Automate

Our rules engine allows us to automate tasks in a customizable way, using a simple "If This Then That" structure. It's like setting up a chain reaction of actions based on specific conditions.

Permissions

If you don’t see the option to use Automate, please contact a SureView engineer to setup this feature. 

Menu item

Once you've got the feature flag and permissions set up correctly, you'll see a new flower-shaped menu icon appear.

Creating a New Rule

When you're on the rules engine page, click the "ADD RULE" button to start creating a new rule.

What Does It Do?

In simple terms, this feature allows us to set up actions based on specific conditions. Here's a breakdown:

• "If This" refers to the condition we're looking for (Rule Scope).
• "Then" is what we want to happen if that condition is met (Trigger Conditions).
• "That" is the actual action we want to take (Rule Actions).

Title

Give your rule a unique and descriptive name. This will help you later when you need to review events.

Grouping

Rule Grouping determines which signals the rules engine will review when checking if the conditions have been met. You can choose to look at signals in the same area or those related to the same alarm.

The Grouping dropdown on the scope allows you to define whether you want the rule service look at any signal on the same area (By Area) or just look at signals from the same alarm (By Alarm); this is defined as a signal with the same ServerID, Input1 and Input2.

Criteria

This section defines what the rules engine should be on the lookout for. When it sees a signal that matches these criteria, it will check if the required trigger conditions are met.

Note: There can only be one Scope Criteria per rule.

Alarm Type

You can set the scope criteria to look for a specific alarm or event/response.

Device Type

Alternatively, you can use a more general approach and apply rules to all areas based on a specific device type.

When using the Device Type the device type (server type) is required but all other fields are optional.

• Device - this allows you to limit rules to specific devices (server)
• Event Type - this allows you to limit rules to a specific event type
• Input 1 - this allows you to limit rules to a specific input 1 value
• Input 2 - this allows you to limit rules to a specific input 2 value

Triggers

Triggers are optional. If you don't specify them, the rule's actions will be triggered whenever the scope criteria are met. You can add triggers to specify when the actions should occur.

To add a trigger hit the ADD TRIGGER button.

AND / OR

Triggers can be set as "AND" conditions (all conditions must be met) or "OR" conditions, which groups conditions logically.

Trigger types

• Alarm type: Specify a particular alarm or response to look out for.
• Device type: Provide information about the device type.
• Time Triggers: Set time conditions for a trigger - There are 2 time triggers: Before and After, time triggers should be specified on the top level in most instances; the time condition will be passed down to nested conditions and can be overwritten in nested conditions if required by adding another time condition.

Notes:

• The valid values for the time triggers are between 1 and 30s.
• Time triggers must be used in conjunction with another trigger type.
• If no time trigger is provided then rules will default to 10s before scope was triggered.

Before (T-Seconds)

The X seconds before the Scope was triggered condition is the most performant means of setting up a rule; where possible you should try and make the rule use only a before trigger; this can often be achieved by swapping the Scope and Trigger conditions.

This trigger condition instructs the rules engine to examine all signals in the timespan specified before the scope was triggered.

After (T+Seconds)

The X seconds after the Scope was triggered condition is less performant as the rules engine service will sit and wait for a condition to be met; this can/will result in multiple checks to see if the trigger conditions have been met, these checks will occur at a frequency of once per second.

Actions

At least one action is required per rule. These actions determine what happens when the conditions are met.

• Change Priority: Change the priority of the event containing the signal that triggered the rule.
• Action Plan: Apply a specific action plan to the event containing the signal that triggered the rule.
• Combine Alarms: Merge all signals that match the trigger conditions into a single event.
• Close Event: Close all events related to the signals that triggered the rule.

 Warning: this is a dangerous step so must be used with caution.

In essence, our automated support page lets you create rules that specify when certain actions should occur based on specific conditions you define. It's like setting up a chain reaction of actions to streamline processes and make things more efficient.