Generic event

Available functionality depends on the system you are using. See the Product comparison chart for more information.

When you add generic events, specify the following properties:

Event name

Specify a name. Names must be unique, and must not contain any of these special characters:  < >  &  '  "  \  /  :  *  ?  |  [  ]

Some cameras only support event names of a certain length and/or with a certain structure. Refer to the camera's documentation for exact details.

Event port

Read-only field displaying the port number on which your system listens for generic events (default is port 1234). You can change the port number as part of the general event handling configuration.

Event substring

Specify the individual items for which your system should look out for when analyzing data packages. Specify one or more terms, then click the Add button to add the specified term(s) to the Event message expression field, the content of which is used for the actual analysis. Examples:

  • Single term: User001 (when added to the Event message expression field, the term appears as "User001")
  • Several terms as one item: User001 Door053 Sunday (when added to the Event message expression field, the terms appear as " User001 Door053 Sunday")

When you add several terms as one item (appearing as, for example, " User001 Door053 Sunday" in the Event message expression field), everything between the quotation marks must appear together in the package, in the specified sequence, in order to match your criterion. If the terms must appear in the package, but not necessarily in any exact sequence, add the terms one by one (they appear as "User001" "Door053" "Sunday" in the Event message expression field).

TCP and UDP packages used for generic events can contain special characters such as @, #, +, 㪠~ and more within the text string to be analyzed.

Event message expression

Displays the string which will be used for the actual package analysis. The field is not directly editable. However, you can position the cursor inside the field in order to determine where a new item should be included when you click the Add button or one of the parenthesis or operator buttons described in the following. Likewise, you can position the cursor inside the field in order to determine where an item should be removed when clicking the Remove button: The item immediately to the left of the cursor will be removed when you click the Remove button.

  • (: Lets you add a start parenthesis character to the Event message expression field. Parentheses can be used to ensure that related terms are processed together as a logical unit; in other words, they can be used to force a certain processing order in the analysis. Example: If using ("User001" OR "Door053") AND "Sunday", the two terms inside the parenthesis will be processed first, then the result will be combined with the last part of the string. In other words, the system first looks for any packages containing either of the terms User001 or Door053, then it takes the results and run through them in order to see which packages also contain the term Sunday.
  • ): Lets you add an end parenthesis character to the Event message expression field.
  • AND: Lets you add an AND operator to the Event message expression field. With an AND operator, you specify that the terms on both sides of the AND operator must be present. Example: If using User001 AND Door053 AND Sunday, the term User001 as well as the term Door053 as well as the term Sunday must be present in order for the criterion to be met. It is not enough for only one or two of the terms to be present. As a rule of thumb, the more terms you combine with AND, the fewer results you retrieve:
  • OR: Lets you add an OR operator to the Event message expression field. With an OR operator, you specify that either one or another term must be present. Example: If using User001 OR Door053 OR Sunday, the term User001 or the term Door053 or the term Sunday must be present in order for the criterion to be met. The criterion is satisfied even if only one of the terms is present. As a rule of thumb, the more terms you combine with OR, the more results you will retrieve: 
  • Remove: Lets you remove the item immediately to the left of a cursor positioned in the Event message expression field. If you have not positioned the cursor in the Event message expression field, the last item in the field will be removed.

Event priority

The same data package may be analyzed for different events. The ability to assign a priority to each event lets you manage which event should be triggered if a received package matches the criteria for several events. The priority must be specified as a number between 0 (lowest priority) and 1000 (highest priority). When the system receives a TCP and/or UDP package, analysis of the packet starts with analysis for the event with the highest priority. This way, when a package matches the criteria for several events, only the event with the highest priority will be triggered. If a package matches the criteria for several events with an identical priority, for example two events with a priority of 999, all events with the priority in question are triggered.

Event protocol

Select which protocol the system should listen for in order to detect the event:

  • Any: Listen for/analyze packages using TCP as well as UDP protocol.
  • TCP: Listen for/analyze packages using TCP protocol only.
  • UDP: Listen for/analyze packages using UDP protocol only.

Event rule type

Select how particular your system should be when analyzing received data packages:

  • Search: In order for the event to occur, the received package must contain the message specified in the Event message expression field, but may also have more content.
    Example: If you have specified that the received package should contain the terms "User001" and "Door053", the event is triggered if the received package contains the terms "User001" and "Door053" and "Sunday" since your two required terms are contained in the received package.
  • Match: In order for the event to occur, the received package must contain exactly the message specified in the Event message expression field, and nothing else.

Send e-mail if this event occurs

Only available if email notifications are enabled. Select if the system should automatically send an email when the event occurs. Recipients are defined as part of the email notification configuration. When using email notifications, remember the individual cameras' scheduling.

Attach image from camera

Only available if e-mail notification is enabled. Select to include an image, recorded at the time the event is triggered, in the e-mail notification, then select the relevant camera in the list next to the check box.

Send SMS if this event occurs

Select if the system should automatically send an SMS when the event occurs. You define the recipients of the SMS notifications as part of the SMS notification configuration. When you use SMS notifications, remember that you may have set individual camera scheduling.

The setting is only available if you have enabled SMS notifications.

Delete

Delete a selected event.

Add

Add a new event. When the Generic Events node is selected, clicking Add will add a new generic event. When a specific generic event is selected, clicking Add will add a timer event to the selected generic event.

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