How to Programmatically Check If a PI Notification Service is Targeting a PI AF Database

For engineers working with OSIsoft PI System, knowing whether the PI Notification Scheduler service is actively targeting a specific PI AF Database can be crucial for maintaining robust operations and troubleshooting notification issues. Fortunately, the OSIsoft AN SDK (part of the Asset Framework SDK suite) offers straightforward ways to programmatically perform this check.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can use the ANServiceInformation class from the OSIsoft.AN.Service namespace to:

• Check if any Notification Scheduler service is running targeting your PI AF Database
• Retrieve information on which PI Notifications host is linked to your AF server

And, crucially, we will share robust code examples that make your solution both effective and user-friendly.

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Understanding the Tools: ANServiceInformation Class

The ANServiceInformation class is your route to asking questions about Notification Scheduler services running in your PI environment. It offers several static methods, but two are especially useful:

• GetHost: Returns the host name of the PI Notification Scheduler targeting a specific AF server. Throws an exception if no service is running.
• TryGetLocation: Returns a boolean indicating if the Scheduler is running, and provides the host name without throwing exceptions if the service isn’t found.

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Example: Detect the Notification Service for a PI AF Database

Let’s see how to use both methods in practice. The following examples use C# with the AF and AN SDK APIs:

Using GetHost (Exception-Based Approach)

using OSIsoft.AF;
using OSIsoft.AN.Service;

PISystems piSystems = new PISystems();
PISystem afServer = piSystems["<your AF server name>"];
try
{
    string notificationHost = ANServiceInformation.GetHost(afServer.ID);
    Console.WriteLine($"PI Notifications host: {notificationHost}");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine("No PI Notification Service is running: " + ex.Message);
}

While effective, this method isn’t the cleanest, as relying on exceptions for standard flow control isn’t considered best practice.

Using TryGetLocation (Preferred Approach)

TryGetLocation is a more robust method. It takes the AF Server and Database IDs, and it returns a boolean to indicate service availability, placing the host name in an out parameter.

using OSIsoft.AF;
using OSIsoft.AN.Service;

PISystems piSystems = new PISystems();
PISystem afServer = piSystems["<your AF server name>"];
AFDatabase afDatabase = afServer.Databases["<your database name>"];

string notificationMachine = string.Empty;
bool isServiceRunning = ANServiceInformation.TryGetLocation(
    afServer.ID,
    afDatabase.ID,
    out notificationMachine);

if (isServiceRunning)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"PI Notifications service is running on: {notificationMachine}");
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine("PI Notifications service is NOT running for this database.");
}

Why Use TryGetLocation?

• No Exceptions for Control Flow: Errors are handled gracefully with a boolean return value, improving reliability.
• Database Specific: You can target a specific AF Database for more granularity.

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Conclusion

Checking the status of PI Notification Scheduler services programmatically is simple using the OSIsoft AN SDK. TryGetLocation is the preferred method for a smooth, exception-free experience. Regularly incorporating these checks can significantly streamline your PI System monitoring scripts, automated tests, or custom dashboards.

Do you have any other tips or want to share how you monitor or automate your PI notifications? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!