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Using the Wild Card Feature

This Help File Page was issued on 09/30/2017

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❑This Wild Card Feature provides an alternate method to enter certain Signal IDs.

•There are many times, when defining Panel Zones and/or CSID Zones, that there is a range of Signal IDs - all representing the same type of Alarm Condition (e.g., Burglar Alarm: E130, E131, E132, etc. or Fire Alarm: E111, E112, E113) - that must be defined.

✓This is especially when Central Stations acquire Accounts, the data entry staff may not know the exact range of each of these Alarm Signals beyond their general Alarm Condition and may not actually know if individual Subscriber's Control Panels do, if fact, send the whole range of these Signal Identifiers.

✓They will, however, generally know all of the Physical Zones defined for each system.

✓In any case, being able to globally define a range of Signal IDs - all reporting the same general Alarm Condition - for a specific Physical Zone, helps ensure that all of the signals, that could be transmitted by an acquired Account, will display properly, rather than be shown as an invalid alarm because the specific Signal Identifier was not defined).

•To address this issue, consider Using the Wild Card Feature to compensate for this problem.

 

❑"Wild Cards" are specific characters that represent a range of substitution possibilities for Signal Identifiers when an Alarm Signal, whether sent from the Receiver or entered as a Manual Alarm, is being interpreted by SPA:

•Underscore - The underscore mark (" _ ") may be inserted anywhere within the Signal Identifier field to represent another (any other) character, in that same position.

 

HelpFilesWildCardUnderscore

 

✓Signal ID - The normal instructions for entering a Signal ID is to enter the actual System Identifier that will be sent from the Subscriber's Control Panel to the Central Station's Receiver.

✓Using the Underscore Wild Card Feature in a Signal ID - If you have a range of Signal IDs that all start with the same set of characters and represent the same general type of alarm (as in a signal defined with an Alarm Condition of Burglar Alarm which could be E130, E131, E132, etc.), you may enter "E13_" and SPA will be able to interpret any Signal ID that starts with "E13" correctly as a Burglar Alarm.

✓Physical Zone - When Using the Underscore Wild Card Feature in the Signal ID field, a Physical Zone must also be entered.

 

•Percent Sign - The percent sign (" % ") may be inserted at the end of the Signal Identifier field to represent that any number of additional characters from that position on may be received.

 

HelpFilesWildCardPercent

 

✓Signal ID - The normal instructions for entering a Signal ID is to enter the actual System Identifier that will be sent from the Subscriber's Control Panel to the Receiver.

✓Using the Percent Sign Wild Card Feature in a Signal ID - If you have a range of Signal IDs that all start with the same set of characters and represent the same general type of alarm (as in a signal defined with an Alarm Condition of Fire Supervisory event which could be E201, E202, E202, etc.), you may enter "E2%" and SPA will be able to interpret any Signal ID that starts with "E2", and has any number of additional characters thereafter (01, 02, 03, 04, etc.), correctly as a Fire Supervisory event.

✓Physical Zone - When Using the Percent Sign Wild Card Feature in the Signal ID field, a Physical Zone must also be entered.

 

❑Signal Processing Order:  Consult the Signal Processing Order chapter for a detailed explanation of how SPA and MKMSCS attempt to validate an Alarm ( Event, Test, Restoral) Signal before declaring it an Invalid Alarm.

 

❑A Warning about Using the Wild Card Feature:

•If Wild Cards are used, as soon as SPA locates a Signal ID & Physical Zone combination that is valid, it transmits that Alarm Signal to MKMSCS.

•Because there could be possible cases where two or more Wild Cards entries may step on each other (when interpreted, they produce the same result), great care should be taken when using this Wild Card feature.