Adding Devices

Abstract

Check out this article and learn how to add new devices and everything that you need to know about the device type-dependent settings.

In order to be allowed to create new devices, the user must have the Manage devices permission enabled.

The Add button from the top menu of the Device List panel allows the user to add new devices to the Device List. Clicking the Add button opens the Select Device Type panel, allowing the user to choose which device type to create.

Tip

The Add new Device button will only be displayed in the Device List when the user is in the context of a hierarchical entity (Areas, Organizational Units, Sites).

The Select Device Type panel

Selecting a device type opens the Add Device panel, where the user can input the device settings.

The Add Device panel

The device settings are split up into two categories:

Default device settings (available for any device type)

Category	Property	Description
Device information	Name	The unique technical name of the device. This field will be mandatory regardless of the selected Device type.
	Alias	The friendly name of the device. The Device Alias will be displayed on the device card when listed.
	Description	The description of the device.
Device flags	Visible in front-end	If enabled, the device will be listed in the i4connected portal.
Device flags	Active	If enabled, the device will be active.
Device properties	Device type	The device sub-type can be defined by the user. The user can select the desired Device type from the Device types panel. In this view, all the available device types are listed. Further on, the users can edit the listed device types or add new ones. When adding a new Device type, the user is required to define a name and select an icon. The icon is selected from the Select icon panel where multiple predefined icons are available. Important The Device type icon will be displayed for the Device to which the Device type is used, in multiple contexts, such as: the Device List panel the Device details panel the Online Alarms panel the Historical Alarms panel
	Manufacturer	The manufacturer of the device. The user can select the desired Manufacturer from the Device manufacturers panel. In this view, all the available manufactures are listed. Further on, the users can edit the listed manufacturers or add new ones. When adding a new Manufacturer, the user is only required to define a name.
	Model	The model of the device. The user can select the desired Device Model from the Device Models panel. In this view, all the available manufacturers are listed. Warning The Model selector becomes active only after adding a Device type and a Device Manufacturer. Further on, the users can edit the listed models or add new ones. When adding a new model, the user is only required to define a name.
	Hardware version	The hardware version of the device. The user can select the desired Device Hardware Version from the Device hardware version panel. In this view, all the available hardware versions are listed. Warning The Hardware version selector becomes active only after adding a Device model. Further on, the users can edit the listed hardware versions or add new ones. When adding a new hardware version, the user is only required to define a name.
	Software version	The software version of the device. The user can select the desired Device Software version from the Device software version panel. In this view, all the available hardware versions are listed. Warning The Software version selector becomes active only after adding a Device model and a Hardware version. Further on, the users can edit the listed software versions or add new ones. When adding a new software version, the user is only required to define a name.
	Site	The Site where the device is installed. The Site can be selected from the Object filters panel, which is automatic. Note If the Add device panel was accessed in the context of a Site, that Site will be by default set in this field.
	Area	The Area where the device is installed. Note If the Add device panel was accessed in the context of an Area, that Area will be by default set in this field, along with its parent Site.
	Organizational Unit	The Organizational Unit to which the device belongs. Note If the Add device panel was accessed in the context of an Organizational Unit, that Organizational Unit will be by default set in this field.
	Overwrite event priority	Allows users with the possibility to select a priority that will be, by default, applied to all events triggered in the context of the current Device. The selected priority will overwrite the original priority of the event. If the event has no priority defined, the overwritten event priority will be applied. Tip The priority selected at the level of a Device, under "Overwrite event priority", can only be surpassed when manually triggering an event, in the context of that Device. The Publish Manual Event panel allows the user to either trigger the event using an explicit priority, or leave the "Use the system default" option. For more details about the management of manual events, please refer to the dedicated article, here. Further on, you can also check out this tutorial, describing the overwrite event priority feature.
Alarm suppression	Suppression Mode Manual	Allows users the possibility to suppress alarms for a Device, by enabling the Manual mode. When alarm suppression is Enabled for a device, all event occurrences that would have been triggered by the device will be completely ignored by the system. They will not be shown in the online alarms panel and they will not be saved in the historical alarms list. In Manual mode, as long as the toggle button is in the "Enabled" position, alarms for the device will be suppressed. Tip For more details, please also read the dedicated tutorial, here.
Alarm suppression	Suppression Mode Scheduled	Allows users the possibility to suppress alarms for a Device, for a certain time interval, by enabling the Scheduled mode. When alarm suppression is turned on for a device, all event occurrences that would have been triggered by the device will be completely ignored by the system, during the scheduled time interval. They will not be shown in the online alarms panel and they will not be saved in the historical alarms list. In Scheduled mode, alarms for the device will be suppressed during the selected start and end dates. After the end date, the alarms flow will be resumed. Tip For more details, please also read the dedicated tutorial, here.
Photo		The photo of the device itself.
Installation photo		The overview photo of the device installation location.
Custom parameters		If no Custom field definitions were specified for Devices, the Custom parameters area will be hidden from the Add / Edit device panel. As soon as at least one Custom field definition is available, the Custom parameters area allows the user to fill in the Device's metadata, as described below. For more details on the Custom field definitions validation rules, please also visit the dedicated article here. The following list depicts the possible Custom field definitions: Text metadata - expects textual metadata, with the scope to provide additional information about the user. When setting the textual metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Text Custom field definition. Email metadata - expects a valid email address. When setting the email metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Email Custom field definition. Integer metadata - expects an integer value. When setting the integer metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Integer Custom field definition. Decimal metadata - expects a decimal value. When setting the decimal metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Decimal Custom field definition. Date metadata - expects a date metadata, that can be selected using the calendar pop-up. When setting the date metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Date Custom field definition. Time metadata - expects a DataType metadata, that can be selected using the Clock pop-up. When setting the time metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Time Custom field definition. DateTime metadata - expects a date and time metadata, that can be selected using the calendar pop-up. When setting the DateTime metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the DateTime Custom field definition. Url metadata - expects an URL. When setting the DateTime metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the DateTime Custom field definition. Enumeration metadata - expects the selection of one of the values defined by the Custom field definition. Selection can be done using the drop-down list. When setting the Enumeration metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Enumeration Custom field definition. Boolean metadata - expects the selection of one of the Yes / No values. Selection can be done using the toggle button. When setting the Boolean metadata, the introduced value will be validated against the rules specified at the level of the Boolean Custom field definition.

Type dependent settings

The following device types require additional settings besides the standard ones listed above. These additional settings are usually focused under the Adapter category.

Note

For more details regarding each Adapter type and their specific settings, please also visit the Adapters configuration article.

Table 9. Azure IoT

Section	Property	Description
IoT Hub settings	IoT Hub name	The name of the i4connected IoT Hub. It is mandatory to provide data for this field.
	Filter	The filters which parse the data received from the IoT Hub
	Device Id	The identification number of the device.
Direct method of device	Method Name	The name of the method which should be called.
	Method Payload	The JSON payload method.
	Method response Timeout in Seconds	The timeout, expressed in seconds, for waiting for a response from the method (min: 0 / max: 300, default: 120)
	Method Connection Timeout in Seconds	The timeout, expressed in seconds, for waiting for the IoT device connection (min: 0, default: 0, cannot be more than the Method Response Timeout in Seconds.

Table 10. CSV/Text

Section	Property	Description
CSV settings	CSV source	The name of the CSV server providing the data. Filling in this field is mandatory.

Table 11. Email

Section	Property	Description
Email settings	Email Adapter	Sets the name of the Email adapter providing the configuration for accessing the Email server. This field is mandatory.
	Sender Name Pattern	The name pattern of the Email sender (source), used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device
	Sender Address Pattern	The address pattern of the Email sender (source address), used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device.
	Recipient Name Pattern	The name pattern of the Email recipient (target), used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device.
	Recipient Address Pattern	The address pattern of the Email recipient (target address), used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device.
	Subject Pattern	The pattern of the Email subject is used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device. The Subject Pattern field can match strings with wildcards (*), where the wildcard means "any".
	Body Pattern	The pattern of the Email body is used to filter the Emails corresponding to the device. The Body Pattern field can match strings with wildcards (*), where the wildcard means "any".
	Script	The name of the Email Alarm Script used to process Email data. The user can either define a custom script or use the ones provided by default: Carel, Carel2, Danfoss, Dixell, Dixell2, Eliwell, and Wurm. Tip For more details about the Email script, please visit the dedicated section, here.

Important

All the above Email pattern fields can match strings with wildcards (*), where the wildcard means "any".

Table 12. Ewon

Section	Property	Description
Ewon settings	Ewon Adapter	The name of the Ewon server providing the data. This field is mandatory.
	Ewon name	The name of the new Ewon device associated with the Ewon server.
	Time zone	The time zone of the Ewon device. This setting will only be used if the Ewon device is not set to use the UTC time zone, in order to convert the received timestamps to UTC. Otherwise, the adapter will store directly the received timestamps, as they are already in UTC. This setting is required.
	Ewon username	Specifies the username of the Ewon device. Note The Ewon username field should only be set when signal writing is needed.
	Ewon password	Specifies the password of the Ewon device. Note The Ewon password field should only be set when signal writing is needed.

Table 13. GridVis

Section	Property	Description
GridVis settings	GridVis server name	The name of the GridVis Adapter (GridVis project) providing the data. This field is mandatory.
GridVis settings	GridVis device	The name of the GridVis device. This field is mandatory.

Table 14. HMSHub

Settings	Property	Description
HMSHub settings	HMSHub Adapter	The name of the HMSHub server providing the data. To configure an HMSHub Device, filling in the field is a mandatory condition.

Table 15. i4scada

Settings	Property	Description
i4scada settings	i4scada Adapter	The name of the i4scada server providing the data. To configure an i4scada Device, filling in the field is a mandatory condition.

Table 16. Modbus

Settings	Property	Description
Modbus settings	Modbus server address	The address of the Modbus server driving the device.
Modbus settings	Unit ID	The identification number of the Modbus unit. The field will only accept a number between 0 to 255.

Table 17. MQTT

Settings	Property	Description
MQTT settings	MQTT name	The name of the MQTT Broker (Server) to which the device will be connected.
	Topic	The device topic. This topic is a string that acts like a filter when used in combination with the signals topics.
	Filter	The JSON filter obtaining the relevant data.
	Write payload	The JSON payload. Example: {"_SignalName_":"_SignalValue_"} Note: The field will only be available if the MQTT adapter is of type JSON.

Table 18. MSCONS

Settings	Property	Description
MSCONS settings	Source	The MSCONS source (server) providing the data. It is required to fill in this field in order to be able to save a new MSCONS device.

Table 19. Netbiter

Settings	Property	Description
Netbiter settings	Netbiter adapter	The name of the Netbiter server providing the data. This field is mandatory.
Netbiter settings	Netbiter name	The name of the new Netbiter device associated with the Netbiter server.

Table 20. OPC UA

Settings	Property	Description
OPC UA settings	OPC UA adapter	The name of the OPC UA server providing the data. This field is mandatory.
OPC UA settings	OPC UA subscription	The name of the OPC UA subscription used to define data acquisition from the server.

Table 21. SQL

Settings	Property	Description
SQL Settings	SQL query name	The query is applied to the database, retrieving the relevant information This field is required.

Table 22. WEBfactory

Settings	Property	Description
WEBfactory settings	WEbfactory server address	The address of the WEBfactory server driving the device. Filling in this field is mandatory, in order to be able to save a WEBfactory device.

The Manual counters, OPC-DA and Lertes Devices only require the standard information to be added to the system. These types of devices do not require an adapter in order to manage their data.

Once the device information is provided, click the Save button to add the device to the Device List.

In this section:

i4connected Knowledge Base

Adding Devices

Tip

Default device settings (available for any device type)

Important

Warning

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Warning

Note

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Tip

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Type dependent settings

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Important

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