Initialization

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Assuming you have completed the Java Tracker Setup for your project, you are now ready to initialize the Java Tracker.

Importing the module#

Import the Java Tracker's classes into your Java code like so:

import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.tracker.*;
import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.tracker.emitter.*;
import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.tracker.http.*;

That's it - you are now ready to initialize a Tracker instance.

Creating a Tracker#

To instantiate a tracker in your code (can be global or local to the process being tracked) simply instantiate the Tracker interface with the following builder patterm:

Tracker.TrackerBuilder(Emitter : emitter, String : namespace, String : appId)
  .subject(Subject)
  .base64(boolean)
  .platform(enum DevicePlatforms)
  .build();

For example:

Tracker tracker = new Tracker.TrackerBuilder(emitter, "AF003", "cf")
                    .subject(user1Subject)
                    .base64(true)
                    .platform(DevicePlatform.Desktop)
                    .build();

Argument Name	Description	Required?	Default
emitter	The Emitter object you create	Yes	Null
namespace	The name of the tracker instance	Yes	Null
appId	The application ID	Yes	Null
subject	The subject that defines a user	No	Null
base64	Whether to enable base 64 encoding	No	True
platform	The device the Tracker is running on	No	ServerSideApp

emitter

The emitter to which the tracker will send events. See Emitters for more on emitter configuration.

To attach a new Emitter to the Tracker:

Emitter emitter = BatchEmitter.builder()
        .url(collectorEndpoint)
        .bufferSize(5) 
        .build();

Tracker tracker = new Tracker.TrackerBuilder(emitter, "AF003", "sp")
                    .base64(true)
                    .build();

subject

The user which the Tracker will track. This should be an instance of the Subject class. You don't need to set this during Tracker construction; you can also include a Subject object with the actual event; this will override the Tracker attached subject.

In fact, you don't need to create a subject at all. If you don't, though, your events won't contain user-specific data such as timezone and language.

To attach a new Subject to the Tracker:

Subject subject = SubjectBuilder.builder()
    .userId("e2479592-4e9a-4d75-948c-7c02d2f718df")
    .build();

Tracker tracker = new Tracker.TrackerBuilder(emitter, "AF003", "sp")
                    .subject(subject)
                    .base64(true)
                    .platform(DevicePlatform.Desktop)
                    .build();

For a full list of supported platforms, please see the Snowplow Tracker Protocol.