# How to Process16bit to bool Binary Alarms with Buffer-Parser Right

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285>\
**Category:** General\
**Tags:** buffer-parser\
**Created:** [16 June 2026 01:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285 "2026-06-16T01:29:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 01:29 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/1 "2026-06-16T01:29:05Z")

</div>

Hi all,

@Steve-Mcl thank you for your amazing work on the buffer-parser. I have a feeling that I got something wrong, but if you could please assist me, that would be greatly appreciated!

I'm processing some binary Modbus alarms (if bit x is raised, then the alarm is on) with the following flow (this subflow is an example of how I've approached this):

```flows
[
    {
        "id": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "type": "subflow",
        "name": "Sample Bit16 (be) to Bool Flow",
        "info": "",
        "category": "",
        "in": [
            {
                "x": 220,
                "y": 280,
                "wires": [
                    {
                        "id": "86f303ce2f0b0bbb"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ],
        "out": [],
        "env": [],
        "meta": {},
        "color": "#DDAA99"
    },
    {
        "id": "b81cf00b0f816964",
        "type": "buffer-parser",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "Process Sample Modbus Registers",
        "data": "payload",
        "dataType": "msg",
        "specification": "spec",
        "specificationType": "ui",
        "items": [
            {
                "type": "16bitbe",
                "name": "Reg1",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 0,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "16bitbe",
                "name": "Reg2",
                "offset": 2,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 0,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            }
        ],
        "swap1": "",
        "swap2": "",
        "swap3": "",
        "swap1Type": "swap",
        "swap2Type": "swap",
        "swap3Type": "swap",
        "msgProperty": "payload",
        "msgPropertyType": "str",
        "resultType": "object",
        "resultTypeType": "return",
        "multipleResult": true,
        "fanOutMultipleResult": true,
        "setTopic": true,
        "outputs": 2,
        "x": 620,
        "y": 280,
        "wires": [
            [
                "c92862b2260ba848",
                "6eb455381b119990"
            ],
            [
                "2ed8f572bd8239c9",
                "1939b2ea295e7641"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "c92862b2260ba848",
        "type": "buffer-parser",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "Process Binary Alarms",
        "data": "payload.value",
        "dataType": "msg",
        "specification": "spec",
        "specificationType": "ui",
        "items": [
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Continue",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 0,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Hold",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 1,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Off",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 2,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Start Over",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 3,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            }
        ],
        "swap1": "",
        "swap2": "",
        "swap3": "",
        "swap1Type": "swap",
        "swap2Type": "swap",
        "swap3Type": "swap",
        "msgProperty": "payload",
        "msgPropertyType": "str",
        "resultType": "keyvalue",
        "resultTypeType": "return",
        "multipleResult": false,
        "fanOutMultipleResult": false,
        "setTopic": true,
        "outputs": 1,
        "x": 900,
        "y": 220,
        "wires": [
            [
                "244c868b8e3dc1ce"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "244c868b8e3dc1ce",
        "type": "debug",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "Debug SF",
        "active": true,
        "tosidebar": true,
        "console": false,
        "tostatus": false,
        "complete": "payload",
        "targetType": "msg",
        "statusVal": "",
        "statusType": "auto",
        "x": 1120,
        "y": 220,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "6eb455381b119990",
        "type": "debug",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "msg.payload",
        "active": true,
        "tosidebar": true,
        "console": false,
        "tostatus": false,
        "complete": "payload",
        "targetType": "msg",
        "statusVal": "",
        "statusType": "auto",
        "x": 850,
        "y": 140,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "2ed8f572bd8239c9",
        "type": "buffer-parser",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "Process Binary Alarms",
        "data": "payload.value",
        "dataType": "msg",
        "specification": "spec",
        "specificationType": "ui",
        "items": [
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Pass",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 0,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Drop",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 1,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Off",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 2,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            },
            {
                "type": "bool",
                "name": "Restart",
                "offset": 0,
                "length": 1,
                "offsetbit": 3,
                "scale": "1",
                "mask": ""
            }
        ],
        "swap1": "",
        "swap2": "",
        "swap3": "",
        "swap1Type": "swap",
        "swap2Type": "swap",
        "swap3Type": "swap",
        "msgProperty": "payload",
        "msgPropertyType": "str",
        "resultType": "keyvalue",
        "resultTypeType": "return",
        "multipleResult": false,
        "fanOutMultipleResult": false,
        "setTopic": true,
        "outputs": 1,
        "x": 900,
        "y": 300,
        "wires": [
            [
                "ad83ef7138325218"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "ad83ef7138325218",
        "type": "debug",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "Debug SF",
        "active": true,
        "tosidebar": true,
        "console": false,
        "tostatus": false,
        "complete": "payload",
        "targetType": "msg",
        "statusVal": "",
        "statusType": "auto",
        "x": 1120,
        "y": 300,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "1939b2ea295e7641",
        "type": "debug",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "msg.payload",
        "active": true,
        "tosidebar": true,
        "console": false,
        "tostatus": false,
        "complete": "payload",
        "targetType": "msg",
        "statusVal": "",
        "statusType": "auto",
        "x": 870,
        "y": 380,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "86f303ce2f0b0bbb",
        "type": "function",
        "z": "e4c264bf156ed21c",
        "name": "4-Byte-Buffer",
        "func": "let buf = [10, 8]\n\nmsg.payload = buf;\nreturn msg;",
        "outputs": 1,
        "timeout": 0,
        "noerr": 0,
        "initialize": "",
        "finalize": "",
        "libs": [],
        "x": 370,
        "y": 280,
        "wires": [
            [
                "b81cf00b0f816964"
            ]
        ]
    },
    {
        "id": "eb37a9689c2c24f3",
        "type": "global-config",
        "env": [],
        "modules": {
            "node-red-contrib-buffer-parser": "3.2.2"
        }
    }
]

```

The injected message for this bit is simply msg.payload. Since the buffer includes bits in 0 and 3 offset positions, I'd expect the final array to contain 1-2 "True" values; however, despite the raised '1's, there are no true values. What am I doing wrong?

Thank you in advance!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 02:35 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/2 "2026-06-16T02:35:29Z")

</div>

can you post code as well as the screenshot?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:07 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/3 "2026-06-16T03:07:03Z")

</div>

Hi @gerry!

I believe I already did:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/b/2/b2f312ac4ded76025b176114ee865faacd30551a.png)

You should be able to toggle between the flow and the source code, and you can either copy the flow to the clipboard or download it. Let me know if I missed something. Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:11 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/4 "2026-06-16T03:11:08Z")

</div>

I don't believe that's how this works. You can't toggle a screenshot. Only do that inside node red

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/5 "2026-06-16T03:14:13Z")

</div>

What I attached in my first (intro) post is a flow and what I just posted above is a screenshot. Can you please try it out? If you still can't get it to work, I'll re-post the code manually. Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/6 "2026-06-16T03:14:44Z")

</div>

you need to copy the code then paste it here inside tick marks

```auto
code here

```

some where there is a tutorial but I can't find it right now, it looks like you posted a picture,  
Sorry

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:17 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/7 "2026-06-16T03:17:41Z")

</div>

No worries, I can re-post it manually. Does this work well then?

```auto
[{"id":"e4c264bf156ed21c","type":"subflow","name":"Sample Bit16 (be) to Bool Flow","info":"","category":"","in":[{"x":220,"y":280,"wires":[{"id":"86f303ce2f0b0bbb"}]}],"out":[],"env":[],"meta":{},"color":"#DDAA99"},{"id":"b81cf00b0f816964","type":"buffer-parser","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"Process Sample Modbus Registers","data":"payload","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"16bitbe","name":"Reg1","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"16bitbe","name":"Reg2","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"object","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":true,"fanOutMultipleResult":true,"setTopic":true,"outputs":2,"x":620,"y":280,"wires":[["c92862b2260ba848","6eb455381b119990"],["2ed8f572bd8239c9","1939b2ea295e7641"]]},{"id":"c92862b2260ba848","type":"buffer-parser","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"Process Binary Alarms","data":"payload.value","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"bool","name":"Continue","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Hold","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Off","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Start Over","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"keyvalue","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":false,"fanOutMultipleResult":false,"setTopic":true,"outputs":1,"x":900,"y":220,"wires":[["244c868b8e3dc1ce"]]},{"id":"244c868b8e3dc1ce","type":"debug","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"Debug SF","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1120,"y":220,"wires":[]},{"id":"6eb455381b119990","type":"debug","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"msg.payload","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":850,"y":140,"wires":[]},{"id":"2ed8f572bd8239c9","type":"buffer-parser","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"Process Binary Alarms","data":"payload.value","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"bool","name":"Pass","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Drop","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Off","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Restart","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"keyvalue","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":false,"fanOutMultipleResult":false,"setTopic":true,"outputs":1,"x":900,"y":300,"wires":[["ad83ef7138325218"]]},{"id":"ad83ef7138325218","type":"debug","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"Debug SF","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1120,"y":300,"wires":[]},{"id":"1939b2ea295e7641","type":"debug","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"msg.payload","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":870,"y":380,"wires":[]},{"id":"86f303ce2f0b0bbb","type":"function","z":"e4c264bf156ed21c","name":"4-Byte-Buffer","func":"let buf = [10, 8]\n\nmsg.payload = buf;\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":0,"noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":370,"y":280,"wires":[["b81cf00b0f816964"]]},{"id":"eb37a9689c2c24f3","type":"global-config","env":[],"modules":{"node-red-contrib-buffer-parser":"3.2.2"}}]

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:20 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/8 "2026-06-16T03:20:22Z")

</div>

that got it

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:21 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/9 "2026-06-16T03:21:10Z")

</div>

need to see how your input data is formatted, can you post a sample?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 03:30 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/10 "2026-06-16T03:30:20Z")

</div>

The subflow I shared is representative of what I have. The 4 bytes of data simply become x bytes (\>60), but the workflow is the same. This is the smallest possible (and self-contained) example that reproduces my issue.

If you look at the debug output after the "Process Sample Modbus Registers", then you'll see this:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/d/4/d4c83a994b381d70bc57ea4cfbfe08917d84dddf.png)

Bit 1 and Bit 3 are both '1'; however, if you look at the debug output of the "Process Binary Alarm", you'll see the following:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/8/1/8130389605a01d7ddbc6d45dc8d598514c207ab7.png)

That node is defined this way, which, to my best understanding, should be "processing" the array right (Hold and Start Over _should_ be **true** in the above output due to bit offsets):

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/6/a/6ad1d60415e61dd902a6a06e763d9edc70dc2c3e.png)

Does this help explain the issue?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bakman2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/bakman2/32/6207_2.png) [@bakman2](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/bakman2)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 05:33 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/11 "2026-06-16T05:33:11Z")

</div>

You can download the flow from his first post - which is not a screenshot but a rendered flow.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 07:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/12 "2026-06-16T07:44:17Z")

</div>

@gerry the first post is a code block with the `flows` modifier. It is a REAL flow just rendered in the browser to look like a picture. The buttons on that _flow viewer_ are active & clickable giving you access to the flow posted by the OP

Entering the below

````

```flows
[
   {"id": "123", "type": "inject", "x": 100, "y": 200, "z": "abc"}
]
```

````

results in an interactive flow

```flows
[
   {"id": "123", "type": "inject", "x": 100, "y": 200, "z": "abc"}
]

```

Try clicking the buttons on the bottom right of the flow viewer

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Steve-Mcl](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/steve-mcl/32/4826_2.png) [@Steve-Mcl](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Steve-Mcl)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 08:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/13 "2026-06-16T08:05:50Z")

</div>

> [@nikos](#):
>
> @Steve-Mcl thank you for your amazing work on the buffer-parser

Hi Nikos, welcome to the forum and thanks for the kind words.

> [@nikos](#):
>
> I have a feeling that I got something wrong

Yeah, you are not taking care to pass a valid value into the 2nd parser

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/f/f/ff5767690b8b2abf5b66c0050caaf1e40dc3fa42.png)

* * *

On to the fix - there are a few ways. Here is 1

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/c/c/cc839c82c14724a21ba3131543266399aca77ca3.png)

Here is another:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/3X/a/0/a0a911c720c30a31abad3c305c3ae13ab8fdcee6.png)

Supporting flows:

```flows
[{"id":"41801a922c5b3027","type":"buffer-parser","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Process Binary Alarms","data":"payload","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"bool","name":"Continue","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Hold","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Off","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Start Over","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"swap16","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"keyvalue","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":false,"fanOutMultipleResult":false,"setTopic":true,"outputs":1,"x":860,"y":260,"wires":[["3fd6980837a06860"]]},{"id":"3fd6980837a06860","type":"debug","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Debug SF","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1080,"y":260,"wires":[]},{"id":"eee696788c33eff7","type":"buffer-parser","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Process Binary Alarms","data":"payload","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"bool","name":"Pass","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Drop","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Off","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"Restart","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"swap16","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"keyvalue","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":false,"fanOutMultipleResult":false,"setTopic":true,"outputs":1,"x":860,"y":340,"wires":[["8c51a859d16cc5f8"]]},{"id":"8c51a859d16cc5f8","type":"debug","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Debug SF","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1080,"y":340,"wires":[]},{"id":"b173fc8a626eb9ab","type":"function","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"4-Byte-Buffer","func":"let buf = [10, 8]\n\nmsg.payload = buf;\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":0,"noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":630,"y":300,"wires":[["41801a922c5b3027","eee696788c33eff7"]]},{"id":"aafa4d9a23ab6c0b","type":"inject","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"","props":[{"p":"payload"},{"p":"topic","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":460,"y":300,"wires":[["b173fc8a626eb9ab"]]},{"id":"6bdfc37bd049af8a","type":"buffer-parser","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Process Binary Alarms","data":"payload","dataType":"msg","specification":"spec","specificationType":"ui","items":[{"type":"bool","name":"wd0=>continue","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd0=>hold","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd0=>off","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd0=>start_over","offset":0,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd2=>pass","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":0,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd2=>drop","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":1,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd2=>off","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":2,"scale":"1","mask":""},{"type":"bool","name":"wd2=>restart","offset":2,"length":1,"offsetbit":3,"scale":"1","mask":""}],"swap1":"swap16","swap2":"","swap3":"","swap1Type":"swap","swap2Type":"swap","swap3Type":"swap","msgProperty":"payload","msgPropertyType":"str","resultType":"keyvalue","resultTypeType":"return","multipleResult":false,"fanOutMultipleResult":false,"setTopic":true,"outputs":1,"x":860,"y":440,"wires":[["469289a42f8df5b5"]]},{"id":"56500f69e7f7d3d9","type":"function","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"4-Byte-Buffer","func":"let buf = [10, 8]\n\nmsg.payload = buf;\nreturn msg;","outputs":1,"timeout":0,"noerr":0,"initialize":"","finalize":"","libs":[],"x":650,"y":440,"wires":[["6bdfc37bd049af8a"]]},{"id":"469289a42f8df5b5","type":"debug","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"Debug","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"payload","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":1070,"y":440,"wires":[]},{"id":"60bf16c1e15c819c","type":"inject","z":"63cca1d6941cd160","name":"","props":[{"p":"payload"},{"p":"topic","vt":"str"}],"repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"onceDelay":0.1,"topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","x":480,"y":440,"wires":[["56500f69e7f7d3d9"]]},{"id":"0de6c2a055c987b0","type":"global-config","env":[],"modules":{"node-red-contrib-buffer-parser":"3.2.2"}}]

```

* * *

Notes:

- Avoid spaces in names - stick with `camelCase` naming (you will thank me later 😉 )
- Avoid subflows unless you are templating functionality. This particular code would be more suited to the link-call subroutine pattern.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 15:16 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/15 "2026-06-16T15:16:45Z")

</div>

To hijack this for a moment, figured out how to get to the flow in the op's post, can someone explain how to post that ?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 15:32 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/16 "2026-06-16T15:32:03Z")

</div>

Steve showed how in post #12

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gerry](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/gerry/32/21604_2.png) [@gerry](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/gerry)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 15:39 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/17 "2026-06-16T15:39:32Z")

</div>

Thanks, missed it

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![nikos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@nikos](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/nikos)\
**Post date:** [16 June 2026 16:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/18 "2026-06-16T16:54:27Z")

</div>

Thank you! That helped (and thanks for the tips)!

I see, my mistake was assuming that all arrays would work (in this case, a bit array), but you're right, the docs do indeed say "integer array".

One question:

> [@Steve-Mcl](#):
>
> - Avoid subflows unless you are templating functionality. This particular code would be more suited to the link-call subroutine pattern.

I assumed sub-flows _are_ sort of sub-routines or akin to sub-VIs? I'll search the forum, but if you can quickly link as to what you're specifically talking about, I'd appreciate it!

Also, to expand on templating vs sub-routines, if I have _x_ identical devices (PLCs) from which I'm getting the exact same data and I want to, for the most part, process, display, and store that data in the same exact way for each one of them, would you still not recommend using sub-flows? Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/1X/d073cd938eafa2e558d7c2cd59003b3ef4963033.png) [@system](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [30 June 2026 16:55 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/how-to-process16bit-to-bool-binary-alarms-with-buffer-parser-right/101285/19 "2026-06-30T16:55:02Z")

</div>

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