Messaging Concepts
Application programs use TIBCO FTL software to communicate by sending messages to one another. Programs send messages using publisher objects, and receive messages using subscriber objects.
For low latency, messages can travel directly between peer application programs, rather than through a store-and-forward server. Nonetheless, FTL also supports a message broker architecture.
Messages travel only among application processes. They do not travel from publishers to subscribers within a process. A process transport is an explicit exception to this rule, as it carries messages within a process.
Messages and Fields
A message is a structured unit of data. The structure is flexible, and developers tailor the structure to the needs of the application.
Each message consists of a set of named fields. Each field can contain a value of a specific data type.
One-to-Many Communication
Publishers can send messages using one-to-many communication. These messages can reach potentially many subscribers.
A subscriber can use a content matcher to receive only those messages in which a particular set of fields contain specific values.
One-to-One Communication
For efficient one-to-one communication, publishers can also send messages that can reach one specific inbox subscriber.
An inbox is a data structure that uniquely identifies a specific inbox subscriber.
Inbox subscribers cannot use content matchers. An inbox subscriber receives all messages directed to it.