Initialize and configure Video Analytics

Configure Video Analytics real-time video tracking (video heartbeat) in a PSDK-based player.

1. Configure load-time options in the ADBMobileConfig.json resource file:

   {
       "version" : "1.1",
       "analytics" : {
           "rsids" : "YOUR_ADOBE_ANALYTICS_RSID",
           "server" : "URL_OF_THE_ADOBE_ANALYTICS_TRACKING_SERVER (provided by Adobe)",
           "charset" : "UTF-8",
           "ssl" : false,
           "offlineEnabled" : false,
           "lifecycleTimeout" : 5,
           "batchLimit" : 50,
           "privacyDefault" : "optedin",
           "poi" : []
       },
       "target" : {
           "clientCode" : "",
           "timeout" : 5
       },
       "audienceManager" : {
           "server" : ""
       }
   }

   Your load-time options are specified in this JSON-formatted configuration file. This file is bundled as a resource with the PSDK. The Primetime Player reads these values only at load time; they remain constant while your application runs. Thus the configuration steps are as follows:

   1. Confirm that the JSON config file (ADBMobileConfig.json) contains the appropriate values (supplied by Adobe).
   2. Confirm that this file is located in the AdobeMobile folder. This folder must be located in the root of your application source tree.
   3. Compile and build your application.
   4. Deploy and run the bundled application.

   For more information on these AppMeasurement settings, see Measuring Video in Adobe Analytics.

2. Configure and activate Video Analytics and the PSDK's video heartbeat tracking.

   Video Analytics configuration follows the usual pattern of setting a specific metadata object on the PTMediaPlayerItem instance that is about to be sent to the player for playback.

   Sample Video Analytics configuration:

   // Instantiate VideoAnalytics tracking metadata.
   PTVideoAnalyticsTrackingMetadata *trackingMetadata = 
       [[[PTVideoAnalyticsTrackingMetadata alloc] 
           initWithTrackingServer:@"THE_URL_OF_THE_VIDEO_HEARTBEATS_SERVER (provided by Adobe)"
                            jobId:@"YOUR_JOB_ID"
                        publisher:@"YOUR_PUBLISHER_NAME"] autorelease];
    
   trackingMetadata.playerName = @"the name of your player app";
    
   // Set this to true to activate the debug tracing.
   trackingMetadata.debugLogging = YES;
    
   // Set this to true to log the URLs of the output HTTP calls.
   trackingMetadata.debugTracking = YES;
    
   // Setting this to YES activates the "quiet" mode.
   trackingMetadata.trackLocal = YES;
    
   // Explicitly activate the video heartbeat functionality.
   trackingMetadata.enableHeartbeat = YES;
    
   // Set the metadata on the ROOT metadata.
   PTMetadata *root = [[[PTMetadata alloc] init] autorelease];
   [root setMetadata: trackingMetadata forKey: PTVideoAnalyticsTrackingMetadataKey];
    
   // Attach the ROOT metadata on the media item.
   PTMediaPlayerItem *mediaItem = [[[PTMediaPlayerItem alloc] initWithUrl:nsurl mediaId:@"video-id" metadata:metadata] autorelease];
   // Create a new Video Analytics Tracker instance using the current media player instance to start tracking video analytics data
   self.videoAnalyticsTracker = [[[PTVideoAnalyticsTracker alloc] initWithMediaPlayer:self.player] autorelease];

   You can set mandatory and optional configuration parameters on the VideoAnalytics metadata object:

   • Mandatory configuration parameters. (Provided by Adobe) - Provide these as input arguments to the constructor for the PTVideoAnalyticsTrackingMetadata class:
     • URL of the Video Analytics tracking endpoint
     • Job ID
     • Publisher Name
   • Optional configuration parameters. These are publicly accessible instance variables that you can set on the PTVideoAnalyticsTrackingMetadata class:
     • enableHeartbeat - Explicitly activate heartbeat tracking ( trackingMetadata.enableHeartbeat = YES;) to activate the video heartbeat calls used for real-time analytics and Video Essentials.
       Important: To send heartbeat calls over the network, you must explicitly enable the video heartbeat feature. If you do not, no video heartbeat calls will be sent over the network; the legacy Milestone tracking provided by the AppMeasurement library will be used instead.
     • debugLogging - Set this flag to true to activate tracing messaging. Note that setting this flag to true may impact performance. This logging might be useful during development and debugging efforts, but you must set this flag to false for the production version of your player application. Logging is disabled (false) by default.
     • trackLocal - Set this flag to true to activate quiet mode. In this mode, no network calls are sent over the network. You can use this mode in conjunction with setting the debugTracking flag to true. In this case, you can see the HTTP calls in the trace console without actually sending anything over the network.
     • debugTracking - Set this flag to true to track URLs in HTTP calls.