You may configure (manage) any static group that you own.
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Setting a static group's latitude and longitude Associating a customer with a static group |
Defining rules for a static group Moving a static group to a different static parent (i.e., "re-parenting") |
All configuration tasks for groups begin with the Groups dialog. To open this dialog, locate the System Configuration tasks on the Action pane's Configuration panel and click Manage groups. (In order to manage groups, it is not necessary to select a group on the Navigation pane's Groups panel.)
You may add a static group as a subgroup to any group you own.
When you add a static group, you first define the group's name and description. After saving the new group, you can then assign a customer, owners, devices, and rules to it.
NOTE: Static groups cannot be added as subgroups to dynamic groups.
Open the Groups dialog. If you plan to create:
a new group, select the Root group on the Groups list.
a new subgroup to a static parent group other than the Root group, navigate to and select the parent group. You may need to expand the group tree to get to the desired group.
Click Add 
to open the Group dialog. Complete
the fields. To save the new static group, click Add. The Group dialog
closes, and the new group appears in the Groups list on the Groups dialog.
To view the new group's profile, select it on the Groups list. After a
few moments, the Groups dialog is refreshed with the new group's profile,
which appears under the Info section of the Profile tab.
Having created the new static group, you can now set its latitude and longitude (if needed) and assign a customer, owners, devices, and rules to it. (If those items have not yet been defined in the Questra IDM Application Suite, you can associate/assign them to the group later.) You can also set up dynamic group definitions in order to create dynamic groups within this static group. For more information, see Configuring dynamic groups.
Setting a static group's latitude and longitude
If you plan to have alerts for the new group's devices appear on alert maps, you need to set the group's Latitude and Longitude fields. When you originally created the new group, its Latitude and Longitude fields were set automatically to default values. You can determine the group's actual latitude and longitude coordinates from its city or postal code. (There are tools readily available on the Internet for converting a city or postal code to latitude and longitude coordinates.)
To set the group's coordinates, edit the Latitude and Longitude fields on the Profile tab, and then click Save. Type each value in decimal format (rather than in degrees, minutes, and seconds). Use negative values for a latitude south of the equator and a longitude west of the prime meridian.
Associating a customer with a static group
Associating a customer (either an entire account or an individual contact) with a static group automatically associates that customer with the devices that belong to that group. If those devices do not have addresses of their own, the customer's address will be used for them.
To associate a customer with a static group, first select the group on the Groups dialog. On the Profile tab in the Customer section, select a customer from the Customers drop-down list. That customer's definition (description, web site address, address, etc.) now appears. When finished, click Save.
NOTE: Customers may be associated with dynamic groups as well.
Assigning owners to a static group
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IMPORTANT! As of Version 5.2s of Questra IDM Application Suite, all new users must be assigned to at least one group. For users added prior to Version 5.2s and who are not currently assigned to any group, you must manually assign them; otherwise, upon signing in, those users will not see any groups (and their devices) at all. |
Assigning users to a static group as its owners gives those users authorization to access the group's devices. Group ownership is also necessary to support the alert notification and escalation processes. (For a discussion on the alert notification and escalation processes, see About alert and alarm configuration.)
To assign owners to a static
group, first select the group on the Groups
dialog and switch to the Owners tab. You must now search for the owners
you want to assign to the group. Click Add to open the Search
dialog and enter your search criteria. (If you are a System Administrator,
you can search for users who are not yet assigned to any group by selecting
the UnAssigned Users check box
under +Advanced Search). To run the search, click Search. When the results
are returned, select the users you want to assign to the group, using
Shift+click and Ctrl+click to select multiple users, and then click OK.
After a few moments, the Owners tab is refreshed to show the owner(s).
If you want an owner to receive email alert notifications, select his
or her Receive Alerts check box and click Save.
To remove an owner from the group, select the owner on the Groups dialog's Owner tab and click Delete. In response to the confirmation message that opens, click Yes.
NOTE: Owners may be assigned to dynamic groups as well.
Assigning devices to a static group
Assigning devices to a static group provides a way for users to find the devices they service quickly. Furthermore, having devices in a groups allows users to perform tasks on or about all the devices in an efficient manner, rather than having to deal with each device separately. As described at the beginning of this chapter, users can set up scheduled tasks (such as for collecting readings or downloading software packages) that apply to an entire group.
NOTE: Devices cannot be manually added to a dynamic group. They are added automatically according to the dynamic group's definition. See Configuring dynamic groups.
To assign devices to a static
group, first select the group on the Groups dialog. Switch to the Devices
tab. You must now search for the devices you want to assign to the group.
Click Search to open the Search dialog
and enter your search criteria. For a wildcard, use *. Partial strings
are not allowed. (If you are a System Administrator, you can search for
devices that are not yet assigned to any group by selecting the UnAssigned Devices check box under
+Advanced Search). To run the search, click Search. When the results are
returned, select the devices you want to assign to the group, using Shift+click
and Ctrl+click to select multiple devices, and then click OK. After a
few moments, the Devices tab is refreshed to show the devices.
To remove a device from
the group, select it on the Groups dialog's Devices tab and click Delete
.
In response to the confirmation message that opens, click Yes.
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Keep in mind that users will typically use groups as the means for navigating to a device. On the Navigation pane's Groups panel, they will select a particular group, causing the Content pane's Devices panel to list all the devices in that group. Consider assigning all the devices at one customer location or within a general geographic area to the same group, as that kind of organization makes sense to users. But be sure not to assign too many devices to one group. If there are very many devices in a group, users may have to scroll on the Content pane's Devices panel to bring into view the specific device they seek. To avoid such excessive scrolling, limit the number of devices in a single group to a number that is reasonable to have to scroll through. (In fact, it might be better to create subgroups to a group and then organize the devices into the subgroups.) |
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Best Practice for assigning devices to multiple static groups |
You may freely assign a device to more than one static group, so don't worry if you've already assigned a device elsewhere. However, keep in mind the purposes of the different groups that have been defined. |
Defining rules for a static group
You can define rules at the group level that will apply to all devices of a selected type in a given static group. (You cannot create a rule for an empty group; it must have at least one device associated with it.)
To define rules for a static
group, first select the group on the Groups dialog. Switch to the Rules
tab and click Add to open the Rule dialog.
Complete the fields. To save the rule, click Add. If you enabled the new
rule to be scheduled, a message opens to remind you to create the schedule;
click Close to close the message. After a few moments, the Rules tab is
refreshed to show the new rule. If needed, be sure to create
a schedule for the new rule.
To edit a rule, select on the Rules tab and click Edit
.
To remove a rule from the group, select it on the Rules
tab and click Delete . In response to the confirmation message that opens,
click Yes.
NOTE: Rules may be defined for dynamic groups as well.
You may search for any group that you own.
You can quickly search for any groups you own directly from the Groups
dialog. Click Search 
above the Groups list to open the Search
dialog, which is preset to search for groups only. Complete the desired
fields. For a wildcard to represent any string or character, use *. Click
Search to conduct the search. You can then load a found group's definition
in the Groups dialog by selecting it from the search results and clicking
OK, or by double-clicking it.
You may edit any static group that you own.
When editing a static group, you can change its profile (name, description, etc.), as well as any of the associations/assignments of a customer, owners, devices, and rules, and dynamic group definitions.
On the Groups dialog, select the static group you want to edit. After a few moments, the dialog is refreshed with the selected group's definition.
To edit the static group's profile and/or to associate a different customer with it, work on the Profile tab. Make changes as needed, and click Save.
To edit the static group's owners, devices, rules, and/or
dynamic group definitions, switch to the other tabs as needed. To add
items to or delete items from the group, use the techniques described
above. To edit a rule, select it on the Rules tab and click Edit .
To edit a dynamic group definition, see Editing
dynamic group definitions and dynamic groups.
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We recommend that an administrator with the proper group ownership edit the default static group Geography and the subgroups that apply to your installation of the Questra IDM Application Suite in order to assign devices to those groups. This administrator can also assign other owners, rules, and (if practical for these groups) customers. |
Moving a static group to a different static parent
You may move any group that you own to any other group that you own.
NOTE: Dynamic groups cannot be moved (re-parented).
On the Groups list at the left, expand the group hierarchy to find both the destination parent group and the subgroup you want to move to it. Drag the subgroup and drop it over the destination parent group. A message dialog opens to confirm that you want to move the subgroup. Click Yes.
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Avoid drastic changes to the group hierarchy after the initial creation and tuning, specifically after rules and scheduled tasks have been created for groups. Moving a fully-defined subgroup to a different parent group can have unexpected results as the group-related constructs are propagated. |
You may delete any static group that you own.
Caution! DO NOT delete the Geography group or any of its subgroups! If you plan to delete a custom static group, be aware that the process will also delete the association/assignments of the customer, owners, and rules with all the devices that had made up the custom group. There may be unintended consequences resulting from the deletion. For example, if the individual devices did not have their own addresses, the customer's address was being used for them. Until you supply addresses for the devices, or assign them to a different group with which a customer has been associated, the devices will have no addresses.
To delete a static group, open the Groups dialog, locate the group you
want to delete. (To quickly find a group, use Search above the Groups list.) Select the group
and click Delete . In response to the confirmation message that opens,
click Yes.
