# How does system.alarm.queryJournal() query for "source"?

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Tags:** scripting, ignition81\
**Created:** [February 2, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165 "2024-02-02T16:37:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Brandon\_Peterson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/brandon_peterson/32/32960_2.png) [@Brandon\_Peterson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Brandon_Peterson)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/1 "2024-02-02T16:37:59Z")

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I haven't been able to find precise details on what the `path` and `source` parameters are actually querying against. I want to be exact in my tag alarm queries, because some tag paths are subsets of others (have similar names).

So far, I've found the following:

- `"*Path/To/Tag1*"` returns multiple alarms (ie. `Path/To/Tag1` and `Path/To/Tag10` both match the former path)
- `"*Path/To/Tag1:*"` avoides this problem because the source always ends with a colon (apparently)
- `"*:Path/To/Tag1*"` doesn't return anything because the source doesn't start with a colon (apparently)

I would think that the `source` parameter would be matched against the `alarm_event.source` column of that db table. But this, according to my testing above, doesn't seem to be the case.

From the docs:

> **Qualified Paths**  
> A qualified path in Ignition is a path to an object, described by various annotated components. Each component has a type identifier and a value, separated by a colon (`:`), and each component is separated by colon-forward slash (`:/`). For example, an alarm is identified by `alm:Alarm Name`. It usually exists under a Tag, in which case, its fuller path would be `tag:Path/To/Tag:/alm:Alarm Name`. Paths can be built up further depending on the level of specificity required by the situation.
> 
> [Alarm Journal - Ignition User Manual 8.1 - Ignition Documentation](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC81/Alarm+Journal)

In my example, this is what would be returned by the `source` property on the `PyAlarmEvent` object:  
`prov:MyTagProvider:/tag:Path/To/Tag1:/alm:Alarm Name 1`  
So I'm confused why `system.alarm.queryJournal(source="*Path/To/Tag1:*")` returns the results I want, but `system.alarm.queryJournal(source="*:Path/To/Tag1*")` doesn't return anything.

**What string is this `source` parameter being compared to?**

Docs here: [system.alarm.queryJournal - Ignition User Manual 8.1 - Ignition Documentation](https://docs.inductiveautomation.com/display/DOC81/system.alarm.queryJournal)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Brandon\_Peterson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/brandon_peterson/32/32960_2.png) [@Brandon\_Peterson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Brandon_Peterson)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/2 "2024-02-02T19:03:10Z")

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I'm guessing my post here was confusing. Allow me to explain a little more.

I'm trying to understand how the `system.alarm.queryJournal` function interprets the `source` parameter. Here's some test code:

```Python
alarm_tags = system.tag.browse('[default]Alarm_Tags', filter={'tagType': 'AtomicTag'})

# Loop through all tags with alarms in the Alarm_Tags folder
for alarm_tag in alarm_tags:
	print('Tag path: {}'.format(alarm_tag['fullPath']))
	
	config = system.tag.getConfiguration(alarm_tag['fullPath'], recursive=False)[0]
	
	# Ignore tags without alarms
	if 'alarms' not in config or len(config['alarms']) == 0: continue
	print('\tTag config: {}'.format(config))

	# Remove provider from alarm path to use in source query
	source = '*{}:*'.format(str(BasicTagPath.subPath(
		alarm_tag['fullPath'],
		1,
		alarm_tag['fullPath'].getPathLength() - 1)
	))
	
	# Query alarm journal using source
	alarm_history = system.alarm.queryJournal(startDate=start, endDate=end, journalName='Alarm_Journal', source=source, includeSystem=False)
	
	print('\tSource query: {}'.format(source))

	for alarm_event in alarm_history:
		print('\t\tAlarm event source: {}'.format(alarm_event.getSource()))
	
	print

```

That will yield the following output (summarized):

```auto
Tag path: [default]Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1
	Tag config: {'path': '[default]Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1', 'name': 'Tag1', 'alarms': [{'name': 'Alarm Name 1', ...}], ...}
	Source query: *Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:*
		Alarm event source: prov:default:/tag:Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:/alm:Alarm Name 1
...

```

The thing I want to understand here, is why changing the `source` query from `*Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:*` to `*:Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:*` (colon added at beginning) results in no alarm events being found at all. That tells me that the `source` parameter, doesn't match against the `alarm_event.getSource()` value.

Put another way, `*:Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:*` matches `prov:default:/tag:Alarm_Tags/Path/To/Tag1:/alm:Alarm Name 1`, but using it for `source` in `system.alarm.queryJournal()` doesn't match any alarm events. I want to understand why that is.

Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![JordanCClark](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/jordancclark/32/83362_2.png) [@JordanCClark](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/JordanCClark)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/3 "2024-02-02T19:33:16Z")

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I would say that the leading colon is part if the `tag:` 'key'-- for lack of a better term-- and not part of the tag path. Just like the provider does not contain `:default`.

---

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**Author:** ![Brandon\_Peterson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/brandon_peterson/32/32960_2.png) [@Brandon\_Peterson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Brandon_Peterson)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/4 "2024-02-04T22:35:59Z")

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That might have explained the trailing colon working, but the leading colon doesn't work. When `source='*:<tagPath>*'`, the journal query won't return anything.

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**Author:** ![lrose](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrose/32/62724_2.png) [@lrose](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrose)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/5 "2024-02-05T01:56:08Z")

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TL/DR Don't use either the leading or trailing colon. The first example you gave is the correct filter approach.

> A qualified path in Ignition is a path to an object, described by various annotated components. Each component has a type identifier and a value, separated by a colon (`:`), and each component is separated by colon-forward slash (`:/`)

This is the important part. In reference to the filter.

Neither of the colons belong to the "path". Frankly, I am surprised that the trailing colon works, I would expect it to also return nothing. Seems a bit like a "feature" to me.

In reality, as the documentation states, the `:/` separates the path components. Each component is made up of a type identifier and a value separated by a `:`. Much like key value pairs in a Python dictionary, the colons are syntax.

In the Alarm Journal documentation the source is defined as a qualified path to the **entity** which generated the alarm. Meaning that it isn't necessarily a tag (thus the qualified path as opposed to a tag path). The path argument, however, is the Display path of the alarm. This is the path that will show in the journal.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Brandon\_Peterson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/brandon_peterson/32/32960_2.png) [@Brandon\_Peterson](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/Brandon_Peterson)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/6 "2024-02-12T14:56:52Z")

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> [@lrose](#):
>
> Neither of the colons belong to the "path". Frankly, I am surprised that the trailing colon works, I would expect it to also return nothing. Seems a bit like a "feature" to me.

This "feature" is exactly what I'm interested in. It's convenient to rely on, instead of filtering the results again after the initial query. But, as you recommended, I probably _shouldn't_ rely on it, since there isn't any documentation to guarantee this functionality.

> [@lrose](#):
>
> In the Alarm Journal documentation the source is defined as a qualified path to the **entity** which generated the alarm. Meaning that it isn't necessarily a tag (thus the qualified path as opposed to a tag path). The path argument, however, is the Display path of the alarm. This is the path that will show in the journal.

I appreciate the distinction between an **entity** and a **tag**. I think that could be important in understanding how this function works under the hood.

According to the docs, there doesn't appear to be a difference between using `source` vs `path` as inputs. I can't tell if that is because of a legacy feature, planning for a new feature where the two aren't the same, or just indecisive naming of things (which is, admittedly, hard).

The "filtering after the fact" method is working for me, so I'll give you the solution for this one, but if anyone else has more insight on this, I'd be interested to learn more about it.

---

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**Author:** ![lrose](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/lrose/32/62724_2.png) [@lrose](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/lrose)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 3:34pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/how-does-system-alarm-queryjournal-query-for-source/85165/7 "2024-02-12T15:34:48Z")

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> [@Brandon\_Peterson](#):
>
> According to the docs, there doesn't appear to be a difference between using `source` vs `path` as inputs.

If you don't customize the Display path for alarms, then there probably is little difference 99% of the time. However, it is entirely possible to set the display path of an alarm to something that is more Human Readable than a tag path (which is really not useful to operators whom aren't also OT).

From the manual:

> The **Display Path** can be customized on each alarm. The default value for an alarm's Display Path is a Tag path that leads to the name of the alarm. ... However, the Display Path can be customized when configuring the alarm. This is generally utilized to display readable messages as to what the issue is.

and

> The **Source Path** is also a path to the alarm, but also shows the Tag provider the alarm is located in. ... Unlike the Display Path, the Source Path on an alarm can never be overridden.

So perhaps your tag paths are very long, the display path can be used to make that more readable. Which would then make filtering by source different than filtering by display path.