SiteDraw outer ring turns red over things like;

• Socket Connection Not Ready
• Socket ID is not valid
• Unknown Socket Error

Which if I understand these things will generate a retry because these are TCP port devices.

How can I get these to be less scary to the end user.

I tried explaining the function of the outer ring and why it turns red, but to no avail.

According to the requested alarms communication failure is not to be alarmed until the Last Good Poll reaches 30 minutes but the red just plain freaks them out.

A 774 error usually indicates that the connection has not closed gracefully for some reason. So VTScada is trying to connect and the device thinks we already are so it rejects our attempt. Then eventually, it times out and we timeout and a new attempt works. I am not sure what version of VTScada you are on but up into v11.2.30 there have been improvements to the AB driver to help with this particular error.

The only thing I can suggest is try drawing the Data Age for the polling drivers as well. Tell them that it will be a concern if the outer ring is red and the age is excessive - 3 or 4 times whatever your poll cycle is or just shy of your alarm time. The two together may help them understand that this may happen on occasion?

An alternative to using the Site Draw widget is to use the Alarm Priority Icon (found in Widgets > Tools > Alarm Tools). This widget will display an alarm priority icon for the highest priority active or unacknowledged alarm within a hierarchy of tags. This is better than the Site Draw because it tells you the priority rather than just a red circle for any priority. Although it doesn't show communication status information, if the driver is configured to eventually trigger a communication alarm it will cause the alarm icon to appear (so long as the driver is part of the hierarchy of tags of the tag linked to the widget).

I think Ryan's idea of an alternate widget to replace the Site Draw widget is a great one. Note you can also make a custom widget and use it for each site.