Description: The status of this alarm entry.

Setting this object to the value invalid(4) has the effect of invalidating the corresponding entry. That is, it effectively disassociates the mapping identified with said entry. It is an implementation-specific matter as to whether the agent removes an invalidated entry from the table. Accordingly, management stations must be prepared to receive tabular information from agents that corresponds to entries currently not in use. Proper interpretation of such entries requires examination of the relevant cpqMeAlarmStatus object.

An existing instance of this object cannot be set to createRequest(2). This object may only be set to createRequest(2) when this instance is created. When this object is created, the agent may wish to create supplemental object instances to complete a conceptual row in this table. Immediately after completing the create operation, the agent must set this object to underCreation(3).

Entries shall exist in the underCreation(3) state until the management station is finished configuring the entry and sets this object to valid(1) or aborts, setting this object to invalid(4). The agent will deny a request to modify an underCreation(3) entry to be that of createRequest(2) in order to lessen problems arising when multiple management stations may be trying to add an entry with the same index. If the agent determines that an entry has been in the underCreation(3) state for an abnormally long time, it may decide that the management station has crashed. If the agent makes this decision, it may set this object to invalid(4) to reclaim the entry. A prudent agent will understand that the management station may need to wait for human input and will allow for that possibility in its determination of this abnormally long period.

If the agent has an entry which is valid(4) and it is unable to query the particular ASN.1 object specified, the agent should set the status to tempUnavailable(5). The agent should continue to query that ASN.1 object, and upon a successful query, the agent should set the status back to valid(4).