CHARTrunner-m

Transcription

CHARTrunner-m

User's Guide
CHARTrunner-m
Version 1.0
PQ Systems copyright notice
Copyright © 2006-2009 Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc. Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc. is also
known as PQ Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this document may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of ProductivityQuality Systems, Inc.
The software contains proprietary information of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.; it is provided under a
license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and is also protected by copyright law.
Reverse engineering of the software is prohibited.
Due to continued product development this information may change without notice. The information and
intellectual property contained herein is confidential between Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc. and the
client and remains the exclusive property of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc. If you find any problems in
the documentation, please report them to us in writing. Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc. makes no
warranties, express or implied, concerning the system, including all warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise without the prior written permission of PQ Systems.
CHARTrunner is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
GAGEpack is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
SQCpack is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
PORTspy is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
MEASUREspy is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
DOEpack is a trademark of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
Total Quality Transformation is a trademark of QIP, Inc. and Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
TQT is a trademark of QIP, Inc., and PQ Systems, Inc.
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All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
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This document was created using AuthorIT™, Total Document Creation (see AuthorIT Home http://www.author-it.com).
i
Contents
Welcome _________________________________________________________________________ 1
Overview of CHARTrunner-m............................................................................................................ 2
CHARTrunner-m vs. CHARTrunner .................................................................................................. 3
About your CHARTrunner-m documentation .................................................................................... 3
About PQ Systems ............................................................................................................................ 4
How to contact PQ Systems .............................................................................................................. 5
Technical support .............................................................................................................................. 6
New User ........................................................................................................................................... 6
PQ Systems CHARTrunner-m End-User License Agreement .......................................................... 7
Request for new features .................................................................................................................. 9
Installing CHARTrunner-m _________________________________________________________ 11
Hardware and software requirements ............................................................................................. 11
Using the installation README file ................................................................................................. 11
Planning your CHARTrunner-m installation .................................................................................... 12
The Database ............................................................................................................................ 12
The Monitor Service .................................................................................................................. 12
The Monitor Administrator ......................................................................................................... 12
Pre-installation planning ............................................................................................................ 13
Pre-installation check list........................................................................................................... 13
Installing CHARTrunner-m the first time .......................................................................................... 14
Installing an upgrade to CHARTrunner-m ....................................................................................... 15
Background Information ___________________________________________________________ 17
Helpful terminology .......................................................................................................................... 18
More about monitor definitions ........................................................................................................ 21
The workflow of using CHARTrunner-m .......................................................................................... 22
The CHARTrunner-m workflow ................................................................................................. 23
Integration with CHARTrunner SPC charting software ................................................................... 24
Using the Monitor Administrator ____________________________________________________ 25
Using the Monitor Administrator for the first time ............................................................................ 25
Configuring Monitor Administrator for the Monitor Service ............................................................. 25
Introducing the main form ................................................................................................................ 26
Add a new monitor definition ..................................................................................................... 28
Delete a monitor definition ........................................................................................................ 28
Edit a monitor definition............................................................................................................. 29
Enable or Disable a monitor definition ...................................................................................... 29
Display the monitor definition list in a different order ................................................................ 29
Filter the monitor definition list .................................................................................................. 30
Create a new monitor definition based on a CHARTrunner chart ............................................ 31
Create new monitor definitions based on a CHARTrunner folder ............................................ 31
Create a new monitor definition by copying an existing one..................................................... 32
Setup categories ....................................................................................................................... 32
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Contents
View reports .............................................................................................................................. 32
Creating your first monitor definition ......................................................................................... 33
Reference – Monitor Definition Settings ______________________________________________ 35
General tab ...................................................................................................................................... 36
Data source tab ............................................................................................................................... 37
Data definition tab ............................................................................................................................ 39
Polling tab ........................................................................................................................................ 42
Limits tab ......................................................................................................................................... 44
Out-of-control tests tab .................................................................................................................... 46
Responses tab ................................................................................................................................. 47
General tab (under Responses)................................................................................................ 47
E-mail tab (under Responses) .................................................................................................. 48
Text messaging tab (under Responses) ................................................................................... 52
Misc. tab .......................................................................................................................................... 53
Buttons on the monitor definition form ............................................................................................. 54
Data filtering..................................................................................................................................... 54
Advanced row selection ................................................................................................................... 56
Advanced row selection steps .................................................................................................. 56
Advanced row selection example 1 .......................................................................................... 59
Main form options ________________________________________________________________ 65
Service configuration ....................................................................................................................... 65
Reporting ......................................................................................................................................... 66
System status .................................................................................................................................. 68
Utilities ............................................................................................................................................. 69
Monitor Service Configuration ______________________________________________________ 71
Database configuration .................................................................................................................... 72
Mail server configuration ................................................................................................................. 74
Services configuration ..................................................................................................................... 75
Service ports configuration .............................................................................................................. 76
Supervisor service configuration ..................................................................................................... 77
Response configuration ................................................................................................................... 78
Checking on the health of the Monitor Service ................................................................................ 79
Index ___________________________________________________________________________ 81
Copyright © 2009
1
CHAPTER 1
Welcome
CHARTrunner-m is a control chart monitoring solution. Use it to monitor statistical process control (SPC)
charts based on data that is stored in Excel, Access, SQL server, Oracle, text files, or other data sources.
In This Chapter
Overview of CHARTrunner-m ..........................................................................2
CHARTrunner-m vs. CHARTrunner .................................................................3
About your CHARTrunner-m documentation ...................................................3
About PQ Systems ...........................................................................................4
How to contact PQ Systems ............................................................................5
Technical support .............................................................................................6
New User..........................................................................................................6
PQ Systems CHARTrunner-m End-User License Agreement.........................6
Request for new features .................................................................................9
2
CHARTrunner-m User's Guide
Overview of CHARTrunner-m
Control chart monitoring with e-mail and text message alerts
Many organizations use statistical process control (SPC) charts to monitor key metrics over time. The
benefits of using control charts are well established. Control charts have been in use since the 1930's.
One difficulty with control charts is the sheer number of charts that might be needed. For example
imagine that you have 150 important metrics to monitor. There is significant workload in keeping the 150
charts current, analyzing the 150 charts on a regular basis, and taking appropriate action when any one
of the 150 charts produce an out-of-control signal. In many cases you will spend time and resources
analyzing a chart only to discover that no action is required.
CHARTrunner-m automates the repetitive steps in the control chart workflow. This will significantly reduce
the cost of using control charts. By making each chart less expensive you will be able to use more charts
without a significant increase in costs. As you use more charts you will gain more benefits of reduced
variation. This will feed a virtuous cycle of increasing quality and decreasing costs.
CHARTrunner-m consists of two cooperating applications: 1) the Monitor Administrator and 2) the Monitor
Service.
The Monitor Administrator is used to define what charts to monitor and specify what actions to take when
out-of-control conditions are detected.
The Monitor Service checks for new data and responds to out-of-control signals.
In a typical deployment, the Monitor Service will be installed on one computer and the Monitor
Administrator will be installed on one or more other computers in your network.
The Monitor Service runs as a Windows Service. The Monitor Administrator is a Windows desktop
application. Both applications share a SQL Server database to store definitions and other information.
The SQL Server database may be anywhere in your network.
CHARTrunner-m analyzes data that you store in standard applications such as Excel, Access, SQL
Server or Oracle. The philosophy is to add value to and gain understanding from data that you already
have flowing into standard data stores.
CHARTrunner-m is not an SPC charting program. Its job is to let you know when you need to examine
something in your process. This may include looking at a control chart. Typically, you will use another
program – CHARTrunner – to display and view control charts. Think of CHARTrunner-m as a program
that tracks many "virtual" control charts. When one of these virtual charts has an out-of-control condition –
it lets you know that some action is required.
CHARTrunner-m communicates with you via e-mail and/or text messages. Based on how you setup each
definition you will receive a message when an out-of-control condition is detected. Configuration options
allow you to keep the system from overwhelming you with messages. For example, you can setup a
definition so that it will only send you an e-mail alert if it has not sent one in the last 90 minutes.
CHARTrunner-m does not require a dedicated server computer. The two applications that make up
CHARTrunner-m, the Monitor Administrator and the Monitor Service, can be installed on the same
computer or on different computers in your network.
Copyright © 2009
Welcome
3
CHARTrunner-m vs. CHARTrunner
CHARTrunner-m and CHARTrunner are two different products that share a similar name.
CHARTrunner-m (this product) is for SPC data monitoring and notification. CHARTrunner is a general
purpose SPC charting package.
The two products work well together and they share their approach to evaluating data in existing data
sources. However, they are separate products that perform separate functions. The products both work
as standalone products and neither requires the other to do useful work.
About your CHARTrunner-m documentation
CHARTrunner-m documentation includes the following:
•
User Guide - The PDF document can be printed to create a hard-copy of the CHARTrunner-m
documentation.
•
On-line Help - Provides descriptions of the application's commands and windows. It is displayed when
you select a help option from the Help Menu or press F1.
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About PQ Systems
For more than 20 years, PQ Systems, Inc. has been dedicated to helping customers continuously
improve their organizations. We are a full service quality management firm offering a comprehensive
network of products and services designed to help all industries improve quality and comply with
standards. PQ Systems provides the expertise, training, and software tools necessary to assist
organizations through every step of the quality process. Our highly-regarded products have made us a
leader in the industry, but our commitment to customer service and support keeps customers coming
back.
Software
SQCpack® EZ combines powerful SPC techniques such as variables, attributes, and Pareto charting with
flexibility and ease of use.
GAGEpack® EZ builds a complete database of an unlimited number of measurement devices,
instruments, and gages from which users can generate a variety of reports. It supports ISO 9000, QS9000, ISO/TS 16949-2002, ISO/IEC 17025, and other standards.
CHARTrunner® draws SPC charts and performs statistical analysis using data that resides in other
applications such as Microsoft Excel and Access.
DOEpack® is easy-to-use software that guides you through a logical, step-by-step process for planning,
designing, implementing, and interpreting effective experimental designs.
Quality Workbench helps organizations keep day-to-day control over their quality systems in order to
comply with ISO 9000 and other standards. It features document control, audits, nonconformities,
customer care, and internet viewing modules.
Training & Consulting
Our consultants and trainers have extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of SPC, continuous
improvement, ISO 9000, QS-9000, and trainer and leadership development in a wide variety of industries
and organizations. In addition to customized in-house training, we offer public seminars.
K-12 Process and Tools Training helps transform mountains of data into real information that will help
bring genuine, long lasting improvement to K-12 schools and shows how tools for planning, problemsolving, data gathering, and analysis work within the PDSA cycle.
Training Tools
SPC Workout is an interactive multimedia training course on CD-ROM. It provides effective step-by-step
instruction on how to implement and apply SPC.
Six Sigma Start-Up is an interactive multimedia course on CD-ROM that provides an introductory course
on the principles and practices of Six Sigma.
Gage Mentor is an interactive multimedia training course on CD-ROM. It provides effective metrology
training for operators, engineers, and quality personnel.
FMEA Investigator is a step-by-step interactive multimedia training course on CD-ROM that provides
effective instructions on how to conduct both design and process FMEAs.
Copyright © 2009
Welcome
5
Total Quality Transformation® (TQT®) offers step-by-step help in facilitating quality improvement in
organizations. Materials include Practical Tools for Continuous Improvement, Practical Tools for
Healthcare Quality, Foundations for Leaders, Foundations of Quality, Team Skills, System Alignment
Guide, System Improvement Guide, and Strategic Quality Planning Guide. TQT is part of the
Transformation of American Industry training project, which has been used in a variety of manufacturing
and service organizations since 1984.
How to contact PQ Systems
PQ Systems invites your questions and comments about our products and services.
Sales Phone: 1-800-777-3020 or 937-885-2255
Sales E-mail: [email protected]
PQ Systems, Inc.
210 B East Spring Valley Road
Dayton, OH 45458
Call Sales for:
•
General information to help you decide to purchase or evaluate the
software
•
To place an order or check the status of an order
You can send a fax to either Sales or Technical Support at 937-885-2252. To ensure that your fax is
delivered quickly to the right department, please send it to Attn: Sales or Attn: Technical Support.
World Wide Web URL
http://www.pqsystems.com (http://www.pqsystems.com)
International offices
U.K.
PQ Systems Europe Ltd.
Ryeground House, Ryeground Lane
Freshfield, Formby, Merseyside L37 7EQ
England
Tel. 01704 871465
Fax 01704-875189
Australia
PQ Systems Pty. Ltd.
Level 6 Peninsula Centre
435-437 Nepean Highway
Frankston, Victoria 3199 Australia
Tel. 03-9770-1960
Fax 03-9770-1995
Copyright © 2009
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Technical support
Phone: 1-800-777-5060 or 937-885-2255
E-mail: [email protected]
Call our experienced technical support team. Our experts can answer questions about software problems,
data analysis, and applications.
Before you call, please follow these steps to help our technical advisors answer your questions quickly:
1. Have your license/serial number ready. It is listed in the About dialog box. You can access this dialog
box by selecting Help > About from the menu.
2. Be at your computer, if possible.
3. Review the topic for which you have a question in the User Guide and On-line Help.
New User
New users are encouraged to read Overview of CHARTrunner-m and Background Information
sections to gain familiarity with the basic concepts of using CHARTrunner-m.
We want your first experience with CHARTrunner-m to be a good one. If you are a new user, or even if
you are just evaluating a trial of CHARTrunner-m, you can contact PQ Systems for a guided tour of
CHARTrunner-m. To arrange a tour contact the nearest office.
Location
Contact Information
United States
Call: 1-800-777-5060 or 937-885-2255
Europe
Call: 01704 871465
Australia
Call: 03-9770-1960
Copyright © 2009
Welcome
7
PQ Systems CHARTrunner-m End-User License
Agreement
This End-User License Agreement ("EULA") is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a
single entity) and PQ Systems, Inc. for the PQ Systems CHARTrunner-m software that accompanies this
EULA, which includes computer software and may include associated media, printed materials, "online"
or electronic documentation, and Internet-based services ("Software"). An amendment or addendum to
this EULA may accompany the software. YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS EULA
BY INSTALLING, COPYING, OR OTHERWISE USING THE SOFTWARE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, DO
NOT INSTALL, COPY OR USE THE SOFTWARE; YOU MAY RETURN IT TO YOUR PLACE OF
PURCHASE FOR A FULL REFUND, IF APPLICABLE.
License
The Monitor Administrator Software may be installed on an unlimited number of computers that are
owned or controlled by you.
The Monitor Service Software is licensed under the per-computer license model. Under the per-computer
license model, PQ Systems grants to you a nonexclusive right to install and use the Monitor Service on a
single computer that is owned or controlled by you. You must purchase a registered per-computer license
for each computer on which the Monitor Service is installed. The number of active monitor definitions
supported by the Monitor Service is specified by the license you purchase. You may not use any means
that permits more than the purchased number of monitor definitions to be used.
License term
The Software is licensed on a subscription basis. The license term expires at the end of the time period
purchased by you. The Software will not function after the end of the purchased time period.
Evaluation period
Subject to the terms of this agreement, you are permitted to use the Software for evaluation purposes
without charge during the evaluation period. If you want to use the Software after the evaluation period,
then a license must be purchased. The evaluation period may vary from one PQ Systems product to
another, but in no case does the evaluation period extend beyond 90 days from the first use of the
Software.
Unregistered use of the Software after the evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international
copyright laws.
Further explanation of copyright-law provisions
You may not otherwise modify, alter, adapt, merge, decompile, or reverse-engineer the Software and you
may not remove or obscure PQ Systems' copyright or trademark notices.
Per-computer License Model - You may transfer all of your rights to use the Software to another
computer, provided that you transfer to that computer all of the Software, together with all copies, tangible
or intangible, including copies in RAM or installed on a disk, as well as backup copies. Remember, once
you transfer the Software, it may be used only on the single computer to which it is transferred. Except as
stated in this paragraph, you may not otherwise transfer, rent, lease, sublicense, timeshare, or lend the
Software. Your use of the Software is limited to acts that are essential steps in the use of the Software on
your computer as described in the documentation.
Copyright © 2009
8
Subscription Term - You may not use any means that permits the Software to run after the end of the
purchased time period.
Electronic communications
The Software may from time to time transmit data to and from PQ Systems servers via the internet. This
information transfer may be used to notify you when newer versions of the Software are available, for
verifying license compliance, or for other purposes. PQ Systems will not collect any personal identifiable
information from your computer during this process.
Governing law and general provisions
This license statement shall be construed, interpreted, and governed by the laws of the State of Ohio,
USA. If any provision of this statement is found void or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the
balance of this statement, which shall remain valid and enforceable according to its terms. If any remedy
provided is determined to have failed of its essential purpose, all limitations of liability and exclusions of
damages set forth in the Limited Warranty shall remain in full force and effect. This statement may be
modified only in writing signed by you and an authorized representative of PQ Systems, Inc. Use,
duplication, or disclosure by the US Government of computer software and documentation in this
package shall be subject to the restricted rights applicable to commercial computer software (under
DFARS 52.227-7013). All rights not specifically granted in this statement are reserved by PQ Systems,
Inc.
Disclaimer of warranty
THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT
WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES
WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. Because of the various hardware and software environments
into which the Software may be put, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS
OFFERED.
Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data
before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the Software. ANY LIABILITY OF THE
SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF
PURCHASE PRICE.
PQ SYSTEMS, INC.
Corporate Headquarters: 210 B East Spring Valley Road, Dayton, Ohio 45458, USA, (937) 885-2255,
http://www.pqsystems.com. International Offices: Australia 03-9770-1960, The United Kingdom
(01704) 871465.
All PQ Systems products are trademarks of Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc., Copyright (c) 1998-2008
Productivity-Quality Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2009
Welcome
9
Request for new features
PQ Systems wants to provide you with software that meets your quality needs. To do this, we need your
input. If there is a feature, function, or operation that you would like to see in a future version of the
software, please contact please contact Technical Support by e-mail at [email protected] or by
phone at 1-800-777-5060 or 937-885-2255.
Copyright © 2009
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Copyright © 2009
11
CHAPTER 2
Installing CHARTrunner-m
In This Chapter
Hardware and software requirements ........................................................... 11
Using the installation README file ............................................................... 11
Planning your CHARTrunner-m installation .................................................. 12
Installing CHARTrunner-m the first time ....................................................... 14
Installing an upgrade to CHARTrunner-m..................................................... 15
Hardware and software requirements
You need the following to run CHARTrunner-m:
•
•
•
Monitor Administration program (CHARTrunner-m.exe)
•
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (or higher).
•
Windows XP SP2, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008.
•
Generally speaking, the more memory the better your experience will be. If you are running
Windows XP, PQ Systems recommends 256 MB at an absolute minimum, and 512 MB (or more)
is better.
Monitor Service
•
Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (or higher).
•
Windows XP SP2, Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008.
•
Generally speaking, the more memory the better your experience will be. If you are running
Windows XP or Vista, PQ Systems recommends 512 MB at an absolute minimum, and 1 GB (or
more) is better.
SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server Express 2005 (or higher) is needed to store monitor definitions and
associated information. If you already have SQL Server 2005 or 2008 you can use it. Or, you can
install the free SQL Server Express 2005 (or higher).
Using the installation README file
We strive to continuously improve our software and occasionally make changes that affect the look or use
of CHARTrunner-m. We are not always able to include this information in the documentation that you
receive with the product. Instead, PQ Systems includes this information in a ReadMe.htm file. To open
the ReadMe.htm file, double-click on the ReadMe icon in the CHARTrunner-m 1.0 area of the Start menu.
12
Planning your CHARTrunner-m installation
Before installing CHARTrunner-m some planning is required. CHARTrunner-m is a distributed application.
This means that different programs will be running on different computers in your network and these
programs communicate and cooperate with one another. There are planning considerations in these
areas:
1. The Database
2. The Monitoring Service
3. The Monitor Administrator.
The Database
A SQL Server database is required to store your monitor definitions and other information needed by
CHARTrunner-m. You have two options for this database:
•
Use an existing SQL Server for the database - If you already have an installation of SQL Server 2005 (or
higher), you can use this to host the CHARTrunner-m database.
•
Install a SQL Server Express installation for the database – If your organization is not using SQL Server of if
you prefer to isolate the CHARTrunner-m database, you can use SQL Server Express. SQL Server
Express is a free version of SQL Server useful for applications such as CHARTrunner-m.
The Monitor Service
The Monitor Service runs as a Windows Service. A Windows Service is a program that runs in the
background with no user interface. It runs whenever the computer is running – even when no user is
logged into the computer. The Monitor Service will be installed on one computer in your network. This
computer will need to be attached to the network and running at all times. The Monitor Service will be
installed so it starts automatically each time the computer is started.
The Monitor Administrator
The Monitor Administrator is a Windows application used to define the control charts which are being
monitored for out-of-control conditions. The Monitor Administrator may be installed on one or more
computers in your network. You may decide to install this on several computers so that you can create
and modify monitor definitions from many places within your organization.
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13
Pre-installation planning
Use the following instructions and checklist to plan for your CHARTrunner-m installation:
1. Decide where the CHARTrunner-m data will be stored: SQL Server or SQL Server Express.
2. Create or identify an Active Directory security group with the minimum privileges needed for read-only
access to your data sources, plus read/write access to the CHARTrunner-m database. Let's assume
that you name this group "CHARTrunner-m Data Access".
3. Create or identify the account under which the Monitor Service will run. It is recommended that the
CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service run under a domain account that has the minimum privileges
needed for read-only access to your data sources, plus read/write access to the CHARTrunner-m
database. Typically you will create a domain account specifically for the purpose of running the
monitor service, and make that account a member of the security group mentioned in the previous
paragraph, e.g. the "CHARTrunner-m Data Access" group.
Pre-installation check list
Database - Select A or B
A.__ Use existing SQL Server or SQL Server Express
Name or address of computer with SQL Server: ____________________
B.__ Install SQL Server Express on a computer
Name or address of computer where SQL Server Express will be installed: _______________
CHARTrunner-m database name (CHARTrunner-m is suggested): ____________________
Monitor Service
Computer where the Monitor Service will be installed: ____________________
Account used to run the Monitor Service: ____________________
Monitor Administrator
Computer(s) where Monitor Administrator will be installed: ____________________
Active directory security group for Monitor Administrator users: ____________________
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14
Installing CHARTrunner-m the first time
To install CHARTrunner-m follow these steps.
Note that TARGETDIR in the steps below refers to the target installation folder, which typically is
"C:\Program Files\PQ Systems\CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service 1.0\" on a 32-bit operating system, and
"C:\Program Files (x86)\PQ Systems\CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service 1.0\" on a 64-bit operating system.
1. Create or identify an Active Directory security group with the minimum privileges needed for read-only
access to your data sources, plus read/write access to the CHARTrunner-m database. Let's assume
that you name this group "CHARTrunner-m Data Access".
2. If SQL Server Express must be installed, then install it on the selected computer. The free install can
be obtained here: http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/2005/. Configure it to allow remote connections
via TCP/IP using the SQL Server Surface Area Configuration tool. In the tool, click on "Surface Area
Configuration for Services and Connections", then under "Database Engine" > "Remote Connections"
select "Local and remote connections" with "Using both TCP/IP and named pipes" (or "Using TCP/IP
only" if that's your preference).
3. Install the Monitor Service by running the chartrunner-m_service1.0_setup.exe installation program to
install the Monitor Service on the computer you selected during pre-installation planning. The Monitor
Service will not be started when the installation program finishes – this is by design – do not attempt
to start the Monitor Service at this point.
4. For a new installation, copy the CHARTrunner-m license file that was provided by PQ Systems into
the Monitor Service installation folder, which typically is "C:\Program Files\PQ
Systems\CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service 1.0\". The license file will have a .LIC file extension. Note
that the Monitor Service can be started without a valid license file, but no monitor definitions will be
evaluated.
5. Run the TARGETDIR\Support\MonitorDbUtility.exe program and select the Create a new database
option to create the database, tables, and stored procedures required by CHARTrunner-m. Assuming
that you run MonitorDbUtility.exe on the same computer where you installed SQL Server 2005
Express, then you can enter ".\SQLEXPRESS" (without the quotes) in the 'Server name' field. It is
suggested that you enter "CHARTrunner-m" (without the quotes) in the 'New Database' field.
6. Using "SQL Server Management Studio" or the free SQL Server Management Studio Express
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C243A5AE-4BD1-4E3D-94B85A0F62BF7796&displaylang=en, set permissions for the CHARTrunner-m database to allow users in
the CHARTrunner-m Data Access" security group to add, modify, and delete data in tables, and also
to execute stored procedures.
7. Create or identify the account under which the Monitor Service will run. It is recommended that the
CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service run under a domain account that has the minimum privileges
needed for read-only access to your data sources, plus read/write access to the CHARTrunner-m
database. Typically you will create a domain account specifically for the purpose of running the
monitor service, and make that account a member of the "CHARTrunner-m Data Access" security
group. It is suggested that you name this account "CR-m-Service", although you can name it anything
you like.
8. Use the Services applet to change the "Log On" account for the "CHARTrunner-m Monitor" service to
the domain account you selected on the pre-installation checklist. If this is a new installation, do not
start the "CHARTrunner-m Monitor" service at this time.
9. Configure the Monitor Service by running the "CHARTrunner-m Monitor Configuration Utility" shortcut
on your start menu. If you have any questions about any of these values, please contact PQ Systems
technical support for assistance.
Copyright © 2009
15
•
Click the Edit button and enter the appropriate information on the Database and Mail Server tabs.
The information on the other tabs can likely use the default values. When you are finished click
the Save button.
•
Start the Monitor Service by clicking the Start service button.
•
Open the Windows Event Viewer applet, look in the Application event log and verify that the
Monitor Service started successfully. The event source for the Monitor Service is "PQ.Monitor".
10. Install the Monitor Administrator on one or more computers using the chartrunnerm_admin1.0_setup.exe installation program.
11. Run the Monitor Administrator, as a user who is a member of the "CHARTrunner-m Data Access"
security group created previously. Select File > "Service Configuration" to configure the Monitor
Administrator program so it knows how to communicate with the Monitor Service.
12. You are now ready to begin using the software. Your first step will be to create a monitor definition to
begin monitoring a stream of data for alarm conditions.
Installing an upgrade to CHARTrunner-m
Follow these steps to install an upgrade to CHARTrunner-m.
Note that TARGETDIR in the steps below refers to the target installation folder, which typically is
"C:\Program Files\PQ Systems\CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service 1.0\" on a 32-bit operating system, and
"C:\Program Files (x86)\PQ Systems\CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service 1.0\" on a 64-bit operating system.
1. Install the upgrade to the monitor service by running the chartrunner-m_service1.0_setup.exe
installation program on the computer where the monitor service is installed. The installation program
will perform these steps:
•
Stop the "CHARTrunner-m Monitor" windows service.
•
Upgrade the software.
•
Run the TARGETDIR\Support\MonitorDbUtility.exe program which will make any needed
changes to your CHARTrunner-m database. After the utility starts, enter the name of the
computer where SQL Server is hosting the CHARTrunner-m database in the 'Server name' field.
In the 'New Database' field enter the name you chose for the CHARTrunner-m database (typically
this is CHARTrunner-m). You will be given the option to 'Backup Target Database'. It is suggested
that you allow the utility to backup the database. Be careful not to overwrite a prior backup if that's
not your desire.
•
Start the "CHARTrunner-m Monitor" windows service.
2. Using the chartrunner-m_admin1.0_setup.exe installation program, install the upgrade to the Monitor
Administrator on each computer where the Monitor Administrator has been installed.
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CHAPTER 3
Background Information
In This Chapter
Helpful terminology ....................................................................................... 18
More about monitor definitions ...................................................................... 21
The workflow of using CHARTrunner-m ....................................................... 22
Integration with CHARTrunner SPC charting software ................................. 24
18
Helpful terminology
This section contains common terms and definitions that will help you understand CHARTrunner-m.
Monitor definition – A collection of settings that taken together define a single metric that you monitor within
the CHARTrunner-m system. A monitor definition has a name, describes one or more chart types that are
being monitored, defines a source of data to periodically check for new records, along with other settings
for how often the data is checked, how the data is analyzed, and what actions are taken when certain
conditions occur. Monitor definitions are stored in the CHARTrunner-m database which may contain as
many monitor definitions as needed. CHARTrunner-m is licensed based upon a maximum number of
enabled monitor definitions. But you are free to define as many monitor definitions as you desire.
Reference control chart – CHARTrunner-m does not have the ability to compute control limits or display a
visible control chart. It is recommended that you create a reference CHARTrunner chart definition for
each monitor definition. The reference chart is used to compute the control limit set that CHARTrunner-m
uses for evaluation of current data. In addition, you will probably want to add the reference chart, or other
similar charts, as associated chart definitions to the monitor definition. This allows recipients of the e-mail
message from CHARTrunner-m to view one or more charts associated with the process that generated
the signal.
Virtual control chart – Another name for a monitor definition. A monitor definition defines one or more control
charts which are being monitored by the system. The charts are not managed as a traditional control
charts. Instead, CHARTrunner-m automates the repetitive steps of generating and evaluating the charts
and notifies a person only when some condition warrants attention; so it can be thought of as a "virtual"
control chart.
Control limits – All control charts use an upper limit, centerline, and lower limit to help understand the
variation present in the data. A chart – or monitor definition – typically has a "set" of control limits for each
chart type being monitored. These values are entered and saved as part of the monitor definition.
Typically you obtain the control limit values from a CHARTrunner chart.
Variables or Measurement Control charts – If the data you are monitoring is made up of things you measure
such as weight, length, height, depth, wait time, or density – you will be using a variables control chart.
These are sometimes referred to as measurement control charts. There are many types of control charts.
The measurement control charts supported by CHARTrunner-m are listed below:
Individuals, Moving Average, Moving range
X-bar(r), X-bar(s), Range, Median, Sigma
Attributes or Count Control charts – If the data you are monitoring is made up of things you count such as the
number of errors, the number of defects, the number of units produced, or the number of units processed
– you will be using an attributes control chart. These are sometimes referred to as count control chart
charts. The attributes control charts supported by CHARTrunner-m are listed below:
P-chart, c-chart, np-chart, u-chart
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Data Source – A monitor definition contains settings that describe what data to monitor. For example, you
might monitor data in an Access database table or you might monitor data in a SQL Server table. Several
settings within a monitor definition describe how to access this data. Collectively, these settings are often
referred to as the "data source."
Monitor Administrator – The program you use to add, modify, and delete monitor definitions within the
CHARTrunner-m system.
Monitor Service – The program that does the work of evaluating monitor definitions and responding to outof-control conditions. This program runs in the background as a Windows Service on one computer in
your network.
Windows Service – A Windows Service is a special type of software application that runs in the background
and has no user interface. It can be running on a computer even when no user is logged in to Windows –
as long as the computer is turned on.
Column Mapping – Each monitor definition has settings that define a source of data records. The data
records might be the result of a query or they may be from a data table. In either case some collection of
columns will be the result. In a monitor definition, you map the columns you are interested in monitoring.
For example, you may map the column named "Date Of Issue" as an identifier and you might map a
column named "Wait Time" as a measurement.
Unique Ascending Identifier – When you define the column mapping in a monitor definition, you are required
to map one column as a unique ascending identifier. Typically, this will be a Date/Time column in your
data source but it could also be a numeric or text column. It is important that this column contain unique
values – no two rows should have the same value for this column. Most data tables have a column like
this. If you have a table or view that you want to use as a data source, and no column meets the criteria
of being unique and ascending, then you will need to create such a column. This is an important column
mapping. Each time CHARTrunner-m queries the data source it will use this column to see if any new
records have arrived which need to be evaluated. The data will be ordered in an ascending manner by
this column as it is evaluated by the Monitor Service.
Table – The data source you define in a monitor definition can fetch data from a table. A table is a
collection of columns and rows which contain data. Databases such as Access, SQL Server, and Oracle
all use tables as the primary container for data.
Query or View – The data source you define for a monitor definition can fetch data from a view (called a
Query in Microsoft Access). A view is defined in the database and looks to the outside world just like a
table. However, the view is defined by a SQL statement and can show table data in different ways.
Custom query – Rather than use a table or named query, you also have the option of using a custom query
as the source of records for a monitor definition. A custom query is a SQL (structured query language)
statement. Custom SQL queries provide great flexibility in how you select the data you wish to monitor.
They can be simple SELECT statements or they can be more complex and join together several different
data tables. A custom query can act as the source of records for a monitor definition.
Polling interval – Each monitor definition has a setting for polling interval. This defines how often the
Monitor Service will check to see if new data exists and needs to be evaluated. For example, if a monitor
definition has a polling interval of one hour this means that every hour, the Monitor Service will check for
new data. If new data is found, it will be evaluated for out-of-control conditions. If out-of-control conditions
are found then e-mail and or text messages will be sent to inform the interested parties. Along with the
polling interval, you will find other settings that allow you to customize when and how often the monitor
definition is evaluated. For example, you can set polling interval settings so that new data is only
evaluated between 8:00am and 4:00pm and only on week days.
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Out-of-control test – When new data arrives and a monitor definition needs to be evaluated the control chart
will be examined based on a set of rules. The rules are named out-of-control test rules. The rules used
may be different for each monitor definition. Here are some of the common rules; keep in mind that
CHARTrunner-m supports a large set of rules and you may even define your own custom rules:
7 points ascending
7 points above the mean
2 of 3 points beyond 2 sigma
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More about monitor definitions
A monitor definition is the primary object you will use in CHARTrunner-m. You will use the Monitor
Administrator program to add, edit, delete, and modify your monitor definitions. The main form in the
Monitor Administrator displays a list of your monitor definitions. These monitor definitions are stored in the
CHARTrunner-m database. You may have dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of monitor definitions.
CHARTrunner-m is licensed based upon a maximum number of enabled monitor definitions. But you are
free to define as many monitor definitions as you desire.
An important setting for each monitor definition is the category. Each definition may be classified as
belonging to zero or more categories. As you create more definitions the list will grow longer and be more
difficult to navigate. By organizing your definitions into categories, you will be able to sort the list so that
related monitor definitions will show up together in what might be a long list.
Each monitor definition is either enabled or disabled. Only monitor definitions that are enabled are
evaluated for new data at each polling interval. This allows you to temporarily disable a monitor definition
when you know that no new data is arriving; perhaps because production is shut down or because data
associated with the monitor definition has not yet started to flow.
When you want to create a monitor definition or change the settings for an existing monitor definition, you
will use the monitor definition editor form. This form has settings on several tabs. Click on each tab to
change various settings. Here is what the form looks like:
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The workflow of using CHARTrunner-m
It is important to realize the CHARTrunner-m is not an SPC charting package. Instead, it is designed to
pay attention to new data as it arrives, from an SPC point of view, and notify people when conditions
warrant further attention. It is reasonable to expect that when people get one of these notifications they
will look at the data with an SPC charting package, such as CHARTrunner. However, the SPC charting
activity happens outside the scope of CHARTrunner-m.
Before you setup a monitor definition for one of your metrics, you should look at the following checklist. If
you answer "no" to any of these questions it may be premature to begin monitoring the data with
CHARTrunner-m
1. Do you have data flowing into a database such as Access, SQL Server, Oracle, or Excel?
2. Does the data table contain a column that can be used as a unique ascending identifier? Remember
that the data will be evaluated in the order determined by this column.
3. Have you setup a reference control chart of this data and established official control limits?
4. Using the established limits, is the chart generally "in-control" and stable over time?
Do you have data flowing?
CHARTrunner-m works best when a data collection and storage mechanism is in place and working. The
data may be manually entered or it may arrive automatically from your process. In either case the flow of
data for your metric must be established before you begin monitoring this with CHARTrunner-m.
Unique ascending identifier?
Many database tables contain a "key" or "identity" column. Often, the value put into this column is
automatically generated by the database to ensure it is unique. Monitoring requires a column like this in
your data source. It is used to ensure that each time the Monitor Service checks for new data – it only
finds data that has not been previously analyzed. Remember that the data will be evaluated in the order
determined by this column.
Have you setup a reference control chart?
Before monitoring a data stream with CHARTrunner-m, you must decide what type of control chart, or
charts, you will use. Also, you should have computed and established control limits which are reasonable
for the data being studied. Typically these control limits are computed using your reference
CHARTrunner control chart.
Is the chart generally in control?
If the control chart you have shows a process that is unstable and generally not in control then it is too
early to begin monitoring this with CHARTrunner-m. In this case, there is still too much common cause
variation in the process so automating the control chart would cause too many false positive signals.
Common cause variation is variation for which there is probably some discoverable (and correctable)
cause. A control chart with several, perhaps 25, data points that are in control is one indication that most
or all common causes of variation have been removed.
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The CHARTrunner-m workflow
1. Select a metric to monitor and establish a data collection and data storage plan for that metric.
2. Using an SPC charting program like CHARTrunner, create a reference control chart and compute
control limits.
3. Remove common causes of variation from the process until the control chart is mostly in-control.
4. Use CHARTrunner-m to setup a monitor definition using the chart type and control limits established
in steps 2 and 3. You can import your reference CHARTrunner control chart to create a new monitor
definition.
5. Setup the monitor definition to send e-mail or text messages to appropriate people when signal
conditions exist.
6. Enable the monitor definition. When out-of-control condition e-mails arrive – take appropriate action to
study, understand, and remove the causes of variation.
Notice that only steps 4 through 6 involve the CHARTrunner-m system.
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Integration with CHARTrunner SPC charting
software
CHARTrunner is a general purpose SPC charting application. It approaches data with the same
philosophy as CHARTrunner-m. This means that you can easily make charts of data which exists in
standard databases such as Excel, SQL Server, and Oracle.
CHARTrunner is not required to use CHARTrunner-m. However, if you have both applications there are
convenient integration features which will help you complete the automatic SPC monitoring cycle.
Remember that when CHARTrunner-m detects an out-of-control condition on any of the charts it is
monitoring, it will send e-mail to appropriate staff. When a user receives one of these e-mails, it might
look something like this (you can customize the e-mail to look however you like):
Monitor name: Pressure at valve 22-1
Monitor description: Area 22, pump 36, sensor 2.
Evaluation time: 01/01/2009 11:15:02
There were 3 new subgroups evaluated, and of those subgroups, there were 2
subgroups with a signal.
The last subgroup evaluated on the previous cycle was: 01/01/2009 8:05:02
The last subgroup evaluated on the current cycle was: 01/01/2009 11:06:33
The first subgroup with a signal was: 01/01/2009 10:03:11
The last subgroup with a signal was: 01/01/2009 11:06:33
The signal conditions detected during this evaluation:
Identifiers:
DateTime = 01/01/2009 10:03:11
Failures:
Range, Beyond limits
Identifiers:
DateTime = 01/01/2009 11:06:33
Failures:
Range, Beyond limits
After receiving an e-mail like this, the person may know exactly what to do. However, they may need to
look at a control chart to study the situation. CHARTrunner-m allows you to easily integrate CHARTrunner
charting so the person receiving this e-mail can quickly display the appropriate control chart or charts.
Also, you will need a means to calculate the control limit values that you use in your CHARTrunner-m
monitor definitions. CHARTrunner can easily calculate the needed control limits, and CHARTrunner-m
allows you to quickly update a monitor definition by importing the control limit values contained in a
CHARTrunner chart definition.
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CHAPTER 4
Using the Monitor Administrator
In This Chapter
Using the Monitor Administrator for the first time .......................................... 25
Configuring Monitor Administrator for the Monitor Service ........................... 25
Introducing the main form ............................................................................. 26
Using the Monitor Administrator for the first time
The first time you run the Monitor Administrator program most of the menu options will be disabled.
Before these options are available you must configure the Monitor Administrator so it knows where to find
the Monitor Service.
Configuring Monitor Administrator for the
Monitor Service
To establish a connection to the computer running the Monitor Service, use the File menu on the main
form; select File > Service Configuration, or press Ctrl-F2. This will display a dialog box allowing you to
identify the computer and port where the Monitor Service is running. If the Monitor Service cannot be
found based on your entries an error message will be displayed. This is typically done only one time. The
setting will be saved and each time you run the program it will attempt to connect to the Monitor Service
using this information.
For the field where you identify the computer where the Monitor Service is running, you must enter
information that allows the software to determine the IP address of that computer. In many networks
simply specifying the computer name will suffice. Other possibilities include specifying an IP address
(such as 192.168.0.50) or specifying a DNS name (such as crm.mycompany.internal).
26
Introducing the main form
Here is the main with annotations added to highlight important features:
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The main form shows you a list of monitor definitions. Use this form primarily to add, edit, and delete
monitor definitions. You can also enable and disable monitor definitions and check on the status of the
Monitor Service. If you right-click in the monitor definition list, a context menu will be displayed. The
context menu is another way to access features in the toolbar and in the main menu.
To see what the buttons in the toolbar are for, hold your mouse still for a moment over any of the buttons.
This will display a tooltip, which is a pop-up information message that is visible for a few seconds to
provide additional information. Here is an example of the tooltip shown for the Delete button.
Many tasks on the main form can be accomplished in different ways. For example, to add a new monitor
definition, you have these options:
1. Click the Add button in the toolbar
2. Select Edit > New from the main menu
3. Right click and select New from the context menu
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All three of these options will display the monitor definition form allowing you to create a new monitor
definition. Throughout this manual, we will typically show you only one way to do something. Then we'll
rely on the fact that you read this one obscure paragraph and you'll know there is more than one way to
get something done!
If an error occurs a message may be shown in the status bar (as shown above). In order to dismiss the
error in the status bar, simply double-click the message and it will be removed.
The error message shown above indicates that the Monitor Administrator software expects to see a
CHARTrunner-m database having a schema version of 12, but the database is actually at version 11.
When a mismatch like this occurs, either the Monitor Administrator software needs to be updated, or the
CHARTrunner-m monitor service needs to be updated.
Add a new monitor definition
To add a new monitor definition, click on the Add button in the toolbar. This will display the monitor
definition form. When you fill out the form and then click OK, the new monitor definition will be displayed
in the list of monitor definitions.
Delete a monitor definition
To delete a monitor definition, first click once to highlight the monitor definition in the list. Next, click the
Delete button in the toolbar. After confirming your decision, the monitor definition will be deleted and
removed from the list. You may also select multiple monitor definitions to delete all at once. To do this use
either the Shift or Control key at the same time you click on monitor definitions. Once you have selected
all the monitor definitions you wish to delete click on the Delete button in the toolbar.
Keep in mind that if you want to keep the monitor definition but not have it running, you also have the
option to disable a monitor definition. This leaves the monitor definition in the list but stops the Monitor
Service from evaluating the monitor definition.
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Edit a monitor definition
To make changes to a monitor definition, first click once to highlight the monitor definition in the list. Next,
click the Edit button in the toolbar. This will display the monitor definition form showing you all the current
settings for the monitor definition. Make changes and then click the OK button to save them. Note that a
monitor definition might be enabled while you are making these edits. If so, there may be a short delay
between the time you save your changes and the time the Monitor Service picks up on the changes.
Enable or Disable a monitor definition
To change the enabled state of a monitor definition, use the context menu. First, click to highlight the
monitor definition(s) you want to deal with. Next, use the right click menu and select either Enable or
Disable. Alternatively, press Ctrl-E to enable or Ctrl-D to disable the selected monitor definition(s). A
monitor definition that is disabled is ignored by the Monitor Service. A monitor definition that is enabled is
checked for new data at each polling interval by the Monitor Service. Note that polling interval is a setting
of the monitor definition. You can also enable or disable a monitor definition by checking or un-checking
the Enabled box on the monitor definition form. Note that you may select multiple definitions by using the
standard Ctrl-Left-Click and Shift-Left-Click mouse selection gestures to select multiple items. Once all
the definitions you want are selected, you can enable or disable them all at once. Note also that Ctrl-A will
automatically select ALL the monitor definitions.
Display the monitor definition list in a different order
You can sort the monitor definition list by any column displayed in the grid on the main form. The column
which is currently being used for sorting will have a small triangle displayed in the column heading. Click
in any column heading to sort the list by that column. Click a second time to reverse the sort order. The
triangle glyph points up or down depending on sort order. The category column is important for sorting the
list. Each monitor definition can be defined as belonging to zero or more categories. When you list of
monitor definition gets long, the category column allows you to ensure that all monitor definitions in the
same category are shown together in the list. Category is an optional field when saving a monitor
definition; however it can be quite helpful when sorting a large list of monitor definitions.
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Filter the monitor definition list
The monitor definition list can be filtered so that only a subset of the monitor definitions is displayed in the
list. This is helpful when there are lots of monitor definitions and you only want to see and deal with a
subset of the entire list.
The top row of the monitor definitions list is the filter row. You can enter a filter expression in zero or more
columns of the filter row. To do so, click the mouse in the filter row cell for the column you want to filter on
and enter your filter expression. To apply your filter press the Tab key or use the mouse to move to a
different cell. To remove the filter for a column simply delete the filter expression in that column.
•
Enabled column - Enter T or 1 to show only enabled monitors; enter F or 0 to show only disabled
monitors.
•
Name column – Enter text to match (case insensitively) the start of a monitor name. For instance,
"machine" will match "Machine 1" and "Machine 2". Enter a leading $ to match text anywhere in the
monitor name. For instance, "$sales" will match "Department 1 sales" and "Department 2 sales".
•
Description column - Enter text to match (case insensitively) the start of a monitor description. For
instance, "my" will match "My description 1" and "My description 2". Enter a leading $ to match text
anywhere in the monitor description. For instance, "$sales" will match "Weekly Sales" and "Monthly
Sales".
•
Category column – Click on the "Click to filter by category" button in the filter row and the following
"Select Categories" window will appear. Select zero or more categories to filter by. If no categories
are selected, then category filtering is turned off and all monitor definitions will appear in the list (at
least as far as filtering by category is concerned).
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Create a new monitor definition based on a CHARTrunner
chart
CHARTrunner is a statistical process control (SPC) charting program. It is not required that you have
CHARTrunner. However, if you do have CHARTrunner this feature allows you to take advantage of your
CHARTrunner chart definition files to create new monitor definitions.
A CHARTrunner chart definition file describes an SPC chart. However, it contains many of the same
settings needed for a monitor definition. From the main menu select Edit > New from CHARTrunner file. Next,
browse for and select a CHARTrunner chart definition file (it will have a .CRF file extension), then click the
Open button. A new monitor definition will be created containing settings found in the CHARTrunner chart
definition. Before you click OK, you may have to adjust or complete some of the settings. This can save
time in setting up new monitor definitions because you may already have SPC charts looking at the data
you wish to monitor.
Create new monitor definitions based on a CHARTrunner
folder
If you use CHARTrunner you may have many CHARTrunner chart definition files. These are usually
stored in one or more folders. Use this feature if you want to create a monitor definition for each chart
definition in a folder.
From the main menu select Edit > New from CHARTrunner folder. Next browse to and select the folder
containing your CHARTrunner charts. When you click OK a new monitor definition will be created for each
CHARTrunner chart definition (*.crf) file found in the folder you selected. All of the monitor definitions will
be disabled at first and they may require that you make adjustments to them before they can be used for
monitoring.
Note that CHARTrunner can make several different types of charts. However, CHARTrunner-m only
supports measurement and count control charts. Other chart types will result in a monitor definition where
the chart type is not set. These monitor definitions will require editing before they can be enabled for
monitoring.
A note about CHARTrunner chart definitions
Not all CHARTrunner chart definition files will result in a valid monitor definition. For example, a
CHARTrunner chart might use a stored procedure for data – but CHARTrunner-m does not directly
support stored procedures – although you can probably still support the stored procedure by writing an
appropriate custom query. Similarly, a CHARTrunner chart may be defined as a Pareto chart – but
CHARTrunner-m only works with control charts. In these cases, a monitor definition will be created but it
will not be valid for monitoring until you edit and adjust the settings.
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Create a new monitor definition by copying an existing one
A monitor definition has many settings. Once you get one monitor definition setup and saved, you may
find that many of the other monitor definitions you need are very similar. Use the Copy feature to create a
new monitor definition based on an existing one. First, click to highlight the monitor definition you wish to
copy. Next, click the Copy button in the toolbar. The monitor definition form will be displayed with all the
settings identical to the original. Give the monitor definition a new name, adjust the settings that are
different, and then click OK to save the new definition.
Setup categories
Categories are words you use to classify each monitor definition. A monitor definition may be defined with
zero or more categories. Categories are useful for organizing your list of monitor definitions. To define the
list of allowable categories use the Setup menu. On the main form select Setup > Categories. This will
display a form listing all the categories. Use this form to manage your list of categories. This list of
categories is also visible in a drop-down list while using the monitor definition form.
View reports
Various reports are available which present information from the CHARTrunner-m database. On the main
form menu select View > Reports. This will display the list of available reports. Select a report and then click
the Preview button. Some reports require that you enter parameters which limit the number of records
included in the report. For example, show data only newer than a certain date.
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Creating your first monitor definition
Before you create your first monitor definition please view the tutorial video entitled "Creating your first
monitor definition". This short video is available on the PQ Systems web site at this address:
http://www.pqsystems.com/chartrunner-m/tour http://www.pqsystems.com/chartrunner-m/tour
You can also access this video from the Help menu while running the Monitor Administrator program.
Look for it under Help > PQ Systems on the web > CHARTrunner-m video tutorials.
Before you create a monitor definition you will need to know what data you plan to monitor and where this
data is stored. For example, the data might be in an Excel sheet stored in a shared network folder.
Alternatively, it might be in an Access database or a SQL server database. Before you create a monitor
definition, be sure you know where the data is located and any additional information you might need to
access the data.
The basic steps for creating a monitor definition are shown below but many more details are provided
when you view the tutorial video.
1. Start the Monitor Administrator program.
2. On the main form, click on the Add new monitor definition button in the toolbar. This is the button that
looks like a large green plus sign.
3. The monitor definition form will be displayed.
4. Fill in the details on each tab of the monitor definition form.
5. Click OK to save the new monitor definition. Notice that while you may save the monitor definition in
an incomplete state, you cannot enable the monitor definition until it is in a completed state. When
you click OK you may see various error messages informing you that more information is needed
before saving.
Once you click OK on a valid monitor definition, it will be saved. The list on the main form will now contain
a new entry for the monitor definition you just created.
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CHAPTER 5
Reference – Monitor Definition Settings
This chapter discusses each setting of a monitor definition. The sections relate to each tab on the monitor
definition form – which is used to edit monitor definition settings.
In This Chapter
General tab.................................................................................................... 36
Data source tab ............................................................................................. 37
Data definition tab ......................................................................................... 39
Polling tab...................................................................................................... 42
Limits tab ....................................................................................................... 44
Out-of-control tests tab.................................................................................. 46
Responses tab .............................................................................................. 47
Misc. tab ........................................................................................................ 53
Buttons on the monitor definition form .......................................................... 54
Data filtering .................................................................................................. 54
Advanced row selection ................................................................................ 56
36
General tab
Use the General tab of the monitor definition form to modify these settings:
•
Name: Each monitor definition must have a name. Names must be unique; no two monitor definitions
may have the same name.
•
Description: Description is optional. However, since you may sort by this column on the main form it is
recommended that you provide a meaningful description for each monitor definition.
•
Categories: Each monitor definition may be classified with zero or more categories. Rather than typing
in categories directly, use the Select button to select categories from a list. Note that you may add
new categories on the fly as needed. Categories are optional. However, they can be quite helpful in
organizing your list of monitor definitions on the main form.
•
Enabled: When this box is checked, the monitor definition is enabled. This means that the Monitor
Service is evaluating this monitor for new data and out-of-control conditions at each polling interval. If
this box is not checked, the monitor definition is ignored by the Monitor Services.
•
Charts to be monitored: Use these sections to select the control chart type or types that will be
evaluated for this monitor definition. Note that you may only select charts from one of the categories
listed. Check each box or radio button for the chart you want to monitor. Note that it would be
traditional to look at two charts together such as an X-bar(r) and Range chart. Although you may
select more than two, this may result in more out-of-control signals than you need to be notified about.
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Data source tab
Use the Data source tab to describe the type of data to be monitored along with settings for connecting to
and accessing the data source.
•
Data source: Use this drop-down list to select the type of data this monitor definition will evaluate.
Some typical data sources are Access, Excel, Oracle and SQL Server. However, many other data
sources such as DB2 databases may be accessed by selecting the ADO-OLE DB data source type.
Note that depending on the type of data source you must provide either a filename or a connection
string to locate the specific data to monitor.
•
File: If your data source is file-based, such as Access or Excel, use this field to enter the full path to
the data file. Care must be taken here. For example, you may be able to see an Excel file named
c:\data\Mydata.xls. However, you must remember that the Monitor Service, which is running on a
different computer, must also be able to see the file. For this reason, you should enter file based data
sources with a UNC path and store the file on a network share that both this computer and the
Monitor Service computer can access the data file.
Do this:
\\QCLab\Data\MyData.xls
Do not do this:
c:\data\MyData.xls
In the example above, QCLab is the name of a computer and Data is a share name on that computer.
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•
Connection string: Use this text box to enter a connection string for SQL Server or ADO-OLE DB data
sources. A connection string is in a specific format and specifies a server, a database, and other
settings for connecting to a data source. All connection strings are in the form of a series of
PropertyName=PropertyValue strings. Each pair is followed by a semi-colon. Here are a few
connection string examples:
Typical SQL connection string:
Data Source=QC_ONE;Initial Catalog=Line2;Integrated Security=SSPI;
In this example, QC_ONE is the name of a SQL Server and Line2 is the name of a database on that
server. Integrated Security=SSPI; is a connection string setting that means this connection will use
the Windows user credentials to login to the database.
SQL connection string with user name and password:
Data Source=QC_ONE;Initial Catalog=Line2;User Id=joe;Password=joe;
ADO-OLE DB connection string for SQL client with user name and password:
Provider=SQLNCLI;Server=QC_ONE;Database=Line2;Uid=joe;Pwd=joe;
SQL connection string with user name and password placeholders:
Data Source=QC_ONE;Initial Catalog=Line2;User
Id={{USER}};Password={{PASSWORD}};
In this example, {{USER}} and {{PASSWORD}} act as placeholders. When a connection to the
database is made, the value from the User and Password fields will be substituted. This allows you to
have a password which is not human readable by looking at the screen.
•
A note about connection strings: There is more than one correct way to define a connection string. If you
search the web for “connection strings” you will find many examples. Also note that there are many
ADO-OLE DB connection strings to support data sources other than SQL Server.
•
Advanced >> (button): Use this button to toggle between showing and hiding some infrequently used
settings related to the data source.
User: Use this text box to enter a user name. The user name you specify will be placed into your
connection string wherever {{USER}} appears.
Password: Use this text box to enter the password used to authenticate with the database. The password
you specify will be placed into your connection string wherever {{PASSWORD}} appears.
•
Bracket table and column names: Check this box if you want all SQL queries to surround table names
and column names with bracket characters. Typically these will be the square brackets so the query
will look like this:
SELECT * FROM [My Table Name]
rather than like this:
SELECT * FROM My Table Name
Note that if any of your table names, view names, or column names contain spaces you much must
check this box if you are using Microsoft data sources such as Access or SQL Server. If you are
using Oracle you must not check this box.
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•
Left bracket, Right bracket: Enter the character to use for surrounding table, view and column names.
Microsoft data sources use the square bracket characters [ ]. However, for other databases you may
need to use different characters.
•
Show all tables including system tables: Check this box if you want the drop-down list of table names, on
the data definition tab, to include All tables – including the system tables. Most users will not check
this to keep the list of tables more manageable and because it is unlikely you will be monitoring data
in the system tables.
•
Keep column definitions; allow filenames which do not exist: Check this box if you want to ensure that the
column mappings (on the data definition tab) are not lost as you make changes to the data source
settings on the data source tab. Also, if this box is checked, you will be able to enter filenames, when
the data source is Excel or Access, that are not actually visible on the disk – at the time you edit this
monitor definition. Generally, you will keep this box checked to ensure that you do not accidently
make changes to a monitor definition.
Data definition tab
Use the data definition tab to select the source of data records, map the columns to be monitored, and set
filter and row selection settings.
•
Source of data records: Use this drop-down list to select where the records for this monitor definition will
come from. You have the following options: 1) Table, 2) Named query, 3) Custom query.
•
Table: A physical table in the database will be the source of records.
•
Query or view: A query or view looks and acts like a table to the outside world. However, it is
defined in the database and may be the result of multiple tables being joined and filtered.
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•
Custom query: If you select this option the Edit Query button appears which allows you to enter
your own SQL statement to query the database. Using this option requires knowledge of both
SQL and the structure of the database that you are accessing. Note that the order of the records
when you use a custom query will be determined by the ORDER BY clause of the custom query –
which must order the data based upon the column that is treated as the unique ascending
identifier.
•
Table or view name: Use this drop-down list to select the database object to use as a record source.
Depending on your selection for Source of data records the list will contain either table names or view
names.
•
How to treat the columns: This where you tell CHARTrunner-m how to treat the columns of data that are
returned from the data source. This section displays a grid with three columns: 1) Column name, 2)
Data type, and 3) Treat as. Only the Treat as column may be changed; it provides a drop-down list.
Select an option from this list for how to treat the column. Note that Ignore is an option. Your data
source may return dozens of columns. Often, you will only want to analyze a few of them for out-ofcontrol conditions. The options in the drop-down list change depending on the type of chart being
monitored. Chart type is selected on the General tab of the monitor definition form.
The following options are available for Treat as depending on the type of chart or charts being
monitored:
•
Ignore: (default value) This tells CHARTrunner-m to ignore the column when monitoring this data.
•
Unique ascending identifier: Select this option to identify a column which contains unique values.
This will often be a date-time column. If could also be an identity column which automatically gets
assigned unique values by the database as new records are added. For each monitor definition it
is required that you treat one column as the unique ascending identifier. This is an important
column. At each polling interval, the Monitor Service will check to see if there are new rows of
data to be evaluated. It does this by asking the question – are there any rows, with a higher value
in this column than the last time I checked? This allows the Monitor Service to be more efficient
and also avoids duplicate evaluation of data that has not changed. When your data source is a
Table, the unique ascending identifier will be used to establish the order of data records each time
new data is evaluated. When your data source is a custom query, it is important that your ORDER
BY clause specify the column you map as unique ascending identifier as the ORDER BY column.
•
Identifier: An identifier is any column that contains information that may add meaning to the data
values that are being analyzed. These columns do not affect statistics or out-of-control results.
The {{SignalDetails}} macro shows the value of each identifier column.
•
Measurement: (measurement or variables charts only) Select this option to identify a column as
containing a measurement. For individuals control charts you will treat one column as a
measurement. For subgroup control charts, such as X-bar and Range, you will treat two or more
columns as a measurement. For measurement control charts, at least one column must be
treated as a measurement.
•
Count: (attributes or count charts only) Select this option to identify a column as containing a
count. This option is only available for the p-chart, c-chart, u-chart, and np-chart. Typically, only a
single column will be treated as a count.
•
Inspected: (attributes or count charts only) Select this option to identify a column as one that
contains a Number inspected value. This option is used on p-charts, np-charts, and u-charts. Only
a single column may be treated as Inspected.
•
Percent: (attributes or count charts only) If you are monitoring a p-chart, the evaluated value is a
percentage (Number defective / Number inspected) * 100. You can set this up by mapping an
Inspected column and a Count column. However, if your data source already contains a
calculated percent column, select this option to treat the column as a Percent.
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•
Ratio: (attributes or count charts only) If you are monitoring a u-chart, the evaluated value is a
ratio. You can set this up by mapping an Inspected and a Count column. However, if your data
source already contains a calculated ratio column, select this option to treat the column as a
Ratio.
•
Cause: Select this option to identify a column containing an assignable cause. An assignable
cause is text that represents a reason for unexpectedly high or low data values. CHARTrunner-m
will ignore data points that include a cause column where there is any value in the cause column.
Cause columns are typically text columns in the database and should allow for empty or null
values.
•
Note: Select this option to identify a column as containing some note content. A note is text that
may have been entered to explain something unique about a particular row of data. This option is
available mainly for consistency with CHARTrunner charts and has no practical value when
monitoring.
•
Refresh columns button: When you save a monitor definition, only the columns that are mapped with
something other than Ignore are saved. Later, when you come back and edit a monitor definition, the
list of columns which show in the How to treat the columns grid will not show all the columns. Click this
button to refresh the list of columns by querying the database.
•
Clear All button: Click this button to clear the current column mapping in the How to treat the columns grid.
•
Keep columns checkbox: To ensure that your current column mappings are not lost while you make
changes on the Data definition tab, check this box. When this box is not checked, doing things like
selecting a different data table can cause your column mappings to be cleared and replaced with
columns from the new table.
•
Initial highest key: When your source of records is a custom query you must provide an initial highest
key. This will be used the first time the data source is queried. It will be substituted for the
{{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}} macro which is required to be contained in your custom query. For
example, your custom query might look like this:
SELECT * FROM MyDataTable where MfgDate>{{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}} ORDER BY
MfgDate
The value you enter for initial highest key will be used in place of {{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}} when
this query is executed for the first time. All subsequent queries will use the actual value for
{{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}} from the previous polling cycle. This is important. It allows the monitor
service to only evaluate new data and not re-evaluate data it has already analyzed. Be sure to enter
an initial highest key that is in the same format as your Unique ascending identifier data column. If it is a
DateTime column, the date-time you enter must be in the specific format shown on the form – which
is this:
yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.ffffff
or
2010-02-15 17:45:59 (note that time must be in 24-hour format)
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•
Advanced >>: Use this button to open the Advanced Row Selection dialog, which allows you to either
sample or group the rows from your data source. For more information, see the "Advanced row
selection (on page 56)" topic.
•
Filter >>: Use this button to display a dialog for specifying filtering conditions. This allows you select
sub-sets of the data when your data source type is Table or View. For more information, see the
"Filtering data" topic.
•
Edit query >>: Use this button to enter a custom SQL query when you have select Custom query as
your source of data records. The button displays a form where you enter the query. Remember, it is a
requirement that your custom query contain the string {{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}}. For example, you
query might look something like this:
SELECT * FROM MyDataTable where MfgDate>{{HIGHEST_KEY_FOUND}} ORDER BY
MfgDate
Polling tab
Use the polling tab to specify how often the data source should be checked for new data.
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•
Poll interval: Enter the number here for how often the monitor service should check to see if new data
has arrived.
•
Units: Use this combo box to select a time unit for the polling interval. Choices include Hours, Minutes,
and Seconds.
If you enter 10 minutes as the polling interval here is what will happen: Every 10 minutes, the monitor
service will check the data source. If new data has not arrived, it will take no action. If new data has
arrived, it will evaluate the data for signal conditions and take any actions you have specified on the
Responses tab.
The minimum polling interval is 30 seconds.
The following options on the Polling tab allow you to be more specific about when the monitor service will
check for new data.
•
Check for new data only between specific times: Check this box if you want the monitor service to check for
new data only during a certain time of the day. For example, if you know that data is flowing into the
database only during your production shift times of 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, check this box and enter the
appropriate times to prevent the monitor service from doing unnecessary work during other parts of
the day.
•
Start: Enter a start time (in 24 hour format) for Check for new data only between specific times.
•
Stop: Enter a stop time (in 24 hour format) for Check for new data only between specific times.
•
Check for new data only during part of each hour: Check this box if you want the monitor service to only
check for new data during some portion of each hour. If you know data arrives in the database in
batches and only occasionally, this option can reduce the number of unnecessary database queries.
Enter a value for the related settings: minutes past the hour, and minutes – when you check this
option.
•
Check for new data only on these days: Select this option to restrict checks for new data to certain days of
the week. Check each day of the week where you do want to check for new data.
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Limits tab
Use the limits tab to enter control limits and specification limits.
•
Control Limits: Use the control limits grid to enter control limits for each chart type being monitoring
with this monitor definition. Typically, these control limit values come from your knowledge of the
metric being monitored. Before deciding to monitor this metric, a control should have been created
and control limits established. Use the CHARTrunner application to create the chart and compute
initial control limits. For each chart type you are monitoring, enter an upper limit, centerline, and lower
limit. If there is no lower limit, which can occur on some chart types, such as Individuals, leave the
lower limit blank. It may be necessary to press F2 to begin editing a cell of this grid.
These control limits will be used for out-of-control testing. For example, if one of your out-of-control
test rules is "beyond limits" – then when new data is evaluated, it will be checked to see if it is above
the upper control limit or below the lower control limit that you enter here.
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•
Sigma value for limits: Typically, control limits are calculated based on the mean plus three sigma and
the mean minus three sigma. If you are unsure what to enter here, just enter three. If you know that
your particular limits were computed based on some different number of sigma, say 3.02 or 2.5, then
enter this value here. Certain out-of-control test rules such as "2 of 3 beyond 2 sigma" require this
value.
•
Moving subgroups: For individual charts, where your subgroup size is one and you have mapped a
single measurement column, enter a value here for the number of subgroups used for moving range,
moving sigma, or moving average. Typically this will be 2 but larger numbers may also be used.
•
Limit multiplier: For count data being monitored by a U-chart, you may enter a multiplier value. This will
typically be one. However, your U-chart limits may have been calculated in using a different multiplier
– perhaps something like per 100 or per 1000. If so, enter the value here. If uncertain, leave this set to
one.
•
Specifications: For measurement control charts, enter the specifications here. These are only required
when you are using out-of-control test rules based on specifications. For example a rule like "above
upper specification" requires that we have an upper specification to test against. If you do not test
against specifications, this value may be left blank.
Upper spec
Target spec
Lower spec
•
Limits from CHARTrunner: Use this button to get control limit values from a CHARTrunner chart
definition file (*.crf). Clicking this button allows to select a CHARTrunner chart definition file. If it
contains one or more sets of control limits, you will be able to choose the set that you want to use for
monitoring.
A note on control limits
Knowing how to calculate, use, and apply control limits requires a certain amount of SPC knowledge. It
also requires human judgment of the tradeoffs between signal and noise; where signal is detecting a valid
out-of-control condition that requires attention and noise is detecting too many out-of-control conditions
that do not really require attention. Before you decide to begin monitoring a quality metric using
CHARTrunner-m, the following conditions should exist:
1. The metric should be well defined.
2. The metric should be being measured on a regular basis with the data flowing into an accessible data
store such as Excel, Access, Oracle, or SQL Server.
3. The metric should be understood from an SPC point of view. This means there is a control chart
established, the chart has established control limits, the chart is generally "in-control" and stable over
time.
4. There should be significant identifiable costs associated with this metric going "out-of-control." If there
is no cost with this going out-of-control – should it really be monitored?
As you begin using monitor definitions, you will be able to tune the signal vs. noise using various monitor
definition settings. The polling settings, control limits, and response settings can all be tweaked to
optimize the signal vs. noise tradeoff.
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Out-of-control tests tab
Use the out-of-control tests tab to define the out-of-control test rules that will be checked during
monitoring.
•
Out-of-control test rules: This grid displays the list of out-of-control test rules that will be evaluated for
this monitor definition. This is a read-only list and does not allow direct editing.
•
Add: Use this button to add a new out-of-control test rule to the list. This will display a dialog form
listing all of the rules. Use the dialog to select the rule you want.
•
Delete: Use this button to delete the currently highlighted out-of-control test rule.
•
Default: Use this button to add a default set of out-of-control test rules to the list. This is the most basic
and standard set of rules applied to most control charts.
•
Load from file: Both CHARTrunner and SQCpack, other SPC applications from PQ Systems, store their
out-of-control test rules in text files with an OOC extension. If you have access to these files, use this
button to load a set of rules from a file on the disk.
•
Save to file: Use this option to save the current set of rules into a text file. You might do this to transfer
rules to other applications, such as CHARTrunner or SQCpack, or to make a set of rules from one
monitor definition, easily retrievable by a different monitor definition.
•
Add custom: Use this button after typing in a custom out-of-control test rule into the text box labeled:
Add custom out-of-control test. Rules must be in the correct form. If you do not find the rule you want
by using the Add button – use this option to add a rule of your own design.
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Responses tab
Use the responses tab to define what will occur when out-of-control conditions are detected. At each
polling interval, when new data is detected and analyzed, if one or more out-of-control conditions are
detected, any responses you specify here will be taken. These responses are performed by the monitor
service and they execute in the context of the computer where the monitor service is running.
The most common response is to send e-mail. Many of the settings on this tab, and its sub-tabs, describe
what the e-mail will contain, who it goes to, and how often the notification message is sent.
General tab (under Responses)
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•
Include monitor name in e-mail: Check this box to include the name of the monitor definition in e-mail
responses. Alternatively, you can use the {{MonitorName}} macro.
•
Include monitor description in e-mail: Check this box to include the description of the monitor definition in
e-mail responses. Alternatively, you can use the {{MonitorDescription}} macro.
•
Include subgroup and out-of-control count in e-mail: Check this box to include the number of subgroups
evaluated, and the number found to be out-of-control, in e-mail responses. Alternatively, you can use
the {{SubgroupsEvaluated}} and {{SubgroupsWithSignal}} macros.
•
Log out-of-control events in database: Check this box to log each out-of-control failure in the
CHARTrunner-m database. This will be limited to one entry per polling interval where there is at least
one out-of-control condition. There are reports that allow you to view these out-of-control failures for a
range of dates.
E-mail tab (under Responses)
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•
Send e-mail on out-of control conditions: Check this box if you want e-mail to be sent when out-of-control
conditions are detected.
•
Send e-mail only if e-mail has not been sent in the previous N minutes: Check this box and enter the number
of minutes. Checking this box enforces a latency period for the number of minutes you specify. When
checked, e-mail will only be sent if it has not been sent in the previous N minutes. This can greatly
reduce the number of e-mail messages that get sent so that the same underlying problem does not
cause too many e-mail messages to be sent.
•
E-mail recipients: Use this text box to enter the full e-mail address for each person you want to receive
the message. Separate multiple e-mail addresses with a semicolon.
•
E-mail subject: Enter text here that will be the Subject for any e-mail messages that are sent. You may
use any of the macro substitution parameters (see below) in the subject text.
•
E-mail from address: Enter an e-mail address here that will show up as the From address when a
recipient opens one of these e-mail messages.
•
Text for body of e-mail: Enter the body of the e-mail message. You may use any of the macro
substitution parameters (see below) in the subject text.
•
CHARTrunner charts associated with this monitor definition: Use this area to specify one or more
CHARTrunner chart definitions associated with this monitor. Use the Add button to browse for and
select CHARTrunner chart definition files (*.crf). Select a row and click the Delete button to delete that
row. Generally, the CHARTrunner charts you select should be located in a shared folder that is
accessible both by the monitor service and the monitor administrator program. If you try to attach a
CHARTrunner chart that is stored on your local computer, and the monitor service is running on a
different computer in your network, a message will be displayed. Any chart you attach must be
accessible from the computer where the monitor service is running.
•
Attach CHARTrunner chart definitions to e-mail: Check this box to attach CHARTrunner chart definitions to
the e-mail that is sent for out-of-control conditions. If the e-mail recipients have CHARTrunner
installed on their machine, they will be able to open these attachments and view the CHARTrunner
charts. This can allow the recipients of an out-of-control e-mail message to immediately visualize the
data that lead up to the condition. For the charts to work on the recipient computer they must be
defined so the data required by the chart is visible from the recipient computer. This typically means
the data behind the chart will be stored in a shared network folder, or in a client-server database like
Oracle or SQL Server.
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Macro substitution parameters
Macro substitution parameters: The following parameters may be used in the e-mail subject or body text.
When the e-mail message is sent any macro substitution parameters will be replaced with the indicated
information from the evaluation. A macro substitution parameter must be surrounded by {{ and }}, as
shown below:
•
{{AssociatedFiles}} – The list of associated chart definitions and other associated files.
•
{{ChartTypes}} – The list of chart types that are being evaluated.
•
{{DataName}} – The name of the table, query or view from the Data definition tab.
•
{{DataSourceFile}} – The path to the data source file from the Data source tab.
•
{{EvaluationTime}} – The date and time when the evaluation occurred.
•
{{FirstKey}} – The "first" key value of the column marked as the Unique Ascending Identifier. Actually,
the row of data having this key value WAS NOT included in this evaluation, because this evaluation
only looked at data having a higher key value than that specified by {{FirstKey}}. Another way to look
at it is that {{FirstKey}} is the {{LastKey}} value from the previous evaluation cycle.
•
{{FirstSignalKey}} – The first signal key value of the column marked as the Unique Ascending Identifier.
This lets you know the key value associated with the first subgroup that generated an alert signal.
•
{{LastKey}} – The last key value of the column marked as the Unique Ascending Key. This lets you
know the key value of the last subgroup that was evaluated in this cycle.
•
{{LastSignalKey}} – The last signal key value of the column marked as the Unique Ascending Identifier.
This lets you know the key value associated with the last subgroup that generated an alert signal.
•
{{LowerSpec}} – The lower specification limit value.
•
{{MonitorID}} – The monitor definition ID number as displayed on the Misc. tab.
•
{{MonitorName}} – The monitor name as displayed on the General tab.
•
{{MonitorNotes}} – The monitor notes as displayed on the Notes/Misc tab.
•
{{MonitorDescription}} – The monitor description as displayed on the General tab.
•
{{NumberOfChartsMonitored}} – The number of chart types that were selected on the General tab.
•
{{SignalDetails}} – A list of all the subgroups with a signal.
•
{{SubgroupsEvaluated}} – The number of subgroups that were evaluated during the cycle.
•
{{SubgroupsWithSignal}} – The number of subgroups with an alert signal during the cycle.
•
{{TargetSpec}} – The target specification limit value.
•
{{TestRules}} – Each test rule will be displayed, one per line.
•
{{UniqueAscendingKeyName}} – The name of the column that is marked as the Unique Ascending
Identifier on the Data definition tab.
•
{{UpperSpec}} – The upper specification limit value.
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Example e-mail message
The following sample e-mail subject and message body give an example of how the macro substitution
parameters can be used.
E-mail subject: CHARTrunner-m signal on '{{MonitorName}}'
Monitor name: {{MonitorName}}
Monitor description: {{MonitorDescription}}
Evaluation time: {{EvaluationTime}}
There were {{SubgroupsEvaluated}} new subgroups evaluated, and of those
subgroups, there were {{SubgroupsWithSignal}} subgroups with a signal.
The unique ascending key column is: {{UniqueAscendingKeyName}}
The last subgroup evaluated on the previous cycle was: {{FirstKey}}
The last subgroup evaluated on the current cycle was: {{LastKey}}
The first subgroup with a signal was: {{FirstSignalKey}}
The last subgroup with a signal was: {{LastSignalKey}}
The following files provide more information about the process under
consideration:
{{AssociatedFiles}}
The signal conditions detected during this evaluation:
{{SignalDetails}}
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Text messaging tab (under Responses)
•
Send SMS text message to a phone: Check this box if you want to send a text message to one or more
phones when an out-of-control condition is detected. You may use any of the macro substitution
parameters in the subject text.
•
Text message phone number: Use this area to specify one or more phone number recipients for the text
message. Note that text messages are sent via an e-mail SMS gateway. Most phones that can
receive text messages have a service that will forward e-mail to the phone. Typically, the e-mail
address to use will be the phone number followed by @ServiceName.com. Refer to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_gateway for available
SMS gateways. For example, to send a text message to a Verizon phone, the number might look like
this:
[email protected]
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•
Subject: Use this area to enter a subject for the text message.
•
'From' address: Use this area to enter an address that will show up as the 'From' address for the text
message.
•
Text message: Enter the text to be sent here. The text message standard specifies a maximum of 140
characters per text message. You may use any of the macro substitution parameters in the text.
•
Send message(s) only if not sent in previous N minutes: Check this box and enter the number of minutes.
Checking this box enforces a latency period for the number of minutes you specify. When checked,
text messages will only be sent if they have not been sent in the previous N minutes. This can greatly
reduce the number of text messages that are sent so that the same underlying problem does not
cause too many text messages.
Misc. tab
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•
Notes about this monitor definition: If you need to enter any notes about this monitor definition, here is
the place to do so. Use the {{MonitorNotes}} macro to display the notes text in an e-mail message.
•
Monitor ID: Monitor definitions are stored in the CHARTrunner-m database. This ID is the identifier for
the record in the database which contains this monitor definition.
•
Reference CHARTrunner chart definition: Here you can specify the full path to the reference CHARTrunner
chart definition that is used with the monitor definition. On the Limits tab, when you click the Limits
from CHARTrunner button, by default the system will attempt to get the limits from the reference
chart specified here (but you can use a different chart definition for the limits if you desire).
Buttons on the monitor definition form
•
OK – Use this button to save changes to monitor definition and return to the main form.
•
Cancel – Use this button to close the monitor definition form without saving any changes you might
have made to the monitor definition.
•
View Data – While you are setting up a monitor definition, specifically while you are working on the data
definition tab, you may want to use this button to see what kind of data will be returned – based on
how the monitor definition is defined. Until you select a data source type and a record source type and
begin to map your data columns, this button will have little use.
Data filtering
On the monitor definition form under the Data definition tab there is Filter button. This button displays a
form which allows you to specify filter information to select a subset of rows from you data source. For
example, let's assume that you have a table containing these columns:
MfgDate, Product, Measurement
You may want to monitor data only where Product is equal to "Potatoes" and ignore all the other records.
Use the Filter form to do this. The Filter button and filter form is only available when your data is coming
from a table or a view (or query).
The filter form contains many different drop-down lists. Some of these are filled with column names from
your data source. If your drop-down lists are empty it is probably due to not having enough information
filed in on the data definition tab. Before you define a filter, be sure to select a source for records (table or
named query) and map your columns on the data definition tab.
The first section of the filter form allows you limit the records returned based on dates. The drop –down
list named Select data where the Date/Time in this column: will contain only Date/Time columns from your data
source. In most monitoring scenarios you will not limit the records by date. Remember, at each polling
interval, the monitor service will check for new data. What is considered New is usually determined by a
Date/Time column.
The next several sections of the filter form allow you to filter based on any column found in the data
source. Each filter condition will take this general form:
FieldName
Operator
Constant
=
'Sam'
Or
Operator
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Between each operator is a drop-down list allowing you to define how the filters will be combined. For
example:
Operator = 'Sam'
OR
Operator='Julie'
Vs.
City='Xenia'
AND
Operator='Fred'
You may define a single filter condition or multiple filter conditions. On the filter form it is not required that
you fill in every slot.
Note that your constant values must be surrounded by the appropriate characters. For example, if you are
filtering on text field, you must surround the text with single quote characters. If you are filtering on a
numeric field you do not use the single quotes. If you are filtering on a Date/Time file the character you
use is different depending on your data source. SQL Server uses a single quote but Microsoft Access
uses the # character. Consult the documentation for the specific database engine you are using to
determine the proper format for date/time expressions.
Here is a list of operators support on the filter form
=
EQUALS
<>
NOT EQUAL
<
LESS THAN
>
GREATER THAN
>=
GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
<=
LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
LIKE
LIKE (for pattern matching – i.e. LIKE fr% means anything starting with fr)
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Advanced row selection
CHARTrunner-m sees your data source as rows of data, where the columns that make up these rows are
determined by how you "Treat as" the data source columns on Data definition tab. If you do not enable
Advanced Row Selection, then the data values from each row of the data source are used to create each
subgroup. In other words, you get one subgroup per row. Each subgroup is used to generate one data
point on the chart. When Advanced Row Selection is enabled, you have more flexibility in how data source
rows are selected and processed into subgroups for the chart. There are two modes of operation using
this feature:
•
Sample rows –Instead of using every row (or record) returned by the data source, you can "sample" the
rows so that the chart uses a subset of the available rows. For example, the chart might use every
15th row of data, or it might use the first 5 rows out of every 100 rows of data.
•
Group rows –This method "groups together" contiguous rows and uses all the data points in the group
to form a single subgroup. You can use a date/time column from your data source to form a subgroup
for each unit of time such as day, week, or month. For example, if you group by week, then 500 rows
of data that covers a 10 week period will result in 10 subgroups where each subgroup represents a
week of data.
One use of "Group rows" is to form subgroups based on one column of data. When you have individuals
data in one column, but want to look at the data as subgroups containing more than one observation per
subgroup (such as a sample size of 3), you can do that by using "Group rows" mode.
Advanced row selection steps
Here are the steps that Advanced Row Selection takes to create the subgroups that are processed when
creating a chart:
1. CHARTrunner-m forms a "set of contiguous rows" from the data source. It seems natural to refer to
this as a group of rows, but in order to avoid confusion with the "Group rows" mode of operation,
these rows will be referred to as a rowset. Since contiguous rows will be "clumped together" into
rowsets, the data order (how the data is sorted) is important. For more information on how the data
order column is determined see Understanding the data order concept.
2. When Look at every N rows of data, where N= is selected, each rowset is composed of the next specified
N number of contiguous rows. The last rowset will be composed of fewer than N rows if the data
source does not contain a multiple of N rows.
3. When Look at every row of data until column Y data changes is selected, each rowset is composed of the
next set of contiguous rows having the same value for the specified "Column Y." This is explained in
more detail below.
4. The rows contained in each rowset are filtered to determine which ones are passed along for
subsequent processing. The options are to Use all the rows, Use the first X rows, or Use the last X rows in
the rowset.
5. When Group rows is the operating mode, all of the data values contained in each filtered rowset are
used to form a subgroup for the chart. In other words, there will be one subgroup per rowset.
6. When Sample rows is the operating mode, each row in the filtered rowset is used to form a subgroup
for the chart. In other words, there will be one subgroup per row from the filtered rowset..
7. Click the Advanced>> button on the Step 3: Data definition tab of the chart definition form to open the
Advanced Row Selection dialog box shown below.
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Mode
•
Group rows – Select this option when you want to "group together" the data from multiple rows in your
data source to form a single subgroup. In this case, all of the data values from each rowset will be
"grouped together" to form a single subgroup.
•
Sample rows – Select this option when you want to use a subset of the available rows from the data
source. The "sampled rows" will always create one subgroup per "sampled row." In other words, while
you might not use every row from the data source, each row that you do use will result in one
subgroup for the chart.
The next two options determine how CHARTrunner-m selects the contiguous rows that are placed into a
rowset.
•
Look at every N rows of data, where N= - Select this option to enter the number N of contiguous rows that
will be placed into each rowset.
•
Look at every row of data until column Y data changes – Select this option when you want to use the
contents of the Where column Y = column (we refer to this as the ColumnY column) in your data source
to establish how each rowset is formed. In this case the data source must be ordered (or sorted) by
the ColumnY column. Whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes, a new rowset will be
formed. If the ColumnY column is a date/time column, then you can form rowsets by units of time such
as Day, Week, or Month as specified by the Choose rows based upon field.
•
Where column Y = – Enter the name of the data source column (we refer to this as the ColumnY
column) that will be watched in order to form rowsets. Whenever the value of this column
changes, a new rowset will be formed.
•
Choose rows based upon – When ColumnY is a date/time column, you can select the units of time
over which the rowsets are formed. Select one of these options:
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•
•
Blank – Choose the blank option to form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column
changes.
•
Minute – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a minute.
•
Hour – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by an hour.
•
Day – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a day.
•
Week – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a week.
•
Month – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a month.
•
Quarter – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a quarter.
•
Year – Form a new rowset whenever the value of the ColumnY column changes by a year.
And use these rows: – The rows contained in each rowset are filtered to determine which ones are
passed along for subsequent processing. The filtering options are:
•
Use the first X rows – Select this to use the first X rows from each rowset. Enter the value for X in
the Where X = field.
•
Use the last X rows – Select this to use the last X rows from each rowset. Enter the value for X in
the Where X = field.
•
Use all the rows – Select this to use all the rows from each rowset.
The rows from each rowset that remain based upon the And use these rows choice will either be "grouped
together" to form a subgroup when Group rows is chosen, or each row will be used to form a subgroup
when Sample rows is chosen.
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Advanced row selection example 1
In this example the Advanced Row Selection settings are set up as follows.
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60
•
Raw data – The raw data from the data source is shown below. Notice that there is a single column of
observations in the Measure1 column.
•
Data that gets charted – Shown below is the "View chart data" for the resulting chart.
In this example, each three rows of raw data are "grouped together" to form one subgroup. Each
subgroup will create one data point on the chart. The resulting X-bar chart will have 5 data points where
each data point is the Mean of the three observations.
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In this example, the Advanced Row Selection settings are set up as follows.
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62
•
•
In this example we are sampling by plotting data only from every third row of the raw data. The individuals
chart will contain 5 data points. When you have a large data table, sampling may give you a less cluttered
chart. Just be aware that you are looking at a sample and not all of the data.
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In this example, the Advanced Row Selection settings are set up as follows.
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64
•
•
In this example we are grouping the rows of individuals data to form subgroups based on the contents of
the Date column. Notice that each row in the results table can have a different number of observations
based on how may raw data rows fell into a particular month. Since the subgroup size is potentially
different for each month, the control limits on the X-bar chart will be adjusted accordingly.
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65
CHAPTER 6
Main form options
This chapter discusses several options available on the main form of the monitor administrator program.
In This Chapter
Service configuration ..................................................................................... 65
Reporting ....................................................................................................... 66
System status ................................................................................................ 68
Utilities ........................................................................................................... 69
Service configuration
When you run the Monitor Administrator program, remember that it is communicating with the Monitor
Service which is usually running on a different computer. The first time you run the Monitor Administrator
program it will not know where to "contact" the Monitor Service.
From the pull-down menu on the main form select File > Service Configuration, or press F2. The following
Service Configuration form will be displayed:
66
Computer where Monitor Service is installed: You may enter the computer name, an IP address, or a DNS
(Domain Name System) name to identify the computer where the Monitor Service is running. If you do not
know this information, you will need to contact the IT person who may have installed CHARTrunner-m.
You must also enter a port number. This port number is established during the installation and setup for
the Monitor Service program. If you are uncertain what to use, a reasonable default setting is provided.
Monitor Service port number: Enter the Monitor Service port number that was established during the
installation and setup for the Monitor Service program. If you are uncertain what to use, try using the
default setting of 8001 and see if that works.
Click OK to save your Service Configuration settings. If the Monitor Service cannot be found based on the
information you provide a message will be displayed.
Note that the Monitor Administrator program gets information about where to find the database from the
Monitor Service program. For information on configuring the Monitor Service for the database see the
topic The Monitor Service Program.
Reporting
On the main form, click on the Reports button in the toolbar, select View > Reports from the pull-down
menu, or press F4. This will display a dialog listing the available reports. The reports available are
designed to give you information about how the system is running.
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Main form options
67
Select any report and then click on the View button. Depending on the report you will prompted for the
criteria for selecting report records. This will usually include a beginning and ending date but some
reports also ask for a monitor name mask. This mask allows you specify that the report should only
include information about monitor definitions that match this mask. For example:
Monitor name mask:
Milling%
This will include information in the report only for monitor definitions that start with Milling.
Reports are display in an on-screen preview form. Click the print button to send the report to the printer.
The Exceptions reports are mainly system management tools. Remember that the monitor service runs in
the background and has no user interface. When the monitor service encounters an error it cannot show
this to a user on the screen. Instead, this information is logged into the database in an Exceptions table.
These reports are used to help troubleshoot problems. If all is working well, the Exception reports will be
empty.
The Out-of-control reports present information about out-of-control conditions that have been detected.
When you setup a monitor definition, one of the options on the Responses tab is a checkbox that says
Log out-of-control information to the database. The out-of-control reports will only contain information if
you are using this option and out-of-control conditions have been detected.
Note that for both exceptions and out-of-control records, there is a utility for purging old data from the
CHARTrunner-m database. See the section on Utilities for more information.
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System status
To display the System Status form select View > System status from the pull-down menu on the main form,
or press F6. This will display a form that shows current activity within the system. CHARTrunner-m is a
distributed application. Your main view of the program is through the monitor administrator. However,
there is also a monitor service that is running – typically on some other computer. The system status form
allows you a view into what is going on with the monitor service.
Here is the system status form:
The system status form is a real-time indicator of what is happening. The display will change frequently.
Under the options menu you can pause the refresh and adjust the refresh interval. This form is primarily
used as a troubleshooting tool. When your monitor definitions are not behaving has you might expect, this
may help isolate the problem.
Your list of monitors (in the bottom grid) can be quite long. The various duration columns in the grid can
help you to find monitor definitions that are performing slower than the others – or perhaps not working at
all.
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Main form options
69
Utilities
Purge out-of-control log table
From the main form pull-down menu, select File > Utilities > Purge out-of-control log table. This option will
prompt you for a date. Once you enter the date, all out-of-control log records prior to the date you provide
will be deleted. If you are using out-of-control logging on many monitor definitions this table can get quite
large. Occasionally, you should use this utility to remove older records that are no longer needed. Note
you may view reports to see the contents of the out-of-control log table.
Purge exceptions log table
From the main form pull-down menu, select File > Utilities > Purge exception log table. This option will prompt
your for a date and time. Once you enter the date and time, all exception log records prior to the date and
time you provide will be deleted. The exceptions table is used to record errors that have been
encountered by the monitor service. Since the monitor service has no user interface it relies on the
exceptions table to communicate problems to you. Over time, the exceptions tab can grow large. Use this
option to occasionally remove older exception records that are no longer needed.
Restart monitor service
From the main form pull-down menu, select File > Utilities > Restart monitor service. The monitor service runs
as a Windows service in the background on a computer in your network. If the monitor service encounters
problems it may have to be restarted. This operation does not restart the Windows service – if that’s what
is desired you must do that via the Services applet on the computer where the monitor service is installed.
This restart operation simply restarts the monitoring control tasks that are hosted by the Windows service.
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CHAPTER 7
Monitor Service Configuration
When you first install the Monitor Service you must configure it. This is done by running the Monitor
Service Configuration Utility program, which is installed when you install the Monitor Service and can be
found in the Windows Start Menu.
In This Chapter
Database configuration ................................................................................. 72
Mail server configuration ............................................................................... 74
Services configuration ................................................................................... 75
Service ports configuration............................................................................ 76
Supervisor service configuration ................................................................... 77
Response configuration ................................................................................ 78
Checking on the health of the Monitor Service ............................................. 79
72
Database configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Database tab as shown below.
Use this dialog box to establish these settings:
1. The name of the SQL Server computer (and optionally instance) where the CHARTrunner-m
database is stored.
2. The type of authentication that will be used to connect to the database
3. The name of the CHARTrunner-m database.
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This activity is typically done only one time. The settings are remembered. When the Monitor
Administrator program is run – it will connect to the Monitor Service and be able to discover this database
connection information.
Key point: the Monitor Service is the program that knows where to find the database. The Monitor Administrator
program discovers this information by asking the Monitor Service.
SQL Servers: Use this drop-down list to select the SQL Server to use. The program tries to detect all
available SQL Servers in your network. However, it is possible that you have a SQL Server that will not
show up in the list. This might be due to firewall or other security settings you have in place. If you do not
see your SQL Server in the list, you may type the name in directly. If you do this, use the Test button to
ensure that a connection can be made to that server.
Authentication mode: Use this drop-down list to select either Windows Authentication or SQL Server
Authentication. Windows is the more common choice. If using Windows authentication, the current user
Windows login credentials will be used to connect to SQL Server. If SQL Server Authentication is used,
you must enter a user name and password. Each time CHARTrunner-m tries to access the database, this
user name and password will be used to authenticate within SQL Server. When using SQL Server
Authentication, the user name entered here must be for a user that is defined and known by the SQL
Server being used.
Database: Use this drop-down list to select the database name. Remember that your SQL Server probably
contains many databases used by other applications. Ensure that you select the CHARTrunner-m
database. The name of this database was established during the installation of CHARTrunner-m. If you
did not install CHARTrunner-m, you may need to get the name for this database from the person who did
the installation. This form will not allow you to click Save until you select a valid CHARTrunner-m
database.
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Mail server configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Mail Server tab as shown below.
•
SMTP Server: Enter the computer name, DNS name, or IP address of the computer that hosts your
SMTP mail server. When the Monitor Service needs to send an e-mail notification of an alarm
condition this SMTP mail server will be contacted to deliver the message.
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Services configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Services tab as shown below.
The Services tab allows you to change various parameters that control how the Monitor service runs.
When you click on a parameter value field, the description of that parameter is shown on the right.
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76
Service ports configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Service Ports tab as shown below.
The CHARTrunner-m administration program contacts the CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service via the
TCP/IP ports shown above. If these ports are already in use on the computer where the CHARTrunner-m
Monitor Service is installed, then you can tell the CHARTrunner-m Monitor Service to use different ports.
Click Edit, make your changes, and click Save.
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Supervisor service configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Supervisor service tab as shown below.
The Supervisor service tab allows you to change various parameters that control how the Monitor service
runs.
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Response configuration
Run the Monitor Service Configuration Utility and select the Response tab as shown below.
The Response tab allows you to change various parameters that control how responses are handled.
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Checking on the health of the Monitor Service
Since the Monitor Service runs in the background with no user interface, how do you answer the
questions: Is it running? Is everything OK?
The primary way to check the health of the Monitor Service is to run the Monitor Administrator program,
click the View Reports toolbar icon, and display the "Notification Summary" report. If the notifications
indicate that errors are occurring, run the "Exception summary" or "Exception details" report to see what
kind of errors the Monitor Service is encountering.
Another way to check on the health of the Monitor Service is to run the Monitor Administrator program.
From the main form, select View > System Status from the pull-down menu, or press F6. This displays a
System Status window which summarizes information about the Monitor Service. The following
parameters on the System Status window can indicate a problem:
The Eval Status region of the window shows how many monitor definitions are in various states. If any of
these rows (other than the Idle row) consistently contains a large count over time that may be an
indication of a problem. If any of these numbers keeps getting larger and larger over time that definitely is
an indication of a problem where the monitor service is unable to service requests faster than the
requests are coming in. Contact PQ Systems technical support if you have questions.
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Index
A
About PQ Systems • 4
About your CHARTrunner-m documentation • 3
Add a new monitor definition • 28
Advanced row selection • 41, 56
Advanced row selection example 1 • 59
Advanced row selection steps • 56
B
Background Information • 6, 17
Buttons on the monitor definition form • 54
C
CHARTrunner-m vs. CHARTrunner • 3
Checking on the health of the Monitor Service • 76
Configuring Monitor Administrator for the Monitor Service • 25
Create a new monitor definition based on a CHARTrunner chart • 31
Create a new monitor definition by copying an existing one • 32
Create new monitor definitions based on a CHARTrunner folder • 31
Creating your first monitor definition • 33
D
Data definition tab • 39
Data filtering • 41, 54
Data source tab • 37
Database - Select A or B • 13
Database configuration • 70
Delete a monitor definition • 28
Display the monitor definition list in a different order • 29
E
Edit a monitor definition • 29
E-mail tab (under Responses) • 48
Enable or Disable a monitor definition • 29
Example e-mail message • 51
82
Index
F
Filter the monitor definition list • 30
G
General tab • 36
General tab (under Responses) • 47
H
Hardware and software requirements • 11
Helpful terminology • 18
How to contact PQ Systems • 5
I
Installing an upgrade to CHARTrunner-m • 15
Installing CHARTrunner-m • 11
Installing CHARTrunner-m the first time • 14
Integration with CHARTrunner SPC charting software • 24
Introducing the main form • 26
L
Limits tab • 44
M
Macro substitution parameters • 50, 52
Mail server configuration • 71
Main form options • 65
Misc. tab • 53
Monitor Administrator • 13
Monitor Service • 13
Monitor Service Configuration • 69
More about monitor definitions • 21
N
New User • 6
O
Out-of-control tests tab • 46
Overview of CHARTrunner-m • 2, 6
P
Planning your CHARTrunner-m installation • 12
Polling tab • 42
PQ Systems CHARTrunner-m End-User License Agreement • 7
PQ Systems copyright notice • ii
Pre-installation check list • 13
Copyright © 2009
Index
Pre-installation planning • 13
R
Reference – Monitor Definition Settings • 35
Reporting • 66
Request for new features • 9
Response configuration • 75
Responses tab • 47
S
Service configuration • 65
Service ports configuration • 73
Services configuration • 72
Setup categories • 32
Supervisor service configuration • 74
System status • 67
T
Technical support • 6
Text messaging tab (under Responses) • 52
The CHARTrunner-m workflow • 23
The Database • 12
The Monitor Administrator • 12
The Monitor Service • 12
The workflow of using CHARTrunner-m • 22
U
Using the installation README file • 11
Using the Monitor Administrator • 25
Using the Monitor Administrator for the first time • 25
Utilities • 68
V
View reports • 32
W
Welcome • 1
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84
Index
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CHARTrunner-m

Transcription

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