Metadata Viewer¶
Subscribe to any metadata channel from within the Management Client and inspect the live ONVIF event stream. Each NotificationMessage is parsed into a table row, and clicking a row shows the full pretty-printed, syntax-highlighted XML in a preview pane below.
Useful for verifying analytics pipelines, debugging ONVIF event schemas during camera integration, and confirming that a camera is actually emitting the data you expect before wiring it into rules or alarms.
Quick Start¶
- Open the Management Client
- Navigate to the Metadata Viewer node in the sidebar
- Right-click and Create New to add a viewer
- Give it a name, click the channel button, and pick a metadata channel
- Save, then click Start
- Newest packets appear on top. Click any row to see its XML formatted below
- Click Stop when finished, or Clear to empty the table
Columns¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Seq# | Per-viewer sequence number assigned on arrival |
| Capture Time (UTC) | From the ONVIF tt:Message/@UtcTime. A trailing * means the attribute was missing on the wire and the column shows the receive time instead |
| Event Topic Tree | The wsnt:Topic value, e.g. tnsaxis:CameraApplicationPlatform/ALPV.Update |
| Data | Compact XML of the NotificationMessage. Click the row to see the full payload highlighted in the preview pane |
| Info | Name=Value pairs extracted from tt:SimpleItem entries. Items found under tt:Source are shown in square brackets, e.g. [channel=1] |
Filter¶
Type a substring into the filter bar and press Apply (or Enter). Matches are case-insensitive across Topic, Data, and Info. Clear empties the filter and restores all rows.
Notes¶
- The table keeps the most recent 5000 rows; oldest are trimmed as new packets arrive.
- Payloads that are not ONVIF
NotificationMessageevents (or fail to parse) are still shown: a single row is emitted with the raw XML in the Data column so nothing is silently dropped. - The viewer runs in the Management Client only; there is no Event Server component and no Rules integration. Stopping the Management Client ends the subscription.
- Diagnostic messages (subscribe details, heartbeats, status flags, errors) go to
%ProgramData%\Milestone\XProtect Management Client\Logs\MIPtrace.log. Search the log forMetadataViewer.
Troubleshooting¶
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Start button stays disabled after picking a channel | The selected item is not a valid metadata source. Pick a different channel. |
Status shows streaming (waiting for first packet...) indefinitely |
The camera isn't emitting metadata right now. Confirm the channel is enabled on the device and that analytics / events are actually running. |
Capture Time shows * marker |
The camera's metadata XML did not include tt:Message/@UtcTime; the plugin falls back to the receive time. Per ONVIF this attribute is mandatory, so the device is non-compliant. |
| No rows appear even under load | Check MIPtrace.log for MetadataViewer entries. Look for LiveSource ErrorEvent or a missing Init() OK line. |