Introduction

The Diagnostics application presents the live data for all diagnostic metrics that MachineMetrics is receiving from the machine, and provides the capability to export data changes for selected metrics over a selected time period for use in an external application like an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or reporting system. This article explains how to access and use the functions and capabilities of the Diagnostics application.  

Note: The Diagnostics application is not specifically intended to support machine troubleshooting. The Timeline is the MachineMetrics application that provides the functions and capabilities for analyzing and troubleshooting machine performance based on the diagnostic metric data being received. 

Topics covered in this article

This article contains the following topics:

• Accessing the Diagnostics Application
  • From the Current Shift Dashboard
  • From the All Machines Page
  • From the Machine Overview Page
• Diagnostics Page Layout and Functions
  • Page View Functions
    • Machine Menu
    • Application Menu
  • Exporting Diagnostic Metrics and Data
    • Diagnostic Metric Export Considerations
    • Diagnostic Export CSV File Data Fields
    • Diagnostic Metric Export Procedure
    • Viewing Correct Metric Start/End Date and Time in Excel

Accessing the Diagnostics Application

You can access the Diagnostics application for a machine from the following locations in MachineMetrics:

• Current Shift Dashboard
• Machines Page

The following sections explain how to access the Diagnostics application for a machine from each of these locations, assuming you are already logged in to MachineMetrics.

From the Current Shift Dashboard

To access the Diagnostics application page from any Current Shift Dashboard view, do the following:

1. Click on the tile for the machine that you want to view. The machine tile will change to display several icons.
2. To launch the Diagnostics application for the machine, click the Diagnostics icon (the "wrench") in the row of icons in the center of the tile as highlighted below:

From the Machines Page

To access the Diagnostics application from the Machines page, do the following:

1. Click Machines from the sidebar navigation menu to open the Machines page.
   
   
2. Switch to the machine you want to view and Click the Diagnostics tab.
   
   

Diagnostics Page Layout and Functions

When a user accesses the Diagnostics application page for a machine, the page will display all available metrics and data as shown in the following figure. 

Note the following about the metrics and data presented in the Diagnostics application:

• The diagnostic metrics displayed for the machines in your environment will differ from the above example based on the MachineMetrics data integration characteristics and capabilities of each machine
• The data in the Diagnostics application is live/current data being provided by the machine to MachineMetrics and will be updated immediately as changes to the data are received.
• Color-coded icons associated with the diagnostic metrics will change to indicate the current status of the metric compared to normal/expected conditions. Green is used when the metric is in "normal" status, while yellow and red are used for abnormal conditions such as faults and unplanned program stoppages as shown in the following example:
  
  
  

Page Functions

Exporting Diagnostic Metrics and Data

You can export selected machine diagnostic metric data for a selected time period for use in an external application. The export operation produces a comma-separated value (CSV) file which can then be opened and read in an appropriate application such as Microsoft Excel, or directly imported into a properly configured application database. 

Diagnostic Metric Export Considerations

Please consider the following before exporting metric data using the Diagnostics application Export function:

• Only Changes Are Exported: Only metrics whose data values changed over the selected time period will be exported. This means that to include machine data such as device and controller information that typically does not change after the machine is integrated into your MachineMetrics environment, the export operation must include the date that the machine came online and began providing data to MachineMetrics.
• Export File Size: Depending on the number of metrics exported and the characteristics of your machine data environment, the export operation may produce a very large data file. MachineMetrics generally recommends not exporting more than one week's worth of diagnostic metric data, but you can base your export process on the capabilities and limitations of your environment. 

Diagnostic Export CSV File Data Fields

The data fields in the Diagnostics Export CSV file include the following:

• start: Start date and time for the metric value to the millisecond (format m/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss:000). See Viewing Correct Metric Start/End Date and Time in Excel for information on an Excel issue related to this field.
• end: End date and time for the metric value to the millisecond (format m/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss:000). See Viewing Correct Metric Start/End Date and Time in Excel for information on an Excel issue related to this field.
• duration (ms): Length of time in milliseconds that the metric was at the value.
• key: Name of the metric.
• value: Value of the metric during the start/end time.
• nativecode: Code for the metric provided by the machine (if any).
• nativeseverity: Severity for the metric provided by the machine (if any).
• qualifier: Qualifier for the metric provided by the machine (if any).
• message: Message associated with the metric provided by the machine (if any).
• type: Type assigned to the metric (if any).
• subtype: Subtype assigned to the metric (if any).

Diagnostic Metric Export Procedure

To export the diagnostic metrics for a machine, do the following:

1. Access the Diagnostics application page for the machine.
2. Click the Export button. The Diagnostics page will change to provide the functionality noted below.
   
   
   • Select All/Deselect All: Click to select or deselect all metrics in the Diagnostics page. By default, all metrics are selected. If you want to include only a few metrics in the export, it is simplest to click Deselect All and then select only the metrics you want to include.
   • Date Range: Click to open a calendar tool allowing you to set the date range for the data included in the export. In most environments, MachineMetrics recommends exporting no more than one week of data.
   • Include/Exclude Metric Categories: Click the check box next to a metric category heading to select or deselect and include or exclude all the metrics within that category in the export. 
   • Include/Exclude Individual Metrics: Click the check box next to an individual metric to select or deselect and include or exclude that metric in the export. 
   • Export Button: Click to export the selected metrics.
   • Cancel Button: Click to cancel the export and return to the live Diagnostics page.
     
     
3. Set the desired date and time range for the metric data export. As mentioned above, MachineMetrics recommends not exporting more than one week's worth of metric data for most environments. Also, only metrics that changed over the selected time period will be exported.
4. Select the desired metrics to include in the export operation.
5. Click the Export button again. The Diagnostics application will respond with the "send" message highlighted below in the top right of the page.
   
   
   
   
6. You will receive an email with a link to the Export CSV file to the user email address that is registered with MachineMetrics. The following figure shows an example of this email. 
   
   
   
   
7. Click the link in the email and download the Export CSV file to the desired location.

Viewing Correct Metric Start/End Date and Time in Excel

In some versions of Excel, the start/end date and time fields may only display the minutes, seconds, and tenths of seconds (mm:ss.0) as shown in the following figure instead of the full date and time information.

To address this issue and view the complete information, do the following:

1. Open the Diagnostic Metric Export CSV file in Excel.
2. Select the start and end columns, right-click and select Format Cells.
   
   
   
   
3. In the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog select Custom.
4. In the Type field (highlighted below), enter the proper date and time format (m/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss.000), and click the OK button.
   
   
   
   
5. The start and end fields in the Export file will now display dates and times in the correct format.