FactoryTalk View ME Alarming and ALMD instruction

Is there any benefit to using ALMD instructions in a Studio 5000 project when the HMI is using FTView ME?

We are currently triggering our alarms with the bits of dints and all the messages are set up in the ME project. We were looking into moving over to a PV5000 or an SE machine, which made me start researching the ALMD instruction and the tag based alarming in the newer PLCs, but due to a lack of features in the PV5000, and the exorbitant cost of standalone SE Station machines, we've decided to stick with the PV7+.

But our alarm code still needs a lot of clean up, and if I'm already in there, I'd like to have it ready for migration when we do eventually have to go to PV5000 or SE.

I know that ME won't get the message out of the ALMD instruction, but is there anything else useful in the ALMD instruction that ME can use?

I'd also love any tips for efficient programming with ALMD instructions if anyone has them. I've already discovered that you cannot create an array of ALMD tags. I really wish I could use tag based alarms with ME.

As a OEM machine builder there was not too many plus sides for digging into the newer alarm blocks as we had most of the AOIs generated for machine code that would output alarms already including timers etc. We have alarm handlers and scrolling banners that read from these blocks and it was a matter of only adding a few unique alarms based on the specific application. For FactoryTalk ME I personally have not seen the benefit to transition over. We also have not looked into transferring into the new PV5000 series either. Keep in mind that if the machine ever needed to be translated the ME handles alarm strings much better than hard coded strings in the CPU.

When I had a new build with no existing code project for a small tank farm system I ended up using the SE and at that point chose to use the ALMA and ALMD as it was well suited for the Plant PaX stuff that was being implemented. Definitely saves time with all the analog windows with alarms and guides thru what would be suggested as it is a single click to enable the fault for H/L with the background already done.

ME does not use FactoryTalk Alarming so there is no benefit there. You can certainly use the instructions, and I think they have ALMA/ALMD faceplates for ME. But it isn't worth redoing something you've already built. If starting from scratch maybe.

OG