ONVIF Event Viewer

ONVIF Event Viewer is a small desktop GUI for monitoring live ONVIF events from one or more cameras without any third-party dependencies. It uses only the Python standard library and connects directly to the cameras' ONVIF SOAP endpoints.

Download the pre-built Windows EXE from the Release page.

The app:

• Discovers each camera's ONVIF events service
• Creates a pull-point subscription
• Polls for live event notifications
• Displays incoming events in a filterable table
• Shows the camera IP address for each event row
• Shows raw event XML in a readable detail panel with XML syntax coloring
• Remembers the last-used connection settings between launches
• Supports light and dark viewing modes
• Includes menu actions for importing/exporting all events and exporting a selected event's XML

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or newer recommended
• Network access to the target ONVIF camera or cameras
• Valid ONVIF username and password

No external Python packages are required.

Project Files

• onvif_event_viewer.py - main application script
• onvif_event_viewer_settings.json - auto-saved local settings file created after first run/connect
• LICENSE - GPL-3.0 license text

Saved Connection Settings

The app starts with built-in defaults:

• IP(s): 192.168.1.184
• Username: onvif
• Password: onvif

After you change any of those settings, the viewer saves them automatically to onvif_event_viewer_settings.json next to the script and reloads them automatically on the next launch. To connect to multiple cameras, enter IP addresses separated by commas, semicolons, spaces, or new lines.

Running The App

From the project folder:

python .\onvif_event_viewer.py

How To Use

1. Launch the application.
2. Enter one or more camera IP addresses, the ONVIF username, and password.
3. Click Connect.
4. Watch events appear in the top table.
5. Select any row to inspect the event details and formatted raw XML in the bottom panel.
6. Click Disconnect to stop polling.

Menu Bar

File

• Import All Events... loads a full event list from a JSON export
• Export All Events... writes the current event list to a JSON file
• Export Selected Event XML... saves the selected event's XML to an .xml file
• Exit closes the application

View

• Hide XML Preview collapses the bottom raw XML/details pane
• Show XML Preview restores the bottom raw XML/details pane
• Light Mode switches the viewer to the light theme
• Dark Mode switches the viewer to the dark theme

Help

• Web Help opens the project page at jsammarco/ONVIF-Event-Viewer
• About shows the author/contact card for Consulting Joe

UI Features

Event Table

The top panel shows:

• Time
• Camera IP
• Kind
• Topic
• Message

Filter Bar

Use the filter box to search across:

• event time
• camera IP
• event kind
• topic
• message text
• raw XML/details

Available options:

• Regex enables regular expression matching
• Case-sensitive makes plain-text or regex searches case-sensitive
• Autoscroll keeps the latest visible row in view
• Hide audio metrics suppresses noisy high-frequency Axis audio telemetry topics by default

Detail Panel

The bottom panel displays:

• selected event metadata
• formatted raw XML when the payload is valid XML
• XML syntax coloring for tags, attributes, values, comments, and declarations
• raw text fallback for non-XML messages such as status or error entries

ONVIF Flow Implemented

For each camera, the viewer uses this sequence:

1. GetCapabilities to discover the Events service endpoint
2. GetEventProperties to retrieve camera event metadata
3. CreatePullPointSubscription to open a subscription
4. PullMessages in a loop to fetch live notifications
5. Unsubscribe on shutdown when supported by the camera

If a camera does not implement Unsubscribe, the app logs that behavior and lets the subscription expire automatically.

Notes And Limitations

• This is a polling-based pull-point viewer, not a persistent push receiver.
• Some cameras return vendor-specific topics or message layouts.
• The viewer includes a fallback events service URL of http://<camera-ip>/onvif/events_service if discovery does not provide a usable address.
• GUI logging, heartbeats, warnings, and errors are shown in the same event table as camera events.

Troubleshooting

No Events Appear

• Confirm each camera supports ONVIF Events and PullPoint subscriptions.
• Verify the IP address list, username, and password.
• Check firewall and network routing between the workstation and each camera.

Connection Or SOAP Errors

• Make sure the ONVIF device service is reachable.
• Confirm each camera allows the provided ONVIF credentials.
• Review the detail panel for raw response text and SOAP fault content.

Settings Questions

• The app automatically saves connection settings and common UI options as you change them.
• Delete onvif_event_viewer_settings.json if you want to reset the remembered connection values.

Event Export And Import

• Use File -> Export All Events... to save the current event list to JSON.
• Use File -> Import All Events... to load a previously exported event list.
• Use File -> Export Selected Event XML... to save just the selected event's XML payload.

High Event Volume

• Leave Hide audio metrics enabled to suppress noisy audio telemetry if applicable.
• Use plain-text or regex filters to narrow the event list.

License

This project is licensed under GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.