BAT/test-data/README.md

Test Data — Simulated Alarm Activity

Generates realistic alarm journal data for building/testing the alarm analysis dashboard. Everything here uses native Ignition features only (memory tags + tag alarms + Jython).

Files

• simulation_tags.json — Ignition 8.3 tag export: a BuildathonSim folder with 49 Boolean memory tags across 5 plant areas (Intake, BoilerHouse, Packaging, Utilities, TankFarm). Every tag has one Equality alarm (active when the tag is true) with priorities spread across Low / High / Critical.
• alarm_simulator.py — Jython script that drives those tags. Full usage instructions are in the header comment.

Setup (after the gateway + journal are configured per the main README)

1. Import the tags

Already done if you ran python3 tools/provision.py provision (it imports this file through the REST API; re-run python3 tools/provision.py import-tags after editing it). Manual alternative: Designer → Tag Browser → select the default tag provider root → right-click → Import Tags → choose simulation_tags.json. Either way you should see BuildathonSim/<Area>/<Tag> folders appear.

2. Install the simulator (gateway timer script — recommended)

1. Designer → Project Library → new script named alarmsim → paste the contents of alarm_simulator.py.
2. Project → Gateway Events → Timer → add a script:
   • Delay: 5000 ms, Fixed Delay, Dedicated thread
   • Body: alarmsim.tick()
3. Save the project. Alarm events start flowing into the journal immediately and keep running as long as the gateway is up (no Designer needed).

Alternative: paste the whole file into the Designer Script Console and call run_console(minutes=30) — simpler, but it blocks the console and stops when you close it.

3. Let it run

Give it 30-60 minutes for meaningful analytics. Roughly every 30-60 minutes one area gets a flood burst; to force one for a demo, call alarmsim.force_flood() (e.g. temporarily from the timer script, or from the console if using console mode). alarmsim.reset() clears all sim tags and state.

Patterns generated (what your analytics should detect)

Pattern	Tags	Behavior
Baseline	40 tags, all areas	Random activations, active 30 s–5 min, ~3-4/min plant-wide
Chattering	*_Chatter (3)	Re-trigger every 30–60 s, active 5–15 s each cycle
Standing	*_Standing (2)	Active from first tick, never clear
Fleeting	*_Fleeting (4)	Active < 10 s (2–8 s), ~1/min
Flood	one random area	15+ activations within 10 min in a single area

Querying the journal

Events land in MariaDB tables PrimeControls_alarm_events / PrimeControls_alarm_event_data (created automatically on first event). The plant area is the folder in the alarm's source path — e.g. prov:default:/tag:BuildathonSim/TankFarm/T101_LevelHigh:/alm:... — so area analytics can group on the path segment after BuildathonSim/. Priority is stored on the event; eventtype 0/1/2 = active/clear/ack.

Quick sanity check from your SQL client (localhost:3306, user ignition/ignition):

SELECT source, displaypath, priority, eventtype, eventtime
FROM PrimeControls_alarm_events
ORDER BY eventtime DESC LIMIT 20;