Print the alarms and events to a file in Lookout

[23r23]

This has been banging here for a while, I have done many things, but still I can not get it. Any help is welcome.

There is a Lookout 6.0.2 system (there are 17 more working just fine), that does not print to file the alarms and events. I have created, deleted, attached and unattached a new database in lookout, and in MAX (several times). I have check all those details, like the right computer name, letter by letter, the database path, make sure that in Max and in lookout the database is the same, in the same place, checked the alarms and events settings, etc. Even, lookout was fully un-installed and reinstalled (licensing included). There is no way yet for this system to print the alarms and events to a file, it does create the file event.csv, but it is empty. The path is simple and short: C:\Data\events.csv.

I have been asking for this issue about a year ago without a good 'suggestion' that works. I'm now closing the project but this problem, in this unique system, is out of control.

Anyone could give me some more 'tips'?

[Ryan.S]

Are those alarms and events logged into database?

You can view them in MAX.

[23r23]

YES, almost 100% sure because when the alarm windows is open, it shows the alarms in red, blue, or black colors, and the events in green. Actually, the system operator does not care about it many times: rather to investigate, usually what happens is I got a call next day. This is one of the reasons of why it is important for us to print the events to a file, and a good example of its usage.

In the other hand, I have buttons that create events. One of the ways I do for testing is to click on those buttons several times, then I click on File\Print\Alarms & Events... for to check what is in the event file (it has to contain the new clickings I did before).

I forgot to mention this in the first posting.

Any other ideas?

[Ryan.S]

Can you successfully print the alarms&events to a file in MAX?

This can be a workaround right now.

[23r23]

I didn't check that way, How can I check that?

[Ryan.S]

MAX->Historical Data->database->Alarm/events view->Export, then select the start/end time and output file.

[JMiller]

You might try checking the process name.  We have seen similar behavior if the process name contains an underscore character "_".  When our files were named this way, the .csv file would be created, but nothing was ever written into journal or snapshot csv file.  We modified the process name to remove the underscore character and that seems to have solved the issue. 

[23r23]

You are right on that, I found it as well. I have had an experience like you wrote before.... and I learned that the hard way. Our processes names are usually a descriptive short word, and a sucession of numbers that is a sort of date and Revision Number. No spaces. We make it not longer than 12 characters. 

For all who are reading this, based in our experience, It is allowed sometimes but not good to include spaces, underscores, or special simbols in the processes name or path for data saving. Avoid 'Key Words' for the process name. Also, long file names, or a destination file that has a long path (file inside a file, inside a file, inside a file.....) won't work steady. My suggestion is to create a file in C:\, name it 'Data', or 'Collection', or 'Alarms' and dump the data in there.

Some times it is not good to use the Lookout folder becasue there is a long path alredy: C:\Program Files\National Instruments\ Lookout 6.x\ plus whatever you put as 'your' path.

I'll keep this posting active becasue that system still does not save to file the alarms in csv format.

MAX comes with Lookout, it is a good tool. However our applications are designed to show us everything without breaking the screen security that Lookout allows. We have several systems working just fine, it makes no sense to modify all because only one system does not save data in the same way others do.