Define conditions
Most behavior rules will be tied to a condition. The rule then only takes effect if this condition is met.
First, you must select which data point or shape property to compare to evaluate the condition, by selecting either Data point property or Shape property from the Trigger dropdown, and then selecting the appropriate property in the respective dropdown (Data Point Property or Shape Property).
Values of data point properties are typically numeric (either integers or floating point values) and support all types of comparators. While the mathematical comparators (=, ≠, <, ≤, >, ≥) compare the incoming value with a specific value, the option Always will trigger as soon as a data point has been placed on the respective behavior, regardless of whether the data point has live values or not.
However, if you configure a comparison with a shape propertie, additional data types are supported. For example, some shape properties accept strings, for which only the following subset of comparators is actually useful:
Always triggers when the user set any value for this particular shape property.
= triggers when the value of the shape property is equal to the given value.
≠ triggers when the value of the shape property is different from the given value, but not empty.
Furthermore, shape properties of type Checkbox evaluate to 1 (if the checkbox is checked), or 0 otherwise, which means these values can be treated like numbers.
Special data point properties
In addition to all common protocol-specific properties (such as IN_ALARM or OUT_OF_SERVICE for BACnet), there are also some general properties available that abstract the protocol-specific properties.
These are indicated by <angle brackets>.
Use these general properties whenever possible to make your shapes independent of the protocol.
This allows you to animate shapes with data points of different protocols.
<LiveValue>
The default property used for behavior rules is <LiveValue>.
Basically, this is a converted Present_Value (i.e. the current value).
<Unit>
You can use this property to display the unit of a data point or to link it to a condition. If you select Set dynamic text as the action type, you can display this property directly in your shape. Use the Always option as the condition function.
<LiveValue&Unit>
If you want to display the text and unit as a combined string (for example, “20 %” or “20 °C”), use the <LiveValue&Unit> property in conjunction with the Set dynamic text action.
Use the Always option as the condition function.
<TicketStatus>
If you want to create a behavior rule that reacts when there is an open ticket for the associated data point, you can select this property.
Value |
Ticket status |
Description |
|---|---|---|
0 |
No open ticket |
There is currently no open alarm ticket for this data point. |
1 |
Gone and acknowledged |
There is currently an acknowledged ticket for this data point, and the alarm has been cleared by the device (“gone”). |
2 |
Gone |
There is currently an unacknowledged ticket with an alarm that has been cleared by the device (“gone”). |
3 |
Acknowledged |
There is currently an acknowledged ticket for this data point that has not yet been closed. |
4 |
Open |
There is currently an open ticket for this data point. It has not yet been acknowledged by a user, and the alarm has not yet been cleared by the device. |
The values are orders by severity, which allows you to create behavior rules that cover multiple states at once by using a comparison like <TicketStatus> > 0, which will trigger when there’s an open, acknowledged or gone alarm ticket.
<AlarmState>
If you want to create a behavior rule that reacts when there is an open ticket for the associated data point, you can select this property.
Value |
Description |
|---|---|
0 |
There is currently no open ticket for this data point. |
1 |
There is currently an acknowledged but not yet resolved ticket for this data point. |
2 |
There is currently an open ticket for this data point that has not yet been acknowledged. |
Note
Note that this is a legacy property. We recommend using <TicketStatus>, which exposes more ticket statuses.
<ManualMode>
If you want to create a behavior rule that reacts when the data point is in manual mode, you can select this property. Use one of the following comparison values:
Value |
Description |
|---|---|
0 |
Not in manual mode |
1 |
In manual mode |
<Writable>
You can use this property to determine whether a data point can be written. Use one of the following comparison values:
Value |
Description |
|---|---|
true |
The data point can be written. |
false |
The data point cannot be written. |
<MultistateText>
This property translates the Present_Value for a data point of the type Multistate.
This property is particularly useful for the Set dynamic text action, as it allows you to translate the machine-readable value of the multistate into a human-readable text.
Use the Always option as the condition function.
<RenderedProperty>
This property is known as a meta property. At runtime, it is replaced with the value that you select in the Rendered Property property of the corresponding shape on the schematic.
Example rule
Property |
<RenderedProperty> |
Function |
Always |
If you have placed this shape on a schematic, open the property editor of this shape and set the Rendered Property property to the value to be displayed in the shape, for example <LiveValue>.
The advantage of <RenderedProperty> over <LiveValue> is that you do not have to define the actual property directly in the shape, but can change it dynamically as desired for each individual shape instance on the schematic.
This means that you can use the same shape to visualize different properties on your schematic.
<Label>
This property contains the label of the data point, which is typically a human-readable name, not the system name. In BACnet, this corresponds to the Description property.
<SystemName>
This property contains the system name of the data point, i.e. its machine-readable plant identification. In BACnet, this corresponds to the Object_Name property.
IN_ALARM
This property can be used for BACnet data points that may be in the alarm state.
If the data point is in the normal state, the value is false or 0.
If the data point is in the alarm state, the value is true or 1.
Example rule
Action Type |
Show Object Conditionally |
Property |
IN_ALARM |
Value |
true |
OUT_OF_SERVICE
This property can be used for BACnet data points and indicates whether the data point is currently set to out of service. Inputs can only be written if they have been set to out of operation.
Example rule
Action Type |
Show Object Conditionally |
Property |
OUT_OF_SERVICE |
Value |
true |