SurvalentONE

DC-400
DISTURBANCE CAPTURE
USER GUIDE

Version 1.1
 DC-400 Disturbance Capture User Guide

Copyright, Notices and Trademarks

Copyright © Survalent Technology Corporation. All rights reserved. The
software described in this document is furnished under license and can
only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. The
content of this manual has been carefully checked for accuracy.
However, if you find any errors, please notify the Survalent Technology
Corporation.

Survalent Technology Corporation

7965 Heritage Road
Brampton, Ontario L6Y 5X5

(905) 826 5000

(905) 826 7144

support@survalent.com

www.survalent.com
FAX (905) 826-7144

The software described in this document is furnished under

license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the
terms of such license.

About This Publication

This manual describes how to use the Disturbance Capture option in
SCADA. It contains the information you need to set up the database that
specifies the conditions that define disturbances, and to determine how
much information will be recorded before and after the occurrence of a
disturbance.
 DC-400 Disturbance Capture User Guide

Revisions

Version Description
1.0 Initial version.

1.1 Added section 3.2 Disturbance Capture Logs. Updated section 4.2.1
File Export. Updated the screen captures.
Updated cover and logo.

SCADA Revisions
 DC-400 Disturbance Capture User Guide

Contents

1 Introduction 1-1

1.1 Other Documentation ...................................................................................................................... 1-2

2 Operation 2-1

2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2-1

2.2 Disturbance Capture Settings.......................................................................................................... 2-2
2.3 Point Capture Program .................................................................................................................... 2-2
2.3.1 Operational Considerations ......................................................................................................... 2-2
2.4 Capture Viewer ............................................................................................................................... 2-3

3 Database Editing 3-1

3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3-1

3.2 Disturbance Capture Settings.......................................................................................................... 3-2
3.2.1 General ........................................................................................................................................ 3-2
3.2.2 Status Points ................................................................................................................................ 3-3
3.2.3 Analog Points .............................................................................................................................. 3-3
3.3 Disturbance Capture Logs............................................................................................................... 3-4
3.3.1 Graphs ......................................................................................................................................... 3-5
3.3.2 Export .......................................................................................................................................... 3-5

4 Disturbance Capture Viewer 4-1

4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4-1

4.2 Using the Disturbance Capture Viewer .......................................................................................... 4-1
4.2.1 File Export ................................................................................................................................... 4-2
4.2.2 Exported File Output ................................................................................................................... 4-3
4.2.3 Graph Display.............................................................................................................................. 4-4

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 DC-400 Disturbance Capture User Guide

1 Introduction

This document describes the operation of the Disturbance Capture option for Windows SCADA. It
describes how to configure your database to allow the system to detect the disturbances that you are
interested in, and to capture the state of your system both before and after these events.

Disturbance Capture is an optional component of your Windows SCADA system. It requires a separate
license and must be enabled as a Licensed Feature. Contact Survalent Technology’s support or sales
departments for assistance in licensing this feature.

Chapter 2 describes the operation of the Disturbance Capture feature.

Chapter 3 details the creation of the SCADA database elements required by Disturbance Capture.

Chapter 4 describes the client program CapView, which allows you to view captured disturbance data.
This program allows you to export the disturbance data as a file suitable for further processing.

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1.1 Other Documentation

The chapters that follow describe the capabilities of the Survalent Disturbance Capture option for the
Windows SCADA system, and how to make use of it. As such, it assumes a working knowledge of the
SCADA system as well as the STC Explorer database-editing interface.

If you require additional background information on SCADA database editing or the STC Explorer, please
refer to the documents listed in Table 1.1-1, especially DB-400, DB-401, and DB-404.

Table 1.1-1 Database Editing Guides

Document
Number Document Name
DB-400 Database Editing Overview
DB-401 Point Database Editing Guide
DB-402 Alarm Database Editing Guide
DB-403 Automation Database Editing Guide
DB-404 Historical Database Editing Guide
DB-405 Report Database Editing Guide

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 DC-400 Disturbance Capture User Guide

2 Operation

This chapter describes the operation of the Disturbance Capture option for Windows SCADA. It describes
how to configure the system to detect disturbances, and to capture the state of the system both before
and after each detected disturbance.

Disturbance Capture is an optional component of your Windows SCADA system. It requires a separate
license and must be enabled as a Licensed Feature. Contact Survalent Technology support or sales for
assistance in licensing this feature.

2.1 Introduction
The Disturbance Capture feature in Windows SCADA consists of 3 components:
• An editor integrated into STC Explorer, to allow configuration of the program settings, such as
specifying the conditions that will constitute a disturbance. Log files allow you to export
disturbances.
• A point capture program running on the SCADA Master computer, which captures the state of the
system before and after the specified disturbance, in accordance with the settings you have
provided.
• A viewer program running on any client workstation, which can select items from the captured
data to be displayed on a graph. This program can be used to export the entire collection of data
for a captured disturbance in a form suitable for further processing (a comma-separated text file).

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2.2 Disturbance Capture Settings

In STC Explorer>Disturbance Capture there are two sub-branches; Settings and Log. When you click on
Settings a database editor is provided to allow you to enter the settings for the Disturbance Capture
feature. These settings are described in detail in section 3.2, Disturbance Capture Settings.

You must specify the timing settings for the data recording that is done prior to the occurrence of a
disturbance, and separate settings for the recording that is done after a disturbance.

You then list the conditions for the program to watch for, by listing status and/or analog points and the
states you are interested in. If any of these conditions is detected, a disturbance is deemed to have
occurred, and data will be captured as described below.
When you click on Log a list of all the disturbances that have been captured display.

2.3 Point Capture Program

On the SCADA Master, a program called PointCapture monitors the values of all the status and analog
points in the system, at the interval specified by the setting “Capture every…before disturbance”
(described in section 3.2.1, General). These values are retained in a buffer large enough to hold all of the
results for the duration specified by the “Start capturing…” parameter.

In each interval, the program inspects the values of the status points and analog points that have been
entered on their respective lists in the Disturbance Capture Settings editor. If any of the designated trigger
levels is observed, a disturbance has occurred. The system data that is in the buffer is saved, and the
program begins to monitor all status and analog points at the interval specified by the setting “Capture
every…after disturbance” setting.

At the end of the monitoring period specified by the “Stop capturing…” parameter, the record of this
disturbance is saved. It will be added to the list you can see in STC Explorer>Disturbance Capture> Log.

All of the observations from before and after the trigger event are saved to a file in the SCADA database.
A list of these files can be viewed when you click on Log.

Due to the nature of the compressed file format, the size of each disturbance capture file will depend on
the number of status and analog points in your system, the frequency and duration of the monitoring
before and after the disturbance, and the overall amount of activity (number of status and analog
changes) throughout your system during this time.

2.3.1 Operational Considerations

The Point Capture program reads the values of all points in the system at the rate specified. It can use
only those observations in determining if one of your trigger conditions has occurred. Therefore, the
program will mark any detected disturbance with the time it was detected, which may be later than the
time the value arrived in the database from the scan task. In this regard, it operates much like a historical
dataset.

NOTE: If values occur for only a brief time and were not available at the time of an observation, the
condition would not be detected.

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When selecting an observation interval, you may be tempted to choose the shortest possible time. Keep in
mind, however, that the program only looks into the SCADA database at values that have been written
there, typically by a scan task. There is no advantage to observing these values at a rate that is more
frequent than the polling rate of the scan task. It will simply be seeing the same (unchanged) values more
often.

2.4 Capture Viewer

The captured data from each detected disturbance is saved in individual files. These files can be exported
as comma-separated text by a client application known as CapView. This program can also display an
excerpt from this data in the form of a graph. See section 4.2, Using the Disturbance Capture Viewer, for
details.

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3 Database Editing

This chapter describes in detail how to edit the database elements that control the operation of the
Disturbance Capture feature.

3.1 Introduction
The SCADA database that supports Disturbance Capture consists of two elements: a definition of the
timing of the desired observations of the SCADA database, and a definition of the trigger conditions that
are to signify a disturbance. Both elements are created using the Disturbance Capture Settings editor,
described in section 3.2, Disturbance Capture Settings.

The timing parameters for observations fall into two categories. The first defines the observations that are
made all the time, before any disturbance has been detected. These settings control how much data
pertaining to the time before a captured disturbance will be available after the disturbance is detected.

A separate set of timing parameters controls how observations of the database will be made after a
disturbance is detected. Obviously, this will determine how much data from the post-disturbance period is
available in the captured disturbance.

The trigger conditions you define will determine what observed conditions will cause a disturbance to be
captured. You specify the conditions by indicating:
• A status point, and the change-of-state of interest
• An analog point, and the alarm limit state of interest

You may define as many trigger conditions as you need. Each time the Point Capture program observes
any one of them, the disturbance will begin recording. At the end of the specified post-disturbance interval,
the data from before and after the disturbance will be recorded in a file in the database as described in
section 2.3, Point Capture Program.

A list of disturbances is also displayed in the Log window. See section 3.3 Disturbance Capture Logs for
details.

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3.2 Disturbance Capture Settings

All of the database items that you must provide for the Disturbance Capture feature are found in the
Disturbance Capture Settings editor. This is located in STC Explorer, in the Historical Data branch. The
editor is shown in Figure 3.2-1.

Figure 3.2-1 Disturbance Capture Settings Editor

In this editor, you specify the timing settings for the data recording that is done prior to the occurrence of a
disturbance, and separate settings for the recording that is done after a disturbance. You then list the
conditions for the program to watch for, by listing status and/or analog points and the states you are
interested in. If any of these conditions is detected, a disturbance has occurred, and data will be recorded.

3.2.1 General

Select a sample rate from the drop-down list, to specify how often data will be recorded prior to any
disturbance. Then select how long before a detected disturbance you wish to have data retained. See
section 2.3, Point Capture Program, for more detail on how this is accomplished.

Select a separate sample rate and the length of time to sample data after a disturbance is detected.

Once a disturbance is captured, the data will contain the values of all status and analog points in the
system, sampled at the first specified rate, for the specified period of time leading up to the disturbance,
and sampled at the second rate for the period of time following the disturbance.

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3.2.2 Status Points

Using the SCADA Point Browser (which can be invoked using the Point Browser button, if it is not already
open), you can drag the names of any desired status points into this list. Each point that you drop into this
list defines one condition that will constitute a disturbance to be captured. The names of the points you
add will appear in the Point column

By default, the condition that appears in the Level column will be Abnormal. This means that a disturbance
will be detected if the point enters any state other than the Normal state defined for that point.

By right-clicking on any entry on the list, you can change the trigger level for that point to be any of the
choices in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1 Status Point Trigger Levels

Level Trigger Condition
Abnormal Point’s value has become any other than its Normal state
Open Point’s value has become zero
Close Point’s value has become one
Any Change Point’s value is different than the previous sample

3.2.3 Analog Points

Using the SCADA Point Browser, you can drag the names of any desired analog points into this list. Each
point that you drop into this list defines one condition that will constitute a disturbance to be captured. The
names of the points you add will appear in the Point column.

By default, the condition that appears in the Level column will be LO & HI Pre-Emergency. This means
that a disturbance will be detected if the point violates either its upper or lower pre-emergency limit (note
that this will be true even if the point’s value jumps suddenly beyond the Emergency or Reasonability
limit). By right-clicking on an entry on the list, you can change the trigger level for that point to be any of
the choices in Table 3-2.

Table 3-2 Analog Point Trigger Levels

Level Trigger Condition
LO Pre-Emergency Point’s value has violated the lower pre-emergency limit
HI Pre-Emergency Point’s value has violated the upper pre-emergency limit
LO & HI Pre-Emergency Point’s value has violated one of the two pre-emergency limits
LO Emergency Point’s value has violated the lower emergency limit
HI Emergency Point’s value has violated the upper emergency limit
LO & HI Emergency Point’s value has violated one of the two emergency limits
LO Unreasonable Point’s value has violated the lower reasonability limit
HI Unreasonable Point’s value has violated the upper reasonability limit
LO & HI Unreasonable Point’s value has violated one of the two reasonability limits
Any Limit Violation Point’s value has violated any of the six limits

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3.3 Disturbance Capture Logs

Once you save your database settings (by clicking on OK), the Point Capture program will begin sampling
your system’s status according to the specified timing parameters. See section 2.3, Point Capture
Program. Each sampling is saved to a log file which is listed in Log window in STC Explorer.

Figure 3.3-1 Disturbance Capture Logs

From this list there is a right-click menu where you can:

• Create a graph
• Export a file
• Delete a disturbance
• Print a disturbance
• Refresh the window

Figure 3.3-2 Disturbance Capture Log Right Click Menu

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3.3.1 Graphs

When you select Graph a Point Captures editor displays. Use the Point Browser to select the points you
want to add to the graph and then click Display. The graph displays in the right-side panel.

Figure 3.3-3 Disturbance Capture Graph

3.3.2 Export

When you select File a Disturbance Capture Export editor displays. Us the Point Browser to select the
Point you want to add. Enter a file name in the Export File field and click on the box beside the field to
select the location of where you want the file to be saved. When you are done click on the Export button.

Figure 3.3-4 Disturbance Capture Export Editor

See sections 4.2.2 Exported File Output and 4.2.3 Graph Display for more information.

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4 Disturbance Capture Viewer

This chapter describes the Disturbance Capture Viewer, which is the client program that provides a user
interface for the Disturbance Capture feature in Windows SCADA.

4.1 Introduction
An application called CapView is provided as part of the SCADA client software. The SCADA client
software may be installed on any workstation on your SCADA network, subject to your software license.

This program relies on the same connection to the SCADA Master as STC Explorer or the point viewer
programs use. Once their connection has been set up (usually during installation of the client software),
the Capture Viewer will be able to access any captured disturbance data on the SCADA Master.

4.2 Using the Disturbance Capture Viewer

The viewer program can be started by a shortcut that is normally provided on the Start menu. This will
present the main program window shown in Figure 4.2-1.

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Figure 4.2-1 Disturbance Capture Viewer

The primary purpose of the viewer program is to make the data for any of the captured disturbances
available to other applications. This is done by selecting the desired disturbance and exporting the data as
a comma-delimited text file, as described below. The viewer program can also be used to display a limited
amount of data in the form of a graph. This feature is described in section 4.2.3, Graph Display.

4.2.1 File Export

Pressing the Export button on the toolbar (the one with the diskette graphic) or choosing Export from the
File menu will bring up a list of all captured disturbances, as seen in Figure 4.2-2.

Figure 4.2-2 Exporting a Disturbance

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To export the data for a particular disturbance, select it from the list. You can then add individual points,
Station points or RTU points.

To add points that you want to include in the exported file click on the Points radio button. Then you can
either select All Point or use the Point Browser.

To select the Stations whose points you want to include into the exported file click on the Stations radio
button. Then you can either select all the stations or just click on the individual stations in the list.

To select the RTUs whose points you want to include into the exported file click on the RTU radio button.
Then you can either select all the RTUs or just click on the individual RTU in the list.

Windows will display a “Save As” dialog to allow you to specify the name and location of the exported file
(usually you would choose to name this file with the .CSV suffix, for Comma-Separated Values). Once you
have done that, the program will export the data for the selected disturbance.

4.2.2 Exported File Output

The exported file contains comma-delimited text, representing rows and columns of values. This file can
be read by many text-editing and data-manipulation programs. Figure 4.2-3 is a view of the content of a
typical file, using a text editor.

The file contains a row for each point that has been captured, and a column for each sample time. The
first row contains text to identify each of the columns, and the first item in each row is the name of the
point. (Since the first item in the first row is therefore blank, the file begins with a comma.)

Figure 4.2-3 Typical Export File

You should be able to import this data into the application of your choice. Consult the documentation for
your application. For example, Microsoft Excel can import the text into a spreadsheet file, preserving the
rows and columns. (However, since Excel may not import files with more than 255 columns, this may not
work for your data.)

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Figure 4.2-4 Disturbance Data Imported to Excel

4.2.3 Graph Display

If you are interested in how just a few points behaved around the time of a disturbance, you may find it
helpful to use a graph. In the Capture Viewer, press the New Graph button, or choose New Graph from
the File menu. The Capture Graph Settings window appears.

Figure 4.2-5 Capture Graph Settings window

Select the disturbance you are interested in from the list on the right. Then click on the Points button to
bring up the Point Point Browser to drop the names of any points you are interested in onto the list on the
left. You may select any points you like. You are not restricted to the points used to trigger the disturbance
capture.

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Figure 4.2-6 Typical Disturbance Graph

If you like, you may manipulate the appearance of this graph, or print it. The Tools button will allow you to
control which details are included in the display window. The Options button allows you to determine the
type of graph displayed, and to control certain other appearance choices.

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