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Essential GeoEvent Server vocabulary

An understanding of the terms below is essential when using ArcGIS GeoEvent Server.

ArcGIS GeoEvent Manager

ArcGIS GeoEvent Manager is the application used to administer GeoEvent Server. Use GeoEvent Manager to monitor event record counts for ingest, processing, and broadcast; create and manage inputs and outputs; and design and publish GeoEvent Services. GeoEvent Manager is also the application for reviewing and updating GeoEvent Definitions, importing geofences, and managing GeoEvent Server configurations and data store connections.

For more information, see Sign in to GeoEvent Manager.

Configuration

A GeoEvent Server configuration is a collection of user-created inputs, outputs, GeoEvent Services, connectors, GeoEvent Definitions, tags, geofences, data stores, and more. A GeoEvent Server configuration file (.xml) allows you to archive, restore, and share your configurations with others. The configuration file can be exported using GeoEvent Manager.

For details, see Manage configurations.

Configuration store

The configuration store in GeoEvent Manager allows administrators to import, export, and reset GeoEvent Server configurations. Importing a configuration adds and updates existing components. Resetting a configuration restores the default GeoEvent Server configuration.

For details, see Manage configurations.

Connectors

Connectors can be either inbound (input) connectors or outbound (output) connectors. Connectors make it easy to get streaming data into and out of GeoEvent Server. In GeoEvent Manager, administrators can browse to Site > GeoEvent > Connectors to view a list of the available connectors as well as create new connectors.

For details, see Introduction to input connectors, Introduction to output connectors, and Manage connectors.

Data store

The Data Store page in GeoEvent Manager allows administrators to register system folders and ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Server, and ArcGIS Online connections with GeoEvent Server. Registering is necessary because several types of input connectors, output connectors, and processors that participate in a GeoEvent Service must reference a registered data store when reading or writing event data.

For more information, see Manage data stores.

Event Viewer

The Event Viewer is a web map viewer available in GeoEvent Sampler that can be used to display the geometry of sampled event records.

For more information, see Sample data with GeoEvent Sampler.

Filter

A filter is a element in a GeoEvent Service that filters out event data (GeoEvents) that do not satisfy specified criteria as the events are routed between input connectors and output connectors. GeoEvents that satisfy a filter criteria pass through the filter for further processing.

For more information, see Introduction to filters.

GeoEvent

Real-time data flows through elements in a GeoEvent Service as a series of events, or GeoEvents. When event data—which can be characterized as a sequence of messages containing attribute values such as the date and time an event occurred, as well as coordinates specifying the event location—is received by an input connector (input), the event data is interpreted and translated by the connector into a series of GeoEvents.

GeoEvent Definition

A GeoEvent Definition defines a schema for GeoEvents streaming through GeoEvent Server and identifies the attribute fields and data types (date, string, integer, and so forth) for each GeoEvent. A GeoEvent Definition must exist for an input connector to construct GeoEvents from a data feed. Similarly, a GeoEvent Definition consistent with the schema of a designated output must exist for an output connector to deconstruct a GeoEvent and disseminate the event data.

For more information, see Manage GeoEvent Definitions.

GeoEvent Sampler

GeoEvent Sampler is a utility available in the service designer of GeoEvent Manager. It samples a fixed number of event records (GeoEvents) as they are routed through elements of a published GeoEvent Service. The sampled GeoEvents can be viewed in the sampler window as prettified JSON or delimited text. Sampling GeoEvents can provide greater insight, earlier, into your real-time data feeds and can assist in designing, validating, and troubleshooting different routes in a GeoEvent Service.

For more information, see Sample data with GeoEvent Sampler.

GeoEvent Service

A GeoEvent Service performs real-time analysis on event records as it routes GeoEvents from one or more input connectors to one or more output connectors. Configurable filter and processor elements can be included in a GeoEvent Service to identify, enrich, geotag, and further process GeoEvents as they are routed between a service's inputs and outputs.

For more information, see Real-time analysis below and Introduction to GeoEvent Services.

Geofence

A geofence is a geometry, most commonly a polygon, used for spatial proximity analysis. For example, an Incident Detector Processor can be configured to detect when the location of a received event is inside or outside a specified set of geofences. A GeoTagger Processor can be configured to include the name of a geofence and whether an event is discovered to be inside or outside a geofence.

For more information, see Manage geofences.

Input connector (input)

An input connector (or input) is the element of a GeoEvent Service that is responsible for receiving and interpreting events from streaming data. An input connector retrieves attribute values from each event and constructs a GeoEvent, which can be routed through optional filters and processors to an output connector. Each input connector is configured to receive event data from a single data source. Every GeoEvent Service must include at least one input connector.

For more information, see Introduction to input connectors.

Output connector (output)

An output connector (or output) is the element of a GeoEvent Service that is responsible for converting GeoEvents back into a data stream to send to a specified destination. Every GeoEvent Service must include at least one output connector, but may include more than one.

For more information, see Introduction to output connectors.

Processor

Processors are the elements of a GeoEvent Service that allow you to perform real-time processing and analysis on GeoEvents, such as identification or enrichment of the event data, as they are routed through GeoEvent Server.

For more information, see Introduction to processors.

Real-time analysis

Real-time analysis is the processing performed by a combination of one or more configurable filters and processors in a GeoEvent Service. A processor such as a Field Enricher Processor that is configured to incorporate values from a feature record or table into an event record is an example of real-time analysis. Another example of real-time analysis is a GeoTagger Processor that is configured to enrich an event record with the name of a geofence an event record's geometry shares a spatial relationship with. A filter that is configured to discard event records whose attributes or geometry fail to satisfy specified criteria and a processor that is configured to calculate a derivative value or manipulate a string's value are also examples of GeoEvent Service elements configured to perform real-time analysis on streaming data.

Route

A route is the connection between two elements (input, outputs, filters, and processor) in a GeoEvent Service.

For more information, see Create a GeoEvent Service.

Stream container

A stream container is the runtime entity hosting a stream service. For example, a Jetty web server that supports WebSockets may be referred to as a stream container.

Stream layer

Stream services contain a stream layer, similar to how a feature service contains one or more feature layers. Each stream layer corresponds to a specific geometric type such as a point, polyline, or polygon. Stream services are only allowed to contain a single stream layer (unlike feature services or map services, which can have multiple layers).

For more information, see StreamLayer in the ArcGIS API for JavaScript help.

Stream server

A stream server refers to the REST endpoint of a stream service in the ArcGIS Server REST Services Directory. For example, information on a stream service named Assets can be found at http://<server>:<port>/<site>/services/Assets/StreamServer.

Stream service

A stream service is a type of ArcGIS Server service. Stream services are discoverable in Portal for ArcGIS, listed in the ArcGIS REST Services Directory for review, and can be administered using the ArcGIS Server Administrator Directory. Stream services are created in ArcGIS GeoEvent Manager using the Send Features to a Stream Service Output Connector.

Note:

Stream services do not contain multiple layers like map services or feature services; each stream service provides access to a single data feed.

For more information, see Stream services.

Tag

A tag is a label placed on a field in a GeoEvent Definition. Tags are similar to field aliases; they support consistency in expressions when different event definitions associate similar data with different field names. Several built-in tags identify the GeoEvent Server fields containing critical information such as a TRACK_ID or GEOMETRY.

For more information, see Manage tags.

Track ID (TRACK_ID)

A Track ID (TRACK_ID) is a field in a GeoEvent Definition that relates GeoEvents to specific entities. For example, a truck may be identified by its license plate number or an aircraft by an assigned flight number. These identifiers can be used as Track IDs to track the events associated with a particular real-world entity or set of incidents. GeoEvent Server includes a built-in tag, TRACK_ID, which should be applied to the field of a GeoEvent Definition that supplies the unique identifier for an entity or incident.

For more information, see Manage tags.