Software: Windmill Alarm Logger

Alarm Logger is part of the Windmill suite of software for Microsoft Windows. It detects alarms on analogue channels and

• Alerts you visually and audibly
• Lets you acknowledge the alarm
• Saves a record of alarm events in a file

Whenever Alarm Logger finds a channel that is in alarm, it pops into the foreground of the computer screen and beeps. It can also play an audio file through a sound card, switch (say) a buzzer or telephone an engineer.

You can tell Alarm Logger that you're aware of the alarm and not to report it again until a set time has passed, so acknowledging the alarm. Alarm Logger will record alarms, and the action taken, in a file.

It is easy to run Alarm Logger over an Ethernet network, as it actually consists of three programs: a Setup, a Monitor and a Viewer. The Alarm Setup configures the system, letting you set such things as the time between alarm checks or an advisory message to be displayed when a specific alarm occurs. The Alarm Monitor watches the hardware for alarms. When the Monitor flags an alarm, the Alarm Viewer tells engineers about it.

Alarm Logger can periodically close one log file and open a new one, creating a new file every day for example. You could also set a maximum number of files to keep, such as just those from the last 7 days. This lets you use Alarm Logger for extended periods without filling the hard disk.

Alarm Logger is an add-on to the Windmill suite, which offers logging, charting, hardware set-up, netDDE and process mimics. Other add-ons are available. Windmill runs under Microsoft Windows.