This read-write value selects whether the first sample taken after this alarm entry becomes valid can immediately generate a risingAlarm(1), fallingAlarm(2), or risingOrFallingAlarm(3) if it's already past the corresponding threshold, and cannot be modified while the entry's status is valid(1). An admin sets this to control whether a freshly-activated alarm should fire immediately on an already-bad starting condition rather than waiting for the value to cross the threshold from a good state. For example, setting hpnicfprialarmStartupAlarm to risingOrFallingAlarm(3) ensures an alarm fires right away if the monitored variable's very first sample is already outside either threshold.