Installation manual

24
Overview
3.0 Overview
In order to operate as a fire alarm, a fire alarm panel must be loaded with firmware and
configuration data. A set of configuration data, used to uniquely describe and control a given
set of hardware, is called a Job. The Configurator allows the user to create and manage jobs.
It also allows the user to send firmware to a panel and all its related nodes and CPUs.
The configurator is typically run on a portable notebook or laptop computer that is taken to the
job site and connected to the panel. The technician prepares a job using the configurator’s
Graphical User Interface (GUI). The job can then be sent to the panel. The same or a different
authorised technician can later retrieve the job from the panel, modify it and send it back.
The job repository is a Relational Database (MS-Access). Jobs can be imported or merged
from another database, copied, deleted, and archived in various formats. A job can be printed,
or two versions of a job can be compared.
A wizard driven program installs the product. On the first use of the configurator the user is
prompted for the paths and file names where jobs, backup, the database, etc. are to be stored.
Registry entries remember many of the user’s preferences.
The configuration software runs on a Personal Computer (PC) and the jobs can be transferred
to the panel in one of three ways. Jobs can be transferred through a USB connection directly
to the panel from the PC, through a Universal Interface Module Adapter (UIMA) connection
from the PC serial port to the 10 pin P5 port on the main board, or remotely using a dial-up
modem to connect to the on-board dialer.
3.1 GUI - Major Components
The configurator uses a familiar Microsoft Windows Graphical User Interface (GUI) to present
a job. The screen is divided into (max.) three panes.
Figure 25 GUI Panels