# String tag alarm not executing

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [April 24, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118 "2017-04-24T00:38:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![richardNZ15](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/richardnz15/32/33373_2.png) [@richardNZ15](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/richardNZ15)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/1 "2017-04-24T00:38:47Z")

</div>

I am trying to alarm a STRING tag. The string will contain an error message, generated when a script creates an Exception error.

The Alarm is supposed to execute **On Condition** with the following binding on “Is Active”:

```auto
{Value}!= ""

```

The tag gets its value written to by an error handling script with a standard

```auto
system.tag.write(tagPath, msg)

```

But for some reason the alarm is not executing when a value is written to it. I can see the STRING value of the tag change in real time, but the alarm is not generated.

If I manually paste some text into the Tag value it seems to execute the alarm though. Is there some sort of scan issue at play here?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matt.eaton](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/matt.eaton/32/72046_2.png) [@matt.eaton](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/matt.eaton)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/2 "2017-04-24T21:32:47Z")

</div>

Have you looked at the tag diagnostics in both cases?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drewdin](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/drewdin/32/3363_2.png) [@drewdin](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/drewdin)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/3 "2017-04-25T13:32:41Z")

</div>

> [@richardNZ15](#):
>
> {Value}!= ""

in stead of using {Value}!= "" can you use len({Value}) \> 0?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![richardNZ15](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/richardnz15/32/33373_2.png) [@richardNZ15](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/richardNZ15)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/4 "2017-04-25T20:04:27Z")

</div>

> [@drewdin](#):
>
> in stead of using {Value}!= "" can you use len({Value}) \> 0?

I have tried this but it doesn't seem to compile. Get an error in the Gateway console saying it failed to compile.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![richardNZ15](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/richardnz15/32/33373_2.png) [@richardNZ15](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/richardNZ15)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/5 "2017-04-25T20:06:13Z")

</div>

> [@matt.eaton](#):
>
> Have you looked at the tag diagnostics in both cases?

Where are the tag diagnostics? If it is in the Designer under Help-\>Diagnostics, i'm afraid i cant open that panel due to some other strange error.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![matt.eaton](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/matt.eaton/32/72046_2.png) [@matt.eaton](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/matt.eaton)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/7 "2017-04-25T20:48:46Z")

</div>

![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/2X/7/79d6d63cf810c48ac6c1c5d760abee1241902aa3.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![richardNZ15](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/richardnz15/32/33373_2.png) [@richardNZ15](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/richardNZ15)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/string-tag-alarm-not-executing/14118/8 "2017-04-25T21:02:08Z")

</div>

Ah thanks.

Turns out the alarm was working, it just wasn’t showing up on my Alarm Status table which led me on a bit of a wild goose chase…  
The use of a wildcard filter (ScriptErrors\*) on the Display Path wasn’t working as expected.

Sorry for the wild goose chase, things always seem much easier to figure out after a short break.