August 2011
Handling Messages in the Robot/NETWORK Status Center
In the July issue of Robot/NEWS Flash we talked about some tips for using the Robot/NETWORK Map Center. This month we’ll talk about how to handle messages escalated to the Robot/NETWORK Status Center
What’s Displayed in the Status Center?
The messages you see displayed in the Robot/NETWORK Status Center we refer to as “status messages.” A status message could be:
- A message escalated from Robot/CONSOLE, such as:
- Inquiry messages waiting for a response
- Informational messages turned into response-required messages
- Informational messages only needing acknowledgement
- A status escalated directly from a Robot product may indicate any number of things.
For example:
Each product is either telling you its current status, or the status of the automation instructions that it is responsible for. You only need to acknowledge these messages.
Depending upon the type of status message, you may need to take different action in the Status Center to prevent further escalation and a buildup of unacknowledged messages or reply-waiting messages.
Viewing the Status Center
Typically, you might view the Status Center by filtering out all but the unacknowledged statuses by selecting Unacknowledged Statuses from the Data Filter (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Unacknowledged Statuses
The icon to the left of the message indicates its importance. However, all status messages require some action by the operator to prevent them from building up or escalating.
The blue (informational) and yellow (warning) icons indicate that these status messages only need to be acknowledged. Just right-click a message and select the Acknowledge option (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Acknowledging Messages
If a red (attention) message is an informational QSYSOPR message that Robot/CONSOLE converted
to a response-required message, the Reply option is active. Select RESPONSE (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: RESPONSE Option for Attention Message
If the attention message is an inquiry message from the QSYSOPR message queue with defined replies, instead of the RESPONSE option, you’ll see the replies listed below (see Figure 4). Choose carefully!
Figure 4: Pre-defined REPLY options
Tips
- You can acknowledge multiple status messages by pressing the Ctrl key while you select them and using the Acknowledge option.
- You can acknowledge any status message, but that may leave Attention messages waiting for a reply if you did not choose either RESPONSE or another reply (see Messages Waiting For A Reply).
- The *DEFAULT option only works if you are responding to a QSYSOPR inquiry-type message that has a default message response defined in the message file.
Messages Waiting for a Reply
To display only the status messages waiting for a reply, filter the display using the Reply-Waiting Statuses option from the Data Filter.
Tip
To reply to multiple Response-Required messages do the following:
- Select the statuses by holding down the Ctrl key.
- Select Reply.
- Select Other (for a custom reply).
- Type RESPONSE in the Status Reply dialog.
- Click OK (see below).
The next time you answer a message in Robot/NETWORK, take a few seconds and think about this article. For more information, see the Robot/NETWORK User Guide or call Technical Support at 952-933-0609.
Contributed by Chuck Losinski, Product Support Manager
Q & A
How do I add a new Robot/NETWORK Node to the Robot/NETWORK Explorer display?
When you install a Robot/NETWORK Node on a new system, or use the RBTNETNODE/RBNCFGNODE command to point to a new Robot/NETWORK Host, after the Node successfully starts for the first time it automatically shows up in the Robot/NETWORK Explorer.
How do I get to the e-mail server information in Robot/Alert?
From the Robot/Alert Main Menu, select option 3, Directory Menu. Then select option 1, Vendor Maintenance Menu and option 2, Maintain Existing Vendors. From the Maintain Vendors panel, locate your vendor and enter a 1 in the Opt column to select the vendor. The Vendor panel displays outbound and inbound e-mail information.