ci-server-engineer/knowledge/manuals/IM36K10G10-01EN.md

manual	title	edition	version	status
IM 36K10G10-01EN	CI Server Tutorial	3rd Edition, Sep. 2023	R1.03	from docs; item, sub-item, blocking, trigger group, class and object steps verified with dssqld/itmval on CI-Eng-Sample (2026-09-30)

CI Server Tutorial (R1.03)

A guided tour of the main engineering tasks in the Engineering Module and Edit Module. Each chapter points to the full manual for its area; the table shows where this repo covers it.

Chapter	Topic	Covered in detail by
1	Engineering Module window: menu, configuration tree, work area (properties sheets), message area, edit history (undo/redo)	IM 36K10C10 (phase 5)
2	Authorization groups and users	IM 36K10C10 (phase 5)
3	Sections, items, sub-items, blocking, value updates, item statuses	IM 36K10C10, L35/L36 (phase 5)
4	Displays in the Edit Module; HTML displays	IM 36K10C50, R30 (phase 10)
5	Trigger groups, classes, objects, symbols linked to objects	IM 36K10L10, P10 (phase 6), C50 (phase 10)
6	I/O: lines, stations, scan types, points	IM 36K10L40/L41 (phase 5)
7	Item alarms	IM 36K10L15, C20 (phase 8)
8	Reports and printers	IM 36K10P20, R40, C30 (phase 11)
9	Audit trail	IM 36K10L25 (phase 12)
10	RDBMS data exposure (dbc.sup)	IM 36K10L45 (phase 7)
11	Item search	IM 36K10C10 (phase 5)
12	Excel Add-in	IM 36K10E10 (phase 11)
13	History: storage groups, units, collection types, aggregation, archiving	IM 36K10L20, C40 (phase 9)

Key points

Users (ch. 2): create an authorization group (the set of allowed functions, e.g. ALL with every function), then a user assigned to it. A user is needed to log on to the Edit Module and Operator Interface.

Items (ch. 3)

• Full name Section.Sub-section.Item (max 255 bytes; no : or . inside a name; case insensitive). Sections can be blocked as a whole, e.g. for maintenance.
• Types: Boolean, Integer, Real, String (the Tutorial says max length 80 by default, up to 168 without audit; the installed R1.03 allows STRING_LENGTH 1–200 with or without audit and holds length − 1 characters, verified, ISS-019).
• Four limits (LL, L, H, HH) plus a deadband set the status LOWLOW…HIGHHIGH; the deadband sits on the normal side of each limit. Scale high/low give OVERRANGED / UNDERRANGED. Booleans set status TRUE/FALSE.
• An item is connected to an I/O point on the Equipment tab; the station must exist first.
• Sub-items: Integrator, Pulse counter, Min-Max, Rate-of-Change (with time unit), Typeless. Sub-items cannot connect to equipment or have sub-items, and are not blocked with their main item.
• Blocked items and offline items are not updated. Update value (Engineering Module) or itmval -p changes value/status/quality; Overwrite blocked (-o) is needed for a blocked item. New items are NOT INIT until a value is written.
• Item statuses are system-wide; add your own with numbers 100–127 (1–99 and above 127 are reserved), with mnemonic, alarm priority (0–15), alarm state (Normal, Alarm 1–3), colour and shelving.

Displays (ch. 4): a display is built of frames defined by a layout. Edit Module parts: sheets, component bar, Visualizations tree, Symbols palette, menus, toolbars, drawing area. Display names must be unique and without spaces. HTML display mode shows only components and properties supported in HTML; switching it off keeps unsupported values.

Classes and objects (ch. 5)

• Trigger group: e.g. ONE_SECOND, a permanent 1-second trigger. A class can also be triggered by item changes.
• Class (traditional language): CLASS <name>; PROLOG … SIGNAL <var> := "<item>"; BODY METHOD <m>; BODY … ENDMETHOD <m>; ENDCLASS <name>;. After Compile, check the Listing tab for errors. ATTRIBUTE and PROMPT lines define values asked when an object is created.
• Object: created in a section, from a class, with values for the prompted attributes.
• Symbol linked to a class (PROCESS Service class); on a display set the symbol's object property to the object. Properties are linked to items/signals on the Connection sheet, with a transformation (e.g. Linear); buttons use Update item/parameter actions.
• Test in the Operator Interface by typing the display name in the title bar.

I/O (ch. 6): define in order line → station → (scan type) → point, then connect items to points. Example: Modbus LINE1 / STATION1 / scan type FAST / POINT1.

Alarms (ch. 7): current, historical and shelved alarm overviews. Item status → alarm state (Normal, Alarm 1–3) system-wide, or per item (overrides). Acknowledgement types are matrices of state transitions (automatic/manual). Delay time, repeat time (after delay), first-out groups, collection groups, alarm selection areas (ASA, filter expressions), areas of interest (AOI), notification by e-mail/SMS (users with schedules, destinations tied to an ASA).

Reports (ch. 8): defined with a name, destination, RQL query and layout; generated ad hoc, on a schedule, or on an item event (with delay). Destinations: DEFAULT, PRINTER_1, NONE (keep on disk), ALARMS, AUDIT_TRAIL, MESSAGES, SCREEN_CAPTURE; only DEFAULT and PRINTER_1 print by default. Destinations use primary/secondary devices with a policy (automatic, both, none).

Audit trail (ch. 9): stored in dataset AUDIT_TRAIL, storage group ADT; events are named <subject group>.<attribute>.<action>.<source>, e.g. ITEM.VALUE.MODIFY.HMI; records cannot be deleted except by deleting storage units.

RDBMS exposure (ch. 10): copies CI Server data (ITEM_VALUES aggregated per interval, ITEM_HISTORY with a mandatory filter, ITEM_INPUTS for writes back, or any dataset on change) into SQL tables. Configure the connection string or system DSN in dbc.sup; with Windows authentication add CIX_PROCESS to SQL Server (db_owner).

Other: Item search (wildcards, copy/drag to Excel or Trend); Excel Add-in reports; history storage groups and archiving (phase 9).

Verified on CI-Eng-Sample (command-line equivalents)

Tutorial step	Done with	Result
Sections and items (3.2)	dssqld -i SECTION_DF, ITEM_DF	loaded
Sub-items (3.2.3)	SUB_ITEM_DF	Min-Max keeps the maximum; Integrator adds value × integration granule (itm_int_secs in itm.sup, default 1 s, system-wide); TIME_UNIT has no effect (ISS-010)
Block item (3.3)	dssqld -m ITEM_DF BLOCKED 1/0	option flag blk (status stays 9); writes without -o are silently ignored; after unblocking the flag ublk appears
Trigger group (5.1)	TRIGGER_DF (TRIGGER_INTERVAL "1 seconds")	loaded
Class (5.2)	CLASS_DF with METHOD memo and COMPILE 1	compiled on load
Object (5.3)	OBJECT_DF (NAME, CLASS)	runs: DEMO.COUNTER counts 1…100 every second