NOTE: The ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor team updates the product tutorials frequently to reflect the latest version

of the software. Depending on

the product version you are using, there may be inconsistencies between your environment and illustrations or specific steps in the exercises. The
concepts outlined in the exercises, however, should be applicable across product versions.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

GEP 10.2.x / Rev B

Introduction to ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor Module 1

Product Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 3
What to expect from this tutorial ............................................................................................................. 3
Objectives for Module 1 ........................................................................................................................... 4
Beyond the basics ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Product Installation ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Product uninstallation............................................................................................................................... 8
Review product environment ................................................................................................................... 9
Utilities and applications included with GeoEvent Processor ................................................................ 12
Marking GeoEvent Processors self-signed certificate as trusted by Internet Explorer ......................... 12
Using ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor Manager ............................................................................................... 15
Use GeoEvent Processor Manager to create a input and output ........................................................... 20
Design and publish a GeoEvent Service .................................................................................................. 23
Use GeoEvent Simulator to simulate an event stream ........................................................................... 26
Modify a GeoEvent Service to send data to multiple outputs ................................................................ 31
Congratulations! ......................................................................................................................................... 37

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 2 of 37

Product Overview
ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server is an extension to ArcGIS for Server and can be used to
incorporate real-time event data into the ArcGIS system. Released as a new product with ArcGIS 10.2,
GeoEvent Processor satisfies a growing demand across multiple industries to incorporate real-time
streaming data into everyday GIS applications, workflows, and analyses.
Commercial organizations, transportation managers, and defense and intelligence analysts anyone
with a need to leverage streaming data will be able to use ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server to
receive, analyze, and produce streaming data from a variety of sources including mobile devices, invehicle GPS devices, online social media content, RFID tags, environmental monitoring devices, and
more.
With ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server users can:

Incorporate real-time information streams with existing GIS data and IT infrastructure

Perform continuous processing and analysis against streaming data

Produce new streams of data that can be leveraged by the entire ArcGIS system

What to expect from this tutorial

This tutorial Introduction to GeoEvent Processor is the first in a series of tutorials developed to
introduce the many different capabilities of ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server. This introduction
tutorial has been divided into five separate modules as described below.

Module 1:

Overview of product installation and introduction to the GeoEvent Processor

Manager the web application used to design and monitor GeoEvent Services.
Introduces the GeoEvent Simulator (included with the product) which is used to
simulate event data.

Module 2:

Includes exercises illustrating how GeoEvent Processor can be used to update

the data in a feature class which has been published as a feature service.
Prerequisite exercises for setting up a managed enterprise geodatabase in
ArcGIS for Server, publishing feature services from map packages, and creating
web maps are included along with an introduction to using Operations
Dashboard for ArcGIS to visualize real-time data.

Module 3:

Introduces the concept of event filtering with exercises illustrating how service
designers incorporate attribute-based and spatial filters into GeoEvent Services.
Looks at how GeoEvent Definitions and GeoEvent field Tags can be incorporated
into filters as well as how filter expressions can be logically combined.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 3 of 37

Module 4:

Presents the concept of event processing with exercises illustrating how service
designers configure and integrate different types of processor elements into
GeoEvent Services. This module covers some of the basic processors used for
field calculation and event enrichment as well as processors used to simplify
events by removing unwanted fields and mapping events containing different
information to bridge differences between event input and output.

Module 5:

Further examines the concept of event processing with exercises illustrating

some of the more advanced event processing capabilities of GeoEvent
Processor. Exercises include working with Incident Detection, Track Gap
Detection, and GeoTagging to enrich events based on their proximity to existing
GeoFences.

Appendix A

Provides instructions for installing the product from a ZIP archive. Only users
who have received a build of the product from the development team as part of
an early adoption or feature evaluation effort need this portion of the tutorial.

The modules in this tutorial were designed to complement one another by presenting different functional
areas of the product and exploring the functionality through exercises. While exercises in later modules do
not generally require you to complete the exercises from the previous modules, you are encouraged to
work through the Introduction to GeoEvent Processor tutorial beginning with Module 1 and continuing
through Module 5. This is especially true for exercises in Module 5 in which readers can expect the
narrative and illustrations in an exercise to replace some of the step-by-step instruction presented in
earlier modules.
At the start of each module, and occasionally within a module, a GeoEvent Processor configuration will be
referenced which can be imported to update and/or create configurable items such as inputs, outputs,
GeoEvent Definitions, and/or GeoEvent Services. Carefully review the notes which identify what the
GeoEvent Processor configuration contains, as it may update or reset items you created and modified as
part of a previous exercise or product exploration you have completed on your own.

Objectives for Module 1

Topics and exercises covered in Module 1 of the Introduction to GeoEvent Processor tutorial are below:

Install GeoEvent Processor on Windows using the Installation Wizard.

Identify the processes and services associated with a Windows installation.

Review the web utilities, administrative endpoints, and applications included with GeoEvent
Processor.

Register GeoEvent Processors self-signed identification certificate with your system.

Explain the different functions of GeoEvent Processor Manager such as:

o

How it is used to manage and configure GeoEvent Processor.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 4 of 37

How inputs and outputs are created.

How GeoEvent Services are designed and published.

Beyond the basics

This tutorial covers the basics of using GeoEvent Processor. The knowledge you obtain from the modules
and exercises in the Introduction to GeoEvent Processor tutorial will help you if you decide to incorporate
more advanced capabilities such as:

Using GeoEvent Processor to drive alerts and notifications to personnel.

Work with HTTP to receive data from or poll an external website for event data.

Watch system folders for files containing CVS and JSON formatted data.

Administer event caches within GeoEvent Processor and issue REST queries for cached events.

Subscribe to a GeoRSS content provider to receive event data from published feeds.

Leverage Web Socket capabilities provided by different web browsers and servers.

Output event data as KML formatted Network Links for consumption by KML clients.

Integrate adapters for message protocols such as NMEA, RAP, TAIP, Twitter, and Instagram.

Work with connectors for big data providers such as MongoDB and Hadoop.

The advanced topics listed above are covered in separate tutorials available from the ArcGIS GeoEvent
Processor Gallery. These additional tutorials build upon the foundation provided by the modules and
exercises in the Introduction to GeoEvent Processor tutorial.

Product Installation
This exercise walks you through the steps necessary to install ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server. The
illustrations and text below reflect a Windows product installation please refer to documentation
provided with the product media for installation on Linux.
NOTE: The installation steps below provide a quick overview of installing GeoEvent Processor. Please
refer to the official Windows and Linux Installation Guides available on the product media or from
the GeoEvent Processor resource page for other considerations when installing, uninstalling, and
upgrading from a previous version.
ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server is an extension to ArcGIS for Server. It is licensed separately and
installed using its own Windows cabinet (*.cab) file, setup executable (*.exe), and Windows installer
(*.msi) files. Follow the steps below to use the Windows installer to complete product installation.
1. Browse to locate the setup.exe for the GeoEvent Processor Windows installer files.
2. Double-click the setup.exe to run the setup executable.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 5 of 37

3. If prompted, confirm you want to install the software and allow the Windows UAC to update the
software on the computer. A standard installation wizard will walk you through the process.
4. Review and accept the License Agreement and click Next.

You will be prompted to enter the password for the user account configured to run the ArcGIS for Server
service. This user was created and/or configured when you installed ArcGIS for Server. It is the operating
system user, not the user account used to login to the ArcGIS Server Manager web application.

You must enter the users password to continue with the installation. The ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor
service will be configured to run automatically using this Windows user.
5. Enter the users password, confirm the password, and then click Next.
6. Click Install to begin the installation.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 6 of 37

Esris Software Authorization Wizard dialog will display1.

Select the first option if you have an ECP

license number and wish to register
using the Internet.

Select the third option if you have an

Esri license file (*.ecp) and wish to
complete authorization using that file.

A progress dialog will display the

installation progress.

The installer will display a confirmation dialog once completed, will create the ArcGIS GeoEvent
Processor Windows service, and will have successfully started the service.

For additional help using the Software Authorization Wizard to authorize your files, refer to the ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor
Installation Guide or the online help available at http://resources.arcgis.com.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 7 of 37

7. Click Finish to complete product installation.

Steps for product uninstallation are include below for your reference. You are now ready to explore
GeoEvent Processors configuration. If you are not uninstalling GeoEvent Processor, proceed to the
Review Product Environment section below.

Product uninstallation
The exercise steps in this section apply only when the Windows installer has been used to install the
product.
NOTE: The uninstallation steps below provide a quick overview of uninstalling GeoEvent Processor.
Please refer to the official Windows and Linux Installation Guides available on the product media
or from the GeoEvent Processor resource page for other considerations when installing,
uninstalling, and upgrading from a previous version.
1. Launch the Windows Control Panel and navigate to Programs and Features (as you would to
uninstall any Windows program).
2. Select ArcGIS 10.2 GeoEvent Processor for Server, right-click and select Uninstall.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 8 of 37

3. If prompted, confirm you want to remove the software and allow the Windows UAC to update the
software on this computer. A standard Windows dialog will display the uninstallation progress.

Note: If the ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor service is running when you uninstall, you may see a dialog
informing you that a reboot may be necessary to completely uninstall the product.

If the product uninstall was successful, you should be able to review the Windows services and verify the
ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor service was deleted and all files in the installation directory were deleted
(default directory is C:\Program Files\ArcGIS\Server\GeoEventProcessor).
Note: Product files found beneath C:\ProgramData\Esri\GeoEvent are intentionally left behind,
so new installations of GeoEvent Processor can leverage those inputs, outputs, GeoEvent
Services, GeoEvent Definitions, and data stores.

Review product environment

In this exercise you will review the environment in which GeoEvent Processor runs when the Windows
installer has been used to install the product.
GeoEvent Processor runs in the background as a Windows service. The service and process rely on a Java
Runtime Environment (JRE) which is bundled with GeoEvent Processor.
1. Open Computer Management.
a. From the Windows Start menu, right-click Computer.
b. Select Manage to open Computer Management.
2. In Computer Management, display the Services.
a. In Windows 7: Expand Services and Applications in the left window, then select Services. The
services will be listed in the main console window.
b. On Windows 2008 Server: Expand Configuration in the left window, then select Services. The
services will be listed in the main console window.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 9 of 37

3. Locate the ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor service. The services status should be Started and the
startup type set to Automatic.

The ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor service will automatically start when your machine is turned on. If you
would prefer to start the service manually, right-click the service, select properties, and change the
startup type to manual.
4. Open a Command Prompt.
5. Use the commands in the illustration below to change the directory to the bin folder in GeoEvent
Processors installation directory and then execute the next command to identify the JRE version
GeoEvent Processor will use.
Note: Your Java version may differ from what is illustrated below.

6. Open Windows Task Manager.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 10 of 37

a. Select the Services tab and locate the ArcGISGeoEventProcessor service.

GeoEvent Processor Windows service

b. Switch to the Processes tab and click View > Select Columns and make sure the
PID (Process Identifier) and Image Path Name columns are checked so your display resembles
the illustration below. Locate the ArcGISGeoEventProcessor.exe process.
Note: You may need to check the checkbox Show processes from all users to see the process.

GeoEvent Processor process

Notice both the ArcGISGeoEventProcessor service and the ArcGISGeoEventProcessor.exe process have
the same PID (Process Identifier).
7. Locate the java.exe process. Notice the JRE bundled with GeoEvent Processor in the installation
directory is being used to run GeoEvent Processor as a Java process.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 11 of 37

GeoEvent Processors Java process

8. Close Windows Task Manager.

Utilities and applications included with GeoEvent Processor

GeoEvent Processor provides several additional utilities and applications which you will explore are
highlighted below. You will be exploring these in more detail in later exercises.
1. Click the Windows Start menu and choose All Programs.
2. Navigate to ArcGIS > ArcGIS 10.2.x for Server > ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor.
The first item listed is GeoEvent Processors administrative REST endpoint. Next, is the GeoEvent
Processor Manager, a web application used to design and publish GeoEvent Services as well as create
and monitor other components supporting GeoEvent Processor operations. Finally, there are shortcuts
to the GeoEvent Simulator, a utility that can be used to simulate GeoEvents, and the GeoEvent
Processor Software Development Kit (SDK).

Marking GeoEvent Processors self-signed certificate as trusted by Internet Explorer

ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor Manager is a web application used to create and configure inputs and
outputs, create and manage GeoEvent Services, configure GeoEvent Definitions which interpret
incoming GeoEvents, and perform general administrative tasks related to GeoEvent Processor.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 12 of 37

GeoEvent Processor uses HTTPS to encrypt all administrative transactions. Every HTTPS server must be
configured with a certificate in order for HTTPS clients to connect. A self-signed certificate is created
during product installation and startup to support HTTPS connections if one does not already exist. The
first time you access GeoEvent Processor Manager you will need to import the self-signed certificate
into your store of trusted certificates.
1. As an administrative user, open Internet Explorer and browse to launch the GeoEvent Processor
Manager application at https://localhost:6143/geoevent/manager/.
The following notification will appear, indicating there is a problem with the websites certificate.

2. Click the Continue to this website (not recommended).

3. At the top of Internet Explorer, click the Certificate error indicated in the illustration below.

4. Click View certificates in the Certificate Invalid dialog.

5. Click Install Certificate. Refer to the illustrations below.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 13 of 37

6. Click Next on the Certificate Import Wizard dialog.

7. Choose the Place all certificates in the following store and browse to Trusted Root Certifications
Authorities folder and click OK.

8. Click Next and Finish to complete the certificate import.

If a security warning appears requesting you confirm that you want to install the specified
certificate, click Yes. A second dialog will indicate whether or not the import was successful, click OK
to close the confirmation dialog.
9. Click OK to close the Certificate dialog and close Internet Explorer.
10. Reopen Internet Explorer and open GeoEvent Processor Manager. Confirm that no warnings or
certificate errors are displayed.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 14 of 37

Using ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor Manager

The steps in this exercise will walk you through opening GeoEvent Processor Manager, logging-in as the
default administrative user, as well as introduce you to some of the capabilities. Recall that GeoEvent
Processor Manager is the application used to create and configure inputs and outputs, design, publish,
GeoEvent Services, and configure GeoEvent Definitions used to interpret incoming GeoEvents.
1. Open GeoEvent Processor Manager from your Windows Start menu, if it is not already open from
the previous exercise.
2. Login to GeoEvent Processor Manager using the default username arcgis and password manager.

When GeoEvent Processor Manager opens, you will see a page used to monitor your GeoEvent Services,
inputs, and outputs. Assuming you have not yet created any GeoEvent Services, inputs, or outputs, the
lists on this page should be empty.

3. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the GeoEvent Processor Manager interface.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 15 of 37

a. Click Services. From here you can switch between the Monitor page, Inputs page, GeoEvent
Services page, and the Outputs page. Use these pages to create and manage your inputs,
outputs, and GeoEvent Services.

b. Click Site. From here you can manage GeoEvent Definitions, tags, GeoFences, connectors,
GeoEvent Processor configurations, as well as register system folders and databases as data
stores.

c. Click Security. From here you can create named users and roles for GeoEvent Processor within a
locally managed user identity store. For the exercises in this tutorial you will use the default
administrative user arcgis.
d. Click Logs. From here you are provided a logging utility used to configure the logging level for
different system components. You can use the logging utility to look for information, warnings,
and error messages associated with operations you perform. When you encounter unexpected
behavior, examining the logs is a good way to find information you will need to resolve any
issues.
4. Click Site and then select Data Stores. Here you can register system folders and ArcGIS Server
instances as data stores.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 16 of 37

5. Click Register Folder to register a system folder with GeoEvent Processor. A window will open
prompting you to enter a name for the folder and a system path.

6. Using the illustration below as a guide, enter a folder Name and system Path that you will use to
write system files that are sent by GeoEvent Processor.

The illustration above assumes the system folder C:\GeoEvent\ouput exists and that the user ID
currently providing access to your system and the OS level user responsible for running your ArcGIS
Server and GeoEvent Processor services both have permissions sufficient to create and update system
files in the specified folder. You can specify any system folder in which you are able to create files, but
the path you specify should be a fully-rooted path to an existing folder on your local machine UNC
pathnames are not supported.
7. Click Register to register the local system folder with GeoEvent Processor.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 17 of 37

You should see a message indicating your folder was successfully registered.

You should also see your folder is now listed under Registered Folders.

8. Repeat the steps above to register a second folder that you will be using later to send event data
from input files into GeoEvent Processor.

As you work through different exercises, you will refer to a local instance of ArcGIS for Server. You could
use any instance2, however for this tutorial you will use the server which hosts GeoEvent Processor.
Illustrations below will refer to this as localhost however it is best if you use the actual hostname of
your machine whenever you see the localhost pseudonym.
Note: The port designation 6080 in the illustrations below can be omitted if your ArcGIS for Server
administrator has configured the ArcGIS Web Adaptor for your ArcGIS for Server site.
9. On the Data Stores page, click Register ArcGIS Server.
10. Enter your machines hostname followed by the port 6080 and /arcgis as illustrated on the next page.
Note: The _AGS illustrated in the connection name is only a suggestion; one way to easy distinguish a
local instance of ArcGIS for Server from an instance of Portal for ArcGIS or ArcGIS Online.

ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server supports ArcGIS for Server back to the 10.1 product release.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 18 of 37

Notes:

If you will be accessing services which are secured on your ArcGIS for Server site, you must
specify that, yes, you wish to use a token. Instructions will appear to assist with obtaining a
security token once you fill in the URL and tab away from that property field.

The Update Interval specifies how often GeoEvent Processor should contact the ArcGIS for Server
site to check for new services. The default of five minutes is recommended unless you have been
advised that content on your server is being updated more (or less) frequently.

11. After entering the required values into the Register ArcGIS Server dialog, click Register to register
the specified instance of ArcGIS Server with GeoEvent Processor.
You should see a message appear that the ArcGIS Server instance was successfully registered.

At any time, you can click Validate All on the Data Stores page to validate your registered data stores.
Manual validation should not be necessary however as GeoEvent Processor Manager validates data
stores as they are registered. Proper validation is indicated by the green check mark next to the
registered ArcGIS Server, as illustrated above.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 19 of 37

Use GeoEvent Processor Manager to create a input and output

The steps in this exercise will demonstrate how to use GeoEvent Processor Manager to create and
manage Input Connectors and Output Connectors. Specifically, you will create an input that receives
GeoEvents from a simulator utility over a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) socket. You will also
create an output that sends information from the received GeoEvents to a file in your registered output
folder.
1. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > Inputs and click Add Input.

2. In the Input Connectors dialog, scroll to locate the Receive text from a TCP Socket input.

3. Click Select to choose the Receive text from a TCP Socket input. A dialog will appear that is used to
configure the selected input.
4. Click Advanced to access the advanced properties. Compare what you see to the illustration below.

There are a number of properties displayed with which you must be familiar.

The Server Port is the TCP port the input will monitor for incoming data.

The Message Separator and Attribute Separator specify that each event will be expressed using
a single line of text and that attributes of the event will be separated by commas.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 20 of 37

The Expected Date Format allows a date/time mask to be specified. Support for date/time
values expressed in the ISO 8601 format (yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss) as well as other commonly
recognized date/time strings (e.g. 3/16/2012 02:25:31 PM) are supported without specifying a
date/time mask. Hover your mouse over the icon to reveal the codes used to construct a
date/time mask.

Incoming Data Contains GeoEvent Definition allows a designer to specify whether event data
being received includes the name of the GeoEvent Definition which should be used to interpret
the remaining event attributes. This will be discussed further in a later exercise.

Create Unrecognized Event Definitions specifies whether or not GeoEvent Processor should
attempt to create a GeoEvent Definition based on data discovered in the body of the event. When
combined with the previous parameter to tell GeoEvent Processor to either take the name for the
event definition from the events first parameter, or to use a specified definition name when the
event data does not contain an event definition name, this can be a powerful way to allow
GeoEvent Definitions to be authored for you when you are unsure of the structure of incoming
events.

Build Geometry From Fields specifies whether event data will specify coordinate values such as
the latitude and longitude or X and Y as separate values. The default value (No) specifies that
GeoEvent Processor should attempt to interpret a string within the event as a pair of geographic
coordinates.

For this first part of the exercise, you will accept the default values. Date/time values in the simulation
files will be expressed in supported string formats, so a mask will not be necessary. The name to use for
the GeoEvent Definition will be included in the simulation file and you will allow GeoEvent Processor to
create an initial GeoEvent Definition for you based on the data it receives. Finally, coordinate information
will be expressed as a quoted pair of coordinate values (with longitude preceding latitude).
5. Click Save to accept the default properties.
GeoEvent Processor Manager will refresh and display the newly created input on the Inputs page.
Your tcp-text-in input should indicate a status of Started as shown in the illustration below. Buttons to
the right of the input allow you to start, stop, restart, or delete the input.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 21 of 37

Next, you will create an Output Connector which will direct information from received GeoEvents to a
file in your registered output folder. The output file will be written in generic text (CSV) format.
6. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > Outputs and click Add Output.

7. In the Output Connectors dialog, in the Search box, enter file and click Search. Two outputs should
be returned:

8. Click Select to select the Write to a .csv file output.

9. Click Advanced to access the advanced properties. Update the properties to reflect those in the
illustration below.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 22 of 37

Note: Because the registered data store points to C:\GeoEvent\output rather than the parent
folder, C:\GeoEvent, the Subfolder property is left blank.
10. Click Save to save the new output.
If you had not already registered the C:\GeoEvent\output system folder as a data store in the
exercise steps in a previous section, you could have done so by clicking Register Folder, next to the
Folder property, as illustrated above.
GeoEvent Processor Manager should refresh to display the new output. Your file-out output should
indicate a status of Started with buttons available to start, stop, restart, or delete the output.

Unique names must be specified when creating inputs, outputs, and GeoEvent Services. It is important
to note that these names are case-sensitive. The exercise steps had you accept the default name for
both the input and output you created, but you would normally specify a meaningful name which
reflects how you intend to use these components in a GeoEvent Service.
In the next exercise, you will use the input and output created above to create a new GeoEvent Service.

Design and publish a GeoEvent Service

This exercise will walk you through creating and publishing GeoEvent Services in GeoEvent Processor
Manager. You will create a new service and connect the input and output created in the last exercise. You
can also use GeoEvent Processor Manager to review the configuration of GeoEvent Services, as you will
see in this exercise.
1. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > GeoEvent Services and click Add Service.

2. Enter Flights as the Service Name, and optionally a Service Description, then click Create.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 23 of 37

The name of your GeoEvent Service, and description if you supplied one, are displayed on the GeoEvent
Services page. A menu containing alignment tools and service components should be displayed as
illustrated below (if not, click the small Show button to reveal the menu).

GeoEvent Services are constructed by routing GeoEvents from an input to an output. A service designer
can integrate attribute filters, spatial filters, and different kinds of processors into a GeoEvent Service
but these elements are not required. You will be introduced to these elements in Modules 2 and 3 of
this tutorial. For now, you will simply add the input and output created earlier to the Flights GeoEvent
Service, connect them, and publish the GeoEvent Service.
3. In the menu, drag and drop the tcp-text-in input and file-out output onto the canvas and position
each as illustrated below.
4. Connect the tcp-text-in input to the file-out output by clicking and dragging a connector line
between them as illustrated below.

To create the connector line, hover your mouse over the input, then hover your mouse over the
grey connector arrow on the right side of the green input box. Your mouse should change to
crosshairs.

Click and drag the connector from the input to the output.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 24 of 37

Your GeoEvent Service is now ready to be published. This service simply routes all GeoEvents received
by the tcp-text-in input to the file-out output. No filtering, processing, or analysis is being performed as
GeoEvents are handled by GeoEvent Processor.
5. Click Publish to publish the GeoEvent Service.
You should see a message appear confirming the GeoEvent Service published successfully.

You can review the properties of the service components by clicking the components box in the service
designer window.
6. Click the tcp-text-in input and click Advanced to reveal the advanced properties. You can do the
same with the output.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 25 of 37

7. When you are done reviewing the GeoEvent Service either click Back to return to the list of
GeoEvent Services.
Your new Flights GeoEvent Service should be listed with a status of Started with buttons to start, stop,
restart, and delete the service available to the right.

Notice the new Flights GeoEvent Service lists the Inputs and Outputs included in the service. A GeoEvent
Service can include multiple inputs and outputs, and inputs and outputs can be included in any number
of GeoEvent Services. Having these components listed under each GeoEvent Service helps you know
which inputs and outputs are being utilized.

Use GeoEvent Simulator to simulate an event stream

The steps in this exercise will introduce you to the GeoEvent Simulator. The Simulator reads a simulation
file and sends the files data to a specified TCP socket. The event data can received by an input in a
GeoEvent Service where it then constructs a GeoEvent. The GeoEvent Service then applies any filtering
and processing that was defined and sends the events to an output where it is deconstructed and sent
to a target specified by the output.
In this exercise you will load a simulation file (*.csv) containing a list of comma separated values into
GeoEvent Simulator.
1. From the Windows Start menu, open the GeoEvent Simulator.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 26 of 37

Review GeoEvent Simulators interface

illustrated to the left and the table below
to learn more about each property.
You will be using the GeoEvent Simulator
to send event data to GeoEvent Processor.

Property or Field

Description

1.

Server

The hostname of the server to which GeoEvent Simulator will connect.

2.

TCP Socket

The TCP socket to which GeoEvent Simulator will be sending event data.

3.

File / Layer Selector

Drop-down menu allowing you to choose a File or Layer (feature layer) from a
feature service that GeoEvent Simulator will retrieve data. For most of the
exercises in this tutorial, you will be using a file.

4.

File / Layer Resource

Text field displaying the path name to the file or the URL to the feature layer
from which GeoEvent Simulator will retrieve event data.

5.

Message Rate

The rate at which you want to play the event data. The default is 1 Messages
Per 1000 milliseconds. Initially, you will be using the default, in later exercises
you will configure GeoEvent Simulator to send event data in batches of nine
events every second.

6.

Continuous Loop

When checked, GeoEvent Simulator will loop through the event data
continuously, resending event data at the beginning of the file or layer upon
reaching the end of the event data.

7.

Next Event / Message

Text representation of the next event to be sent.

8.

Event Index

Index of the next event to be sent (e.g. Event 15 of 95). Includes a slider
enabling the user to scroll through the event data stream.

9.

Time Field

Field in the event data which contains the events date/time.

10. Set value to Current Time

When checked, GeoEvent Simulator will discard the date/time value read from
the event data and substitute it with the systems current time.

11. Time Value Displays

The left text box displays the date/time values read from the event data

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 27 of 37

received and the right text box displays the date/time values GeoEvent
Simulator will be sending with each event.
12. Last Event / Message

Text representation of the last event sent.

Note: It is important that you recognize the server port to which GeoEvent Simulator will post its
events. The default port 5565, this is the same port the input component of your GeoEvent
Service is monitoring.
2. In the GeoEvent Simulator, click Load File
with this tutorial.

and browse to the \simulations folder included

3. Select the FlightData.csv file as the source of the simulated events.

If you edit this file in a text editor, you would see the file contains 9 events for each of 9 aircraft
so a total of 81 events.

Notice the first field of each event includes the name of the GeoEvent Definition that GeoEvent
Processor will use to interpret the event data. This is only required because an earlier exercise,
in which you configured the input in the GeoEvent Service, specified the GeoEvents received
would contain the GeoEvent Definition.

4. On the Load From File dialog, change the Time Field # entry to 2 to specify each events date/time
value should be taken from the second field. Notice that fields are indexed with the first field at
index zero.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 28 of 37

5. Click Load.
6. In the GeoEvent Simulator, click Connect

to establish your server connection. Once you have

successfully connected to the server, it will turn green

7. Click Step

once. This will send a single event to GeoEvent Processor.

GeoEvent Simulators slider will advance by one.

The field displaying the next event to be sent should contain Flight,SWA724 .

The field at the bottom should display the event just sent: Flight,SWA2706 3/16/2012 02:25:30
PM, .

8. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the system folder registered as the data store the output is
using for files sent by GeoEvent Processor.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 29 of 37

The folder (e.g. C:\GeoEvent\output) should contain a new file named something similar to
Flights2014-01-13_11-57-58.csv (the date/time stamp of your file should reflect the current
system date and time).

9. Open the *.csv file in a text editor such as Notepad to review its contents. Notice data from the
GeoEvent received by GeoEvent Processor for Flight 2706 was recorded in the file.
10. In the GeoEvent Simulator, click Play
Processor.

to begin sending a stream of events to GeoEvent

One event should be sent every second. If you close and reopen (or refresh) your text editors view of
the *.csv file you can monitor the events being sent by GeoEvent Processor.
A few seconds into the simulation you should have multiple events written to the file.

A few seconds later, more event have been written.

If you left the Continuous Loop option checked in the GeoEvent Simulator, it will loop back to the
beginning of the event data and continue sending events until you stop or pause the simulation.
Examine, for a moment, the output in the above illustrations. Notice several of the entries have the
exact same date/time stamp. The files data was created such that event data should be sent in batches,
each batch containing nine flight events.
11. In GeoEvent Simulator, click Pause

to pause the simulation.

12. Change the rate settings to send nine 9 messages every 1000 milliseconds.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 30 of 37

13. Check the Set value to Current Time checkbox to substitute the current system time with the time
stamp contained in the source file, which will be retrieved from field 2 of the file.

14. Click Go to Start

and then click Play

to start the stream of event data again.

15. Close and re-open the *.csv file in a text editor (or refresh) and examine the new events being
written to the file. You should see events being written 9 at a time.
Recall that you configured the file-out output to rollover the output file based on file size (20 KB).
You will want to watch the timestamps on the files in your output folder to make sure you are
viewing the latest output file in your text editor.
16. In GeoEvent Simulator, Click Pause
Simulator.

to pause the stream of GeoEvents, then close GeoEvent

17. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Site > GeoEvent Processor > GeoEvent Definitions.
Notice a new GeoEvent Definition named Flight has been created.

A GeoEvent Definition defines the expected schema for event data being received. This allows GeoEvent
Processor to interpret the event data and construct GeoEvents. The events in the simulation file named
the GeoEvent Definition Flight based on the first field of each event. GeoEvent Processor did not have a
GeoEvent Definition named Flight when the first event was received, so it examined the received data,
identified fields which looked like strings, dates, and geometry, and created a new GeoEvent Definition.
You will work more with GeoEvent Definitions in later exercises and will learn in more detail how they
are used to interpret data received by GeoEvent Processor.

Modify a GeoEvent Service to send data to multiple outputs

Previous exercises in this tutorial had you use GeoEvent Processor Manager to create and configure an
input for receiving event data over TCP and an output to send event data to a system file. You were then

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 31 of 37

able to design and publish a GeoEvent Service which incorporated these two service components and use
the GeoEvent Simulator to produce an event stream to observe event data flowing through the ArcGIS
GeoEvent Processor to a file-based output.
In this next exercise you will modify your existing GeoEvent Service to include a second output which will
send event data to a TCP socket a different socket than the one used to receive the event data. You will
use a simple console application to monitor the output sent to the TCP socket. This technique, sending
event data to a TCP socket, can be particularly useful when you want to confirm the data being sent from
GeoEvent Processor is in the format you want and before sending it to your other applications.
1. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > Outputs.
If you completed the previous exercises, you should see your file-out output listed.

2. Click Add Output to create a new Output Connector.

3. Either search or scroll to locate the Publish text to a TCP Socket output.

4. Click Select to select the Publish text to a TCP Socket output.

5. Click Advanced to access the advanced properties. Review the properties illustrated below.

6. Click Save to save the new output with the default properties.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 32 of 37

The default Server Port value of 5570 is important it is the TCP socket to which the GeoEvent Simulator
will be sending its events.
GeoEvent Processor Manager should display the new tcp-text-out output with a status of Started.

Remember, it is important to specify unique names when creating inputs, outputs, and GeoEvent
Services and that these names are case-sensitive. If you were to incorporate an input or output into a
GeoEvent Service and then change the name of the input or output, you would need to edit and
republish any GeoEvent Services that contained those inputs/outputs.
With this new output created, you now need to add it to your existing Flights GeoEvent Service.
7. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > GeoEvent Services.
8. Click the Flights GeoEvent Service to edit the service.
9. Click Show to reveal the menu, then drag and drop the tcp-text-out output onto the canvas.
10. Connect the tcp-text-in input to the tcp-text-out output as illustrated below.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 33 of 37

11. Click Publish to publish the GeoEvent Service.

You will see a message appear confirming the GeoEvent Service was successfully published.
Included with this tutorial is a simple console program which you can use to observe data sent to a TCP
socket. The program connects to a specified TCP socket as a listener and displays any data received on
that port in a console window. Follow the steps below to configure the application to run on your
system, then launch the application and position its window where you can observe its display.
12. Locate the tcp-console-app.bat script in the \utilities\tcp-console-app folder included
with this tutorial.
13. Open the tcp-console-app.bat script in a text editor (e.g. Notepad).

Notice the script declares local variables for the TCP port on which it will be listening, the server to
which it will connect, and the location of the JRE bundled with your ArcGIS for Server installation.
14. Confirm the java.exe executable is in the bin folder at
\ArcGIS\Server\framework\runtime\jre (as specified in the batch file illustrated above).
Note: Any recent Java Runtime can be used to run the TCP Console application by changing the value of
the JAVA_HOME defined within the script. Save any changes you make to the script before
continuing and close your text editor.
15. If you do not already have a desktop shortcut to the TCP Console script, right-click the script and
select Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).
16. Run the TCP Console script using the new desktop shortcut.
A command window will open with a message that the application is listening for GeoEvent on TCP
socket 5570. Position the command window so that you can see the display.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 34 of 37

17. In GeoEvent Processor Manager, navigate to Services > Monitor.

18. Click Reset Statistics to clear the statistics on the Monitor page.
The Monitor page displays metric about the events that are handled by each of the inputs, outputs, and
GeoEvent Services you have configured. It also identifies the current status of each component and
whether it is STARTED, STOPPED or in ERROR as well as provides metrics for the Rate, Max Rate, and
Time Since Last GeoEvent was received.

19. Open the GeoEvent Simulator and configure it as follows:

Browse to load the FlightData.csv file in the \simulations folder.

In the Load From File dialog, change the Time Field # value to 2 and click Load. You can change
the time field property from GeoEvent Simulators main dialog as well.

Check the Set value to Current Time checkbox to simulate real-time data.

Uncheck the Continuous Loop checkbox.

Change the rate to 9 (from the default 1). GeoEvent Simulator will send nine 9 events every
second (or 1000 milliseconds).

Click Connect

to establish your server connection.

Refer to the illustration below and the exercise steps in the section Use GeoEvent Simulator to simulate
an event stream above for help configuring GeoEvent Simulator if necessary.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 35 of 37

You may want to click the Clear sent events info and Go to Start buttons illustrated above to reset
GeoEvent Simulator if it was open from a previous exercise.
20. Click Step
once to send a batch of flight data. Review the sent flight data in the command
window you opened previously.
You should see the first batch of nine flight events displayed in the command window. The events
should be time-stamped with your server machines local date/time.
Note: The events may be received by the TCP Console script in a different order from the illustration
below.

21. In GeoEvent Simulator click Play

every second.

to start the event stream. A batch of 9 events should be sent

GeoEvent Simulator will continue to send data until the end of the data has been reached. If you click
Pause in GeoEvent Simulator, the event stream is paused and no additional data is displayed in the
command window.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 36 of 37

Congratulations!
By completing the exercises in this module you have learned how to complete a simple installation of
ArcGIS GeoEvent Processor for Server. You have identified the GeoEvent Processor processes and
services associated with a Windows installation and taken a brief look at the web utilities, administrative
endpoints, and additional applications included. You were also introduced to GeoEvent Processor
Manager and how to create and manage inputs and outputs, design and publish a basic GeoEvent
Service, and manage and monitor GeoEvent Processor components.
In Module 2 you will work through exercises designed to show you how to:

Import a GeoEvent Processor configuration containing existing components such as inputs,

outputs, GeoEvent Definitions, and GeoEvent Services.

Register and explore the reasoning behind using a managed database as your preferred data
store for features in ArcGIS for Server.

Use a map package to publish a feature service to an ArcGIS for Server site.

Use ArcGIS Online to create web maps by adding layers from published feature services.

Configure GeoEvent Services to append and update features in a published feature service.

Use the Operations Dashboard for ArcGIS to visualize real-time data.

You may already be familiar with how to do some of these if so, it is still recommended you review the
exercises, as they are designed to help you configure your system so GeoEvent Services are able to
append and update features in a published feature service.

Introduction to GeoEvent Processor Module 1

March 2014

Page 37 of 37