# Alarm XML file elements

## XML Declaration

An exported XML file begins with an XML declaration, containing the XML version and the encoding information.

An XML declaration is one of the following:

- <xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8 ?>
- <xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16 ?>

An XML declaration is optional for an import file.

If you are creating XML documents in Notepad, the files can be saved in UTF-8 or UTF-16 file format. (Notepad's Unicode file type corresponds to UTF-16 file format.) For files containing strings in English or other Latin-based languages, UTF-8 is recommended, to reduce the size of the xml file. For other foreign languages such as Chinese. Japanese or Korean, UTF-16 is recommended.

## XML elements and attributes

In the following definitions, objects in braces <> indicate a data type such as string, int, float, and others.

Objects separated by | indicate the possible values for the attribute, only one of which is allowed.

## Alarms element

The alarms element contains all attributes and elements in the XML file.

Alarms element attributes include the following:

- version = <float>
- id = <string> - optional
- product = <string> - optional

## Alarm element

The alarm element must be contained within the alarms element. The alarm element corresponds to the Advanced tab of the ME Alarm Setup editor. The Triggers element and the Messages element are nested within the alarm element.

Alarm element attributes include the following:

- history-size = <int> (1 to 10000)
- display-name = <string>
- hold-time = 50 | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 2000 | 3000 | 4000 | 5000
- max-update-rate = 0.05 | 0.1 | .025 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 60 | 120
- silence-tag = <tag>
- remote-silence-exp = <tag or expression>
- remote-ack-all-exp = <tag or expression>
- status-reset-tag = <tag>
- remote-status-reset-exp = <tag or expression>
- close-display-tag = <tag>
- remote-close-display-exp = <tag or expression>
- use-alarm-identifier = true | false

## Triggers element

The triggers element must be contained within the alarms element and within the alarm element. The triggers element corresponds to the Triggers tab of the Alarm Setup editor. The "triggers" element will contain multiple "trigger" elements whose attributes define each trigger.

Trigger element attributes include the following:

- id = <string>
- exp = <tag or expression>
- type = value | bit | lsbit
- label = <string> - this string cannot include a comma
- use-ack-all = true | false
- ack-all-value = <int> (-2147483648 to 2147483647)
- handshake-tag = <tag>
- ack-tag = <tag>
- remote-ack-exp = <tag or expression>
- remote-ack-handshake-tag = <tag>
- message-tag = <tag>
- message-notification-tag = <tag>
- message-handshake-exp = <tag or expression>

## Messages element

The messages element must be contained within the alarms element and within the alarm element. This element corresponds to the Messages tab of the Alarm Setup editor.

Messages element attributes include the following:

- id = <string> - optional
- trigger-value = <int> (-2147483648 to 2147483647)
- identifier = <int> (0 to - 32767)
- trigger = #<T> | all | "" - enter a # character followed by the ID number of the trigger that is triggering the message. OR all to use the <AllTriggers>, OR "" to indicate <Unassigned>.
- backcolor = <color> - enter a # character followed by the RRGGBB value of the color.
- forecolor = <color> - enter a # character followed by the RRGGBB value of the color.
- audio = true | false
- display = true | false
- print = true | false
- message-to-tag = true | false
- text = <string>

## See also

Alarm Import Export Wizard

Set up the alarm display

Set up alarm triggers

Options on the Message tab of the Alarm Setup editor