Setting up automatic online notification

About this topic

The VWorks software can automatically notify you about system status via email and online message postings. This topic describes how to configure online notification using Twitter. To configure VWorks email notification, see Setting up email notification.

About posting messages using an online service

The online posting feature can notify you about various system events, such as errors, deadlocks, and protocol and process starts and finishes. You can receive the online notification on any device where you can access a Twitter account. For example, suppose your lab has several workstations running protocols overnight. You could use a cell phone that has internet access to check on the run progress during a long commute home on the train.

The Twitter postings provide the flexibility to opt in or out at anytime. Whereas the email notification can be turned on or off only from within the VWorks software.

Before you start

The following are required for the online message posting to work:

•	The VWorks computer must be connected to a network with internet access.

•	The Twitter account must be set up ahead of time, and you must have the login information (user name and password) for the Twitter account.

Procedure

You can configure the online notification during setup or the first time a protocol is run in the software. You do not need to configure online notification every time you run a protocol.

 

CAUTION The settings for online posting apply to all protocol runs. Always check the settings before you start a run.

To configure automatic message posting:

1	In the VWorks window, choose Tools > Open Hooks Plugin for > Twitter.dll. The Twitter Setup dialog box opens.

 

2	Under Login Info, select Enable Twitter communications, and type the Name and Password for the Twitter account that you want to use.

3	Under Options, select either of the following options, or clear the check boxes if you choose not to use these options:

•	Show postings in VWorks log. If you want the postings to appear in the VWorks log, select this check box.

•	Prepend identifier to all Twitter posts. To add a prefix to the start of each posting, select this check box, and then type the prefix that you want to include.

For example, if you have multiple systems posting messages to the same Twitter account, you can use the system name as a prefix.

4	Under Messages To Post, select the types of messages that the VWorks software should post to the Twitter account, for example, errors and deadlocks (defaults).

5	Click OK to return to the VWorks window.

You may want to perform a dry run of a short protocol to test the posting. For example, you can select Protocol starts as a message to post, run a protocol, and then go to the Twitter account to view the message.

IMPORTANT If the number of online postings exceeds the Twitter account’s maximum for a given time period, no further VWorks messages can be posted until the limit is reset. In this case, the VWorks software adds an info message to the main log for each attempted posting.

Related information

 

For information about...	See...
Adding alarms for error messages	Adding an alarm
Setting up email notification	Setting up email notification
Setting up automated error responses	Setting up automated error responses
Viewing logs	Viewing logs
Tracking the run progress of instances, processes, or devices	Tracking the run progress of instances or devices
Contacting Agilent Technologies and reporting problems	Reporting problems