Designing Modeled Event Meshes

You can use Runtime Event Manager to create and maintain a model of event flows or a full event mesh. A modeled event mesh represents an actual event mesh or event flows operating in a specific runtime environment. Modeled event meshes help you define and visualize event flows between publishing and subscribing applications within an event-driven architecture (EDA).

You can build modeled event meshes using objects created in Designer. You can then discover data from an actual event mesh and compare the data with the model to verify that the runtime matches the model and you can update your runtime or model as required.

Alternatively, if you already have a functioning EDA, you can use discovered runtime data to populate Event Portal with objects that match your runtime event flows and create modeled event mesh for your existing runtime environment without manually creating all of the applications and events in Designer.

You create modeled event meshes within environments. Environments in PubSub+ Cloud represent the runtime environments within your organization. For example, you may have several development environments for different lines of buisness, testing environments, a staging environment, and a production environment. You can create modeled event meshes with the same name in different environments to represent the deployment of applications as they are operationally promoted into higher level environments.

This section includes the following tasks:

For information about managing event brokers, applications, and events within a modeled event mesh see Building a Modeled Event Mesh.

Creating a Modeled Event Mesh

You create modeled event meshes within Environments. Your organization's account must have at least one environment and may have multiple environments. After you create a modeled event mesh you must add a model event broker to it to represent a Solace event broker or a Kafka cluster. You can then associate application versions and event versions with the event broker to build a model of an event mesh. For more information, see Adding an Event Broker to a Modeled Event Mesh.

To create a modeled event mesh, perform these steps:

  1. On the Runtime Event Manager home page, select the Modeled Event Meshes tab.
  2. Click Create Modeled Event Mesh.
  3. Enter a Modeled Event Mesh Name.
  4. Select either Solace or Kafka as the modeled event mesh Type.
  5. Enter a Description for the modeled event mesh. The Description field supports Markdown. Click toggle preview to preview the rendered text.
  6. Select the Environment where you want to create the modeled event mesh.
  7. Click Create.

Viewing a Modeled Event Mesh

When you open a modeled event mesh, you can see the application versions and event versions it contains, both in a list and in a graph that shows the connections between the objects in the modeled event mesh.

To view a modeled event mesh, perform these steps:

  1. On the Runtime Event Manager home page, select the Modeled Event Meshes tab.
  2. Click the name of the modeled event mesh.
  3. Select the Architecture tab.

The architecture tab includes a List panel and a Graph panel:

  • The List panel shows applications and events in the modeled event mesh.
  • The Graph panel shows all applications in the modeled event mesh plus events that the applications publish and subscribe to and any Kafka applications that have been added directly to the modeled event mesh.

When you select an application or event in either the list or the graph, it is highlighted in both panels.

Using the Graph Panel

The Graph panel uses the following icons to represent objects in your modeled event mesh:

Icon Description

Application

Application in draft state: applications in draft state are still in development and subject to change

Application with unconsumed events: the application version subscribes to one or more events but does not have a consumer set up to attract the event

Event

Event in draft state: events in draft state are still in development and subject to change

Event with no topic address added

Unpublished event: an application version subscribes to the event but no other application version in the modeled event mesh publishes it

 

Event path: the arrow indicates the direction of the event. If the arrow points away from an application, the application publishes the event. If the arrow points toward an application, the application subscribes to or consumes the event.

If an issue needs to be fixed with an event or with an application that publishes it or subscribes to it, the event path appears as a dashed line.

Right-click on application and event icons to display options for the object.

You can use the tools at the top of the Graph panel to adjust the view.

Tool Description

Zoom in and zoom out

Center Graph

Reset Graph Layout: Reorganize the graph into a layout where objects are distributed as clearly as the number of objects and screen size allows. This tool updates the graph of the modeled event mesh for all users.

You can also drag objects around the Graph panel. Whenever you move objects, either by dragging or using the Reset Graph Layout tool, a message asks if you want to publish the layout to make it visible to other users or discard your changes. You must publish the layout or discard your changes before you leave the Architecture tab.

Viewing Application and Event Details

You can view the details of applications and events in Runtime Event Manager.

  • Application details include all of the event versions that the application publishes, subscribes to directly, and consumes based on topic address, and the list of modeled event meshes that reference the application. For more information on creating and editing applications in Designer, see Applications. For more information on importing applications in Runtime Event Manager, see Importing Runtime Objects into Event Portal].
  • Event details include the broker type, topic addresses, schema, and the list of applications and event APIs that publish and subscribe to the event. For more information on creating and editing events in Designer, see Events. For more information on importing Kafka events in Runtime Event Manager, see Importing Kafka Topics.

To view application and event version details, perform these steps:

  1. When viewing a modeled event mesh, in the Graph view, right-click the object version and select View Details. Alternatively, in the list view, in the Applications list or Events list, click the name of the object.
  2. To open the object in Designer, click Open in Designer.

Deleting a Modeled Event Mesh

You can delete modeled event meshes that you no longer need. When you delete a modeled event mesh, the application versions and event versions it includes are not deleted from Event Portal on from other modeled event meshes.

To delete a modeled event mesh, perform these steps:

  1. On the Runtime Event Manager home page, select the Modeled Event Meshes tab.
  2. On the Modeled Event Meshes tab, in the list of modeled event meshes, click More Actionsfor the modeled event mesh that you want to delete and then select Delete.
  3. Click Delete.