Pattern Tests are also available.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 3

Introduction

Components of PI Notifications
PI Notifications includes these main components:
d PI System Explorer Add-ins: PI Notifications delivers three components for the PI
System Explorer. This guide and the online help contained in the PI System Explorer
describe details about these add-ins:
MyPI: Provides a convenient interface to view all of the notifications to which you
are subscribed.
Notifications: Allows you to configure and subscribe to a notification and to view its
activity.
Contacts: Allows you to configure notification groups, escalation teams, and
advanced delivery options that you use to subscribe to the notifications you build.
d PI Notifications Service: This is a Windows service that runs notification rules and
processes incoming real-time data as well as sending notifications. You can run multiple
instances of this service on multiple machines (one per machine) to provide redundancies
and meet different security needs. The PI Notifications Service supports high availability
and need not run on the same machine as the PI Server, AF server, or the client
applications. The service is described in detail in the PI System Notifications help and PI
Notifications User Guide.
d PI Notifications Desktop Alert: This desktop tray application automatically monitors all
your notifications when you log on to a machine. It produces a momentary pop-up
message box when you receive a notification. You can click on the message box to view
more detail in MyPI.
d PI Notifications Acknowledgment Page: This ASP.Net Web page allows you to
acknowledge a notification event. When you receive an email notification, it contains
several links that allow you to acknowledge a notification directly.

Terminology of PI Notifications
Acknowledgment: An acknowledgment is a response to a notification.
Asset: In plant management, a physical entity that is a unit of equipment, such as a mixer,
hopper, tank, or meter.
Attribute: A characteristic that represents one of the many metadata components associated
with an asset.
Contacts: A notification contact is an individual entity or group of entities that can receive
notification messages. PI Notifications provides four types of notification contacts: individual
contacts, group contacts, escalation teams, and standalone delivery endpoints.
d An individual contact is a collection of one or more delivery endpoints that can be used
to send notification messages to an individual user or to an application. A delivery
endpoint is a single entity to which a notification is sent, such as an individual email
address.
d A group contact is an unordered collection of delivery endpoints or groups.
Notification messages are sent to all members of the group simultaneously.

4
 Terminology of PI Notifications

d An escalation team is an ordered collection of delivery endpoints or groups.

Notification messages are sent sequentially to the members of the escalation team until
the notification is acknowledged.
d A standalone delivery endpoint is a delivery endpoint that is not associated with an
individual contact, group, or escalation team.
Content: Content is pre-defined information about the alert that can be included in a
notification message to make the notification more meaningful for further action.
Custom content: Custom content is any user-defined information that is not available by
default to include in notification messages. For example, this information can include
documents, Web links, and so on.
Delivery channel: A delivery channel is the conduit through which notification messages
are sent to the subscriber. For example, email is a delivery channel.
Delivery format: A delivery format defines the content, appearance, and delivery channel
of the message that is sent with a notification.
Element: An element or AF element is an entity that represents a physical asset such as a
mixer, hopper, tank, or meter; a logical entity, such as a flow; or a model. Elements have
attributes for important data associated with the asset.
Element template: An element template specifies the attributes of a set of similar elements.
For example, if you have a set of pumps with similar structure, you create an element
template for the pumps and use the template to construct an element to represent each pump.
Event: The fundamental unit of information used in the PI Server. Each event consists of two
main components: a value and a timestamp.
Formatted notification: A formatted notification uses delivery formats to specify the
content of messages sent to subscribers. Formatted notifications provide greater flexibility of
message content than the nonformatted notifications that were available prior to PI
Notifications 2010 R2.
Model: A model is the complete set of information necessary for performing an analysis on
an interval of time in the life of a process. A typical model might cover one section of the
plant or process and include several analyses. In PI AF, a model consists of one or more
elements.
Notification event: A single action by a notification rule. Such actions include entering and
exiting a notification state, sending notification messages, receiving acknowledgments, entry
of comments, and escalations.
Notification history: A record of notification events.
Notification rule: A notification rule defines the conditions that cause a notification to be
sent, the information in the notification message, and the users who receive notification
(subscribers).
Notification instance: A notification instance is a period of time that begins when the
conditions of a notification rule are true. The notification instance ends when the conditions
are no longer true, when the notification rule is overridden by a notification with higher
priority, or when the notification rule is manually reset.
Notification template or notification rule template: A notification template specifies the
trigger, content, and contacts for an element template. For example, if you have a set of

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 5

Introduction

pumps with a similar structure, you might want to monitor their conditions with a similar set
of rules. To create notification rules for all the pumps automatically, you create a notification
template that references the element template for the pumps.
Standard content: Standard content is general information about an alert that can be
included in a notification message, such as the start time and end time of the notification
instance, or the name of the target element.
Subscription: A subscription is how a contact signs up to receive notification. Additionally,
it contains the content that is delivered to the contact.
Target: For notification rules, the target is the element that represents the device or process
to which the rule applies. For notification rule templates, the target is the element template
that is associated with the notification rule template.
Time rule: A time rule defines when the conditions of a notification are checked.
Time true: Time true is the length of time a condition must be true to trigger a notification.
For example, you might want to trigger a notification only when the temperature exceeds a
specified limit for five minutes.
Trigger: A trigger is a collection of conditions that cause a notification to be sent. In a
notification rule, a trigger consists of a target element, a time rule, and the collection of
conditions that cause notification to be sent.

PI Notifications and PI Clients

Notification messages can include pre-configured displays, reports, spreadsheets, and links.
Furthermore, PI Notifications provides native support for configuring RtReports reports and
PI WebParts displays.
PI Notifications is built to work seamlessly with PI clients, such as PI ProcessBook, PI
DataLink, RtReports, and PI WebParts. Refer to the respective manuals for detailed
information on how these products support PI Notifications features.
If you have PI WebParts Server 2.0.0.0 or later, you can configure PI Notifications to
automatically insert a link to PI WebParts instant trend that shows inputs to, and outputs
from, the notification. This feature is useful for a quick root-cause analysis.

Security
PI Notifications uses Windows security for communicating internally and with the AF server.
It communicates with the PI Server via the trust login mechanism. The notification rule and
contact objects have Windows security descriptors associated with them. For details, see the
information on security in the PI System Notifications help or the PI Notifications User
Guide.

6
 Documentation Overview

Documentation Overview
Documentation for PI Notifications 2010 R2 is available as the following PDF files:
d PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide: An introduction to PI Notifications for the end
user. This user guide provides a product overview, installation procedures, and other
topics to allow you to work with and troubleshoot PI Notifications.
d PI AF 2010 R2 Overview Guide: Provides a theoretical overview of PI AF 2010 R2 and
its architecture; example applications; and guidelines for structuring AF to achieve an
optimal configuration.
d PI AF 2010 R2 Installation and Maintenance Guide: Provides installation and
maintenance procedures.
d PI AF 2010 R2 PI System Explorer User Guide: Provides an overview and explains the
functions of PI System Explorer 2010 R2.
The online help for PI Notifications contains information from the PI Notifications User
Guide and the three PI AF 2010 R2 guides. The online help consists of these major sections:
d PI System Data Directory: Provides an overview of the Data Directory architecture,
systems, databases, unit of measure theory, and how code changes are checked in or out
and persisted in the database.
d PI System Notifications: Provides a product overview, installation procedures, and other
topics to allow you to work with and troubleshoot PI Notifications.
d PI System Explorer: Contains the following subsections:
PI System Explorer User Guide: Provides an overview and explains the functions
of PI System Explorer.
PI Data Directory: Describes how to configure objects comprising AF, such as
elements, library components, transfers, and units of measure.
PI Notifications: Provides procedures for building and monitoring notifications.
d PI Notifications Programmer's Guide: Provides information for developers who want
to create programs that use the capabilities of PI Notifications.
d AFSDK Library Reference: The AFSDK library is a Microsoft .NET assembly that
provides structured access to OSIsoft data. This document is provided solely as an HTML
Help file.
d ANSDK Library Reference: The ANSDK library is a Microsoft .NET assembly that
provides structured access to PI Notifications functionality. This document is provided
solely as an HTML Help file.
Documentation can be downloaded from the OSIsoft Technical Support and Resources Web
site (http://techsupport.osisoft.com/).

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 7

Chapter 2

PI System Explorer Overview

PI System Explorer is the browser for PI Notifications. Within this browser, you can
configure notification rules and contacts, subscribe to/unsubscribe from notification rules,
and view active or archived notification events.
This chapter discusses PI System Explorer functionalities introduced in and used by PI
Notifications. For details about other uses of the PI System Explorer, including descriptions
of AF add-ins, see the PI AF User's Guide.

Start PI System Explorer

To start PI System Explorer, click Start > PI System > PI System Explorer.
Alternatively, use a desktop shortcut.

Navigate the PI System Explorer

Components of PI System Explorer

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 9

PI System Explorer Overview

PI System Explorer contains these visual components:

d Menu Commands/Toolbars: Use the menu commands and toolbars to open or create a
database, search for contacts, apply or check in changes, set view options, and so on.
d Navigator panel: Use buttons in this lower-left panel to view groups of PI System
objects. PI Notifications uses three views: MyPI, Notifications, and Contacts. The
selection here dictates what is displayed in the Browser pane and affects some of
Menu/Toolbar items.
d Browser pane: Use this upper-left pane to select the contacts or notifications you want to
display and work with in the Viewer pane.
d Viewer pane: This pane, located to the immediate right of the Browser pane, shows the
detailed configuration information for the object selected in the browser pane. You may
configure or edit a notification rule or a contact when you select a notification rule or a
contact in the browser pane.
d Palette: Use the pane on the right to access contacts, templates, or data references that
you can associate with contacts or notifications. You have the option of hiding the palette
to save screen space.
d Status Bar: Refer to the status bar at the bottom of the PI System Explorer window to
see current actions in PI System Explorer. For example, if you load a notification, you see
the message Loading Notification.
For more information, see the PI System Explorer User Guide.

10
 Navigate the PI System Explorer

Notifications View

Select Notifications in the navigator panel to go to Notifications view. There are three panes
in Notifications view:
d The browser pane on the left shows a list of notification rules and a toolbar. Use this
pane to select the notification rule you want to view or edit in the viewer pane.
d The viewer pane on the right shows the details for the selected notification rule in the
browser pane. In this pane, you can edit the rule, subscribe to or unsubscribe from the
rule, and view the history of notification events for the rule.
d The palette pane displays the contacts. This pane is visible when you click the
Subscriptions tab in the Viewer pane. You can subscribe to a notification rule by
dragging contacts from this pane to the Subscriptions tab.
See Notification Rules (page 25) for a detailed description of the tasks and functionalities
available through these panes.

Contacts View

Select Contacts in the navigator panel to go to Contacts view. There are three panes in
Contacts view:
d The browser pane on the left shows configured contacts, and a toolbar. Use the browser
to select the contact you want to view or edit in the viewer pane.
d The viewer pane on the right shows the details for the selected contact in the browser
pane.
d The palette pane displays the contacts. This pane is visible when you select a group or an
escalation team. You can drag-and-drop contacts from this pane to subscribe to a
notification rule.
See Notification Contacts (page 13) for a detailed description of the tasks and functionalities
available through these panes.

MyPI View

Select MyPI in the navigator panel to go to MyPI view:

d The browser pane on the left shows all the notification rules to which the current login
user is subscribed.
d The viewer pane on the right shows the history for the selected notification rules in the
browser pane.
See View Notification Events in MyPI (page 89) for a detailed description of the tasks and
functionalities available through these panes.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 11

PI System Explorer Overview

Check in, Apply, or Undo Changes

Check In All Changes

To save your changes permanently to the AF server:

d While in Contacts view or Notifications view, click File > Check In.
or

d On the top toolbar, click Check In .

Apply All Changes

To save your changes temporarily to the AF server, click Apply Changes .

When you apply changes, you are the only user who may see the changes, regardless of
where you log on. You may decide later if you want to save the changes permanently, as
explained in Check In All Changes (page 12), or discard them, as explained in Undo All
Changes (page 12).

Undo All Changes

If you decide to discard your changes that have been temporarily saved, you can:
d Select File > Undo Check In.
or

d Click the Undo Check In button.

Refresh the Current Database

You can refresh all the objects in PI System Explorer by clicking Refresh . If you have
made any unsaved changes in PI Notifications, you will receive a message prompting you to
apply changes, discard your changes, or cancel the refresh.

12
Chapter 3

Notification Contacts
A notification contact is an individual entity or group of entities that can receive notification
messages. PI Notifications provides four types of notification contact:
d An individual contact (page 14) is a collection of one or more delivery endpoints that
can be used to send notification messages to an individual user or to an application. A
delivery endpoint is a single entity to which a notification is sent, such as an individual
email address.
d A group contact (page 17) is an unordered collection of delivery endpoints or groups.
Notification messages are sent to all members of the group simultaneously.
d An escalation team (page 19) is an ordered collection of delivery endpoints or groups.
Notification messages are sent sequentially to the members of the escalation team until
the notification is acknowledged.
d A standalone delivery endpoint (page 20) is one that is not associated with an
individual, group, or escalation team.
Folders for individual contacts, groups, escalation teams, and standalone delivery endpoints
appear in the browser pane in Contacts view:

In this example, Piano Admin is the name of the user who is currently logged on to the
computer.
When you install PI Notifications, the program imports information from Active Directory
(AD) and automatically creates individual contacts in the Contacts folder. If an AD account
does not exist for a user, you can create a custom contact. See Active Directory (AD) and
Custom Contacts (page 15) for details.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 13

Notification Contacts

Individual Contact
An individual contact is a collection of one or more delivery endpoints to which
notifications can be delivered. For example, the following contact has two delivery endpoints:
one for email, and one for instant messages delivered by Microsoft Office Communication
Service (OCS):

You can create alternative delivery endpoints, called custom delivery endpoints, for an
individual contact. For example, if you want some notifications to be sent to your default
email address and others to be sent to your pager, you can add a custom email delivery
endpoint for the pager:

For more information on individual contacts, see Active Directory (AD) and Custom Contacts
(page 15).
For more information on delivery endpoints, see Delivery Endpoint (page 22).
See the following for step-by-step instructions:
d Search for Individual Contacts (page 16)
d Add a Custom Delivery Endpoint to a Contact (page 14)

Add a Custom Delivery Endpoint to a Contact

To add a custom delivery endpoint to a contact:

1. In the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Contacts folder.
2. Search (page 16) for the contact.
3. Right-click the contact and select New Delivery Endpoint. The options for the delivery
endpoint appear:

14
 Individual Contact

4. Click the Delivery channel list box and select a delivery channel. The options for that
delivery channel appear.
5. Do one of the following:
For the Email delivery channel, click the To Email box and enter the email address.
For the OCS delivery channel, click the SIP Address box and enter the SIP address.
For the Web Service delivery channel, click the Web Service Address box and enter
the address.
6. (Optional) Configure additional options for the delivery channel you selected:
Email: See Email Delivery Endpoint (page 22)
Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS): See Configure an OCS Delivery
Endpoint. (page 23)
Web service: See Web Service Delivery Endpoint (page 24).
7. (Optional) Configure Contact Options (page 22).

8. Click Check In to save the changes.

Active Directory (AD) and Custom Contacts

There are two types of individual contacts, Active Directory (AD) contacts and custom
contacts.
d AD contacts are automatically created from AD user accounts when PI Notifications is
installed.
d Custom contacts are individual contacts that you create in PI System Explorer for users
who do not have an AD account.
By default, each AD contact in PI Notifications has one delivery endpoint for the email
delivery channel. If your system administrator has configured the OCS delivery channel, then
an OCS delivery endpoint is also available.
To create a custom contact, see Create a Custom (Non-AD) Contact (page 15) for step-by-
step instructions.

Create a Custom (Non-AD) Contact

To create a custom contact:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Contacts in the Navigator pane.
2. To avoid creating duplicates, search for an existing contact (page 16).
3. Click File > New > New Contact.
4. In the viewer pane, specify a name and an email address. The other information is
optional.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 15

Notification Contacts

The new contact appears in the browser pane with an email delivery endpoint. If your
system administrator has configured the OCS delivery channel, then an OCS delivery
endpoint also appears.
5. (Optional) Add custom delivery endpoints to the contact. See Add a Custom Delivery
Endpoint to a Contact (page 14).

6. Click Check In to save the changes.

Search for Individual Contacts

To search for a contact:

1. On the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Search button on the toolbar.
Alternatively, open the Contacts folder and click the New Search node.
2. Specify the parameters for your search in the Search Contacts dialog box.

a. Select a box to search from the list.

b. Enter a wildcard character or characters to indicate what you are searching for.
c. Click OK.
A list of contacts that matches your search parameters displays in the Contacts browser.

16
 Group Contact

If you do not find a contact, you might need to create a custom (non-AD) contact (page 15).

Group Contact
A notification group contact is an unordered collection of delivery endpoints, groups, or
escalation teams. Notification messages are sent to all members of the group simultaneously.
The contacts in the group can be individual delivery endpoints, other groups, or escalation
teams. The following figure shows a group contact with two delivery endpoints:

Required acknowledgments: Specifies the number of group members who must

acknowledge notifications sent to the group. When set to Auto (recommended), notifications
sent to the group are automatically acknowledged. See Acknowledgments and Comments
(page 93) for more information on acknowledgment.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 17

Notification Contacts

Note: Group contacts that you create in PI System Explorer are not the same as Active
Directory (AD) group contacts. PI Notifications treats AD groups like individual
contacts, with a single set of delivery endpoints for the group. In the following
example, Operations is an AD group:

You can view the members of an AD group, but you cannot add or delete group
members in PI Notifications. See View the Members of an Active Directory Group
(page 18).

See Create a Group Contact (page 18) for step-by-step instructions.

Create a Group Contact

To create a group contact:

1. In the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Groups folder.
2. Click File > New > New Group.
3. Enter a name for the group.
4. To add contacts to the group, drag contacts from the Contacts pane onto the Contacts
box.
Alternatively, click to display the Add Contacts dialog box, select the contacts to
include, and then click OK.

Note: To delete a contact from the Contacts box, click the contact and then click
.

5. (Optional) Change the Required acknowledgments setting from Auto to an integer. See
Acknowledge and Comment (page 93) for more information on acknowledgment.

6. Click to save the group.

View the Members of an Active Directory Group

PI Notifications treats all members of an Active Directory (AD) group as one individual
contact. You can view the members of an AD group, but you cannot change group
membership. To view members of an AD group, follow these steps:
1. In the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Contacts folder.
2. If necessary, search (page 16) for the AD group.

18
 Escalation Team

3. On the browser pane, click the contact to select it.

The AD group members appear on the viewer pane. For example:

Escalation Team
An escalation team is an ordered collection of delivery endpoints, groups, or escalation
teams. The notification message is sent immediately to the first contact on the list. If the
notification is not acknowledged within a specified time, then notification messages are sent
sequentially to the remaining members of the escalation team until the notification is
acknowledged. The following figure shows an example of an escalation team:

Escalation period: If a notification instance is not acknowledged, the Escalation period

defines the amount of time to elapse before a notification is sent to the next contact on the
list.
If not acknowledged: Defines the action to be taken if the notification has been sent to all
members of the escalation team and has not been acknowledged:
d End escalation: Stops the escalation process.
d Repeat N times: Repeats the escalation process for a specified number of times until the
notification closes or is acknowledged.
d Repeat while active: Repeats the escalation process indefinitely until the notification
closes or is acknowledged.

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Notification Contacts

For information on troubleshooting escalation teams, see the following topic: My escalation
team does not escalate (page 103).
See Create an Escalation Team (page 20) for step-by-step instructions.

Create an Escalation Team

To create an escalation team:

1. In the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Escalation Team folder.
2. Click File > New > New Escalation Team, and enter a name for the escalation.
3. To add contacts to the escalation team, drag contacts from the Contacts pane onto the
Contacts box.
Alternatively, click to display the Add Contacts dialog box, select the contacts to
include, and then click OK.

Note: To delete a contact from the Contacts box, click the contact and then click
.

4. Use the Up arrow and Down arrow to configure the order for the escalation
chain.
5. Specify the action to be taken if the notification is not acknowledged after being sent to
all contacts on the escalation:
To stop the escalation process, select End escalation.
To repeat the escalation process for a specified number of times until the notification
closes or is acknowledged, select Repeat N times.
To repeat the escalation process indefinitely until the notification closes or is
acknowledged, select Repeat while active.
6. Enter the Escalation period.

7. Click to save the escalation team.

Standalone Delivery Endpoint

A standalone delivery endpoint is one that is not associated with a contact. Use a standalone
delivery endpoint when you want the notification to perform a workflow rather than send a
message. For example, you might have a Web service that calls an application that generates
a report and writes it to your computer desktop when the process reaches a specified
condition.
See Create a Standalone Delivery Endpoint (page 21) for step-by-step instructions.

20
 Change Icons for Notification Contacts

Create a Standalone Delivery Endpoint

To create a standalone delivery endpoint:

1. In the browser pane in Contacts view, click the Delivery Endpoints folder.
2. Click File > New > New Delivery Endpoint. A new delivery endpoint appears in the
viewer pane.
3. Enter a name for the delivery endpoint.
4. Click the Delivery channel list box and select a delivery channel. The options for the
delivery channel appear on the viewer pane.
5. Configure the appropriate options for the delivery channel you selected:
Email: See Options for the Email Delivery Endpoint (page 22)
Microsoft Office Communication Server (OCS): See Options for the OCS Delivery
Endpoint (page 23)
Web service: See Options for the Web Service Delivery Endpoint (page 24)

6. Click Check In to save the delivery endpoint.

Change Icons for Notification Contacts

When a contact is checked out to you, a red check mark appears beside the contact icon:
When a contact is checked out to someone else, a gray check mark appears next the contact
icon:
When a contact is not checked out, there is no check mark next to the contact icon:

Security for Notification Contacts

PI Notifications uses Microsoft Windows security to control access to groups, escalation
teams, and custom (non-AD) contacts. The following table describes security settings for
these contacts:
Permission Description
Read Can view information on contacts.
Write Can modify contacts.
Delete Can delete contacts.
Admin Can assign privileges to contacts.

For step-by-step procedures for changing security settings, see the PI System Notifications
help or the PI Notifications User Guide.

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Notification Contacts

Delivery Endpoint Reference

A delivery endpoint is a single entity to which a notification is delivered, such as an
individual email address or Web service call. Each delivery endpoint is associated with a
delivery channel, the conduit through which notification messages are sent. For details on
options for each delivery channel, see the following:
d Options for the Email Delivery Channel (page 22)
d Options for OCS Delivery Endpoints (page 23)
d Options for Web Service Delivery Endpoints (page 24)
In addition, all delivery channels have Contact Options (page 22).

Note: PI Notifications provides delivery channels for email, Office Communications

Server (OCS), and Web service. Your system administrator can create additional
custom delivery channels.

Contact Options

The following contact options are available for all delivery endpoints:
d Notify on close: When selected, the contact receives a notification when the condition
that triggered notification is no longer true.
d Retry interval: If an attempt to send the notification fails, the amount of time before
resending the notification.
d Maximum Retries: Maximum number of times to attempt sending the notification.

Options for the Email Delivery Channel

An email delivery endpoint sends email when a notification is triggered. The following table
shows options for email delivery endpoints that apply to both formatted and nonformatted
content:
Option Description

To Email Email address to which the notification is sent.

This option cannot be changed in the default email delivery endpoint that
was derived from the Active Directory (AD) contact.
From Email Email address from which the notification is sent.
This option is available solely if your administrator has configured the email
delivery channel with the setting Allow contacts to set sender email. For
more information, see the information on system-wide parameters in the PI
System Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
Use HTML Specifies if the delivery endpoint receives messages in HTML format.
Formatting HTML formatting makes messages easier to read and allows messages to
contain hyperlinks.

The following options apply solely to notifications with nonformatted content:

22
 Delivery Endpoint Reference

Option Description
Importance Level of importance for the message when displayed in Microsoft Outlook.
Include Include a link to the acknowledgment Web page. The URL to this Web
Acknowledgment page is very long, so a subscriber might find it distracting.
Link When set to Only with Standard Content, the acknowledgment link is
included only if standard content is included in the subscription. When set
to Yes, the acknowledgment link is always included.

Note: Formatted content is available solely with PI Notifications 2010 R2 and later.
Content created in earlier versions of PI Notifications is nonformatted. For more
information, see Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

Options for the OCS Delivery Channel

An OCS delivery endpoint sends an instant message when a notification is triggered. The
following table shows options for OCS delivery endpoints that apply to both formatted and
nonformatted content:
Option Description
SIP Address The unique address to which the PI Notifications OCS Relay sends
messages.
If this delivery endpoint is created automatically and linked to a contact that
comes from Active Directory, the SIP Address is pre-populated and will be
Read-Only.
If an Active Directory account does not exist for a contact, you need to create
a custom contact and add an OCS delivery endpoint.
Maximum Specifies the maximum number of conversations that can be started with this
Conversations delivery endpoint. The PI Notifications OCS Relay Service starts a new
conversation for each notification, up to the maximum value set here. When
the limit is exceeded, all new notifications are sent to the same instant
message (IM) window.
Instant Message The OCS Delivery Channel consumes presence information from OCS to
and Presence decide whether to send an instant message.
The selected presences specify the levels of presence for which this delivery
endpoint should receive message.
When a notification is triggered, a message is sent solely if the presence of
the subscriber is online or one of the selected presences. The following figure
shows the default settings:

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Notification Contacts

Option Description
HTML Formatting Specifies if the delivery endpoint receives messages in HTML format. HTML
formatting makes messages easier to read and allows messages to contain
hyperlinks.
Some client applications do not support HTML. This option is disabled when
HTML formatting is disabled globally. For details, see the PI System
Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.

The following options apply solely to notifications with nonformatted content:

Option Description

Priority Specifies the priority for any conversation that is sent to this delivery endpoint
There are four possible priorities: Non-Urgent, Normal, Urgent, Emergency.
Microsoft Communicator notes that a conversation was marked with high
importance if its priority is Urgent.
Include Specifies whether the instant message contains a link to the Acknowledgment
acknowledgment Web page. The URL to this Web page is very long, so a subscriber may find it
link distracting, particularly if HTML formatting is disabled.
When set to Yes, the acknowledgment link is included only if standard content is
included in the subscription.

Note: Formatted content is available solely with PI Notifications 2010 R2 and later.
Content created in earlier versions of PI Notifications is nonformatted. For more
information, see Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

Options for the Web Service Delivery Channel

A Web service delivery endpoint calls a Web service when a notification is triggered. The
following table shows options for Web service delivery endpoints:
Option Description
Web Service Enter the URL of your Web service. You can validate the connection
Address using the Get Web Services button.
Web Service The name of the Web service to be used for notification.
Default Web Method Default Web method to be used for the notification. This menu
displays all of the parameters defined in the Web service.

24
Chapter 4

Notification Rules
Use notification rules to monitor the condition of equipment and processes, and to send
alerts on those conditions to specified users. A notification rule consists of the following:
d The conditions of the device or process that cause an alert, called a trigger. See Trigger
(page 26).
d The subscribers to the notification, that is, the users who will be notified. See
Subscriptions (page 63).
d The message to be sent: email, instant message, or other delivery channel. See Message
(page 45).
To create a notification rule in PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator pane,
click File > New > Notification on the top menu, and then specify the trigger, message, and
subscriptions.
See the following for more information on notification rules:
d For information on using templates to create many similar rules for similar equipment,
see Notification Templates (page 73).
d For permissions required to create, edit, and subscribe users to notification rules, see
Security for Notification Rules and Templates (page 77).
d For information on starting notification rules, stopping notification rules and other tasks,
see Notification Management (page 77).
d For information on nonformatted notifications, which were available prior to PI
Notifications 2010 R2, see Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

Prerequisite Knowledge
The information in this chapter assumes that you have previously created elements in PI
Asset Framework (PI AF) that represent the physical and logical entities in your process. For
example, the following figure shows pumps and a tank that belong to a company's Chemicals
division in San Leandro:

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Notification Rules

To monitor a device, you create a notification rule for the AF element that represents that
device, called the target element. The target element contains attributes that represent the
conditions being monitored, such as temperature and pressure. The notification rule uses
information from these attributes to determine when to notify users (the subscribers to the
notification rule). For more information on elements and attributes, see the PI AF User's
Guide.

Trigger
Use the Trigger tab to specify when notification will be sent:
d Target: The device or process to be monitored, represented as an AF element. For more
on elements, see the AF User's Guide.
d Conditions: The rules that determine when you are notified. To create a condition, click
New Condition on the Conditions toolbar and make a selection.
d Time Rule: The intervals when the triggering conditions are checked. The intervals can
be either Natural, in which conditions are checked whenever new data from PI points is
received for any attribute being monitored; or Periodic, in which conditions are checked
on a clock schedule. See Time Rule (page 41) for details.
d Options: Use these settings to send reminders of existing alerts and to avoid sending
excessive alerts. See Options (page 42) for details.
In the following example, a device called Monitored Tags contains time-series data from the
PI System called TAG:CDT158.Value. You want to be notified when the value is greater than
200. The following figure shows the trigger:

26
 Trigger

In this example, the Conditions pane contains a Comparison condition, which checks
whether the value of TAG:CDT158.Value is greater than 200. The Natural time rule ensures
that this condition is checked every time a new event is received from the device.
For a more complex example, see Example: Build a Notification Rule with Multiple
Conditions (page 27).
For step-by-step instructions, see Configure a Trigger (page 28).

Example: Build a Notification Rule with Multiple Conditions

In this example, you have a device called Monitored Tank for which you are monitoring
temperature, pressure, and the liquid level. You want to be notified when any of the following
conditions are met:
d The level of liquid in a tank is greater than 90% and the temperature is less than 500
degrees for more than 10 minutes.
d The level of liquid in a tank is lower than 20% or the temperature is less than 10 degrees
for more than one minute.
d The average temperature for the past hour is greater than or equal to 300 degrees. You
want a higher state of alert for this condition than for the others. If multiple conditions are
found true, you want to give priority to this condition.
To configure the trigger, create the following conditions:
d An And Condition with a Time True setting of 10 minutes and an alert state (Result
when True) of High.

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Notification Rules

d An Or Condition with a Time True setting of one minute and an alert state of Low.
d A Performance Equation that measures the average temperature for the past hour. To
ensure a higher state of alert, give the condition an alert state of HiHi and set the Priority
of the condition to Above Normal.
The following figure shows the completed trigger:

See the following for basic information on the conditions in this example:
d And Condition (page 34)
d Or Condition (page 35)
d Performance Equation Condition (page 32)
For information on the more advanced settings in these conditions, see the following:
d Time True settings: See Time True (page 38).
d High, HiHi, and Lo Alert states: See Alert states and State Groups (page 39)
d Priority: See Priority and Condition Precedence (page 40).

Configure a Trigger

To configure a trigger for a notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications on the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it. If necessary, click File > New > Notification on the
top menu to create a new notification rule.
2. Click the Trigger tab.
3. Click the Select Target Element button. On the dialog box, click the element that
represents the device or process to be monitored, and click OK.
4. To create a condition, click the New Condition button on the toolbar under Conditions
and select one of the following from the menu:
Comparison: Checks input values from the device or process to a target value that
you specify. See Comparison Condition (page 29).
Performance Equation: Contains an expression that triggers a notification when the
expression is true. See Performance Equation Condition (page 32).
And Condition: Contains one or more comparison or Performance Equation
conditions, all of which must be true to trigger a notification. See And Condition
(page 34).

28
 Trigger

Or Condition: Contains one or more comparison or Performance Equation

conditions, any of which must be true to trigger a notification. See OR Condition
(page 35).
SQC Condition: Triggers a notification based on the results of Western Electric
Pattern Tests. See SQC Condition (page 36).
5. (Optional) Repeat step 4 to add more conditions.
6. (Optional) By default, triggering conditions are checked whenever new data from PI
points is received from the device or process (Natural time rule). To check conditions on
a schedule, change the Time Rule setting to Periodic:
a. Click Periodic on the Time Rule list.

b. Click . The Periodic Time Rule Configuration dialog box appears.

c. Enter the appropriate settings on the dialog box. For information on these settings,
see Periodic Time Rule (page 41).
7. (Optional) To prevent excessive notifications and to resend notifications when necessary,
change the trigger Options as needed. See Options (page 42) for details.

8. Click Check In to save the notification.

Comparison Condition

A comparison condition uses an operator to check input values against a target value that
you specify. To configure a comparison condition, use the Comparison dialog box:

d The Input must be an attribute of the target element of the notification.

d Three categories of Operator are available:
Comparison operators (page 30) compare the target value to the input value.
Step operators (page 30) compare the target value to the difference between the
current input value and the previous input value.

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Notification Rules

Rate operators (page 31) compare the target value to the difference between the
current and previous input values, divided by delta time, where delta time is the time
that elapsed between the collection of the two values.
d Compare To contains the target value, which can be either a Value or an Attribute.
d Deadband (page 31) specifies a buffer around the target value. Use Deadband to prevent
multiple alerts (that is, multiple notification instances) when the value of the input
fluctuates around the target.
For details on advanced options, see Advanced Condition Options (page 37).

Comparison Operators
Comparison operators check input values against the target value:
Operator Description
< Less than.
<= Less than or equal to.
= Equal to.
>= Greater than or equal to.
> Greater than.
<> Not equal to.
In Checks if the value is in the
string specified as target.
Not In Checks if the value is not in
the string specified as target.
Includes Checks if the value includes
the string specified as target.
Any Change Checks for any change in the
input value.
Is Good Checks if the value is good.
Is Bad Checks if the value is bad.

Step Operators
Step operators compare the target value to the difference between the current input value and
the previous input value. The following table shows details of the calculations:
Operator Description Calculation
Step Decrease Larger Determines if the input value is (previous value - current
Than decreasing and the change is value)
greater than the target value. > target value
Step Increase Larger Than Determines if the input value is (previous value - current
increasing and the change is value)
greater than the target value. < target value

30
 Trigger

Operator Description Calculation

Step Change Larger Than Determines if the change in ABS(previous value - current
the input value was greater value)
than the target value in either > target value
direction.
Step Change Less Than Determines if the change in ABS(previous value - current
the input value was less than value)
the target value in either < target value
direction.

Rate Operators
Rate operators compare the target value to the difference between the current and previous
input values, divided by delta time, where delta time is the time that elapsed between the
collection of the two values. The following table shows details of the calculations:
Operator Description Calculation
Rate Decrease Larger Determines if the input value is ((previous value - current
Than decreasing and the rate of value)/delta time)
change is greater than the > target value
target value.
Rate Increase Larger Than Determines if the input value is ((previous value - current
increasing and the rate of value)/delta time)
change is greater than the < target value
target value.
Rate Change Larger Than Determines if the rate of (ABS(previous value - current
change in the input value is value)/delta time)
greater than the target value in > target value
either direction.
Rate Change Less Than Determines if the rate of (ABS(previous value - current
change in the input value is value)/delta time)
less than the target value in < target value
either direction.

Deadband
Deadband specifies a buffer around the target value that assures that the notification does not
prematurely exit the alerting state. The following example shows how Deadband works:

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Notification Rules

Note: Deadband is available solely for the following comparison operators: >, >=, <. or
<=.

Performance Equation Condition

A Performance Equation condition contains an expression that triggers a notification when

the expression is true. The expression can include standard mathematical and logical
operators as well as a wide variety of built-in functions. To configure a Performance Equation
condition, use the Performance Equation dialog box:

32
 Trigger

In this example, the input name inside single quotes (Temperature) is an attribute of the target
element. To use an attribute that is not part of the target element, specify the full path to the
attribute, for example:
@@1]%*7IVZIV@1]%*(EXEFEWI@IPIQIRX`EXXVMFYXI
Alternatively, you can enter the path to a PI point. For example:
u@@1]4-7IVZIV@1]4-4SMRXv
For information on how to enter Performance Equations with correct syntax, see Tips for
Entering Performance Equations (page 33).

Note: The following Performance Equation functions are not supported in this release of
PI Notifications: MedianFilt, Impulse, Delay, Arma, and IsDST.

For more information on Performance Equations, see the PI Server Applications Guide.
For details on advanced options, see Advanced Condition Options (page 37).

Tips for Entering Performance Equations

Type the expression for the Performance Equation into the box. As you type the expression, a
ToolTip appears to guide you through the syntax:

If you make an error, the mistake will be underlined with a red line:

Use the Add button to enter functions, operators, and attributes:

Alternatively, type Ctrl-Space for a list of functions:

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Notification Rules

When no error shows and you are satisfied with the expression, click the Evaluate button to
see if the expression evaluates to a value you expect. For example:

Note: If you are creating a performance equation for a notification template, the Check
Syntax button appears in place of the Evaluate button.

And Condition

An And condition is a collection of comparison or Performance Equation conditions, all of

which must be true for a notification to be triggered. To configure an And condition, use the
And Conditions dialog box:

34
 Trigger

In this example, the notification is triggered when the Level is greater than 90% and the
temperature is greater than 500 degrees.
To create the conditions to be ANDed together, click the New Condition button on the
toolbar:

d When you select Comparison, a dialog box for entering comparison conditions appears.
See Comparison Condition (page 29).
d When you select Performance Equation, a dialog box for entering a Performance
Equation appears. See Performance Equation Condition (page 32).
For details on advanced options, see Advanced Condition Options (page 37).

Or Condition

An Or condition is a collection of comparison or Performance Equation conditions, any of

which must be true for a notification to be triggered. To configure an Or condition, use the
Or Conditions dialog box:

In this example, the notification is triggered when the Level is greater than 90% or the
temperature is greater than 500 degrees.
Add comparison and Performance Equation conditions exactly as you would for an And
condition (page 34).
For details on advanced options, see Advanced Condition Options (page 37).

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Notification Rules

SQC Condition

An SQC condition triggers a notification based on the results of Western Electric Pattern
Tests. To configure an SQC condition, use the SQC dialog box:

d Source is the attribute whose values the SQC analysis are used in the SQC condition.
d UCL is the attribute for the upper control limit. Specify an attribute.
d CL is the attribute for the center line.
d LCL is the attribute for the lower control limit.
d Select Clear on Control Limit Change to clear the notification state, clear the test
buffer, and start the calculation over from scratch if any control limits change.
The seven pattern tests shown are standard Western Electric Pattern Tests.
The pattern tests are listed below in the order of precedence. For example, if Outside Control,
One Side of Center Line, and Trend all fail, then Outside Control is the condition reported.
Outside Control x of y [<blank>, above, or Within y number of samples, x are
below] outside of control limits. Options: Specify
above or below to apply test only above
or below the center line.
Outside 2 Sigma x of y [<blank>, above, or Within y number of samples, x are
below] outside the Two Sigma limit. Options:
Specify above or below to report alarms
for this test only above or below the
center line.
Outside 1 Sigma x of y [<blank>, above, or Within y number of samples, x are
below] outside the One Sigma limit. Options:

36
 Trigger

Specify above or below to report alarms

for this test only above or below the
center line.
One Side of Center Line x of y [<blank>, above, or Within y number of samples, x are on
below] one side of the center line. Options:
Specify above or below to report alarms
for this test only above or below the
center line.
Stratification x of y Within y number of samples, x are within
the One Sigma limit.
Mixture x of y Within y number of samples, x are not
within the One Sigma limit.
Trend x x consecutive values trend either up or
down.

To configure the pattern tests, select the pattern tests to include in the SQC calculation by
selecting the check boxes next to the desired pattern tests. The X, Y, and Above or Below
selections will become available for editing.
Y is the sample size necessary and X is the number out of Y required to fail the pattern test.
The recommended numbers are shown by default.
Outside Control, Outside 2 Sigma, Outside 1 Sigma, and One Side of Center Line each
have three options for evaluating the patterns: Both, Above, or Below of the center line.

Note: Please refer to the chapter on PI Real-Time SQC in the PI Server Applications
Guide for more information on these pattern tests.

Advanced Condition Options

Comparison, Performance Equation, And, and Or conditions have Advanced options:

Use advanced options to:

d Prevent false alarms by specifying the length of time the condition needs to be true for
the notification to trigger. See Time True (page 38).
d Define multiple threshold values that differ in severity. See States and State Groups
(page 39).
d Define which condition has priority when several triggering conditions are true
simultaneously. See Priority and Condition Precedence (page 40).

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Notification Rules

Note: Advanced options are not needed for SQC conditions, because the concepts are
built into the SQC rules.

Time True
To prevent false alarms, configure Time True to specify the length of time the condition
must be true to trigger the notification rule. The following figure shows Time True and Time
True Options:

Use Time True Options to define how the notification Time Rule (page 41) affects the
meaning of the Time True value:
d Clock (the default) causes an alert to be sent as soon as the condition has been true for
the specified time, independently of the Time Rule setting. The value of Time True
represents the exact time that the condition must be true to trigger the notification rule:

d Natural causes an alert to be sent only after the condition is re-evaluated as specified by
the Time Rule setting. In this case, Time True represents the minimum time that the
condition must be true to trigger the notification rule:

38
 Trigger

The Natural option is useful when long intervals elapse between the collection of data points,
such as during manual data entry. Waiting for a new event before sending a notification helps
to confirm that the condition that triggered notification is not an outlier.

Alert States and State Groups

An alert state or state is a descriptive label for a condition in a notification. Use alert states
to identify conditions with the same input but different limit values. For example, to define
upper and lower temperature limits for a reactor, label the conditions with High and Low alert
states.
Use state groups to rank alert states by the severity of the condition. For example, you might
want to define two high-temperature limits for a reactor, where the higher temperature is a
more severe condition. The condition for the higher temperature has the HiHi alert state and
the condition for the lower temperature has the High alert state. When the two states are part
of a state group with HiHi above High, you see the following behavior:

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Notification Rules

The notification instance does not close until both conditions are below their limits. Without
state groups, PI Notifications sends an alert when the condition reverts from the HiHi to the
High state.
The following figure shows the options for states and state groups:

Your administrator typically configures the states and state groups that are used in
notifications at your site. Write access to the Configuration database is required to create and
edit state groups. See the PI System Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide for
more information.

Priority and Condition Precedence

If multiple conditions within a notification are true, only one trigger condition can be sent
with the notification instance. The following rules, in this order, determine the notification
condition that takes precedence:
1. The condition with the highest Priority setting.

40
 Trigger

2. If the state belongs to a state group, the condition with the highest state. For example, if
High and HiHi are in the same group and HiHi is higher than High, then HiHi takes
precedence.
3. The condition order.

Time Rule

The Time Rule specifies the intervals when the conditions of the notification rule are
checked. Two types of interval are available:
d Natural: Notification conditions are checked each time new time-series data is received
from the PI System for any attribute being monitored on the device. The Natural time rule
can only be used when at least one PI point is an input to the notification conditions.
d Periodic: Notification conditions are checked on a clock schedule.
The Natural time rule affects the meaning of the Time True Options setting. See Time True
Options and Natural Time Rule (page 41) for details.
For a description of the options for the Periodic time rule, see Periodic Time Rule (page 41).

Time True Options and Natural Time Rule

A Natural time rule evaluates notification conditions whenever any of the PI points in the
notification rule receives a new snapshot event. Consequently, the Natural time rule can only
be used if the notification conditions include data from at least one PI point.

The Natural time rule influences the meaning of the value specified by Time True (page 38)
as follows:
d For the Clock option of Time True, a notification is triggered as soon as a condition has
been true for the specified time, whether new time-series data has been received or not.
d For the Natural option of Time True, a notification is triggered only if new time-series
data that also meets the triggering condition is received within the specified time.

Periodic Time Rule

A Periodic time rule checks notification conditions based on clock scheduling.

The default schedule is daily at 12:00 AM on Monday through Friday. To change this, click
, select Daily, Monthly, or Periodic on the Periodic Time Rule Configuration dialog
box, and then specify schedule details. Use the Periodic interval to specify a Frequency
other than daily or monthly. For example:

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Notification Rules

Duration has no effect on notification scheduling.

Note: If the interval you specify is not an even multiple of 24 hours, the last interval of the
day is shortened as needed. The last interval of the day is also shortened during
shifts in Daylight Savings Time (DST) for periods that are not a multiple of the DST
shift, typically one hour.

Options

Use trigger Options to avoid excessive alerts and to send reminders of existing alerts. These
options appear at the bottom of the Trigger tab in Notifications view:

See the following for detailed information on each option:

d Notify only on change in status: When this check box is selected (the default), you are
notified only when the notification enters an alert state (page 39), when a higher alert
state is triggered, or optionally when the notification closes (that is, when the triggering
condition is no longer true).
When the check box is not selected, you are notified every time the notification rule is
checked as specified by the time rule and the notification is in an alert state.
d Resend Interval: Sends additional alerts as a reminder that the condition that triggered
the notification has not been resolved and that the notification has not been
acknowledged. See Example of Resend Interval (page 44) for details.
d Non-Repetition Interval: Prevents PI Notifications from sending similar alerts that are
associated with the same notification within a specified interval. See Examples of Non-
Repetition Interval (page 43) for details.

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 Trigger

For information on troubleshooting these options, see the following topics:

d I receive too many or too few notifications (page 102).
d I get multiple emails, but the alert state has not changed (page 103).

Examples of Non-Repetition Interval

Non-Repetition Interval: Prevents PI Notifications from sending similar alerts that are
associated with the same condition within a specified amount of time. For example:

The non-repetition interval does not prevent alerts for conditions with a different alert state
(page 39) or higher priority (page 40) from being sent because of a prior alert. For example, if
the value of a trigger point rapidly increases, the non-repetition interval does not prevent a
HiHi alert from being sent because of a recently sent High alert:

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If you specify both a resend interval and a non-repetition interval, the resend interval must be
longer.

Example of Resend Interval

Resend Interval: Sends additional alerts as a reminder that the problem that caused the
notification has not been resolved and that the notification has not been acknowledged. The
interval specifies how long to wait before resending. For example:

44
 Message

Message
Use the Message tab to perform the following tasks:
d Create variations in message content (called delivery formats) that you can send to
different users. See Create a Delivery Format (page 57) for step-by-step instructions.
d Customize the content of the message in a delivery format by adding alert-specific
content from the Content pane. See Add Alert-Specific Content (page 46) for detailed
instructions.
d Apply fonts and paragraph formats to text, create tables for data, and set the importance
of email and instant messages. See Customize Message Content with the Design Toolbar
(page 48).
d Add information to the Content pane to include in your message, such as the serial
number of the device, a link to a Web page, or an attached file. See Custom Content
(page 52).
d Delete, rename, and perform other operations on delivery formats. See Managing
Delivery Formats (page 57).
Notes:
d When the Design tab on the Delivery Formats pane is selected, properties from the
Content pane appear as placeholders. For example, the name of the notification displays
as ?2SXMJMGEXMSR2EQIA. To see how the text will appear to recipients of the
message, click the HTML Preview or Plain Text Preview tab.
d For users to receive notifications, you must subscribe those users to the notification rule.
See Subscriptions (page 63) for details.

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d The Global Default Email and Global Default Instant Message delivery formats
cannot be changed from the Message tab. Your system administrator can change these
formats if needed; see the PI System Notifications help or PI Notifications User Guide for
details.
d The Content pane contains a wide variety of alert-specific content (properties) that you
can include in a message. For a complete list of available properties, see Content
Reference (page 59).
d The Message tab appears solely when you create or edit formatted notifications.
Formatted notifications were not available prior to PI Notifications 2010 R2. When
working with nonformatted notifications, the Content tab appears instead of the
Message tab. See Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85) for details.
For examples of delivery formats, see the following:
d Example 1: Send a Customized Email Message to Managers (page 49)
d Example 2: Notify Users When the Alert Condition is no Longer True (page 49)
d Example 3: Enable Operators to Acknowledge Notification (page 50)
d Example 4: Send the Maintenance Manual to Operators (page 51)

Add Alert-Specific Content

The Content pane contains a wide variety of alert-specific content (properties) that you can
include in a message. To add one of these properties to a message, click the location in the
Subject or Body box where you want the property to appear, and then double-click the
property on the Content pane. For example, to include the name of the target element in the
Subject line, click the Subject box, open the Target node under Standard Content, and
then double-click the Name property:

After you add the property, you see a placeholder for the property in the subject line:

46
 Message

Alternatively, you can click the property to select it and then drag it to the Subject or Body
box on the message.
The following table shows a selection of useful content for notification messages:
Content Location on Content Pane
Condition that caused the alert. Triggering Condition > Triggering Condition in the
Trigger Input section
Hyperlink that message recipients can use Acknowledge With Comments > Hyperlink in the
to acknowledge the notification and add Standard Content section
comments
Hyperlink to an Instant PI WebParts trend. Instant PI WebParts Trend > Hyperlink in the Link
This can be useful for a quick root-cause section.
analysis.
Notification that the triggering condition is no Triggering Condition > Message for Closed
longer true (notification closed) Notification in the Trigger Input section.
Time when the notification rule was triggered Notification > Trigger Time in the Standard
Content section
Time when the first notification message was Notification > Start Time in the Standard Content
sent section
Time when the notification closed Notification > End Time in the Standard Content
section
Alert state of the notification. See Alert States Notification > State in the Standard Content section
and State Groups (page 39)
Values of inputs being monitored by the Input-name > Value in the Trigger Input section,
notification rule, such as temperature or where Input-name is the name of the input
pressure readings.
Reference information on the target element, Target in Standard Content;
AF Database, or PI System Database in Standard Content; or
System in Standard Content,
respectively.

The following table shows common types of custom content. You must add this information
to the Content pane to include it in a message:
Content Location on Content Pane
Hyperlink to a PI WebParts page, RtReports Link-display-name > Hyperlink in the Link section,
report, or other Web page. where Link-display-name is the name that appears in
the message.
Hyperlink to a file UNC-name > Hyperlink in the File section, where
UNC-name is a Universal File Convention (UNC) file
path of the form
@@'SQTYXIV2EQI@7LEVIH*SPHIV@*MPI.
File attachment (not a hyperlink, but the file File-name > File in the File section, where File-name
itself). is the name of the file.

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Content Location on Content Pane

Device serial number, manufacturer, or other Attribute-name > Value in the Attributes section,
reference data that is not associated with the where Attribute-name is the name of the attribute
triggering conditions.

See Custom Content (page 52) for step-by-step procedures for adding custom content.
For a complete list of available alert-specific content, see Content Reference (page 59).

Customize Message Content With the Design Toolbar

The Design tab under Delivery Formats contains tools you can use to edit and format text
and set the importance of email or instant messages. The following figure shows the toolbar
that appears when you select an email delivery format:

The following are some tips for using the Design toolbar:
d To create a table, click the location in the message Body where you want the table to
appear, and then click Insert Table . To add columns to the table, click Insert
Column ; to add rows, click Insert Row .
d To add information to a table cell, click the cell, and then add information exactly as you
would for non-tabular text.

d To set the importance of an email message, click or .

d To set the importance of an instant message, click the list box for importance. For
example:

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 Message

Example 1: Send a Customized Message to Managers

In this example, you do not want to send the content in the Global Default Email delivery
format to managers, so you create a new delivery format called Managers and add only the
content you want:

Notes:
d HIJEYPX" in the third column of the table under Delivery Formats indicates that
Managers is the default delivery format for email messages. Consequently, everyone
who receives notification by email receives the message in Managers, unless you
customize their subscriptions to use a different delivery format. See Subscriptions (page
63) for details.
d ?8EVKIX2EQIA is a placeholder for the alert-specific content that identifies the target
element of the notification. This content is located at Target > Name in the Standard
Content section of the Content pane.
d ?8VMKKIVMRK'SRHMXMSRA is a placeholder for the alert-specific content that
identifies the condition that triggered notification. This content is located at Trigger
Input > Triggering Condition in the Trigger Input section of the Content pane.

Example 2: Notify Users When the Alert Condition is no Longer True

PI Notifications a separate message when the notification closes (that is, when the triggering
condition is no longer true). To distinguish this message from the messages that are sent
while the notification is open, add the text Notification is closed to the Subject. For example:

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Notes:
d ?1IWWEKIJSV'PSWIH2SXMJMGEXMSRA in the Subject box is a placeholder for
the text Notification is closed. This content is in Triggering Condition > Message for
Closed Notification in the Trigger Input section of the Content pane.
d To ensure that subscribers to the notification receive the message on closing, the delivery
endpoints in subscriptions to the notification must have the Notify on close check box
selected. See Customize Delivery Settings for a Delivery Endpoint (page 73).
d The HTML Preview tab shows the notification email that is sent when the notification
opens. For example:

In this example, test is placeholder text for the triggering condition.

Example 3: Provide Operators with a Hyperlink to Acknowledge Notification

and Add Comments

You want to provide operators (but not managers) the ability to acknowledge receipt of the
notification by clicking a hyperlink in the message. For example:

50
 Message

Notes:
d The Operators delivery format was created by copying the Managers delivery format and
renaming it.
d ?%GORS[PIHKI;MXL'SQQIRX,]TIVPMROA is a placeholder for the
acknowledgment link. This content is located at Acknowledge With Comment >
Hyperlink in the Standard Content section of the Content pane.
d The HTML Preview tab shows the message as it will appear to notification recipients.

Example 4: Send the Maintenance Manual to Operators

You want to send operators the maintenance manual for the device, which is in a file named
Manual.pdf.

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Notes:
d Manual.pdf is custom content. To include it as an attachment in the message, you must
first add the file to the Content pane. See Add a File to the Content Pane (page 54) for
step-by-step instructions.
d To attach Manual.pdf to the message, double-click the File property of Manual.pdf in
the File section of the Content pane. The file appears in the Attachments section of the
message.
d To remove the attachment, click the X beside the file name.
d For managers and operators to receive notification messages, you must subscribe them to
the notification rule and specify the appropriate delivery formats. See Example: Send
Different Email to Managers and Operators (page 64).

Custom Content

Custom content is information that you want to include in the notification message that is
not present by default on the Content pane of the notification rule. To add custom content,
use the Add button on the Content toolbar:

The following types of custom content are available:

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 Message

d Files that you can attach to the message, such as the maintenance manual for the device.
For step-by-step instructions, see Add a File to the Content Pane (page 54).
d Attributes of the target element that are not inputs to the triggering conditions, such as
the serial number and manufacturer of a device. (Inputs to the triggering conditions, such
as temperature and pressure readings, appear in the Trigger Inputs section of the
Content pane.) For step-by-step instructions, see Add Reference Data Attributes to the
Content Pane (page 56).
d Links to files, Web pages, RtReports reports, or PI WebParts pages. For step-by-step
instructions, see the following:
Add a File Link to the Content Pane (page 55)
Add a Web Link to the Content Pane (page 54)
Add an RtReports Link to the Content Pane (page 56)
Add a PI WebParts Link to the Content Pane (page 53).

Add a PI WebParts Link to the Content Pane

To add a PI WebParts link to the Content pane:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click Add > Web Link > PI WebParts. The PI
WebParts Link dialog box appears:

2. Click the Display Name box and enter a name for the link.
3. Click the Link Address box and enter the address for the PI WebParts link.
4. Under Included Content, select the check boxes for the content you want to include.
5. Click OK.
The PI WebParts link appears in the Content pane.

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6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Add a File to the Content Pane

To add a file to the Content pane so that you can include it in a notification message, follow
these steps:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click Add > File.
2. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the file you want to add, and then click OK.
The file appears in the File section of the Content pane.

3. Click Check In to save the notification.

Add a Web Link to the Content Pane

To add a Web link to the Content pane:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click Add > Web Link > Other.
The Add Link Content dialog box appears:

2. Click the Link Address box and enter the URL for the Web address.
3. Click the Display Name box and enter a name for the link that will display in the
message.

4. To add parameter and value pairs (Parameter=Value) to your URL, click Add . The
Add Parameter and Value dialog box appears:

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 Message

a. Enter a Parameter Name in the Name box.

b. Enter a value or select a value from the list of Standard Content values in the Value
list.
c. Click OK. The parameter and value pair appear in the Add Link Content dialog
box.
5. Click OK to close the dialog box.
The Web link appears in the Content pane.

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Add a File Link to the Content Pane

To add a file link to the Content pane:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click Add > File Link. The Add file to be
uploaded to the server dialog box appears.
2. Navigate to and select the file that to be included as a link in the notification message.
The file appears in the File section of the Content pane.

Note: The file link cannot be a local file path. It must be a Universal File Convention
(UNC) file path of the form @@'SQTYXIV2EQI@7LEVIH*SPHIV@*MPI.

3. Click Check In to save the notification.

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Add Reference Data Attributes to the Content Pane

Reference data consists of attributes of a device or process that are not associated with the
triggering conditions, such as the manufacturer and serial number of a device. To add an
attribute to the Content pane:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click the Add > Attribute. The Choose an
attribute dialog box appears:

2. Navigate to the element that contains the attribute you want, click the attribute, and then
click OK.
The attribute appears in the Attributes section of the Content pane.

3. Click Check In to save the notification.

Add an RtReports Link to the Content Pane

To add an RtReports link to the Content pane:
1. On the toolbar for the Content pane, click Add > Web Link > RtReports. The
RtReports dialog box appears:

2. Click the Display Name box and enter a name for the link to the RtReports.

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 Message

3. Click the RtReports Server box and enter the name of the server where the RtReports
are stored.
4. To log on to the RtReports Server as a different user, click the Connect As button. A list
of RtReport templates appears.
5. Select an RtReports template from the list of RtReport Templates.
6. Click OK.
The RtReports link appears in the Link section of the Content pane.

7. Click Check In to save the notification.

Create a Delivery Format

Your administrator provides global default delivery formats for each delivery channel
installed at your site. These global formats cannot be changed. To create additional delivery
formats that you can edit, follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Message tab on the viewer pane.
3. Do one of the following:

To create a blank format, click under Delivery Formats.

A new format appears in the table named New Delivery Format.

To create a copy of an existing format, select the format to copy, and then click
under Delivery Formats.
A new format appears in the table named Format-name - Copy, where Format-name
is the delivery format you copied.
4. Create or edit message content as described in Message (page 45).
5. (Optional) Rename (page 58) the format you created in step 3.
6. (Optional) Change the delivery channel (page 59) of the format you created in step 3.

7. Click Check In to save the notification.

Managing Delivery Formats

This section contains information on common tasks for managing the delivery formats of a
notification rule:
d The default delivery format of a notification specifies the default message for all
subscriptions. See Set the Default Delivery Format (page 58).
d You can change the delivery channel of a format.

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For example, to provide identical information to both email and OCS subscribers, create
a delivery format for email, copy it, and change the delivery channel of the copy to OCS.
See Change the Delivery Channel of a Format (page 59).
d To delete unwanted delivery formats, see Delete a Delivery Formats (page 58).
d To rename a delivery format, see Rename a Delivery Format (page 58).

Note: PI Notifications provides a global delivery format for each delivery channel.
These formats cannot be changed, but can be copied to create new formats. For
more information on global defaults, see the PI System Notifications help or the PI
Notifications User Guide.

Set the Default Delivery Format for a Notification

To set the default delivery format for a notification rule:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Message tab on the viewer pane.
3. In the table under Delivery Formats, right-click the row that contains the delivery
format, and select Set as default.
The text HIJEYPX" appears in the selected row.

4. Click Check In to save the notification.

Delete a Delivery Format

To delete a delivery format from a notification rule:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Message tab on the viewer pane.

3. On the Delivery Formats pane, click the delivery format, and then click .
Alternatively, right-click the delivery format and select Remove format.

4. Click Check In to save the notification.

Rename a Delivery Format

To rename a delivery format:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Message tab on the viewer pane.

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 Message

3. Under Delivery Formats, right-click the delivery format, and select Rename.
Alternatively, click the delivery format and press the F2 function key.
The name appears highlighted.
4. Type the new name.

5. Click Check In to save the notification.

Change the Delivery Channel of a Format

To change the delivery channel of a delivery format:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Message tab on the viewer pane.
3. Under Delivery Formats, click the delivery format to select it.
4. Double-click the cell in the Delivery Channel column. A list box appears:

5. Click a delivery channel on the list.

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Content Reference

The Content pane on the Message tab of a notification rule shows alert-specific content that
can be sent with the notification message. The Content pane contains the following sections:
d Standard Content: General information about the alert. See Standard Content. (page 60)
d Trigger Input: The condition that caused notification to be sent (Triggering
Condition), and a list of inputs from the device that are inputs to the notification
conditions. See Properties of Trigger Input (page 63).
d Link: By default, contains a link to an Instant PI WebParts trend, which can be useful for
a root-cause analysis. You can add other links to this section. See Link Properties (page
62).

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d Attributes: Reference data on the target element that is not associated with the triggering
conditions, such as the serial number of a device. See Properties of Attributes (page 63).
d File: Files that you can attach to the message. See File Properties (page 62).

Note: The Attributes and File sections of the Content pane are not present by default.
See Custom Content (page 52) for details.

Standard Content
The Standard Content section of the Content pane includes the following general
information about the alert:
d Notification: Information about the notification instance. See Properties of the
Notification Instance (page 60) for details.
d Target: Information about the target element of the notification rule. See Properties of
the Target Element (page 61) for details.
d Notification Template: Information about the notification template. This information
appears only if the notification rule has a template.
d Target Template: Information about the element template that is the target of the
notification template. This information appears only if the notification rule has a
template.
d Database: Information about the AF database that contains the notification rule. See
Database Properties (page 62) for details.
d System: Information about the PI System on which PI Notifications runs. See System
Properties (page 62) for details.
d Acknowledge and Acknowledge with Comment: Information about acknowledgment
links. See Properties of Acknowledgment Links (page 62) for details.

Properties of the Notification Instance

The following table shows the properties of the Notification item in the Standard Content
section of the Content pane:
Property Description
Name Name of the notification rule.
State The alert state for the notification instance. See Alert States and
State Groups (page 39).
Priority The priority of the triggering condition for the notification instance.
See Priority and Condition Precedence (page 40).
Trigger Time The time when the notification rule was triggered.
Start Time The time when the notification rule first entered the alert state;
that is, the beginning of the notification instance.
End Time The time when the notification rule exited the alert state; that is,
the end of the notification instance.

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 Message

Property Description
Escalation Level If an escalation team is subscribed to the notification, the number
of people who have been notified.
Description Description of the notification rule.
Path Location of the notification rule in the hierarchy of elements.
Notification Instance ID Unique internal ID for the notification instance. Useful for
troubleshooting.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the notification rule.

Properties of the Target Element

The following table shows the properties of the Target Element item in the Standard
Content section of the Content pane:
Property Description
Name Name of the target element.
Description Description of the target element.
Path Location of the target element in the element hierarchy.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the target element. Useful for
troubleshooting.

Properties of the Notification Template

The following table shows the properties of the Notification Template item in the Standard
Content section of the Content pane:
Property Description
Name Name of the notification template.
Description Description of the notification template.
Path Location of the notification template in the hierarchy of element
templates.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the notification template.

Properties of the Target Template

The following table shows the properties of the Target Element item in the Standard
Content section of the Content pane.
Property Description
Name Name of the target element template.
Description Description of the target element template.
Path Location of the target element template in the hierarchy of
element templates.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the target element template. Useful for
troubleshooting.

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Database Properties
The following table shows the properties of the Database item in the Standard Content
section of the Content pane:
Information Description
Name Name of the AF database where notification rules are stored.
Description Description of the AF database.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the AF database. Useful for
troubleshooting.

System Properties
The following table shows the properties of the System item in the Standard Content
section of the Content pane:
Property Description
Name Name of the PI System where notification rules are stored.
Description Description of the PI System where notification rules are stored.
Unique ID Unique internal ID for the PI System. Useful for troubleshooting.

Properties of Acknowledgment Links

The properties of the Acknowledge and Acknowledge With Comment items in the Standard
Content section of the Content pane are the same as those of other links. See Link Properties
(page 62).

Link Properties
The following table shows properties of links in the Link section of the Content pane:
Property Description
Hyperlink Clickable link with Display Name as the link text.
Display Name The text that displays for the hyperlink.
URL The URL for the hyperlink. In HTML format, appears as the URL.

File Properties
The following table shows the properties of objects in the File section of the Content pane:
Property Description
File Attaches the file to the message.
Name Displays the name of the file.
Author Displays the name of the author of the file

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 Subscriptions

Properties of Attributes
The following table shows the properties of reference data in the Attributes section of the
Content pane:
Property Description

Name The name of the attribute

Value The value of the attribute

Units The units of measure for the attribute

Time Stamp The time and date when the attribute value was collected.

Description The description of the attribute

Path The location of the attribute in the element hierarchy.

Unique ID Unique internal ID of the attribute.

Properties of Trigger Input

The Trigger Input section of the Content pane contains the following information:
d Triggering Condition: The specific condition that caused notification to be sent.
d Input attributes: All attributes of the target element that are inputs for the notification
conditions.
The following table shows the properties of the triggering condition:
Property Description
Triggering Condition Condition that caused notification to be sent.
Message for Closed Causes the text Notification is closed to be included in the
Notification notification that is sent when the triggering condition is no longer
true.

Input attributes have the same properties as non-input attributes. See Properties of Attributes
(page 63).

Subscriptions
Use the Subscriptions tab to perform the following tasks:
d Subscribe yourself or other users to a notification rule. See Subscribe a User to a
Notification (page 67).
d Subscribe a group (page 68), an escalation team (page 69), or a standalone delivery
endpoint (page 70) to a notification rule.
d Require that one or more subscribers acknowledge a notification. See Require
Acknowledgment of Notification (page 70).

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d Send different messages to different subscribers:

Send a Customized Message to a Delivery Endpoint (page 71)
Send Customized Messages to a Group or Escalation Team (page 71).
d Send the same message to more than one subscriber. See Send the Same Message to
Multiple Subscribers (page 72)
d Customize delivery options for a specific delivery channel, such as the From Email
address of an email delivery endpoint. See Customize Delivery Options for a Delivery
Endpoint (page 73).
d Unsubscribe yourself or other users from a notification rule. See Unsubscribe from a
Notification Rule (page 73).
Notes:
d The subscriptions tree contains the contacts that will receive notification messages. To
subscribe a contact, click on the toolbar. Alternatively, drag the contact from the
Contacts palette to the subscriptions tree.
d Subscriptions (n Required acknowledgments) is the highest level of the subscriptions
tree.

Note: The default setting (0 Required acknowledgments) causes notifications to be

automatically acknowledged when sent. If you want subscribers to
acknowledge notifications manually, change this setting.

d By default, subscriptions below the top level inherit the delivery format of the highest
level of the tree. Similarly, members of a group or escalation team inherit the delivery
format of the group or escalation team. You can customize subscriptions to use different
delivery formats. For examples of customized subscriptions, see Example: Send Different
Email to Managers and Operators (page 64).
d If you do not see the Delivery Format list box, the notification rule is nonformatted.
See Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85) for details.

Example: Send Different Email to Managers and Operators

This example shows how to apply the two delivery formats from Example 4 (page 51) to
subscriptions:

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The top level of the subscriptions tree uses the Managers delivery format, which was
specified as the default email format on the Message tab. The Managers group and its
members inherit the Managers delivery format from the top level:

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By default, the Operators group and its members also inherit the Managers email format. To
send additional information to the Operators group (see Example 4 (page 51)), customize the
Operators subscription by selecting the Operators delivery format:

The members of the Operators group inherit the delivery format of their group:

Notes:
d If you change to a different delivery format at the top level, only inherited formats are
changed. The Operators group and its members will still use the Operators delivery
format.
d (1 Required acknowledgments) at the top level specifies that at least one subscriber
must acknowledge the notification instance, typically after taking some action to resolve
the problem.
d (0 Required acknowledgments) on the Managers and Operators group subscriptions
specifies the number of group members who must acknowledge receipt of the
notification. In this example, no acknowledgments are required. See Acknowledgments
and Comments (page 93) for information on differences between acknowledging a
subscription and acknowledging a notification instance.

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Subscribe an Individual User to a Notification Rule

Note: To subscribe yourself to a notification rule, you must have Subscribe access. To
subscribe others, you need SubscribeOthers access. See Security for
Notification Rules and Templates (page 77) for details.

To subscribe yourself or another user to a notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Click on the subscriptions toolbar. The Select a Contact dialog box appears:

In this example, Piano Admin is the name of the user who is currently logged on to the
computer.
3. Do one of the following:
To subscribe yourself, double-click your user name to display the delivery
endpoints, click a delivery endpoint to select it, and then click OK.
To subscribe a different user, double-click the Contacts folder to open it, and then
search (page 16) for the contact. When the contact appears in the tree on the dialog
box, double-click it to display the delivery endpoints, click a delivery endpoint to
select it, and then click OK.

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Note: Subscribing other users to a notification requires SubscribeOthers permission.

See Security for Notification Rules and Templates (page 77).

As an alternative to steps 2 and 3, drag delivery endpoints from the Contacts palette to
the subscriptions tree.
4. (Optional) Customize the message. See Send a Customized Message to an Individual
Subscriber (page 71) for step-by-step instructions.
5. (Optional) Change delivery options. See Customize Delivery Options for a Delivery
Endpoint (page 73) for step-by-step instructions.

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Subscribe a Group to a Notification Rule

Note: To subscribe a group, you need SubscribeOthers access. See Security for
Notification Rules and Templates (page 77) for details.

To subscribe a group to a notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Click on the subscriptions toolbar to display the Select a Contact dialog box.
3. Double-click the Groups folder.
4. Click the group to select it, and then click OK.

Note: As an alternative to steps 3 and 4, you can drag the group from the Contacts
palette onto the Subscriptions tree.

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5. (Optional) Customize the message to be sent to the group. See Send Customized
Messages to a Group or Escalation Team. (page 71)

6. (Optional) Click to change the number of group members who must acknowledge
the subscription.

Note: The setting for acknowledgment of a subscription is different from the

setting for acknowledgment of a notification instance. The setting for
acknowledgment of a notification is at the top level of the Subscriptions tree:
Subscriptions (n required acknowledgments). See Acknowledgments and
Comments (page 93) for details.

7. Click Check In to save the notification.

Subscribe an Escalation Team to a Notification Rule

Note: To subscribe an escalation team to a notification rule, you need SubscribeOthers

access. See Security for Notification Rules and Templates (page 77) for details.

To subscribe an escalation team to a notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Click on the subscriptions toolbar to display the Select a Contact dialog box.
3. Double-click the Escalation Teams folder.
4. Click the escalation team to select it, and then click OK.
5. If prompted to change required acknowledgments, click Yes.

Note: As an alternative to steps 2 through 5, you can drag the escalation team from
the Contacts palette onto the Subscriptions pane.

6. (Optional) Customize the message to be sent to the escalation team. See Send Customized
Messages to a Group or Escalation Team. (page 71)

7. (Optional) Click to change escalation options. See Escalation Team (page 19) for
details on these options.

8. Click Check In to save the notification.

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Subscribe a Standalone Delivery Endpoint to a Notification Rule

Note: To subscribe a standalone delivery endpoint to a notification rule, you need

SubscribeOthers access. See Security for Notification Rules and Templates
(page 77) for details.

To subscribe a standalone delivery endpoint to a notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Click on the subscriptions toolbar to display the Select a Contact dialog box.
3. Double-click the Delivery Endpoints folder.
4. Click the delivery endpoint to select it, and then click OK.

Note: As an alternative to steps 2 through 4, you can drag the delivery endpoint
from the Contacts palette onto the Subscriptions pane.

5. (Optional) Click to change delivery options. See Delivery Endpoint (page 22) for
details on these options.

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Require Acknowledgment of Notification

An acknowledgment is a response to a notification. By default, the top level of the

subscriptions tree on the Subscriptions tab has the following setting:
Subscriptions (0 Required acknowledgments)
This setting causes PI Notifications to automatically acknowledge the notification instance.

Note: When you subscribe an escalation team to a notification rule, PI Notifications

prompts you to require at least one member of the escalation team to
acknowledge the notification instance. If you do not change the default setting, the
notification will be automatically acknowledged as soon as the notification is
sent to the first person in the escalation, so escalation cannot occur.

To require acknowledgment, follow these steps:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Click the top level of the subscriptions tree, also called Subscriptions. The text (0
required acknowledgments) indicates automatic acknowledgment.

3. Click . The Subscriptions dialog box appears.

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4. Set the number of required acknowledgments for the notification instance, and then click
OK. The number of acknowledgments appears at the top level of the subscriptions tree,
for example Subscriptions (1 required acknowledgments).

5. Click Check In to save the notification.

Send a Customized Message to an Individual Subscriber

Note: This procedure applies solely to formatted notifications. Notifications created

prior to PI Notifications 2010 R2 are nonformatted. For more information, see
Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

To send a customized message to a delivery endpoint:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. In the Subscriptions tree, click the delivery endpoint for the subscriber.
3. Do one of the following:
To select the email delivery channel, click the Email tab.
To select the OCS delivery channel, click the OCS tab.
4. On the Delivery Formats list, click the delivery format that that contains the customized
message.

Note: If a suitable delivery format is not available, create it. See Create a Delivery
Format (page 57) for step-by-step instructions.

5. Click Check In to save the notification.

Send Customized Messages to a Group or Escalation Team

Note: This procedure applies solely to formatted notifications. Notifications created

prior to PI Notifications 2010 R2 are nonformatted. For more information, see
Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

To send customized messages to the members of a group contact or escalation team:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. On the subscriptions pane, click the subscription to select it.
3. Below the subscriptions pane, click the tab that corresponds to the delivery channel you
want (for example, Email or OCS).

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4. Select the delivery format with the desired content from the Delivery Format list.

Note: If a suitable delivery format is not available, create it. See Create a Delivery
Format (page 57) for step-by-step instructions.

5. (Optional) To send a different message to individual members of the group or escalation

team, follow the procedure in Send a Customized Message to an Individual Subscriber
(page 71).

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

Send the Same Message to Multiple Subscribers

Note: This procedure applies solely to formatted notifications. Notifications created

prior to PI Notifications 2010 R2 are nonformatted. For more information, see
Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab) (page 85).

To send the same message to multiple subscribers.

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. Do one of the following:
To send the same message to all subscribers to the notification, click the highest
level of the subscriptions tree, also named Subscriptions. The default delivery
format for the notification appears in the Delivery Format list box.
To send the same message to all members of a group or escalation team
subscription, click the subscription. The delivery format for the group or escalation
team appears in the Delivery Format list box.
3. On the message pane, click the tab that corresponds to the delivery channel you want, for
example, Email.
4. Click the Delivery Format list box and select the delivery format to use.
All subscriptions that inherit the default delivery format are changed to the new format.
Subscriptions that you previously customized to use different delivery formats are not
affected. For more on inheritance, see Example: Send Different Email to Managers and
Operators (page 64).
5. (Optional) To apply the delivery format in step 4 to customized subscriptions that are not
inherited from the default format, right-click the Subscriptions level on the tree and
select Copy format to all members.

Note: If a suitable delivery format is not available, create it. See Create a Delivery
Format (page 57) for step-by-step instructions.

6. Click Check In to save the notification.

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Customize Delivery Settings for a Delivery Endpoint

To customize delivery options for a delivery endpoint:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. If the delivery endpoint is part of a group contact or escalation team, double-click the
group or escalation to display the delivery endpoints.
3. Click the delivery endpoint you want to customize.

4. Click . Alternatively, right-click the delivery endpoint and select Options.

5. To ensure that subscribers are notified when the notification closes (that is, when the
triggering condition is no longer true), select the Notify on close check box under
Contact Options. See Contact Options (page 22) for details.
6. Change the delivery options as appropriate for the delivery channel:
Email delivery endpoint: See Options for the Email Delivery Channel (page 22).
OCS delivery endpoint: See Options for the OCS Delivery Channel (page 23).
Web service delivery endpoint: See Options for the Web Service Delivery Channel
(page 24).

7. Click Check In to save the notification.

Unsubscribe from a Notification Rule

To unsubscribe a delivery endpoint, group, or escalation team from a notification:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it, and then click the Subscriptions tab on the viewer
pane.
2. On the subscriptions tree, navigate to the subscription you want to remove, click it, and
then click on the subscriptions toolbar.
Alternatively, right-click the subscription and select Unsubscribe.

3. Click Check In to save the notification.

Notification Templates
PI Notifications allows you to build many similar notification rules by creating a notification
rule template for an element template. For example, if you have a set of pumps with a
similar structure, you might want to monitor their conditions with a similar set of notification

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rules. By creating a notification template and specifying the element template for the pump as
the target, you can build notification rules simultaneously for all the pumps.
Use the same procedures to create a notification template as for creating a notification rule,
but with these differences:
d A notification template has additional options that control startup of the notification rules
that are based on the template. You can choose to create notification rules from a
template either automatically or manually. See Startup Options (page 74) for details.
d Triggers for notification templates are very similar to those of notification rules. For
information on differences, see Triggers for Notification Templates (page 74).
d You can add content to individual notification rules that are based on a template, but you
cannot remove or edit content that was defined in the template.
You can create a notification template from an existing notification rule. See Create a
Notification Template from a Notification Rule (page 75) for step-by-step instructions.
To create rules from a template manually, see Create Notification Rules from a Notification
Template (page 75) for step-by-step instructions.

Startup Options

On the General tab of a notification template, you need to specify how you want to create
individual notifications. You can:
d Automatically create a notification for each element and start it: This option creates
and starts a notification rule for each new element that you create from the target element
template. Notifications for existing elements from the element template must be created
manually.
d Automatically create a notification for each element: This option creates a notification
rule for each new element that you create from the target element template, but you must
start each notification rule manually. See Start a Notification Rule (page 78).
d Do not create a notification automatically: If you choose this option, you must
manually create the notification rule for each element that uses the target element
template. If you create a new element from the element template, you must create the
notification rule manually. See Create Notification Rules from a Notification Template
(page 75).

Note: For the automatic options, PI Notifications creates the notification rules solely for
new elements that you create from the target element template. Notification rules
for existing elements must be created manually.

Triggers for Notification Templates

Note the following differences between triggers in notifications and notification templates:
d The target of a notification template is an element template.

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d Conditions refer to attribute templates rather than attributes. For example, the input for a
comparison condition must be an attribute template.
d For Performance Equation conditions, the Check Syntax button replaces the Evaluate
button. See Tips for Entering Performance Equations (page 33).

Create a Notification Template from a Notification Rule

To create a notification template from an existing notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. On the browser pane, right-click the notification to use as the basis of the notification
template and select Convert to Notification Template.
3. If an element template does not yet exist for the notification template, click Yes to create
the element template.
PI Notifications creates the notification template, transfers to Library view, and displays
the new template.
4. On the Overview tab in Library view, enter a name for the notification template.
5. (Optional) Change the Creation and Startup Options for the notification template.
6. On the Trigger tab, check the trigger options of the notification template:
a. Check that the target is the element template from step 3.
b. In the notification conditions, check the attribute templates.
7. If you created a new element template in step 3, configure the element template as
needed. See the AF User's Guide for details.

8. Click Check In to save the notification template.

Create Notification Rules from a Notification Template

To create notification rules from a notification template:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click File > New > Notification from Template. The Create Notifications dialog box
appears. For example:

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3. Under Select a notification template, click the notification template to use. A list of all
elements that are based on the target element template appears under Select target
elements.
4. Select the target elements from the list at the top of the dialog box.
5. Do one of the following:
To select individual elements, select their check boxes.
To select all target elements for a notification template that was created from a
notification rule, click Select > Elements without existing notification.

Note: If you select an element that has an existing notification, PI Notifications

creates a new notification rule for that element.

To remove all elements from the selection, click Select > None.
To select all elements, click Select > All.
6. Click OK.
7. In the Notifications browser pane, a new notification rule appears for each element that
you selected.
8. For each notification rule that you create:
a. Click the Overview tab and enter the name and description for the notification rule.
b. (Optional) Customize the Time Rule and other Options on the Trigger tab. See
Trigger Tab (page 26) for details.
c. (Optional) Subscribe additional contacts to the notification rule. See Subscriptions
(page 63) for details.

9. Click Check In to save your changes.

Alternatively, you can create the notification rule from a template in the Library: In Library
view, click the Templates node and Notification Templates node to open them if needed,

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right-click the notification template to use, and then click New > Notification from
Template. On the Notification Template dialog box, select the target elements and then
proceed as in steps 4 through 6 above.

Change Icons for Notifications

When you make changes to a notification rule or notification contact, a check mark appears
next to it:
d A bright red check mark indicates that you have modified the object, but have not
applied the change or checked in the object.
d A dark red check mark indicates changes that have been saved but not checked in
d A blue check mark indicates a notification rule that is checked out to someone else.

Security for Notification Rules and Templates

PI Notifications uses Microsoft Windows security to control access to notification rules and
templates. The following table shows security settings needed for specific tasks:
Permission Description
Read Can view a notification rule.
Write Can modify settings in the Overview, Trigger, and Message tabs.
Read Data Can view history on the History tab and in MyPI view.
Write Data Can comment on a notification or acknowledge an instance of a
notification rule.
Subscribe Can subscribe yourself to a notification and customize the
subscription.
SubscribeOthers Can subscribe others to a notification and customize their
subscriptions.
Delete Can delete a notification rule.
Execute Can start, stop, or reset a notification rule.
Admin Can assign privileges to notification rules.

For step-by-step procedures for changing security settings, see the PI System Notifications
help or the PI Notifications User Guide.

Notification Management
This section contains information on managing the notification rules and templates that you
create:
d To begin monitoring the target device or process, you must start the notification rule. See
Start a Notification Rule (page 78).

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d To discontinue monitoring a device, stop the corresponding notification rule. See Stop a
Notification Rule (page 78).
d When developing and testing notification rules, it is often useful to clear the state of a
triggered notification rule even though the conditions that triggered the rule are still true.
See Reset a Notification Rule (page 79).
d To move notification rules from a development environment to a production
environment, see Deploy Notification Rules (page 79).
d To remove notification rules that are no longer needed, see Delete Notification Rules
(page 79).
d To classify notifications in ways that are meaningful to your process, see Categories
(page 82).
d To interpret information on notification status, see Status of a Notification Rule (page
84).
d To group notification rules in meaningful ways, see Organize Notification Rules (page
84).

Start a Notification Rule

To use a notification rule to monitor a device or process, start the corresponding notification
rule:
1. In PI System Explorer, select the AF database that contains the notification rules.
2. Click Notifications in the navigator panel.
3. On the browser pane on the left, select the notification rules to start. Use CTRL-click or
SHIFT-click to select multiple notifications.

4. Click Start on the browser toolbar.

Stop a Notification Rule

To discontinue monitoring a device or process, stop the corresponding notification rule:

1. In PI System Explorer, select the AF database that contains the notification rules.
2. Click Notifications in the navigator panel.
3. On the Notifications browser pane on the left, select the notification rules to stop. Use
CTRL-click or SHIFT-click to select multiple notifications.

4. Click Stop on the Notifications browser toolbar.

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Reset a Notification Rule

When developing and testing notification rules, use the following procedure to clear the
state of a triggered notification rule even though the conditions that triggered the rule are still
true:
1. In PI System Explorer, select the AF database that contains the notification rules.
2. Click Notifications in the navigator panel.
3. On the Notifications browser pane on the left, right-click the notification rule and select
Reset Notification.

Note: You must have Write Data access to reset a notification. For more information, see
Security for Notification Rules and Templates (page 77).

Delete Notification Rules

To delete notification rules, follow these steps:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. On the browser pane, click the notification rule that you want to delete. Use CTRL-click
to select multiple rules.

3. Click on the toolbar.

4. Click Check In on the browser pane to save the changes.

Note: Deletion of a notification rule does not necessarily delete the associated PI points
that contain the notification history (history PI points). If you do not delete history
PI points, you might exceed the licensed number of PI points on the history PI
Server. For more information, see the PI System Notifications help or the PI
Notifications User Guide.

Deploy Notification Rules

After you have created and tested notification rules in a development environment, use the
following procedure to deploy the rules to your production system:
1. Export the notification rules from the AF database on the development system. See
Export a Notification Rule (page 79).
2. Import the notification rules to your production AF database. See Import Notification
Rules (page 81).

Export Notification Rules

To export all of the notification rules in the AF database:

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1. Select the AF database that contains the notification rules to be exported.

2. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
3. On the browser pane, select the notification rules to export, right-click the selection, and
then select Export to File. The Export dialog box appears:

4. Click on the Export dialog box, and then navigate to the directory where you want to
create the XML file.
5. Name the XML file. The default file name is Notifications.xml.
6. Select from the following export options:
Include All Referenced Objects: When selected, notification references to other
objects are included in the output. Referenced objects include contacts, categories,
target elements and element templates, analysis and analysis templates, and
subscription data. References that depend on other values or configuration data are
also exported. Select this option when moving objects between different AF
databases or AF servers.
Security Settings: When selected, the security settings of individual objects are
included in the output. This option increases the amount of time required for export
and subsequent import. You must have Administrator privileges to import security
settings.
Flatten XML: When selected, hierarchical objects such as elements and attributes
are exported in flattened form. Flattening can make it easier for some third-party
tools to edit the XML. However, flattening can significantly increase the time
required to export and subsequently import the XML.
Default Values: When selected, the default values assigned to objects are included in
the output. When not selected, object properties that have not been changed from
their default values are not included in the output. Omitting default values saves
considerable space and time when exporting large amounts of data.
Unique IDs: When selected, the unique ID of each object is included in the output.
Select this option only when you want to rename existing objects by exporting and
then importing them into the same AF database. Otherwise, selecting this option
might create duplicate objects in the database.

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Note: State groups and their associated alert states are not exported, so you must
manually create the missing alert states and state groups on the target PI
System. Alert states that do not belong to a state group are generated in the
target PI System when PI Notifications Service runs notification rules. See the
information on configuring states and state groups in the PI System
Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide for details.

7. Click OK to export the notification rules to the XML file.

8. Click Close and use PI System Explorer to select the database where you want to deploy
the notifications. You can now import the data that has been exported from a database.

Import Notification Rules

To import notification rules, you must have permission required to create notifications—write
access to the notifications.
To import notification rules that you previously exported to an XML file:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. Select the database into which you want to import notification rules: Click File >
Database on the top menu and select the database from the dialog box.
3. Right-click anywhere the browser pane and select Import from File. The Import dialog
box appears. For example:

4. Click on the Import dialog box, and navigate to the directory that contains the
exported notification rules.
5. Select from the following import options:
Allow Create: When selected, new objects are created during the import. When
updating existing objects in an AF database, unselect this option to prevent
accidental creation of new objects.
Allow Update: When selected, allows existing objects to be updated during import.
When adding new objects to an AF database, unselect this option to prevent
accidental overwrite of existing objects.
Automatic Check In: When selected, objects are automatically checked in during
import. OSIsoft strongly recommends that you select this option when you import a

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large number of objects, because it reduces the maximum memory requirements of

the import operation.
Create or Update PI Points: When selected, PI points are automatically created or
updated when a new element is created. Selecting this option can adversely affect
performance.
6. Click OK.
7. Use PI System Explorer to access the notifications from the database where you deployed
the notifications.

Categories

Use categories to classify notification rules in ways that are meaningful to your process. For
example, the following notification has two categories, Environmental and Quality:

To assign categories to a notification, see Configure Categories for a Notification (page 82).
To create new categories, see one of the following:
d Create a Category While Editing a Notification (page 83)
d Create a Category in the Library (page 83)

Configure Categories for a Notification

To configure categories for a notification, follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Overview tab on the viewer pane.

3. Click next to the Categories box. The Category Selection dialog box appears:

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4. (Optional) Create a new category. See Create a Category While Editing a Notification
(page 83).
5. Under Contained in Categories Collection, select the categories you want to assign.
6. Click OK.

Create a Category While Editing a Notification

To create a category while editing a notification, follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the browser pane,
click the notification rule to select it.
2. Click the Overview tab on the viewer pane.

3. Click next to the Categories box.

4. Enter a name for the category in the Names text box of the Category Selection dialog
box.
5. Click Add to List. Click OK.

6. Click Check In

Create a Category in the Library

To create a category in the Library:
1. Click Library in the Navigator panel in PI System Explorer.
2. Click the Categories node to open it.
3. Right-click Element Categories and click New Category.
4. On the Element Category Properties dialog, enter a name and description for the
category, and click OK.

5. Click Check In

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Status of a Notification Rule

The status of a notification rule is either disabled, ready, running or error:

d Disabled notification rules are not configured to run and do not calculate.
d Ready notification rules are enabled and begin calculating as soon as PI Notifications
Service is started for this database.
d Running notifications are currently calculating on PI Notifications Service.
d Error notification rules encountered a problem when attempting to start.

Organize Notification Rules

To organize notification rules by notification template, category, or status, follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. On the toolbar of the viewer pane, click the Folder button, and then select an option
from the menu:

The display changes. For example, if you click Status, you see notifications grouped by
status:

For more information, see the following:

d Notification Templates (page 73)
d Status of a Notification (page 84)
d Categories (page 82)

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Troubleshooting Notification Rules

For information on troubleshooting notification rules, see the following topics:
d My notification rule cannot start (page 99).
d My notification rule is running, but I am not receiving emails (page 99).
d I receive too many or too few notifications (page 102).
d I receive multiple emails, but the alert state has not changed (page 103).
d My escalation team does not escalate (page 103).
d My notification is already acknowledged, but I did not acknowledge it (page 104).
d The acknowledgment link in my notification email does not work. (page 104)
d I cannot create a notification rule (page 103).
d I cannot edit a notification rule, even if I have the correct permissions (page 104).
d I cannot subscribe to a notification (page 104).

Nonformatted Notifications (Content Tab)

The Content tab specifies the information that will be sent to subscribers of a nonformatted
notification. Formatted notifications were not available prior to PI Notifications 2010 R2.
The Content tab replaces the Message tab in nonformatted notifications. For example:

A notification might have nonformatted content for any of the following reasons:
d You selected a notification rule that was created before PI Notifications 2010 R2.
d Your administrator has disabled formatted content.
d You are using a version of PI Notifications Service earlier than PI Notifications 2010 R2.

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Nonformatted content provides less flexibility over the content and appearance of notification
messages:
d The only way to add text to a nonformatted notification is to configure a constant value
on the Content pane. See Configure a Constant Value (page 87) for step-by-step
instructions.
d The Triggering Condition is not available on the Trigger Input section of the Content
pane.
d The notification message contains only the values of trigger inputs and other attributes.
Properties such as Name and Timestamp cannot be included.
d You cannot select individual items in the Standard Content and Trigger Input sections to
include in a subscription; you must include or exclude the entire section.
d The Standard Content in nonformatted notifications is a subset of the content available
for formatted notifications. See Standard Content in Nonformatted Notifications (page
86).
You can convert existing notifications from nonformatted to formatted. The conversion
process automatically creates one delivery format for each unique combination of subscriber
content and delivery channel in the nonformatted notification. The conversion process has the
following limitations:
d The converted notification cannot display any link in the context pane of Microsoft
Office Communicator. To display links, add them to the Body of the message after
conversion.
d If you edit notification conditions after conversion, any new inputs that you create are
automatically added to the Trigger Inputs section of the Content pane, but not to the
message in the delivery format. If you want to include the new inputs, you must edit the
delivery formats.
See Convert Nonformatted to Formatted Notifications (page 87) for step-by-step instructions.

Standard Content in Nonformatted Notifications

For nonformatted notifications, the Standard Content section of the Content pane contains
the following subset of the information available for formatted notifications:
Item Description
Name Name of the notification rule.
Description Description of the notification rule.
Path Locates the notification in the hierarchy of elements.
Notification Instance ID Unique identifier for the notification instance.
Start Time The time when the notification rule first entered the alert
state; that is, the beginning of the notification instance.
End Time The time when the notification rule exited the alert state;
that is, the end of the notification instance. Included in the
message only if the notification is closed.
Trigger Time The time when the notification rule was triggered.

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Item Description
State The alert state for the notification instance. See Alert
States and State Groups (page 39).
Priority The priority for the notification instance. See Priority and
Condition Precedence (page 40).
Escalation Level If an escalation team is subscribed to the notification, the
number of people who have been notified. Included in the
message only if the subscriber is a member of an
escalation team.

If the delivery channel option Include acknowledgment link is set to Yes or Only with
Standard Content, then a link to the acknowledgment Web page is also sent with the other
standard content. For details, see Options for the Email Delivery Channel (page 22) and
Options for the OCS Delivery Channel (page 23).

Configure a Constant Value on the Content Pane

To add text to message in a nonformatted notification, configure a constant value for the
Content pane:
1. On the content toolbar, click Add > Constant Value.
2. Define the constant value in the text box of the Add Value dialog box.

3. Click OK.
The constant appears in the Constant section of the Content pane.

4. Click Check In to save the notification.

Convert Nonformatted to Formatted Notifications

To convert nonformatted to formatted notifications:

1. In PI System Explorer, do one of the following:
To convert a notification rule, click Notifications in the navigator panel. On the
browser pane, click the notification rule to select it.
To convert a notification template, click Library in the navigator panel. On the
browser pane, navigate to the notification template and click to select it. Right-click
the selected notification rule or template and select Use Delivery Formats from the
menu.

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On the viewer pane, the Message tab replaces the Content tab. On the Message tab, a
new delivery format appears for each unique combination of delivery channel and content
among the subscribers of the notification.
2. (Optional) Rename the delivery formats (page 58).

3. Click Check In to save the notification.

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Chapter 5

View Notification Events

PI Notifications records the following notification events for every notification rule:
d Entering a notification state
d Exiting a notification state
d Resetting a notification state
d Sending a notification message to a subscriber
d Error encountered when sending a notification to a subscriber
d Acknowledging a notification (manually or with an automatic acknowledgment)
d Commenting on a notification instance.
These events comprise the history of the notification rule. In PI System Explorer, the History
tab in Notifications view shows the history of the notification rule you have selected. In MyPI
view, PI System Explorer shows the history of all notifications to which you are subscribed.

Note: To view your notifications in MyPI, your subscriptions must use contact information
imported from Active Directory. See Active Directory (AD) and Custom Contacts
(page 15) for details.

This chapter describes how to use the notification history.

View My Notifications with MyPI

MyPI view displays all notifications to which you subscribe. To view all your notifications,
follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click MyPI in the navigator panel.

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A list of the currently-running instances of all your notification rules appears on the
browser pane on the left.
2. (Optional) To see the history of only one notification, click the notification rule to select
it.
3. (Optional) To change the display of the notification history, see the following procedures:
View Active Notification Instances (page 90)
View Recent Notification Instances (page 91)
View Notification Instances within a Time Range (page 91)
Show or Hide Columns in the History (page 92)
Customize the Display of Notification Details (page 92)

View the History of a Notification Rule

To view the history of a notification rule:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
A list of notification rules appears on the browser pane on the left.
2. Click a notification rule on the browser pane to select it.
3. Click the History tab on the viewer pane. The history of the notification rule appears.
4. (Optional) To change the appearance of the notification history, see the following
procedures:
View Active Notification Instances (page 90)
View Recent Notification Instances (page 91)
View Notification Instances within a Time Range (page 91)
Show or Hide Columns in the History (page 92)
Customize the Display of Notification Details (page 92)
Sort History (page 92)

View Active Notification Instances

To display notification instances that are active, that is, currently in an alert state:
1. On the notification history view, select Active from the View Notifications list under
Options.
You see a tabular display that contains information on active instances of the selected
notification rule. For a description of the information in each column, see Notification
History View (page 94).
2. (Optional) To change the display of the history, see the following procedures:
Show or Hide Columns in the History (page 92)
Customize the Display of Notification Details (page 92)

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 View Recent Notification Instances

Sort History (page 92)

View Recent Notification Instances

To display the recent history of a notification:
1. On the notification history view, select Recent from the View Notifications list under
Options.
2. Type a number into the Notifications in the last box and select a unit of time from the
list.

3. Click Go
You see a tabular display of information on recent instances of the selected notification
rule. For a description of the information in each column, see Notification History View
(page 94).
4. (Optional) To change the display of the history, see the following procedures:
Show or Hide Columns in the History (page 92)
Customize the Display of Notification Details (page 92)

View Notification Instances within a Time Range

To display the history of a notification within a time range:
1. On the notification history view, select Time range from the View Notifications list
under Options.
2. Type a start time in the Start Time box and type an end time in the End Time box.
Alternatively, you can select start and end times using available drop-down calendars.

Note: The time of day must be entered into the Start Time and End Time boxes
manually. The default start time is *, and the default end time is t.

3. (Optional) To change the display of the history, see the following procedures:
Show or Hide Columns in the History (page 92)
Customize the Display of Notification Details (page 92)

4. Click Go
You see a tabular display that contains information on instances of the selected
notification rule in the specified time range. For a description of the information in each
column, see Notification History View (page 94).

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Show or Hide Columns in the History

To show or hide columns in the history:
1. On the notification history view, right-click the column heading.
2. Do one of the following:
To hide a column, click the column name on the menu to cancel the selection.
To show a column, click the column name on the menu to select it.
For example:

Customize the Display of Notifications

To customize the display of details for all notification instances in the history:
1. On the notification history view, right-click any notification on the viewer pane.
2. Do one of the following:
To open the tree view to show details, click Expand All to select it.
To collapse the tree view to show only the main information, click Collapse All to
select it.
To hide events that were sent to contacts, click Show Contact Events to cancel the
selection.

Sort History
You can sort the history by any column in the history. For example, click the Duration
column header to sort all notification instances by the duration.

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View Notification Rule Summary

To open a dialog box that displays a summary of the settings of a notification rule:
1. On the notification history view, right-click the notification on the viewer pane and select
View Notification Rule Summary.
2. The Notification Rule Summary dialog box appears. Click Close when you are finished.

Acknowledgments and Comments

An acknowledgment is a response to a notification. Two types of acknowledgment are
available within the notification history viewer:
d Acknowledge notification instance: Acknowledging the notification instance stops
further notification from being sent to subscribers. Escalation is halted. Typically, you
acknowledge the notification instance when you have taken some action as a result of the
notification.
d Acknowledge subscription: Indicates that the contact has received the notification, but
does not stop further notification from being sent to subscribers. Escalation continues.
Depending on the subscription configuration for the notification rule, acknowledging a
subscription might trigger an acknowledgment of the notification instance.
The option to Acknowledge Subscription is not available if:
d The subscription has already been acknowledged;
d The instance is closed (that is, not active).
You can comment on an active or existing notification instance if you have Write Data
access to the notification rule. You can comment on a notification instance without
acknowledging (page 94) the notification.

Acknowledge a Notification Instance

To acknowledge a notification instance:

1. On the notification history view, right-click any of the events within the notification
instance.
2. Select Acknowledge Instance from the drop-down menu. The Add a comment dialog
box appears.
3. (Optional) Enter a comment.
4. Click OK.

Acknowledge a Subscription

To acknowledge a subscription:

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1. On the notification history view, right-click on the notification event for the subscription
and select Acknowledge Subscription from the drop-down list. The Add a comment
dialog box appears.
2. (Optional) Enter a comment.
3. Click OK.

Add a Comment without Sending Acknowledgment

To comment on a notification without acknowledgment:

1. On the notification history view, right-click on any notification event within a
notification instance and select Add Comment from the drop-down menu. The Add a
comment dialog box appears.
2. Enter a comment.
3. Click OK.

Notification History View

The following columns appear in the History view:
d Start Time: The time when the notification instance began.
d End Time: The time when the notification instance ended. For active instances, the word
Active appears.
d Duration: The total time that the notification instance was active. Alternatively, the total
time the notification event remained in the alert state indicated in the State column. For
active instances, the word Active appears.
d State: The alert state assigned to the notification. See States and State Groups (page 37).
d Priority: The priority assigned to the notification. See Priority and Condition
Precedence (page 40).
d Acknowledged: Indicates if a notification has been acknowledged. For notifications that
are configured for automatic acknowledgment, N/A displays in place of Yes or No. See
Acknowledgments and Comments (page 93).
d Action: Details about the acknowledgment or state of the notification.
d Contact: The notification contact to whom notification was sent.
d Contact Method: Delivery channel used to send notification, for example, Email.
d Comment: Comment entered by the Contact, if any.

Note: Boldface type in the notification history indicates notification instances that have
not been acknowledged.

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Chapter 6

PI Notifications Desktop Alert

PI Notifications Desktop Alert automatically monitors all notification rules to which you
subscribe.

Receive a Desktop Alert

When a notification to which you are subscribed triggers, an alert appears. The alert contains
the name of the triggered notification and a link to PI System Explorer:

Click Launch MyPI to open a window that lists all notification rules to which you subscribe.
See View My Notification Events with MyPI (page 89) for details.

Start PI Notifications Desktop Alert

To start PI Notifications Desktop Alert, click Start > All Programs > PI System > PI
Desktop Alert. The Desktop Alert Warning icon appears in the notification area of the
Windows desktop. Desktop Alert will attempt to connect to PI Systems.
If you have previously configured Desktop Alert, it connects to PI Systems and starts to
monitor notification rules to which you are subscribed. The Desktop Alert Normal icon ( )
appears.
The first time you start Desktop Alert, you must configure your preferences. For more
information, see Configure Desktop Alert (page 95).

Configure Desktop Alert

You must configure Desktop Alert the first time you start it. To configure Desktop Alert,
double-click the PI Notifications Desktop Alert Warning icon ( ) in the notification area
of the Windows desktop. The Desktop Alert Preferences dialog box appears. The Desktop
Alert Preferences dialog box has three tabs: General, Sound, and Connections. The
following figure shows the Sound tab:

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To configure Desktop Alert:

1. Open the Desktop Alert Preferences dialog box and select the General tab to configure
the appearance of desktop alerts:
Use the slider to determine how long an alert will remain on your screen.
Click the Preview button to see what an alert with these settings looks like.
2. Select the Sound tab to configure sounds for your alerts.
The Enable audible alerts check box is where you enable or disable alerts from
making sounds.
Optionally, click on each type of notification event for which you can assign a sound
(for example, New Notification), and browse for a sound file to associate with the
notification event.
Under Play new notification sound, specify the number of times the notification
should repeat, or click the Until notification ends button. By default, the New
Notification sound plays either three times or until another notification fires. The
Notification Ended sound plays once.
For Repeat delay, specify a number of seconds as the amount of time a sound should
be delayed before it is repeated.
3. Click the Connections tab. On this tab, select and add PI Systems to monitor.
If you would like to monitor a listed PI System through Desktop Alerts, select the
check box beside its name.
To show the properties of a PI System, click the name of the PI System and click the
Show Properties button.
To add a new PI System, click the Add button.
To delete a PI System from the list, click the name of the PI System and click the
Delete button.

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 Menu Commands

4. When you are finished configuring Desktop Alert, click OK.

Note: To change configuration at any time, double-click the Desktop Alert Normal ( )
symbol in the notification area of the Windows desktop and select Preferences.

Menu Commands
The Desktop Alert Normal icon ( ) in the notification area of the Windows desktop
indicates that Desktop Alert is running. You can right-click this icon for menu commands.

d About Desktop Alert: Displays a dialog box with the version number of PI Desktop
Alert.
d Preferences: Opens the Desktop Alert Preferences dialog box, where you configure
Desktop Alert. For more information, see Configure Desktop Alert (page 95).
d Exit: Exits the application.

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Troubleshooting
This chapter answers frequently asked questions on the following topics:
d Running notification rules (page 99)
d Creating or editing a notification rule (page 103)
d Subscribing to notification rules (page 104)
d Viewing notification rule events (page 107)
d Acknowledging and commenting on notification rule events (page 104)
d Security (page 107)
d Installation (page 109)
d Tools (page 109) for troubleshooting

Running Notification Rules

My notification rule does not start

Make sure the PI Notifications Service is running and is configured properly. For details, see
the information on managing PI Notifications Service in the PI System Notifications help or
the PI Notifications User Guide.

My notification rule is running, but I am not receiving emails

There are a few reasons why this may be happening:

1. Your emails could be going into your Junk folder. To fix this in Microsoft Outlook, click
Actions > Junk Email > Junk Email Options. Select the Safe Senders tab, and add the
sender email of PI Notifications.

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2. Verify that the notification rule is generating history. See View Notification Events in
MyPI (page 89) for details.
3. Verify that the status (page 84) for the notification rule is Enabled. If the status is
Enabled but not running, it means that either no service is running or no service is
configured to run the notification rule. In that case, refer to the PI System Notifications
help or the PI Notifications User Guide for information on managing PI Notifications
Service.
4. Verify that PI Notifications Service can connect to and has permission to create PI points
on the history PI Server. Check the PI Server message log on the machine where the
service is running for the presence of connection or PI point creation errors.
5. You might need to edit the SMTP Server Configuration restart service. PI Notifications
Service uses SMTP to send emails. The service requires that it can connect and use a
SMTP Server. Two common SMTP servers are the IIS SMTP Virtual Server and
Microsoft Exchange’s default SMTP Server. See the information on configuring the
email delivery channel in PI System Notifications help or the PI Notifications User
Guide.
6. If you are using an IIS SMTP Virtual Server you will need to configure the SMTP server
to allow Relay from the computer that is running the PI Notifications Service. From
Computer Management, right-click the default SMTP Virtual Server and select
Properties. Click the Access tab and click Relay.

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Add the computer that is running the PI Notifications Service to the list of allowed
computers.

7. Many virus scan programs will block port 25 in order to prevent mailing worms. Make
sure this port is not blocked on the computer running the PI Notifications Service.

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I receive too many or too few notifications

d Check the Notify on change in status option on the Trigger tab. When selected (the
default), you are notified only if the output value changes. See Options (page 42) for
details.
d Check the Non-repetition Interval setting under Options on the Trigger tab.
Notifications of the same or lower priority will not be resent if the non-repetition interval
has not expired. See Options (page 42) and Examples of Non-Repetition Interval (page
43).

Check the alert states and state groups of all the conditions. It is possible that the
triggering condition is in the same state group as the previous state of the notification, but
of lower severity within that state group. In that case, the alert state of the notification
changes, but no notification is sent. See Alert States and State Groups (page 39).

Check the Time True options for all the conditions. If the option is set to Natural, the
notification will not check the time true parameter until new time-series data is received.
Use Clock if you want to re-evaluate when the time true interval expires. See Time True
(page 38).

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I get multiple emails, but the alert state has not changed.

Even if the alert state has not changed, you may get multiple emails under the following
scenarios:

The Notify only on change in status check box is cleared. When cleared, you receive an
email whenever the notification rule is triggered. This is independent of whether you
have acknowledged the notification event. See Options (page 42).

You have configured a positive value for the resend interval. You would receive an email
for every resend interval until you have acknowledged the notification event. See Options
(page 42) and Example of Resend Interval (page 44).

The priority has changed. Two notification states are the same only if and only if they
have the same state and priority. See Priority and Condition Precedence (page 40).

My escalation team does not escalate

Check if the top level of the subscriptions tree on the Subscriptions tab has the following
setting:
Subscriptions (0 Required acknowledgments)
If this is the case, the notification will be automatically acknowledged as soon as the
notification is sent to the first person in the escalation, so the escalation cannot escalate. For
details, see Require Acknowledgment of Notification (page 70).

Creating or Editing a Notification Rule

I cannot create a notification rule

You need write permission for the default notification security and for the AF database
where you create notification rules.
To change the default notification security:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. Click Tools > Default Notification Security.
3. Edit the security settings in the Permissions for Notifications dialog box, and click OK.
For details on security settings, see Security for Notification Rules and Templates (page
77).
To change the AF database security:
1. In PI System Explorer, click the Database button on the top toolbar.
2. In the Select Database dialog box, right-click the name of the database and select
Security > Database.
3. Edit the security settings in the Permissions dialog box, and click OK.

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I cannot edit a notification rule even if I have the full access to it

You need write access to the notification rule and to its AF database.
To change the default notification security:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. Click Tools > Default Notification Security.
3. Edit the security settings in the Permissions for Notifications dialog box, and click OK.
To change the AF database security:
1. In PI System Explorer, click the Database button on the top toolbar.
2. In the Select Database dialog box, right-click the name of the database and select
Security > Database.
3. Edit the security settings in the Permissions dialog box, and click OK.

Subscribing to Notification Rules

I cannot subscribe to a notification

If you cannot subscribe to a notification, check your security settings. To do this, right-click
the notification that you want to subscribe to, select Security, and verify that you have
permission to Subscribe (if you want to subscribe yourself) or SubscribeOthers (if you want
to subscribe other users).

Acknowledging and Commenting on Notification Rule Events

My notification is already acknowledged, but I did not acknowledge it.

Check if the top level of the subscriptions tree in the Subscriptions tab is set to acknowledge
notification automatically. That is, check if the following appears at the top of the
subscriptions tree:
Subscriptions (0 Required acknowledgments)
If this is the case, nobody will ever be notified. See Require Acknowledgment of Notification
(page 70).

The acknowledgment link in my notification email does not work.

There are a few possible problems and solutions to this behavior. Review the following
questions to narrow down the solution to the situation you are experiencing.

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Do you get a 401.1 access error accessing the PI Notifications

Acknowledgment page on IIS 7?
In this case, the security settings will need to be set for the PI Notifications Acknowledgment
Web page. To do this:
1. Navigate Control Panel > Administrative Tools > I nternet I nformation Services (I I S)
M anager. When the IIS Manager opens, expand the tree view until you see the PI
Notifications Acknowledgment page.
2. For the PI Notifications Acknowledgment page, under the I I S settings, double-click
Authentication.
3. Right-click Anonymous Authentication and select Edit.
4. Select Application Pool I dentity and click OK.
5. Right-click the top node of the I I S tree, which is the server node. Click Stop. Wait until
the service is stopped, then right-click that node again and select Start.

Do you get a 404.3 error when accessing the PI Notifications Acknowledgment

page on IIS 7?
In this case, ASP.NET bindings will need to be propagated to the site that contains the PI
Notification Acknowledgment page. To do this:
1. Click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > I nternet I nformation Services (I I S)
M anager. Right-click the Web site that has PI Notification Acknowledgment page
installed and click Remove.
2. Right-click Web Sites and select Add Web Site. Add back the Web site that was
removed.
3. Click Control Panel > Programs and Features and right-click PI Notifications. Select
Repair. This action re-creates the PI Notifications Acknowledgment Web site.
4. Right-click the top node of the IIS tree, which is the server node. Click Stop. Wait until
the service is stopped, then right-click that node again and select Start.

Was PI Notifications installed on Vista before ASP.NET was installed?

If PI Notifications was installed on Vista before ASP.NET was installed, then ASP.NET
needs to be installed and the PI Notifications Acknowledgment Web site needs to be re-
installed. To do this:
1. Click Control Panel > Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows features
on and off. When the Windows features are displayed, click I nternet I nformation
Services > World Wide Web Services > Application Development Features and select
the check box next to ASP.NET. Click OK and ASP.NET installs.
2. Click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > I nternet I nformation Services (I I S)
M anager. Right-click the Default Web Site and click Remove.
3. Right-click Web Sites and select Add Web Site. Name the new Web site Default Web
Site.

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4. Click Control Panel > Programs and Features and right-click PI Notifications. Select
Repair. This action re-creates the PI Notifications Acknowledgment Web site.
5. When the installation program has completed, the security settings may need to be set for
the PI Notifications Acknowledgment Web page. To do this:
a. Click Control Panel > Administrative Tools > I nternet I nformation Services
(I I S) M anager. When the Manager opens, expand the tree view until you see the PI
Notifications Acknowledgment page.
b. For the PI Notifications Acknowledgment page, under the I I S settings, double-
click Authentication.
c. Right-click Anonymous Authentication and select Edit.
d. Select Application Pool I dentity and click OK.
6. Now reset IIS. To do this:
a. Right-click the top node of the IIS tree, which is the server node. Click Stop. Wait
until the service is stopped, then right-click that node again and select Start.

If running IIS 7, is IIS 6 configuration compatibility enabled?

Before you install PI Notifications on IIS 7, you must install ASP.NET and enable IIS 6
configuration compatibility. To do this:
1. Click Control Panel > Programs and Features, and then click Turn Windows
features on and off.
2. When the Windows features display, click I nternet I nformation Services > World
Wide Web Services > Application Development Features and select the ASP.NET
check box.
3. In the Windows Features dialog, Click I nternet I nformation Services > Web
M anagement Tools > I I S 6 M anagement Compatibility. Enable I I S M etabase and I I S
6 configuration compatibility.
4. Click OK to update I I S 7.
5. Run the PI Notifications self-extracting executable.

Are there multiple versions of .NET used in an application pool?

Internet Information Services 6 does not allow multiple versions of .NET to be used in an
application pool. If your Web server is using .NET 1.x pages, you need to make a new
application pool or assign the application to a pool that is already using .NET 2.x.

Was Internet Information Services installed after .NET 2.0?

Perhaps Internet Information Services was installed after .NET 2.0. This will render your
Web page unusable. To correct this issue, repair the .NET 2.0 installation so that the IIS
extensions are added to the system.

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Is ASP.NET 2.0 allowed in the Web Service Extensions?

If you choose to install the Acknowledgment Web Page feature, a virtual directory will be
created on a Web site of your choosing. The virtual directory requires that the Web site uses
ASP.NET 2.0.
To check that ASP.NET 2.0 is allowed in the Web Service Extensions:
1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Right-click the Web Service Extensions folder in the tree view and select Properties to
open the Default Web Site Properties dialog box. On the ASP.NET tab, make sure that
the ASP.NET version is 2.0.

Viewing Notification Rule Events

My notification is triggering, but I cannot view any history.

The PI Server where events are archived must have a PI Trust set up to allow data writing via
PI API for each instance of PI Notifications Service. For more information on PI Trusts, see
the PI Server System Management Guide.

Security

I accidentally changed the security for a notification rule so that no one can
change the security settings or edit it.

This might require changing the SQL tables storing the notification rule. Contact OSIsoft
Technical Support (page 155) for assistance.

I see Default Notification Security on the Tools menu and Security >
Notifications on the selected AF Database. What is the difference?

When you change the default notification security, we make sure the notification rules and
their dependent objects share the same security settings. When you modify the security for
notifications from Security > Notifications, the security for their dependent objects is not
modified and might not have the same security settings, resulting in inconsistent behavior.
Thus, it is recommended that you should always change the default security for notifications
from Tools > Default Notification Security.

I see Default Contact Security on the Tools menu and Security > Contacts
on the selected PI System. What is the difference?

When you change the default contact security, we make sure the contact objects and their
dependent objects share the same security settings. When you modify the security for

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contacts from Security > Contacts, the security for their dependent objects is not modified
and may not have the same security settings, resulting in inconsistent behavior. Thus, it is
recommended that you should always change the default security for contacts from Tools >
Default Contact Security.

I get the following errors when I try to edit security permission on a

notification rule (or contact object).

followed by

Check the firewall setting for the machine where the AF Service is running. The following
ports needs to be opened: 139 and 445.

What ports do I need to open for PI Notifications applications?

By default, PI Notifications uses the port 5458 to communicate among all its applications.
The port is configurable. It communicates with an AF Server via port 5457 and a PI Server
via 5450. To retrieve contact information, the AF Server communicates with Active
Directory. The ports 139 and 445 may also need to be open in some operations.

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Installation

I cannot change the configuration information for the PI Notifications

Service feature during installation.

PI Notifications Service may have been previously configured from another instance of the PI
Notifications Service. During the installation, you cannot change the configuration of the
supporting information for the PI Notifications Service.

To change History PI Server or PI WebParts Server, see the information on configuring

global parameters in the PI System Notifications help or PI Notifications User Guide.
To change Email Delivery Channel Settings, see the information on configuring the email
delivery channel in the PI System Notifications help or PI Notifications User Guide.

Tools

Message Logs

By default, PI Notifications applications write messages to the central log file for the PI
Message Subsystem on the machine where the application runs and can be retrieved using the
pigetmsg utility. See the PI Server System Management Guide for details. You can control
the message log levels in two ways: (1) through the application configuration file or (2)
through notification rule settings configured with the Notifications add-in to the PI System
Explorer. The latter is useful for troubleshooting problems with notification rules.

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Debug Notification Rules

You can dynamically set the debug level for a notification rule while it is running. To set the
debug level:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. Right-click the notification rule and select Debug level.

3. Select the appropriate message filters in the Test Notification dialog box, and then click
OK.

Performance Counters

PI Notifications Service creates the following counters for each notification rule:

Contact Events Acknowledged: Number of events that have been acknowledged since
start.

Contact Events Escalated: Number of events that have been escalated since start.

Contact Events Sent: Number of events sent to contacts since start.

Contact Events Sent With Error: Number of events sent to contacts with error since
start.

Events Before Last Instance Received: Number of events received with timestamps that
are earlier than the last notification instance.

Events Received: Number of events received since start.

I nstances Acknowledged: Number of notification instances that have been
acknowledged either manually or automatically since start.

I nstances Generated: Number of notification instances generated since start.

Number of Notifications: Number of notifications currently running on the computer.

Queued I nstance Events: Number of events currently waiting to be processed.
These counters are under the performance object PI Notifications. You can view it with the
Windows Performance Monitor. On Windows XP and 2003, click Control Panel >
Administrative Tools > Performance. Double-click Console Root to open it, click System
M onitor, and then click the Add button on the System M onitor task pane:

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The performance counter object instance list includes all the running notification rules and
 . The instance name for a notification rule has the format of
AFDatabaseName\NotificationRuleName. The _total instance totalizes a counter for
notification rules. For example, the counter I nstances Generated for the _Total instance
gives the total number of instances that have been generated since the PI Notifications
Service started for all notifications.

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Part II

PI System Notifications
The chapters in this part contain information for system administrators who install and
maintain PI Notifications.

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Chapter 8

Installation
This chapter contains information on installing and upgrading PI Notifications and PI
Notifications OCS Relay Service.

Components of PI Notifications
The PI Notifications install kit is distributed as a self-extracting executable file. When you
run the installer, you can customize your installation by selecting the components that will be
installed on the target machine.
The installer contains the following components:

PI Notifications Client: This component includes add-ins to PI System Explorer. Within
this host, you configure, subscribe to or unsubscribe from, and view the archived or
active events of notification rules. The client also enables you to receive new events
through PI Notifications Desktop Alert.

PI Notifications Service: This component runs a service instance to evaluate notification
rules in real time, send out notification messages, process acknowledgments and/or
escalation, and so on.

PI Notifications Acknowledgment Page: This page provides a link that is embedded in
the email message. A subscriber can click directly on this link to acknowledge a
notification message or to comment on a notification instance.

System Requirements
Before you install any PI Notifications component, verify that the target machine meets the
system requirements.

Operating Systems

PI Notifications can run on any of the following Microsoft operating systems (32-bit or 64-
bit):

Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows XP SP3 or later

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Installation

Windows Vista SP2 or later

Windows 7

Note: Although you can install PI Notifications Service on Windows XP, Windows Vista,
or Windows 7 for testing and evaluation, these operating systems are not
recommended for production environments.

Operating System Prerequisites

Installation of an OSIsoft product on Microsoft Windows relies on the presence of Microsoft

operating system components such as the Microsoft .NET Framework and Microsoft runtime
libraries. Install kits for OSIsoft products check for this prerequisite software during
installation. If not found, the installation stops and you are prompted to install prerequisites.
To determine which Microsoft operating system prerequisites you need, see the OSIsoft
Technical Support Web site Prerequisite Kits pages
(http://techsupport.osisoft.com/Products/Prerequisite+Kits/Prerequisite+Kits+Overview.htm
).

OSIsoft Software Requirements

PI Notifications 2010 R2 requires the following OSIsoft software:

PI AF Server 2010 R2 or later

PI Server 3.4.380 or later

PI SDK 1.3.6.364 (for 32-bit Windows) or PI SDK 1.3.8.387 (for 64-bit Windows)

PI AF Client 2010 R2 or later

Note: You must install PI AF Server and PI Server before you install PI Notifications
Service. These programs can be installed either on the same machine or a
different machine.

Additional requirements are necessary for the following features of PI Notifications:

Feature Requirement
Deliver notification messages SMTP server
by email
Deliver notification messages PI Notifications OCS Relay Service
through Microsoft Office
Communication Server
PI Notifications Microsoft IIS 5.0 or greater and ASP.NET 2.0 installed on the
Acknowledgment Page same machine. For Microsoft IIS 7.0, the IIS Metabase and
IIS 6 configuration compatibility option must be enabled.

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 History PI Server

History PI Server
PI Notifications records the history of notification activity on a PI Server that you specify
during installation, called the history PI Server or history server. For details of the
notification activity recorded on the history server, see Notification History (page 145).
The history server can be located on the same computer as PI Notifications Service, or on a
separate computer. If the history server is on a separate computer, we recommend that you
use PI Server buffering (either BufServ or pibufss). See Configure PI Notifications Service
for Buffering (page 125) for details.

Note: When you start a notification rule for the first time, PI Notifications creates seven
PI points (history PI points) on the history server to record notification activity.
Before you install PI Notifications Service, be sure that the PI Server license on
the history server can accommodate the required number of PI points.

Common Installation Scenarios

You can install individual components of PI Notification on different computers. For
example:

For ease of administration and maintenance, you can install and run the PI Notifications
Service on a dedicated computer.

If the machine on which you are installing the PI Notifications Service also hosts a Web
site, you may consider installing both the PI Notifications Service and the
Acknowledgment Web page on the same computer.

To use all PI Notifications functionality without the administrative tasks involved with
running a service, install the PI Notifications client.

For test environments, you can install all components of PI Notifications on one
computer.
In most cases, the PI Notifications Service and Acknowledgment Page are installed solely on
the PI Server or AF Server computer.
Install the PI Notifications client on any computer wherever users add or edit PI Notifications
or other AF applications.
Use the Select Features dialog box in the PI Notifications Setup program to specify the
components to install:

To include a component, click the drop-down menu for the component, and then select
Will be installed on local hard drive.

To exclude a component, click the drop-down menu for the component, and then select
Entire feature will be unavailable.
For example, if you install only the PI Notifications Client, the following appears on the
dialog box:

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Installation

The sections that follow give details on installing different configurations of PI Notifications
on a new computer.

Install All PI Notifications Features

Installing all components of PI Notifications on one computer is useful for test environments
and for small-scale production environments.
To install all PI Notifications features, follow these steps:
1. Run the self-extracting executable for PI Notifications.
2. Fill out the dialog boxes with prompted information and click Next until you reach the
Select Features dialog box.

3. On the Select Features dialog box, use the drop-down menus to customize your
installation.

From the drop-down menu next to each feature, select Will be installed on local hard
drive. For example:

4. Click Next.

5. When prompted, select the AF Server and click Next.

Note: To find the name of the machine where the AF server is installed, contact your
AF Server Administrator.

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 Common Installation Scenarios

6. In the Logon I nformation dialog, select the Log On account to use to start the PI
Notifications Service:
To install PI Notifications Service on the same computer as the AF Server, select
Local System.
To install PI Notifications service on a different computer from the AF Server, or to
install multiple instances of the PI Notifications service, select Domain User. The
Domain User account must have Administrator privileges on the machine that is
running the AF Server.

7. Click Next.

8. The Supporting I nformation dialog box appears. Specify the following settings:
a. PI History Server: Specify a PI Server to store the notification history and email
configuration information for email notifications.
b. Email Delivery Channel Settings: Supply the following information so that PI
Notifications can send email:
 SM TP Server: For notifications to be sent via email, provide the name of the
SMTP server. Be sure to allow the machine with the PI Notifications Service
feature the ability to relay the emails through the SMTP server.
 Backup SM TP Server: If you have a backup SMTP server, provide the name of
the backup SMTP server.
 From Email: Designates the default email address used as the sender of the
email notifications.
c. (Optional) Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of a PI WebParts server.

Note: The PI WebParts server must be version 2.0 or later. Supplying a PI WebParts
server name allows the notifications to create links automatically to instant PI
WebParts trends that can be included in email.

9. Click Next.

10. Select the Web site where the virtual directory should created for the PI Notifications
Acknowledgment Web Page feature. The Web site must use ASP.NET 2.0. Click Next.

11. Click Next, customizing as you see fit, until the installation is complete. Click Finish.
12. Configure PI Notifications security. See Manage Notifications and Contacts Security
(page 129).

Install PI Notifications Client Only

Installing the PI Notifications client allows you to use all PI Notifications functionality
without the administrative tasks involved with running a service.
To install only the PI Notifications client, follow these steps:

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Installation

1. Run the self-extracting executable for PI Notifications.

2. Fill out the dialog boxes with prompted information and click Next until you reach the
Select Features dialog box.

3. On the Select Features dialog box, use the drop-down menus to customize your
installation.
a. Select Will be installed on local hard drive from the Client drop-down menu.
b. Select Entire feature will be unavailable from the other drop-down menus.
For example:

4. Click Next, customizing as you see fit, until the installation is complete. Click Finish.
5. Configure PI Notifications security. See Manage Notifications and Contacts Security
(page 129).

Install PI Notifications Service Only

For ease of administration and maintenance, you can install and run the PI Notifications
Service on a dedicated machine.
To install only the PI Notifications Service, follow these steps:
1. Run the self-extracting executable for PI Notifications.
2. Fill out the dialog boxes with prompted information and click Next until you reach the
Select Features dialog box.

3. On the Select Features dialog box, use the drop-down menus to customize your
installation.
a. On the Select Features dialog, select Will be installed on local hard drive from the
Service drop-down menu.
b. Select Entire feature will be unavailable from the Client and Acknowledgment
Web Page drop-down menus.
For example:

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 Common Installation Scenarios

4. When prompted, select the AF Server and click Next.

Note: To find the name of the machine where the AF server is installed, contact your
AF Server Administrator.

5. In the Logon I nformation dialog, select the Log On account to use to start the PI
Notifications Service:
To install PI Notifications Service on the same computer as the AF Server, select
Local System.
To install PI Notifications service on a different computer from the AF Server, or to
install multiple instances of the PI Notifications service, select Domain User. The
Domain User account must have Administrator privileges on the machine that is
running the AF Server.

6. Click Next.

7. The Supporting I nformation dialog box appears. Specify the following settings:
a. PI History Server: Specify a PI Server to store the notification history and email
configuration information for email notifications.
b. Email Delivery Channel Settings: Supply the following information so that PI
Notifications can send email:
 SM TP Server: For notifications to be sent via email, provide the name of the
SMTP server. Be sure to allow the machine with the PI Notifications Service
feature the ability to relay the emails through the SMTP server.
 Backup SM TP Server: If you have a backup SMTP server, provide the name of
the backup SMTP server.
 From Email: Designates the default email address used as the sender of the
email notifications.
c. (Optional) Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of a PI WebParts server.

Note: The PI WebParts server must be version 2.0 or later. Supplying a PI WebParts
server name allows the notifications to create links automatically to instant PI
WebParts trends that can be included in email.

8. Click Next, customizing as you see fit, until the installation is complete. Click Finish.

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9. Configure PI Notifications security. See Notification and Contact Security (page 129).

Install PI Notifications Service and Acknowledgment Page

If the machine you are installing the PI Notifications Service also hosts a Web site, you may
consider installing both the PI Notifications Service and the Acknowledgment Web page on
the same machine.
To install the PI Notifications Service and Acknowledgment Page, follow these steps:
1. Run the self-extracting executable for PI Notifications.
2. Fill out the dialog boxes with prompted information and click Next until you reach the
Select Features dialog box.

3. On the Select Features dialog box, use the drop-down menus to customize your
installation.
a. Select Will be installed on local hard drive from the Service and
Acknowledgment Web Page drop-down menus.
b. Select Entire feature will be unavailable from the Client drop-down menu.

4. Click Next.

5. When prompted, select the AF Server and click Next.

Note: To find the name of the machine where the AF server is installed, contact your
AF Server Administrator.

6. In the Logon I nformation dialog, select the Log On account to use to start the PI
Notifications Service:
To install PI Notifications Service on the same computer as the AF Server, select
Local System.
To install PI Notifications service on a different computer from the AF Server, or to
install multiple instances of the PI Notifications service, select Domain User. The
Domain User account must have Administrator privileges on the machine that is
running the AF Server.

7. Click Next.

8. The Supporting I nformation dialog box appears. Specify the following settings:
a. PI History Server: Specify a PI Server to store the notification history and email
configuration information for email notifications.
b. Email Delivery Channel Settings: Supply the following information so that PI
Notifications can send email:

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 Upgrade PI Notifications

 SM TP Server: For notifications to be sent via email, provide the name of the
SMTP server. Be sure to allow the machine with the PI Notifications Service
feature the ability to relay the emails through the SMTP server.
 Backup SM TP Server: If you have a backup SMTP server, provide the name of
the backup SMTP server.
 From Email: Designates the default email address used as the sender of the
email notifications.
c. (Optional) Enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of a PI WebParts server.

Note: The PI WebParts server must be version 2.0 or later. Supplying a PI WebParts
server name allows the notifications to create links automatically to instant PI
WebParts trends that can be included in email.

9. Select the Web site where the virtual directory should created for the PI Notifications
Acknowledgment Web Page feature. The Web site must use ASP.NET 2.0. Click Next.

10. Click Next, customizing as you see fit, until the installation is complete. Click Finish.
11. Configure PI Notifications security. See Manage Notifications and Contacts Security
(page 129).

Upgrade PI Notifications
To upgrade from a previous version of PI Notifications, use the same procedure as for
installation, but note the following differences:

By default, all notification rules that you create in PI Notifications 2010 R2 contain
formatted content. If you want to continue using nonformatted content until you are
ready to use formatted content, you can Disable formatted content (page 124). For more
information on nonformatted content, see the PI Notifications help or the PI Notifications
User Guide.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 can run as a 64-bit application on 64-bit Windows operating
system. For compatibility with earlier releases of PI Notifications, the install kit upgrades
to 32-bit PI Notifications 2010 R2. To enable 64-bit PI Notifications, follow the steps in
Switch PI Notifications Service to Run as a 64-bit Process (page 124).

PI Notifications 2010 R2 enables you to automatically delete history PI points when you
delete notifications. For compatibility with earlier releases of PI Notifications, the install
kit sets a global parameter to prompt you about deleting history PI points. See Delete
History PI Points with Notifications (page 124).

If you have implemented PI Notifications High Availability (HA) by configuring
multiple instances of PI Notifications Services for an AF Server, you must upgrade all
instances of the services for that AF Server. See Set up Redundant Service Instances
(page 149) for details on how the HA feature works and how to configure it.

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Installation

Note: If you installed a component in a previous version of PI Notifications, selecting

Entire feature will be unavailable on the Select Features dialog box of the
Setup program will remove that feature. See Common Installation Scenarios (page
117) for details.

Disable Formatted Content

To continue using nonformatted content for new notification rules, follow these steps:
1. Start PI System Explorer: Start > All Programs > PI System > PI System Explorer.
2. Click Notifications in the navigator panel of PI System Explorer.
3. On the top menu, click Tools > Notification Settings, and then click the Global
Configuration tab.
4. In the Use Delivery Formats by Default text box, select true and type false.
5. Click OK.

Switch PI Notifications Service to Run as a 64-bit Process

To ensure backward compatibility, the install kit for PI Notifications keeps PI Notifications
Service running as a 32-bit process. To switch PI Notifications Service to run as a 64-bit
process after upgrade, follow these steps:
1. Start PI System Explorer: Start > All Programs > PI System > PI System Explorer.
2. Click Notifications in the navigator panel of PI System Explorer.
3. On the top menu, click Tools > Notification Settings, and then click the Global
Configuration tab.
4. In the Always Run Notification Service as 32-bit text box, select true and type false.
5. Click OK.

Delete History PI Points With Notifications

When you start a notification rule for the first time, PI Notifications creates seven PI points
(called history PI points) on the history PI Server to record notification activity. In earlier
releases of PI Notifications, deleting a notification rule did not delete these PI points. PI
Notifications 2010 R2 provides a global parameter that enables you to automatically delete
history PI points when you delete notification rules. When you upgrade to PI Notifications
2010 R2, this parameter is set to prompt you for a decision about deleting history PI points.
You have three choices:

To delete the history PI points for the currently selected notification, and to automatically
delete PI points when you delete notifications in the future, select Yes.

To avoid deleting the PI points for the currently selected notification and in the future,
select No.

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 Configure PI Notifications Service for Buffering

If you are not sure whether you want to delete history PI points, select Defer Decision.
The history PI points for the currently selected notification will not be deleted, and you
will be prompted for a decision the next time you delete notifications.
OSIsoft recommends that you answer Yes to automatically delete history PI points.
Answering No to preserve history PI points might cause you to exceed the number of licensed
PI points on the history PI Server.
You can change this setting at any time by changing the global parameter Delete History
Tags With Notifications on the Global Configuration tab of the Notification Settings dialog
box. See Configure Other Global Parameters (page 141) for details.

Note: To remove PI points for notifications that you deleted before you upgraded to PI
Notifications 2010 R2, contact OSIsoft Technical Support (page 155) for
assistance.

Configure PI Notifications Service for Buffering

If the history PI Server is located on a different computer from PI Notifications Service, we
recommend that you use PI Server buffering (either pibufss or BufServ). If you use buffering,
make PI Notifications Service depend on the buffering service of the history PI Server. The
dependency ensures that PI Notifications Service starts correctly if the history PI Server is
restarted.
If the dependency does not exist, delete PI Notifications Service and recreate it with the
dependency using the Windows command line.
For information on pibufss and BufServ, see the PI Server Buffering Guide.

PI Notifications OCS Relay Service

PI Notifications Office Communication Server (OCS) Relay Service is required for the OCS
delivery channel, which is installed with PI Notifications 2010 R2. The PI Notifications OCS
Relay Service is an intermediary between the OCS delivery channel and Microsoft Office
Communications Server. The OCS Relay Service does the following:

Hosts a Web service that takes requests from the OCS delivery channel in PI
Notifications when a new notification is triggered.

Maintains a connection with the Microsoft Office Communications Server to send
messages.
This separation of responsibility permits more flexible installations and a more robust
security model.
Any Microsoft Office Communications Server client that supports instant messages can
receive notifications. These clients include Microsoft Office Communicator, the
Communicator Web Access Client, and the Office Communicator Mobile client.

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Installation

The PI Notifications OCS Relay Service is available by download from the OSIsoft Technical
Support Web site (http://techsupport.osisoft.com/).

Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS)

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (OCS) is an enterprise level unified

communications solution that integrates with other Microsoft enterprise components. It
supports a rich set of features, including Instant Messaging, presence, conferencing, and
Voice over IP.
OCS uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to manage conversations of all media types. SIP is
a widely supported standard both for endpoints like telephone sets and for IP PBX systems
(Internet Protocol based Private Branch Exchange telephone routing systems). OCS can
interoperate with many of these SIP-enabled devices to varying degrees.
SIP endpoints can be associated with an Active Directory contact. Active Directory contacts
can have several associated SIP endpoints. The determination of where and how to deliver a
message is handled by OCS. A Primary SIP Address is used to uniquely define a contact and
to look up endpoints owned by that contact. The Primary SIP Address is the only attribute
necessary to configure an OCS delivery endpoint in PI Notifications and can be looked up
automatically in Active Directory in most cases.

System Requirements

PI Notifications OCS Relay Service runs solely on the following 64-bit operating systems:

Windows Server 2003 x64 SP2 or later

Windows Server 2008 x64

Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
The OCS Relay Service requires:

Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2

Microsoft Office Communication Server 2007 R2 Administrative Tools. These are
installed separately from OCS.
You can install PI Notifications OCS Relay Service on the same computer as PI Notifications
Service, although this is not required.

Installation

To install the PI Notifications OCS Relay Service:

1. Start the Setup program in the PI Notifications OCS Relay Service Install Kit.
2. When prompted, enter the following information:
Display Name: The name that appears in conversations. The default value is PI
Notifications.

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 PI Notifications OCS Relay Service

SI P Address: The unique address from which the relay sends messages. The default
value is:

☺   
 

where domain.com is the name of the domain where the relay is installed.
You can change these options later using PI Notifications OCS Relay Configuration Utility,
☺               . See Configure PI
Notifications OCS Relay Service (page 133).

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Chapter 9

PI Notifications for Administrators

This chapter describes common tasks for administrators of PI Notifications.

Notification and Contact Security

PI Notifications provides Windows security for notification rules, contact objects (custom
contacts, group contacts, and escalation teams), and for its interactions with AF Server. To
communicate with PI Server, PI Notifications uses the trust login mechanism or Windows
security, which is supported on PI versions 3.4.380 or later.

Security for Active Directory (AD) Contacts

When you install PI Notifications, the program imports information from Active Directory
(AD) and automatically creates individual notification contacts. You cannot delete an AD
contact from PI System Explorer, and you cannot modify security settings for the contact.
You can, however, restrict PI Notifications to a subset of AD user accounts. For example, you
can configure AD properties so that only the AD accounts in a specific user folder are
available in PI Notifications. See Configure the Link to Active Directory (page 129).

Configure the Link to Active Directory

To configure the link to Active Directory:
1. Click Contacts in the navigator panel.
2. On the toolbar, click Tools > Active Directory Properties to open the Active Directory
Properties dialog box.
3. Configure the options as needed.

Note: For information on the options, click F1 to display the online help topic,
Configuring an Active Directory from the PI AF 2010 User's Guide.

Security for Notification Contacts

PI Notifications uses Microsoft Windows security to control access to notification contacts.

For information on Windows security settings required for specific tasks, see Summary of
Permissions for Contacts (page 130).

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Default security settings apply to all new contacts that you create in PI Notifications: custom
contacts, group contacts, and escalation teams. To change default security settings, see Edit
Default Security for Notification Contacts (page 130).
See the following for step-by-step instructions on changing security settings for existing
notification contacts:

Edit Security for a Custom Contact (page 130).

Edit Security for a Group or Escalation team (page 131)
For more information on notification contacts, see PI Notifications help or the PI
Notifications User Guide.

Summary of Permissions for Contacts

The following table describes security settings for contacts that you create in PI Notifications:
Permission Description
Read Can view information on contacts.
Write Can modify contacts.
Delete Can delete contacts.
Admin Can assign privileges to contacts.

Edit Default Security for Notification Contacts

To view and edit default security settings for custom contacts, groups, and escalation teams
that you create in PI Notifications, follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Contacts on the navigator panel.
2. On the top menu, select Tools > Default Notification Security. The Permissions for
Contacts dialog box appears.
3. Change default settings.

Note: Admin access is required to edit contact security. See Summary of

Permissions for Contacts (page 130).

Edit Security for a Custom Contact

To edit security settings for custom individual contacts that you create in PI Notifications,
follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Contacts in the navigator pane.
2. In the browser pane, click the Contacts folder.
3. Search for the contact. For step-by-step instructions on searching, see the PI Notifications
help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
4. Double-click the contact to see its delivery endpoints.

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 Notification and Contact Security

5. Right-click a delivery endpoint and select Security.

The Permissions dialog box for the delivery endpoint appears.
6. Change security settings, and then click OK.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 for other delivery endpoints.

Note: Admin access is required to edit contact security. See Summary of

Permissions for Contacts (page 130).

Edit Security for a Group or Escalation Team

To edit security settings for groups or escalation teams that you create in PI Notifications,
follow these steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Contacts in the navigator pane.
2. In the browser pane, click the Group or Escalation Teams folder.
3. On the browser pane, right-click the name of the group or escalation team and select
Security.
The Permissions dialog box for the contact appears.
4. Change security settings, and then click OK.

Note: Admin access is required to edit contact security. See Summary of

Permissions for Contacts (page 130).

Security for Notification Rules and Templates

For a description of Windows security settings required for specific tasks, see Summary of
Permissions for Notifications (page 131).
Default security settings apply to new notifications and notification templates. To change
default security settings, see Edit Default Security for Notifications (page 132).
To change security settings for existing notifications and templates, see Edit Notification
Security (page 132).
For more information on notification rules and templates, see PI Notifications help or the PI
Notifications User Guide.

Summary of Permissions for Notifications

The following table describes security settings for notifications and notification templates:
Permission Description
Read Can view a notification rule.
Write Can modify settings in the Overview, Trigger, and Message tabs.

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Permission Description
Read Data Can view history on the History tab and in MyPI view.
Write Data Can comment on a notification or acknowledge an instance of a
notification rule.
Subscribe Can subscribe yourself to a notification and customize the
subscription.
SubscribeOther Can subscribe others to a notification and customize their
s subscriptions.
Delete Can delete a notification rule.
Execute Can start, stop or reset a notification rule.
Admin Can assign privileges to notification rules.

Edit Default Notification Security

To edit default security settings for new notification rules and notification templates, follow
these steps:
1. Open Notifications view.
2. On the toolbar, select Tools > Default Notification Security. The Permissions for
Notifications dialog box appears.
3. (Optional) Change default settings. For information on security settings for notifications,
see Summary of Permissions for Notifications (page 131).

Note: To change security settings, you must have Admin access to the notification or
template.

Edit Security for a Notification

Note: Admin access is required to edit notification security. See Summary of

Permissions for Notifications (page 131).

To edit security settings for notifications and notification templates, follow these steps:
1. In the browser pane in Notifications view, click the notification to edit.
2. Right-click the notification and select Security. The Permissions dialog box for the
notification appears.
3. (Optional) Change security settings for the contact. For information on security settings
for contacts, see Summary of Permissions for Notifications (page 131).

AF Database Security

For Write access to a notification rule, you need Write access to both the rule and to the AF
database that contains the rule. See Edit AF Database Security (page 133) for step-by-step
instructions.

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 Configure PI Notifications OCS Relay Service

Edit AF Database Security

To edit AF database security:

1. In PI System Explorer, click on the top toolbar.

The Select Database dialog box appears.
2. Right-click the database name, and select Security > Database.
The Permissions for database-name dialog box appears, where database-name is the
database you selected.
3. Edit the security settings, and then click OK.

Configure PI Notifications OCS Relay Service

Use the PI Notifications Office Communication Server (OCS) Relay Configuration Utility to
configure the OCS Relay Web service and to specify how the relay communicates with OCS.
This utility is located in the directory in which you installed OCS Relay Service. The default
location is:
!"# !

! !""
To start the utility, double-click
☺      
        to display the PI I M
Notification Service Configuration dialog box. The options on this dialog box are described
in the sections that follow.

Note: Reading the configuration requires that the user be a member of the
RTCComponentUniversalServices Active Directory group. Saving changes
requires the user to be a member of the RTCUniversalServerAdmins Active
Directory group. The PI Notifications OCS Relay service must run as a user that is
a member of the RTCComponentUniversalServices group or under the Local
System account.

OCS Provisioning

The options on the OCS Provisioning tab of the PI I M Notification Service Configuration
dialog box specify how the PI Notifications OCS Relay Service communicates with OCS:

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PI Notifications for Administrators

SI P Address: The unique address from which the PI Notifications OCS Relay sends
messages.

Display Name: The name that appears in the user interface for messages sent by the PI
Notifications OCS Relay.

Listening Port: The port that OCS uses to communicate with the Relay Service. This
should be opened on the firewall.

OCS Home Server: The OCS server with which the OCS Relay is associated.

Enable Federated Contacts: Enables the Relay Service to send messages to recipients in
other organizations whose OCS is federated. This must be enabled by OCS as well.

Enable Public I M Contacts: Enables the Relay Service to send messages to recipients
on public IM services. This must be enabled by OCS as well.

Certificate: Identifies the Relay Service to OCS.

Web Service Configuration

The options on the Web Service Configuration tab specify how the OCS Relay Web service
handles requests from the OCS Delivery Channel when a new notification instance is
triggered:

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 Register Custom Delivery Channels

Port: The port that the Web service listens on. The PI Notifications service must
communicate with this port. The port must be open on the firewall.

Protocol: Specifies if encrypted communications should be used.

Certificate: The certificate used to encrypt connections. This is only enabled when you
select encrypted connections.

Register Custom Delivery Channels

By default, each Active Directory (AD) contact in PI Notifications has one delivery endpoint
for the email delivery channel. You can create additional delivery endpoints for all AD
contacts by creating and registering a plug-in for a custom delivery channel. The following
example shows an AD contact with a custom XML delivery endpoint:

For information on how to create and register custom delivery channels, see the PI
Notifications Programmer's Guide.

Note: If your system administrator has configured the OCS delivery channel, then each
AD contact also has one OCS delivery endpoint.

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System-Wide Parameters
Notification rules can be stored in multiple AF databases on the same AF Server. All
notification rules on the AF Server share the following system-wide parameters:

States and state groups: To create and modify alert states and state groups, see
Configure States and State Groups (page 136).

Delivery channels: Each delivery channel has its own global parameters. See Delivery
Channel Configuration (page 137).

Global delivery formats: To create and modify global delivery formats, see Configure
Global Delivery Formats (page 140).
For information on delivery formats, see the PI Notifications help or the PI Notifications
User Guide.

Global configuration: These include the History PI Server, Acknowledgment Web Page,
PI WebParts Server, and other settings. See Configure Global Parameters (page 141).

Configure Alert States and State Groups

Use alert states and state groups to identify conditions and to rank the severity of
conditions. For more information on how to use states and state groups, see the PI
Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
To configure alert states and state groups for all AF databases on AF Server, follow these
steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications on the navigator panel.
2. Click Tools > Notification Settings.
3. Click the State Group Configuration tab.

136
 System-Wide Parameters

4. Configure state group settings as desired:

Add a new group using the New State Group button.
Add a new state using the New State button.
Move states within a group using the up and down arrows.
Rename a group by selecting it and clicking the Edit button.
Change the name, default priority, or group for a state by selecting it and using the
Edit button.
Delete states and groups by selecting them and clicking the Delete button.

Note: If a state is deleted, it can be restored by adding a new state with the same name
as the deleted state.

Delivery Channel Configuration

A delivery channel is the conduit through which notification messages are sent, such as
email. Use the Delivery Channels tab on the Notification Settings dialog box to configure
delivery channels for all AF databases on an AF server:

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For more information on configuring delivery channels, see the sections that follow.

Configure the Email Delivery Channel

To configure the email delivery channel for all AF databases on AF Server, follow these
steps:
1. To start PI System Explorer, click Start > Programs > PI System > PI System
Explorer.
2. Click Notifications on the navigator panel.
3. Click Tools > Notification Settings on the top menu, and then click the Delivery
Channels tab.
4. Right-click Email Delivery Channel and select Settings. The Email Delivery Channel
Configuration dialog box appears:

5. Change the following parameters as needed:

SM TP Server: The fully-qualified domain name of the machine running the SMTP
server.
Port: The listener port of the SMTP Server.
Backup SM TP Server: The fully-qualified domain name of the machine running the
backup SMTP Server.
Port: The listener port of the backup SMTP Server.
Sender Email: The email address from which notification messages will be sent.

138
 System-Wide Parameters

Allow contacts to set sender email: Specifies whether individual contacts can
change the email address from which their notification emails are sent.
Send Timeout: Time allowed for sent emails to be received by the primary SMTP
server before failover to the backup SMTP server occurs.
Backup Fail Back Time: During failover, specifies how long the backup SMTP
server sends email before attempting to fail back to the primary server.

Configure PI Notifications OCS Delivery Channel

To configure the OCS Delivery Channel to communicate with the PI Notifications OCS
Relay Service:
1. Start PI System Explorer: click Start > Programs > PI System > PI System Explorer.
2. Click Notifications on the navigator panel.
3. Click Tools > Notification Settings, and then click the Delivery Channels tab.
4. Right-click OCS Delivery Channel, and click Settings. The OCS Relay Service
Configuration dialog box appears.

5. Configure the primary relay host:

FQDN: The fully-qualified domain name of the computer running the PI
Notifications OCS Relay Service.
Listener Port: The listener port of the PI Notifications OCS Relay Service
Use Encrypted Connection: When selected, specifies that communications between
the PI Notifications and the PI Notifications OCS Relay Service be encrypted.
6. (Optional) To enable a failover relay, select the Configure secondary relay check box
and configure the Secondary Relay Host.
7. If Office Communication Server is configured to block HTML formatting, you should
disable HTML formatting in OCS messages. To do this, clear the Permit HTM L
M essage Encoding check box.

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Note: HTML messages are easier to read and can contain links. However, OCS
blocks HTML messages in its default configuration and some client
applications may not handle HTML. HTML messages can also be disabled in
subscriptions and contacts.

Web Service Delivery Channel

Each delivery endpoint with a Web service delivery channel is autonomous. There are no
global configuration parameters for this delivery channel. This section contains requirements
for Web services used by PI Notifications.
To use this delivery channel you must first obtain a Web service and host it on a Web server
that is available to your PI Notifications Scheduler Service. There are many Web services
commercially available, and many development environments offer templates and other tools
to develop custom Web services.
PI Notifications can call any Web service method available, and can provide any of the
configured standard or custom content, subject to format restrictions. For example, a Web
service might not be able to make use of an attached file. When configuring a subscription
that calls a Web service, you can specify the Web service URL, the Web service method to
call, and the Web service method parameters. When a notification is triggered, the Web
service is called.

Configure Global Delivery Formats

A delivery format defines the content, appearance, and delivery channel of the message that
is sent with a notification. OSIsoft provides global delivery formats that specify default
message content for each delivery channel. You can change the default formats and add
additional global formats if needed.
To configure global delivery formats for all AF databases on an AF server, follow these
steps:
1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications in the navigator panel.
2. On the top menu, click Tools > Notification Settings. The Notification Settings dialog
box appears.
3. Click the Delivery Formats tab. You see the same interface as for the M essage tab,
except that the global default delivery channels can be edited:

140
 System-Wide Parameters

4. Use the same procedures to create and edit global delivery formats as for other delivery
formats. When finished, click OK.

Note: For details on how to create and edit delivery formats, see the PI Notifications
help or the PI Notifications User Guide.

Configure Other Global Parameters

To configure other global parameters:

1. I n Notifications view, click Tools > Notification Settings.
2. Click the Global Configuration tab. The Notification Settings dialog box appears.
3. Click the Global Configuration tab:

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PI Notifications for Administrators

4. Change parameters as needed, and then click OK.

The following table describes the parameters:
Parameter Description
Message for Closed Notification Text of the alert-specific content that is included in the message
that is sent when a notification closes. Applies solely to
formatted notifications. Default text is Notification is closed.
For information on alert-specific content, see the PI
Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
Delete History PI Points With When True, PI points that store notification history (history PI
Notifications points) are automatically deleted when you delete a notification.
When False, history PI points are not deleted.
When blank, you are prompted about deleting history PI points
each time you delete notifications.
These selections correspond to the Yes, No, and Defer
Decision selections on the dialog box that appears the first
time you delete a notification after upgrading to PI Notifications
2010 R2. See Delete History PI Points with Notifications (page
124).

Note: If you choose not to delete PI

points for notifications and later
want to delete them, contact
OSIsoft Technical Support (page
155) for assistance.

142
 System-Wide Parameters

Parameter Description
Timestamp Display Format Specifies the format of timestamps that appear in formatted
notification messages. When blank, timestamps appear in the
format used by PI Notifications Service. To change this, enter a
string that specifies the desired format. For example:
 $ %%%$ "&&"''
For the format of this string, see the information on
PITimeFormat objects in the PI SDK help.
Always Run Notification Service When True, PI Notifications Service will run as 32-bit on a 64-
as 32-bit bit machine. Set to True if your system has custom delivery
channels that are 32-bit.
Use Delivery Formats by Default When False, formatted delivery formats are disabled, and only
nonformatted content can be created in notification messages.
True is the default.
For information on formatted and nonformatted notifications,
see the PI Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
ValidateAcknowledgmentUser When True, the acknowledgment Web page needs to validate
that the login user is the recipient of the notification event. This
option is not supported in this release.
PI Server for History Storage Specifies the PI Server that stores the notification history and
email configuration information for email notifications (called the
history PI Server or history server). The history of all notification
rules for an AF Server is stored in the same history PI Server,
regardless of which AF databases contain the rules.
Note: Be very careful when you modify this parameter,
because you need to migrate the history from the current PI
Server to the new one.
Acknowledgment Web Page The Acknowledgment Link in a notification message points to
the link specified here.
PI WebParts Server The link to the PI WebParts installation to use for instant PI
WebParts trends.
Show Active Directory Groups When True, you can subscribe Active Directory (AD) groups,
as well as individual AD contacts, to a notification.
For information on formatted and nonformatted notifications,
see the information on notification contacts in the PI
Notifications help or the PI Notifications User Guide.
Days in History Cache Amount of notification history that is stored in the History
Provider. See Notification History (page 145) for details.

View PI Notifications Service Summary

To view if the PI Notifications Service is running:

1. In PI System Explorer, click Notifications on the navigator panel.
2. Click Tools > Notification Settings on the top menu. The Notification Settings dialog
box appears.
3. Click the Service tab. For example:

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Manage PI Notifications Service

PI Notifications Service consists of the following:

PI AnalyticsScheduler.exe: A Windows service application that determines whether to
run the PI Notifications Service as 32-bit or 64-bit and spawns the corresponding
PINotificationsManager.

PI NotificationsM anager.exe is responsible for communicating with all PI Notifications
applications, including the history provider, processor, and other instances of
PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.

PI NotificationsHistoryProvider.exe provides faster retrieval of notifications history.

PI AnalyticsProcessor.exe is a host application that runs the notification rules, processes
their events in real time, and executes the tasks requested by the PINotificationsManager.
To start the Windows service application, click Control Panel > Administrative Tools >
Services, or type the following at the command prompt:

""☺(
 &"
The PI Notifications Service does not necessarily need to run on the same machine that is
running the AF server, PI Server, or client applications. Only one instance of the PI
Notifications Service can run on a single machine at any one time.
Multiple service instances can be started simultaneously on multiple machines to process
notifications on one AF server, each configured to run notification rules on an arbitrary
number of AF databases.
A single instance can run notification rules within an arbitrary number of databases on the
same AF server; the Windows service automatically spawns as many instances of the
processor as required to run the notification rules. If you configure multiple instances to run
the same database, only one of the instances runs the notification rules in the database; the
other instances are in backup mode.

Note: Because the PI Notifications Service uses the Windows Communication Service
and Windows security for authentication and authorization, it is important to
configure the Windows service to run under a domain account.

144
 Manage PI Notifications Service

For information on customizing PI Notifications Service, see the sections that follow.

Service Account

If PI Notifications Service runs on a different machine from that for the AF Service, you
should configure PI Notifications Service to run under a domain account. If PI Notifications
Service runs on the same machine, you can configure it to run under the LocalSystem
account.
The account under which the PI Notifications service runs should have Read, Write, and
Execute rights to all the notification rules it is configured to run.

Notification History

PI Notifications Service records the following notification activity on the history PI Server
(history server):

Entering a notification state.

Exiting a notification state.

Resetting a notification state.

Sending a notification event to a subscriber.

Error encountered when sending a notification to a subscriber

Acknowledging a notification (manually or with an automatic acknowledgment).

Commenting on a notification instance.
For more information on notification history, see the sections that follow.

Security Settings for the History Server

PIAnalytics Processor uses PI API to write notification history events to the history server.
Use a PI Trust to connect to PI API. For example, the following trust allows
PIAnalyticsProcessor to connect as the PI User PIAnalyticsUser:
)"*"☺( (☺"
(

"*"
+"
☺("*"☺"(""&"
",&"☺"   
"
- " " 
%."*"/00/00/00/00"
☺"*"☺( "
PI AnalyticsProcessor uses PI SDK to create PI points for new notifications and to retrieve
archived values. PI NotificationsHistoryProvider uses PI SDK to retrieve archived values.
The following table summarizes the required permissions to perform these tasks:
PIAnalyticsProcessor Create and edit PI points
PINotificationsHistoryProvider Read data values of PI points

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Note: We strongly recommend that you use Windows authentication for PI SDK
connections. Windows authentication is available for PI Server 3.4.380 and later.

If you cannot use Windows authentication, configure a PI Trust. The following are sample
trust entries that allow PIAnalyticsProcessor and PINotificationsHistoryProvider to connect
as the PI User PIAnalyticsUser.
PIAnalyticsProcessor:
)"*"☺( 12"
(

"*"☺(  "

☺("*"☺"(""&"
",&"☺"   
"
- "
%."*"/00/00/00/00"
☺"*"☺( "
PINotificationHistoryProvider:
)"*"☺   3 - 12"
(

"*"☺   3 -  "

☺("*"☺"(""&"
",&"☺"   
"
- "
%."*"/00/00/00/00"
☺"*"☺( "
For details on PI Server authentication and access permissions, see Configuring PI Server
Security, which is available by download from the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site.

Cache for PI Notifications History Provider

To allow faster retrieval of notification history, PI NotificationsHistoryProvider caches the
history for the period specified by the global parameter PI Server for History Storage. See
Configure Global Parameters (page 141) for details.

Customize PI Notifications Service

You can customize PIAnalyticsScheduler, PINotificationsManager, and PIAnalyticsProcessor

by editing the configuration files PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config,
PINotificationsManager.exe.config, and PIAnalyticsProcessor.exe.config, respectively.

Edit PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config
The relevant portion of the PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe configuration file and a table of
configurable parameters are shown.
45 "- *6786" *6$96"5:"
4  :"
""4( ""
"""")*6-6"
""""), &*6+;< ;☺ 
6"
""""=:"
4=  :"

146
 Manage PI Notifications Service

Configurable Parameter Description

TargetSystem The AF server whose notifications this service instance runs. If
not specified, default to the default AF server configured on the
machine.
TraceSwitch The type of messages to be logged. The default is “+; "
<  ; "☺   ” and the valid trace switches are
, +, <   , ☺   ,  , 1 ,
1 , and (:
None: No message is logged.
Error: Error messages are logged.
Warning: Warning messages are logged.
Information: Information messages are logged. Information
messages include starting/stopping/changing notification
rules, service startup, shutdown, and so on.
Summary: Summary messages are logged. Summary
messages include entering/leaving method. This may be
useful when troubleshooting an expected behavior.
Detail: Detail messages provide more detail within a method,
especially when calling methods outside of PI Notifications.
Data: Logs the messages related to the variable values.
All: Logs all message types.

Edit PINotificationsManager.exe.config
The relevant portion of the configuration file for PINotificationsManager.exe and a table of
configurable parameters are shown.
45 "- *78" *$9"5:"
4  :"
"""4( "
"""""")1>* 6;")"
""""""), &*+;< ;☺ "
"""""")*0?09"
""""""# -) *887888=:"
"""4- %:"
""""""4>  :"
"""""""""4)
@  :"
""""""""""""4>  "*☺( )
"
"""""""""""""""""""""  *78888"
"""""""""""""""""""""
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"""""""""""""""""""""
) *888788"
""""""""""""""""""""" -) *887888"
""""""""""""""""""""") *888788:"
""""""""""""4=>  :"
"""""""""4=)
@  :"
""""""4=>  :"
"""4=- %:"
4=  :"

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PI Notifications for Administrators

Configurable Parameter Description

TargetDatabases A list of AF databases separated by comma, within the AF
server, whose notifications this service instance runs. The
default is “” which implies all of the databases on the AF
server.
TraceSwitch The type of messages to be logged. The default is “+; "
<  ; "☺   ” and the valid trace switches are
, +, <   , ☺   ,  , 1 ,
1 , and (:
None: No message is logged.
Error: Error messages are logged.
Warning: Warning messages are logged.
Information: Information messages are logged. Information
messages include starting/stopping/changing notification
rules, service startup, shutdown, and so on.
Summary: Summary messages are logged. Summary
messages include entering/leaving method. This may be
useful when troubleshooting an expected behavior.
Detail: Detail messages provide more detail within a method,
especially when calling methods outside of PI Notifications.
Data: Logs the messages related to the variable values.
All: Logs all message types.
TCPPort The TCP port number to be used for communication. The
default is 5458.
FailoverTime If the primary service instance shuts down ungracefully, the
backup service instance would retry and wait until this
specified amount before promoting itself to be the new primary.
This parameter does not affect the graceful shutdown in which
the primary service instance informs the backup service
instance that it is shutting down and the backup service
instance promotes itself immediately. The default is 10
minutes.
CanBePrimary Determines if this service instance can become a primary
service. It defaults to True.
openTimeout A TimeSpan value that specifies the interval of time provided
for an open operation to complete. The default is one minute.
portSharingEnabled A Boolean value that specifies whether TCP port sharing is
enabled for this connection. If this is false, each binding uses
its own exclusive port. If this is true, make sure that the
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service is enabled and started. The
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service is disabled by default.
PIAnalyticsScheduler can only share a port with an application
that uses the WCF tcp based protocol. For example, it can
share a port with AF server but not PI Server.
receiveTimeout A TimeSpan value that specifies the interval of time provided
for a receive operation to complete. The default is 00:10:00.
sendTimeout A TimeSpan value that specifies the interval of time provided
for a send operation to complete. The default is 00:01:00.

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 Manage PI Notifications Service

Edit PIAnalyticsProcessor.exe.config
The only configurable parameter for PIAnalyticsProcessor is ), &
45 "- *6786" *6$96
"5:"
4  :"
"""4

 :"
""""""4".*6), &6"-*6
+;<
;
☺ 
6=:"
"""4=

 :"
4=  :"
The possible parameters are as described for PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config.

Set up Redundant Service Instances

PI Notifications Service is designed to provide redundancy:

If an instance of PIAnalyticsProcessor crashes for any reason, PINotificationsManager
immediately starts another instance of PIAnalyticsProcessor running the same
notification rules.

If you configure more than one instance of the PI Notifications Service to run the
notification rules in the same AF database, only one instance runs the notification rules.
When the instance running the notification rules goes away gracefully, a backup starts the
notification rules immediately. When the instance goes away ungracefully (that is, it
crashes), a backup starts the notification rules when # -) "expires.

Note: All instances of PI Notifications Services that connect to the same AF server must
be running the same version of PI Notifications Services.

Some Common Service Deployment Scenarios

Several common deployment scenarios can be configured using

PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config, PINotificationsManager.exe.config, and
PIAnalyticsProcessor.exe.config:

High availability (page 149)

Development or test environments (page 150)

Security isolation (page 151)

High Availability
You want to configure redundant PI Notifications services to provide a high level of quality
of service. You would need to determine the number of instances you would like to run. Once
you have PI Notifications installed on these machines, you would specify the same
TargetSystem in PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config and the same TargetDatabases in
PINotificationsManager.exe.config for all instances. For example, the PI Notifications service
runs the notifications configured in AFDatabases Production and Engineering on the AF
server Fender. The example PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe.config changes are shown.

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PI Notifications for Administrators

45 "- *6786" *6$96"5:"

4  :"
""4( ""
"""")*6#6"
""""), &*6+;< ;☺ 
6"
""""=:"
4=  :"
The example PINotificationsManager.exe.config is as follows.
45 "- *6786" *6$96"5:"
4  :"
"""4( "
"""""")1>*6 ;"+  6"
""""""), &*6+;< ;☺ 6"
"""""")*60?096"
""""""# -) *68878886=:"
"""4- %:"
""""""4>  :"
"""""""""4)
@  :"
""""""""""""4>  "*6☺( )6"
"""""""""""""""""""""  *6788886"
"""""""""""""""""""""
& +>*66"
"""""""""""""""""""""
) *68887886"
""""""""""""""""""""" -) *68878886"
""""""""""""""""""""") *68887886:"
""""""""""""4=>  :"
"""""""""4=)
@  :"
""""""4=>  :"
"""4=- %:"
4=  :"

Development or Test Environments

In many situations, you want to develop, debug, and test a notification rule before you want
to deploy it to the production database. You want to have no impact on the existing PI
Notifications service operations. In this case, you want to create a separate AF Database
where you can create your test notification rule(s). Suppose your test database is
Development. You simply specify the TargetDatabases in PINotificationsManager.exe.config
to be Development for your instance of the PI Notification Service as follows.
45 "- *6786" *6$96"5:"
4  :"
"""4( "
"""""")1>*61-
6"
""""""), &*6+;< ;☺ 6"
"""""")*60?096"
""""""# -) *68878886=:"
"""4- %:"
""""""4>  :"
"""""""""4)
@  :"
""""""""""""4>  "*6☺( )6"
"""""""""""""""""""""  *6788886"
"""""""""""""""""""""
& +>*66"
"""""""""""""""""""""
) *68887886"
""""""""""""""""""""" -) *68878886"

150
 Manage PI Notifications Service

""""""""""""""""""""") *6
888
78
86:"
""""""""""""4=>  :"
"""""""""4=)
@  :"
""""""4=>  :"
"""4=- %:"
4=  :"
You can stop and start your test notification rule and/or your service instance at will without
affecting the current operations.

Security Isolation
Notification rules might have different security requirements and in some cases, you may not
want or it may not be possible to run all of them from one machine. In this case, you want to
separate the notification rules with different security requirements into separate AF databases.
You configure different instances to run them according to their different security needs.

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Appendix A

Migrate to PI Notifications
PI Notifications unifies all existing alarm, alert, and notification packages and expands
functionalities significantly. However, you can choose to run PI Notifications and other tools
in parallel and migrate according to your own needs.
In this release, PI Notifications allows you to migrate from the following products:

RtAlerts: RtAlerts will be continuously supported. There is a migration tool to convert
all RtAlerts rules to notifications within PI Notifications. The Web configuration
interface is replaced by the PI System Explorer.

PI Alarm/PI SQC Alarm: PI Alarm will be continuously supported. There is a
migration tool to convert all alarm configurations to notifications within PI Notifications.
PI SQC Alarm (also known as PI RtSQC) will be continuously supported. There is a
migration tool to convert all SQC alarm configurations to notifications within PI
Notifications. These notifications will be viewable within the PI System Explorer.
However, the PI SQC Alarm Add-In to ProcessBook cannot view these notifications.

PI AlarmView: PI AlarmView will be continuously supported. The basic functionality of
AlarmView is covered in PI System Explorer within the view of notifications in MyPI.
These functionalities include acknowledgment and adding comments.
See the document Migrate to PI Notifications, available from the OSIsoft Technical Support
site, for information on using the migration tool.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 153

Appendix B

Technical Support and Resources

You can read complete information about technical support options, and access all of the
following resources at the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site:
http://techsupport.osisoft.com
For information on programming and integration with OSIsoft products see the OSIsoft
vCampus Web site, or the OSIsoft vCampus section at the end of this document.

Before You Call or Write for Help

When you contact OSIsoft Technical Support, please provide:

Product name, version, and/or build numbers

Computer platform (CPU type, operating system, and version number)

The time that the difficulty started

The log files at that time

Help Desk and Telephone Support

You can contact OSIsoft Technical Support 24 hours a day. Use the numbers in the table
below to find the most appropriate number for your area. Dialing any of these numbers will
route your call into our global support queue to be answered by engineers stationed around
the world.
Office Location Access Number Local Language Options
San Leandro, CA, USA 1 510 297 5828 English
Philadelphia, PA, USA 1 215 606 0705 English
Johnson City, TN, USA 1 423 610 3800 English
Montreal, QC, Canada 1 514 493 0663 English, French
Sao Paulo, Brazil 55 11 3053 5040 English, Portuguese
Frankfurt, Germany 49 6047 989 333 English, German
Manama, Bahrain 973 1758 4429 English, Arabic
Singapore 65 6391 1811 English, Mandarin
86 021 2327 8686 Mandarin
Perth, WA, Australia 61 8 9282 9220 English

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Technical Support and Resources

Support may be provided in languages other than English in certain centers (listed above)
based on availability of attendants. If you select a local language option, we will make best
efforts to connect you with an available Technical Support Engineer (TSE) with that language
skill. If no local language TSE is available to assist you, you will be routed to the first
available attendant.
If all available TSEs are busy assisting other customers when you call, you will be prompted
to remain on the line to wait for the next available TSE or else leave a voicemail message. If
you choose to leave a message, you will not lose your place in the queue. Your voicemail will
be treated as a regular phone call and will be directed to the first TSE who becomes available.
If you are calling about an ongoing case, be sure to reference your case number when you call
so we can connect you to the engineer currently assigned to your case. If that engineer is not
available, another engineer will attempt to assist you.

Search Support

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click Search Support.
Quickly and easily search the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site's support solutions,
documentation, and support bulletins using the advanced MS SharePoint search engine.

E-Mail–Based Technical Support

[email protected]
When contacting OSIsoft Technical Support by e-mail, it is helpful to send the following
information:

Description of issue: Short description of issue, symptoms, informational or error
messages, history of issue.

Log files: See the product documentation for information on obtaining logs pertinent to
the situation.

Online Technical Support

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click M y Support > M y Calls.
Using OSIsoft's Online Technical Support, you can:

Enter a new call directly into OSIsoft's database (monitored 24 hours a day)

View or edit existing OSIsoft calls that you entered

View any of the calls entered by your organization or site, if enabled

See your licensed software and dates of your Service Reliance Program agreements

156
 Manage PI Notifications Service

Remote Access

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click Contact Us > Remote Support
Options.
OSIsoft Support Engineers may remotely access your server in order to provide hands-on
troubleshooting and assistance. See the Remote Support Options page for details on the
various methods you can use.

On-Site Service

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click Contact Us > On-site Field Service
Visit.
OSIsoft provides on-site service for a fee. Visit our On-site Field Service Visit page for more
information.

Knowledge Center

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click Knowledge Center.
The Knowledge Center provides a searchable library of documentation and technical data, as
well as a special collection of resources for system managers. For these options, click
Knowledge Center on the Technical Support Web site.

The Search Support feature allows you to search Support Solutions, Bulletins, Support
Pages, Known Issues, Enhancements, and Documentation (including user manuals,
release notes, and white papers).

System Manager Resources include tools and instructions that help you manage archive
sizing, backup scripts, daily health checks, daylight saving time configuration, PI Server
security, PI System sizing and configuration, PI trusts for interface nodes, and more.

Upgrades

From the OSIsoft Technical Support Web site, click Contact Us > Obtaining Upgrades.
You are eligible to download or order any available version of a product for which you have
an active Service Reliance Program (SRP), formerly known as Tech Support Agreement
(TSA). To verify or change your SRP status, contact your Sales Representative or Technical
Support (http://techsupport.osisoft.com/) for assistance.

OSIsoft Virtual Campus (vCampus)

The OSIsoft Virtual Campus (vCampus) Web site offers a community-oriented program that
focuses on PI System development and integration. The Web site's annual online
subscriptions provide customers with software downloads, resources that include a personal
development PI System, online library, technical webinars, online training, and community-
oriented features such as blogs and discussion forums.

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 157

Technical Support and Resources

OSIsoft vCampus is intended to facilitate and encourage communication around PI

programming and integration between OSIsoft partners, customers and employees. See the
OSIsoft vCampus Web site, http://vCampus.osisoft.com (http://vCampus.osisoft.com) or
contact the OSIsoft vCampus team at [email protected] for more information.

158
Index

A C
acknowledgment categories
definition of • 4 creating in Library view • 83
in MyPI view • 93 creating while editing a notification • 83
of a notification instance • 92, 93 definition of • 82
procedure for • 93 Check In • 12
providing automatic acknowledgment • 63 Clock (setting for time true) • 38
requiring manual acknowledgment • 70 comments on notifications
security settings required for • 131 adding acknowledgment link to notification • 46
troubleshooting • 103, 104 permissions required for • 131
Acknowledgment Web Page troubleshooting • 104
adding link to notification message • 46 viewing in MyPI • 94
changing location of • 141 with acknowledgment • 93
installing • 122 without acknowledgement • 94
Active Directory (AD) comparison condition
and notification group contacts • 17 as part of And condition • 34
configuring link to • 129 as part of Or condition • 35
default delivery endpoints for AD contacts • 14 comparison operators in • 30
security settings for contacts • 129 definition of • 29
setting for AD group subscriptions • 141 example of • 26, 27
viewing members of AD group • 18 rate operators in • 31
administrative tasks step operators in • 30
configuring system-wide parameters • 136 components of PI Notifications • 115
managing PI Notifications Service • 144 conditions. See Also triggers.
managing security • 129 advanced options for • 37
registering custom delivery channels • 135 And • 34
advanced options for notification conditions • 37 comparison • 29
AF database Or • 35
editing security settings • 133 Performance Equation • 32, 33
refreshing • 12 precedence in notification rules • 40
security • 132 Priority setting • 40
alert states and state groups SQC • 36
creating and editing • 136 State and State Group settings • 39
definition of • 39 Time True settings in • 38
interaction with trigger options • 42 constant value (nonformatted notifications) • 87
not exported • 79 Contact Options settings • 22
archiving notification activity • 145 contacts
asset • 4 Active Directory (AD) link • 129
attribute adding custom delivery endpoint to • 14
definition of • 4 configuring • 14, 15
required input for comparison condition • 29 custom (non-AD) • 14
definition of • 4
B escalation team • 19, 20
group contact • 17, 18
browser pane (PI System Explorer)
individual contact • 14
definition of • 9
searching for • 16

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 159

Index

security settings for • 130 options for Office Communication Server (OCS)
Contacts palette • 63 • 23
Contacts view (PI System Explorer) • 11 options for Web service • 24
Content pane standalone • 20
custom content for • 52 subscribing to notification rule • 67, 70
definition of • 45 delivery format
in nonformatted content • 85 adding content to message specified by • 45
content. See Also delivery formats, custom content, changing delivery channel of • 59
notification messages creating • 57
adding to notifcation message • 45 customizing in subscriptions • 71, 72
configuring on Content pane • 52 definition of • 45
customizing for groups or escalation teams • 71 deleting • 58
customizing for individual subscribers • 67 example • 49, 50
definition of • 4 global defaults for • 140
example • 49, 50 inherited in subscriptions • 63, 64
formatting or editing of • 46 renaming • 58
indication that notification is closed • 46 setting default for a notification • 58
nonformatted • 85 Desktop Alert • 95
sending to multiple subscribers • 72
custom (non-AD) contact E
configuration • 15 element
deifnition • 14 definition of • 4
custom content. See Also standard content, Content in notification trigger • 26
pane.
element template
configuring a file • 54
definition • 4
configuring a file link • 55
in notification trigger • 74
configuring a PI WebParts link • 53
email delivery channel
configuring a Web link • 54
configuring global settings for • 138
configuring an RtReports link • 56
options for delivery endpoints • 22
configuring reference data attributes • 56
escalation team
definition of • 52
creating • 20
custom delivery endpoint
definition of • 4, 19
adding to a custom or AD contact • 14
subscribing to notification rule • 69
definition of • 14
subscription options • 19
D
F
default security
file
editing settings for contacts • 130
adding file link to notification message • 46
editing settings for notifications • 132
adding file link to the Content pane • 55
for contacts • 129
adding file to the Conent pane • 54
for notification rules • 131
attaching to a notification message • 46
delivery endpoint
formatted content. See content. • 45
contact options for (all delivery channels) • 22
customizing delivery settings in subscriptions •
G
73
definition of • 22 global delivery format
in escalation teams • 19 configuring • 140
in group contacts • 17 definition of • 57
in individual contacts • 14 glossary • 4
options for email • 22 group contact

160
 creating • 18 adding to notification message • 46
definition of • 17 purpose of • 45
differences from AD groups • 17
subscribing to notification rule • 68 M
subscription options • 17 message logs • 109
migrating to PI Notifications from existing products •
H 153
high availability • 149 model • 4
deployment of • 149 MyPI Alert. See PI Notifications Desktop Alert • 95
effect of upgrades on • 123 MyPI view (PI System Explorer) • 4, 89
setting up redundant service instances for • 149
history of notification activity N
cache for faster retrieval of • 146 Natural (setting for time rule) • 41
permissions required for viewing • 131 Natural (setting for time true) • 38
PI Server required for storage of • 117 navigator panel (PI System Explorer) • 9
troubleshooting • 107 nonformatted content
viewing in MyPI • 89 conversion to formatted content • 87
viewing in PI Notifications Desktop Alert • 95 definition of • 85
history PI Server providing explanatory text in • 87
activities recorded by • 145 standard content in • 86
definition of • 117 notification instance
global parameter for caching • 141 acknowledging • 93
PI point licensing requirements • 117 definition of • 4
security settings for • 145 history of • 91
requiring acknowledgment of • 70
I sending reminder messages when open • 42
icons sorting in MyPI • 92
for changes to contacts • 21 troubleshooting • 104
for changes to notifications • 77 viewing • 90, 91
individual contact notification message. See Also delivery formats,
Active Directory (AD) and custom • 15 content
customizing notification message of • 71 adding content to • 45, 46
customizing subscription options • 73 creating delivery formats for • 57
definition of • 14 default formatted content • 57
subscribing to notification rule • 67 example • 49, 50, 51, 64
subscription options • 22 formatted • 45
inherited delivery format • 63, 64 nonformatted • 85
installation. See Also upgrading PI Notifications notification rule
common scenarios • 117 categories for • 82
of OCS Relay Service • 125 content of • 45
of PI Notifications client • 119 creating from template • 75
of PI Notifications Service • 120 debug • 110
of PI Notifications Service and Acknowledgment definition • 4
Page • 122 deployment of • 79
OSIsoft Prerequisites for • 116 example • 27
switching to run as 64-bit process • 124 export • 79
system requirements for • 115 importing • 81
troubleshooting • 109 organizing display of • 84
Instant PI WebParts trend performance counters • 110

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 161

Index

resetting • 79 menu commands • 97

security • 131 receiving • 95
starting • 78 starting • 95
status of • 84 PI Notifications Service
stopping • 78 archiving notification activity by • 145
subscriptions to • 63 configuring trusts for • 146
template for • 73 customizing • 146
trigger for • 26 deploying in development environments • 150
troubleshooting • 99, 103 high availability • 149
viewing summary of • 92 installation of • 120, 122
notification template security isolation for • 151
automatically creating rules from • 74 service account setup for • 145
creating from existing notification rule • 75 setting up redundant instances of • 149
customized content in • 73 viewing status of • 143
definition of • 26 PI SQC Alarm • 153
differences from notification rule • 73 PI System Explorer
manually creating rules from • 74 components • 9
startup options for • 74 icons for changes to contacts • 21
trigger for • 74 icons for changes to notifiications • 77
Notifications view (PI System Explorer) • 11 starting • 9
PIAnalyticsProcessor.exe • 144, 149
O PIAnalyticsScheduler.exe • 144, 146
Office Communication Server (OCS) delivery PINotificationsHistoryProvider.exe • 144
channel PINotificationsManager.exe • 144, 147
global settings of • 139 Priority (advanced setting for conditions) • 40
options for delivery endpoints • 23
PI Notifications OCS Relay Service required for R
• 125 reference data
Office Communication Server (OCS) Relay Service definition of • 45
configuring provisioning • 133 RtAlerts • 153
configuring Web service • 134
description of Microsoft Office Communication S
Server (OCS) • 126
installation of • 126 security
system requirements • 126 default security for contacts • 129, 130
default security for notifications • 131, 132
P for Active Directory (AD) contacts • 129
for non-AD contacts • 129, 130
palette • 9 for PI Analytics Processor • 145
Periodic (setting for time rule) • 41 for PI Notifications History Provider • 145
PI Alarm • 153 of AF databases • 132
PI AlarmView • 153 permissions for contacts • 130
PI Clients permissions for notification rules • 131
interaction with • 6 troubleshooting • 107
PI Notications History Provider standalone delivery endpoint
cache parameter • 141 creating • 21
description of • 146 customizing notification message for • 71
purpose of cache • 146 customizing subscription options • 73
security settings for • 145 definition of • 13
PI Notifications Desktop Alerts purpose of • 20
configuring • 95 subscribing to notification rule • 70

162
standard content • 60 V
status of a notification rule • 84
viewer pane
subscription
definition of • 9
acknowledging • 93
customizing delivery options for individual
W
subscribers • 73
customizing escalation options • 69 delivery channel. See Also email delivery channel;
customizing message content in. See Also OCS delivery channel
delivery formats. • 71 custom delivery channels • 22, 135
definition of • 4 definition of • 4
example • 63 Web Service delivery channel
inherited delivery formats • 63, 64 options for contacts • 24
specifying same message for multiple • 72 requirements for • 140
subscribing • 67, 68, 69, 70
unsubscribe • 73
subscriptions tree • 63

T
table
available for formatted notifications • 46
creating in message • 48
target element
configuring in trigger • 28
definition of • 26
target element template • 73
text
adding to nonformatted content • 87
examples in formatted messages • 49, 50
time rule
as part of notification trigger • 26
definition of • 26, 41
effect on Time True Options setting • 41
Natural setting for • 41
Periodic setting for • 41
Time true
definition of • 38
effect of Natural time rule setting on • 41
trigger
conditions of • 26, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37
configuring • 28
definition of • 25
example • 26, 27
Options settings • 42
overview of settings for • 26
Time Rule setting • 41

U
upgrading PI Notifications • 123

PI Notifications 2010 R2 User Guide 163