Exercise 3: Setting Up a Tracking Service

Complexity: Beginner Data Requirement: Installed with software

Now that you have imported and edited the Taxi message definition, you can create a tracking service for the taxis that uses the new message definition. A tracking service is necessary in order to distribute data through the Tracking Server Connector data link.

Creating a Tracking Service for Taxis

On the Tracking Services tab in Tracking Server Manager, you can create, edit, and delete tracking services that are used to distribute real-time data through the Tracking Server Connector data link. In this exercise, you will create a tracking service that uses the Taxis message definition to interpret the incoming taxi messages.

Steps:

1. Click the Tracking Services tab. Initially, the list box containing tracking services is empty. If tracking services have already been created, they will appear in the list box.
2. Click New. The Tracking Services Editor dialog box appears.
3. Type Taxis in the Tracking Service Name text box.
4. Select Simple for the Tracking Service Type.
5. Click the Message definition for observation drop-down arrow, and select the Taxis message definition from the list.
6. Click OK to close the Tracking Services Editor dialog box. The new tracking service now appears in the list box.
After a tracking service has been created, data for that service is not automatically distributed to the Tracking Gateway. To allow the data to flow to the Tracking Gateway and connected clients, the service must be enabled in the Tracking Server Connector data link.
7. Click the Data Links tab in Tracking Server Manager.
8. Double-click the Tracking Server Connector data link to open the TMS Connnector Configuration dialog box.
9. Click on the Tracking Services tab.

   A list of available tracking services appears in the list box on the left side of the dialog box. Only services that are checked will be distributed to the Gateway and connected clients.

10. Check the Taxis service to enable the distribution of this service to clients.
11. Click Apply and then click OK.

Tip:

If a service, or its message definition, changes at a later time, it is necessary to update the Tracking Server Connector data link to enable this change so it can be seen by clients. To update a service, you can uncheck and recheck the service and then click Apply, and the service will be updated. Alternatively, you can stop and restart the Tracking Server Connector data link.

Proceed to the next exercise