Pop-up messaging to other Non-HMI PCs on the LAN

[rajsiyer 7]

Hi guys, I wish to know of a method general-approach for Pop-Up alarm messages to appear on all computers connected by LAN/work-group, in the event of an alarm. Consider a production facility where there are around 20 computers all on the same LAN with either static IP & same sub-net or DHCP with the names known for all PCs on the LAN. In this set-up SCADA/HMI with connectivity to PLC system is available only on 1 or 2 computers. How does one go about configuring for messages to appear on all PCs on the LAN in the event of a serious alarm signal is received on the PLC(obviously with ethernet port) OR sensed by the SCADA/HMI client. I wish to know whether the common SCADA packages such as Citect/Factory-talk do have a feature to serve messages on to other computers which don't have SCADA/HMI software installed. Can common utilities such as IP messenger be adapted for the purpose ?. Thanks for looking in and really will apppreciate good suggestions, Raj S. Iyer

[Nathan 7]

Raj - that's a good question: 1. Old versions of Windows would show "Windows Messanger" service messages. This is like the old "Winpopup.exe" program. Now you can get messages, but typically for things like forced reboots from an administrator. I doubt there's a simple HMI/SCADA hook into this. I would hesitate to execute external applications. 2. Most HMI/SCADA packages have robust alerting built in. This could be text messages, emails, etc. They usually write to a status table as well as a log table. A typical approach would be to have a banner flash on all operator terminal if there are any unacknowledged alarms, then stifle the flashing if any operator acknowledges it. 3. You could implement this in pretty much any HMI by having each station periodically check a central location. This could be a tag database or SQL database somewhere. In this case, a window opens, screen flashes, or something like that. This type of polled approach strikes me as a bit rough around the edges, but would work fine. Better to go with the recommended alerting/alarming that your SCADA package supports. Hope that helps,