Introduction

One of the great strengths of Witness™ is its ability to assist the operator by making decisions in response to target movements and incidents. The entire site can be monitored in real time for specific events or behaviour which is considered suspicious. This ensures the operator is only altered about incidents he really needs to know about. The foundation that enables such intelligent automated, behaviour is the use of sophisticated security rules.

New to version V4.0 is the visual rule designer. This allows complex rules to be easily created by simply dragging and dropping components onto the editor and visually designing the rule workflow and logic. A single rule can be designed to handle a number of different scenarios with inter-related logic or you can implement multiple, unrelated rules to handle different scenarios.

Rules do not only monitor activity on the site, they can also be used to adjust the behaviour of the system. For example you may want the site to utilise different configurations at different times of the day or you may want to dynamically change the operators capabilities at different times of the day. The rule engine supports these types of conditional actions.

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Rule Workflow

All the rules have the same top level workflow. They are triggered through an input, this input is then examined using one or more check and, assuming these checks are completed successfully, one or more actions are implemented. A rule has to evaluate to true for the actions to be implemented. Each rule can have multiple paths each with their own actions. Each path will follow the same workflow, Trigger → Check → Action and the path must also evaluate to true to implement the action.

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Input Triggers

Input triggers initiate the rule logic. Typically these will be tracked targets, but they can be external inputs from 3rd party systems or timer inputs for scheduled activities. For a detailed explanation of the input triggers please see the full list of Rule Nodes.

Data Checks

There are numerous data checks that can be performed on the incoming data. To build the required conditional workflow you can join the checks using Boolean logic as required. In this simple example, either check 1 or 2 must evaluate to true and then check 3 must evaluate to true before both actions 1 and 2 are implemented.

For a detailed explanation of the checks please see the full list of Rule Nodes.

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Actions

There are numerous actions that can be performed if a rule evaluates to true. Some actions are better designed for time based triggers, for example adjusting the configuration. Many actions have the ability to apply or reverse state depending the evaluation of the rule. For example if the rule evaluates to true the action could disarm an area but once the rule re-evaluates to false the area is automatically armed again.

Creating a New Rule

To create a Security Rule:

1. Enable the Configuration Function, then select the Rules folder in the Configuration Tree.

2. In the Configuration Panel, select New, and then Rule.
   
   

    

3. The Security Rule Wizard will appear in a new window. Name the Security Rule, and choose a Rule Type:
   
   Custom Rule: This provides an empty rule template and leaves you to create a fully custom rule.

   Other Rule Types: These are templates that provide a framework for a specific rule. The wizard will prompt you for critical data so you can customise the template to your own requirements. These templates provide a very fast way to create rules especially if you are not familiar with the visual rule editor.
   
   

4. Select Finish.

If you selected Custom Rule then an empty rule will be saved and it will appear in the Configuration Tree. You must now select this rule and edit it to configure the logic as required.

If you selected a template, then the wizard will continue and prompt you all additional information need to complete the rule.

Creating a Custom Rule

A custom rule is empty by default. Think of it as a blank canvas, once created it must be edited and configured before it can be enabled and used. Once the wizard is complete the new empty custom rule will appear in the Configuration Tree.

To edit the new rule, double click on the entry on the tree or select the Edit button.

Once the visual editor is open, edit the rule as required.

Using the Visual Rule Editor

1. Rule Properties: These are the main properties for the rule including a description and a user Id.

2. Node Palette: These are the nodes that can be used to build the rule logic. The nodes can be linked according to the standard workflow.

3. Rule Canvas: This is this canvas where nodes can be dropped and linked to create the rule logic.

4. Node Properties: These are configurable properties for the selected node. In this example, an Area Check.

5. Validation Log: This shows any validation or logic errors in the rules. These must be fixed before a rule can be saved.

Video

Here is a video showing the creation of a new Custom Rule:

This custom rule has been configured as an Area Transition Rule. For more information please refer to Area Transition Rule.

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