The GeoMessage Simulator is now in mature support. For more information please visit the Esri Product Life Cycle page.

Simulating Message Data

Applications that are part of the ArcGIS for Defense solution are able to communicate on a local network to exchange situational data as network messages. The GeoMessage Simulator is provided to exercise this capability when not running with a "live" network message feed. The GeoMessage Simulator provides simulated network messages for applications that are part of the ArcGIS for Defense solution. Simulated situational messages are sent over the local network using User Datagram Protocol (UDP) broadcast. The GeoMessage Simulator can be run from a graphical mode or a command mode. This workflow allows situational message data to be simulated on a local network and includes:

For source code or more information on the GeoMessage Simulator, please visit the GitHub repository.

Downloading Components

If the GeoMessage Simulator is not included with the initial download, download the application and sample data.

  1. Download the GeoMessage Simulator for:
    • Linux (32-bit)
    • Linux (64-bit)
    • Windows (32-bit)
    • Windows (64-bit)
  2. Obtain sample GeoMessage files to use with the simulation. Sample GeoMessage files are included with the install and are also available in the GeoMessage Simulator Github repository. These files normally have a .xml file extension.

Running the GeoMessage Simulator in Graphical Mode

In graphical mode, the GeoMessage Simulator is run from a window and controlled by the user.

  1. From File Explorer, run the GeoMessage Simulator application.
  2. Select a simulation file.
    1. Click Choose Simulation File.
    2. Navigate to the GeoMessage file and select the file.
    3. Click OK.
  3. File Loaded is displayed. Loading the file may take several seconds if the file is large.

  4. Use the simulator controls to run the simulation.
  5. Control Action
    Start Starts simulation.
    Pause Pauses simulation.
    Continue Continues simulation (from paused time).
    Stop Ends simulation (simulation will be restarted from beginning).
    Restart Restarts simulation (from the beginning).
  6. Change any other desired settings on the simulator controls.
  7. Setting Affects
    Port number Network port shared by other devices on the GeoMessage network.
    Messages Number of messages sent per time unit.
    Time interval Number of time units between messages.
    Time unit Seconds, minutes, etc.
    Time override fields Override the value of these fields with the current date/time.

Running the GeoMessage Simulator in Command-Line Mode

Running the simulator from the command line with the parameter "-c" runs the simulator without user interaction for a GUI-free experience. For example, this enables you to run the simulator from an automated script or as a Windows service or Linux cron job.

  1. Become familiar with the settings by Running the GeoMessage Simulator in Graphical Mode.
  2. Open a command prompt.
  3. Navigate (change directory) to the folder containing the simulator executable obtained in the step Downloading Components.
  4. Run the simulator with help option.
    1. Enter: geomessage-simulator -?
    2. Verify the output.

    Verify the the simulator runs and outputs the help with the available parameters.

  5. Run the simulator with the desired parameters.
    1. Example/Enter:
      geomessage-simulator -c -f "simulation.xml" -q 3 -o MsgDateTime,CurrentTime

    2. These parameters include:
    3. Parameter Description
      -? Print the available parameters and exit.
      -c Activate command-line mode.
      -p port number Port number.
      -f filename Simulation file.
      -q frequency Frequency (messages per time unit); default is 1.
      -i time count Interval between messages; default is 1.
      -t time unit Time unit for interval; valid values are seconds, minutes, hours, days, and weeks; default is seconds.
      -o field1,...,fieldN Override the value of these fields with the current date/time.
      -s Silent mode; no verbose output. Verbose output will print every message.
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