Bearing Calculator Processor

Summary

The Bearing Calculator Processor can be used to calculate the bearing of a point event record using an origin and destination location as sources. The processor returns the bearing value in a new field as part of a new GeoEvent Definition. The bearing is specified as a positive double value ranging from 0 to 360 degrees, measured clockwise from north.

Examples

The following are example uses of the Bearing Calculator Processor:

• Obtaining the bearing of a moving vehicle can provide insight about its direction or heading in relationship to a static destination such as a delivery location.
• Maintaining a bearing between two moving assets can provide in-situ information for live tracking such as tagged animal recovery.
• The bearing value obtained from this processor can be used as an input for the Range Fan Calculator Processor.

Usage notes

Keep the following in mind when working with the Bearing Calculator Processor:

• The Bearing Calculator Processor can produce a polyline geometry in place of an event records point geometry. The polyline represents the bearing segment, or the effective drawn line, between the origin and destination.
• The origin and destination sources must come from attribute fields in the same GeoEvent Definition. The processor does not support the use of multiple inputs for calculating a bearing value.
• The origin and destination sources can be defined using geometry type fields containing point features, separate fields containing X and Y coordinates expressed as integers, or a combination of both. For example, the origin may be a delivery vehicle's current point geometry while the destination is a business whose location is expressed as separate X and Y coordinate fields of the same event record associated with the delivery vehicle.
• The bearing value is returned as an integer in degrees. The value, ranging from 0 to 360 degrees, represents the bearing as the number of degrees measured clockwise from north. For example, a destination that is due east of the origin would produce a bearing of 90.0 degrees. A destination that is due south of the origin would produce a bearing of 180.0 degrees.
• For more information on what constitutes a valid point geometry for the origin and destination sources, see Geometry objects.

Parameters

The following are the parameters for the Bearing Calculator Processor:

Parameter	Description
Name	A descriptive name for the processor used for reference in GeoEvent Manager.
Processor	Specifies the processor selected.
Source GeoEvent Definition	Specifies the name of the GeoEvent Definition for inbound event records. The GeoEvent Definition is used to identify the attribute fields containing the origin and destination location.
Origin Source	Specifies the source of the origin value in the event record. The processor uses the origin to calculate the bearing. The default is Origin Geometry. Origin Geometry—The origin is a point feature stored in a geometry type attribute field. Coordinates—The origin is a point expressed as a pair of coordinates stored in separate fields. The X and Y fields are specified separately.
Origin Field (Conditional)	The name of the geometry field containing the origin location. The origin geometry must be a point. The parameter is shown when Origin Source is set to Origin Geometry and is hidden when set to Coordinates.
Origin X-Field (Conditional)	The name of the integer field containing the origin X coordinate (for example, longitude). The parameter is shown when Origin Source is set to Coordinates and is hidden when set to Origin Geometry.
Origin Y-Field (Conditional)	The name of the field containing the origin Y coordinate (for example, latitude). The parameter is shown when Origin Source is set to Coordinates and is hidden when set to Origin Geometry.
Destination Source	Specifies the source of the destination value in the event record. The processor uses the destination to calculate the bearing. The default is Destination Geometry. Destination Geometry—The destination is a point feature stored in a geometry type attribute field. Coordinates—The destination is a point expressed as a pair of coordinates stored in separate fields. The X and Y fields are specified separately.
Destination Field (Conditional)	The name of the geometry field containing the destination location. The destination geometry must be a point. The parameter is shown when Destination Source is set to Destination Geometry and is hidden when set to Coordinates.
Destination X-Field (Conditional)	The name of the integer field containing the destination X coordinate (for example, longitude). The parameter is shown when Destination Source is set to Coordinates and is hidden when set to Destination Geometry.
Destination Y-Field (Conditional)	The name of the integer field containing the destination Y coordinate (for example, latitude). The parameter is shown when Destination Source is set to Coordinates and is hidden when set to Destination Geometry.
Create Bearing Segment	Specifies whether to change the event record's geometry from a point feature to a polyline feature that represents the bearing segment. A bearing segment is the line drawn between the origin and destination location. The default is No. Yes—The event record geometry will be changed from a point to a polyline representing the bearing segment. No—The event record geometry will be not be changed and will remain a point feature.
Output Bearing Field	The name of the new field that stores the bearing value. The bearing value is specified as a positive double indicative of 0.0 to 360.0 degrees measured clockwise from north.
Output GeoEvent Definition	The name of the new GeoEvent Definition. The new GeoEvent Definition will combine the schema of the inbound event record with the additional bearing field.

Considerations and limitations

The Bearing Calculator Processor only derives the bearing from an origin and destination as part of a single event record. If the origin and destination are from two different sources, consider using an Event Joiner Processor or Field Enricher (Feature Service) Processor to join the separate data sources in real-time to calculate a bearing.