Batch delete Geoeventdefinitions 10.3

[FelixStracke]

Hey,

I make my first steps with Geoeventextension 10.3 using good old trial and error. I have managed it to automatically get some hundreds Geoeventdefinitons defined automatically. Is there a way to batch delete these unwanted definitions (e.g. by editing a config file or similiar). I have came across some how to's but all only refer to previous versions and the mentioned filesseem to no longer exist within 10.3...

Many many thanks for a feedback

Felix

[RJSunderman]

Hello Felix -

There is no 'batch delete' available for GeoEvent Definitions.

You have a couple of options, however.

1. Reset your product's configuration, then selectively import what you actually want back from an XML you previously exported.
2. Export and edit an XML to remove the GeoEvent Definitions you do not want, the import the entire configuration, then import the your edited XML.

Before doing either of these you will want to first export your existing GeoEvent product's configuration so that you can recover work that you have done up to this point.

In the GEx Manger

• Navigate to Site > GeoEvent > Configuration Store
• Click 'Export Configuration' and save the XML file to a system folder

(Option 1)

• Click 'Reset Configuration' and confirm that you want to delete all components
• Click 'Import Configuration', choose your exported XML, and then select the 'Selective Import' option
• Choose just the items you want to import.

This might bring the GeoEvent Definitions back, since a GeoEvent Service which recently referred to a GeoEvent Definition might think that event definition is needed and will load it from the XML file for you. If that's the case, then "Option 2" is really your only option.

(Option 2)

• In your favorite XML editor (I like XML Notepad 2007, but Notepad ++ works also) edit the XML file you exported to remove all content between the <geoEventDefinitions> and </geoEventDefinitions> tags.
• Back in GeoEvent Manager, click 'Import Configuration' and choose your edited XML.
• Select the 'Import Configuration' option (the default) and import the entire contents of your edited XML.

The nice thing about XML Notepad is that it helps validate your edits, allowing you to select and delete icons which appear as sub-folders from beneath a geoEventDefinitions folder, so that you're less likely to produce an invalid XML file.

Hope this information helps -

RJ

[RJSunderman]

There is no 'batch delete' available for GeoEvent Definitions ...

To be clear, there is no 'batch delete' available in the 10.3.0 release of GeoEvent.

Enhancements to the GeoEvent Manager introduced in the 10.3.1 release do allow users to select and delete multiple GeoEvent Definitions.

- RJ

[KDeVogelaere]

This information is helpful to us also, we've noticed some strange behavior in 10.2.2 with selective deleting of Definitions from the GUI, as RJ mentioned we made a backup of the configuration before doing any cleanup work.

Maybe it would help to explain how the different types of Field Definitions work, I found 3 distinct types in the XML markup:

owner="arcgis"

owner="auto-generated/com.esri.ges.adapter.inbound.JSON/10.2.2"

owner="WAS:Enrich_NWS_Events"

Are there processors which auto-generate a definition and others which only define the definition within the processor?  Has this functionality changed in releases after 10.2.2?

[RJSunderman]

Hey Katie -

To answer your question, yes, several processors can (and do) generate GeoEvent Definitions - if they modify the schema / structure of the GeoEvent they receive by either adding or removing fields. Usually you specify the name a processor should use for the GeoEvent Definition it creates as part of the processor's configuration.

This behavior hasn't changed between versions 10.2.2 and 10.3.x of the product. One thing that did change at 10.3 was that you are no longer allowed to edit a GeoEvent Definition owned by an out-of-the-box processor. You can click to view the event definition, but any changes you make cannot be saved.

Understanding GeoEvent Definitions is pretty important. Comments I was entering here began to look like their own topic - so I'm going to relocate them over to a blog.  Here's a link:

• Understanding GeoEvent Definitions

- RJ

[BradleyHardesty]

Hi,

I’ve noticed that I have several copies of the same system generated GeoEvent definitions and was wondering if you know what causes it.  I suspect it has to do with editing and republishing services and/or re-importing GeoEvent services from configuration files.

What can I do to clean up the multiple copies of these system generated definitions without breaking the services?  Will they rebuild if I just delete them all?

Thanks in advance.

Brad

[RJSunderman]

Hello Brad -

Yes, if a GeoEvent Definition exists in a product configuration, but a processor feels that it needs to create one, it is possible that you will find what appear to be duplicate GeoEvent Definitions listed by the GeoEvent Manager after event data has been processed by one of your GeoEvent Services. It is also possible that two different processors, in two different GeoEvent Services, have been configured to create a GeoEvent Definition with the same name, producing what appears to be duplicates in the Manager's GeoEvent Definitions list.

If you use GeoEvent Manager to select and delete a GeoEvent Definition a processor owns and needs, the processor should recover by re-building the GeoEvent Definition when it next receives an event to process.

You might find information identifying which GeoEvent Definitions are associated with which processors in a GeoEvent Service by reading through an XML export of a GeoEvent configuration. Notice in the illustration below that the GeoEvent Service has "nodes", one of which is a processor, and the processor has properties. Usually, however, I just look at the XML to see if it is importing a GeoEvent Definition for me, delete any GeoEvent Definitions I don't think I need after importing the XML, then run a few test events through the GeoEvent Service to see which GeoEvent Definitions get created.

As a general rule, I try not to include "managed" GeoEvent Definitions (those created by a processor or inbound connector's adapter) in the XML configurations I export. I try to make copies of event definitions I need and let processors / adapters create fresh event definitions for what they need on-the-fly.

Hope this information helps -

RJ