If you use a setup with a table, the table’s display key is set up using “naming”. As part of this display key, a numeric discreet is used.

Considering that a (numeric) discreet in most cases returns a textual value, a parameter description in the Alarm Console for such a discreet is almost always textual.

However, there seems to be an exception: the <Exception> tag in such a discreet parameter.
Please see the example below:

<Exceptions>
<Exception id=”1″ value=”-2000″>
<Display state=”disabled”>N/A</Display>
<Value>-2000</Value>
</Exception>
</Exceptions>

In a numeric parameter, the configuration above makes perfect sense. The value in the <value> tag is used in the background by DataMiner and in case this parameter were to be used in a key, the numeric value would indeed be expected to be shown.

As the parameter (numeric discreet) expects a number, we would be forced to enter in the <value> tag the number -2000, matching the exception trigger. The <value> tag here being the parameter value that is used in the background by DataMiner.

However, in case of a numeric discreet, the <value> tag number is also in the foreground, by the display key.
That would leave the display key looking potentially like this:

e.g. Value1\Value2\-2000\Value3\-2000

I believe users may not expect to see a number here, considering that in every other case, the discreet’s string representation is used.

What we might expect is that in the Alarm Console the “parameter description” looks more like this:

e.g. Value1\Value2\N/A\Value3\N/A

In devices with bigger and more complicated drivers, this seems to cause confusion for certain users.

Is it desired/expected behavior that exceptions of discreets display numbers?

Would it potentially be better to in the aforementioned case to use the display value of the exception or are certain things preventing that?