Configuration options for cumulative readings
You can control where users can enter cumulative readings and what the daily range of acceptable values should be for each type of cumulative reading. This article will walk you through these options and how they work.
Overview of the new configuration options
On the Setup > Template > Maintenance tab, when you add a new template or edit an existing one, you'll notice two options for the Cumulative Reading item:
- Restrict the Add or Total entry fields: You can control which fields can be used for entering cumulative readings: the Add field or the Total field. You can also choose not to have any restrictions, which means users can enter values in either field, as they did in previous versions of Helm CONNECT.
- Set daily ranges: You can set daily minimum and maximum values for each cumulative reading type. If someone tries to enter a value outside this range, it must be confirmed by a user who has the new "Can record cumulative readings outside range limit" permission.
Let's take a closer look at these configuration options.
Restrict the Add or Total entry fields
When recording cumulative readings in a maintenance checklist, users can enter values in either the Add field or the Total field.
If you want users to enter values in only one of these fields, you have the option to select either "Allow input in Add field only" or "Allow input in total field only" for that type of cumulative reading on the template. If you prefer not to restrict your users to just one of these fields, leave the default setting, which is "No restrictions".
Note If you restrict the Add or Total field on a cumulative reading, the restriction won't apply the first time someone fills out a copy of the checklist; this is so you can initialize the cumulative readings. For more about initializing cumulative readings, check out this article.
Set daily ranges
If you choose to enter daily minimum and maximum values for your cumulative readings, the system will calculate the range of values that it expects will be entered on the next checklist. These expected values will help you see if someone has made a data entry error or if there is something wrong with the component.
For most cumulative readings, the daily minimum and maximum values you enter will depend on typical values that make sense for the component and the type of cumulative reading you want to record. However, for running hours, the daily minimum and maximum values should always be 0 to 24 because there are 24 hours in a day. We strongly recommend that you never set the maximum limit for running hours to less than 24, even if a particular component typically runs less than 24 hours a day.
How are the expected values calculated?
If you set daily minimum and maximum values for a cumulative reading, when someone completes a checklist, the system will determine how many hours have passed since the reading was last entered (rounded up to the next hour). It will then use the hours since the last entry and the minimum and maximum daily values from the template to calculate the range of expected values for the next checklist. Here are the calculations it uses:
- Minimum value: Minimum daily value * hours since last entry / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places)
- Maximum value: Maximum daily value * hours since last entry / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places)
Example 1 Let's say you have an item on a daily checklist to record the fuel used by one of your engines. On the template, you set the daily minimum to be 0 and the maximum to be 1000. The last time someone completed the checklist was 30 hours ago. Here's how the system would calculate the expected range for the next reading:
- Minimum value: 0 * 30 / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places) = 0
- Maximum value: 1000 * 30 / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places) = 1250
Based on these calculations, the expected range for the next reading would be from 0 to 1250 (inclusive).
Example 2Now let's look at an example with running hours. On your daily checklist, you also have an item to record the running hours for your engine. Although this engine typically runs only 12 to 15 hours a day, that's not relevant to the calculation. Instead, because there are 24 hours in a day, you set the daily minimum to be 0 and the maximum to be 24. Once again, the last time someone completed the checklist was 30 hours ago. Here's how the system would calculate the expected range for the next reading:
- Minimum value: 0 * 30 / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places) = 0
- Maximum value: 24 * 30 / 24 (rounded to 2 decimal places) = 30
Based on these calculations, the expected range for the next reading would be from 0 to 30 (inclusive).
What happens if someone enters a value outside the expected range?
If someone enters a value outside the expected range, they'll see one of two messages, depending on whether or not their role includes the "Can record cumulative readings outside range limit" permission:
- If they have the permission, a message will warn them that the value they're entering is outside the expected range, and ask them to confirm it before they continue.
- If they don't have the permission, a message will warn them that they can't enter the value because it's outside the expected range.
Which permission controls who can enter values outside the expected range?
Use the "Can record cumulative readings outside range limit" to control which users can enter values outside the expected range.
Will history display values that were outside their expected ranges?
On the History tabs for Onboard > Logs and Maintenance > Overview, the Outside Range Limits column in the detail view for completed maintenance checklists will display a Yes or No for each reading to indicate whether or not the recorded value was outside its range limits. If the reading doesn't have a specified range, the column will display a "-".
More about this feature
Here are a few more things to know about the new configuration options:
- The Grouped Category template item only has the "Allow input in Add field only" option. It doesn't have the "Allow input in Total field only" option.
- The Grouped Category template item doesn't have the option to set daily minimum and maximum limits.
- Any changes to the data entry restrictions field on the maintenance template will appear in the change log.