Abilities

An endpoint has four communication abilities. A separate aspect of the API embodies each of these abilities. The following table summarizes the four abilities.

Each of these four abilities and the API call that embodies it correspond to a distinct sub-stream of messages, called an ability sub-stream.

Endpoint Abilities: Definitions
Ability API Description
One-to-Many Receive Subscriber object Carries one-to-many messages inbound to the endpoint’s subscribers in the application.
One-to-One Receive Inbox subscriber object Carries one-to-one messages inbound to the endpoint’s inbox subscribers in the application.
One-to-Many Send Send call of a publisher object Carries one-to-many messages outbound from the endpoint’s publishers in the application.
One-to-One Send Send-to-inbox call of a publisher object Carries one-to-one messages outbound from the endpoint’s publishers in the application.

Notice that each ability combines two dimensions: reach and direction:

  • Reach
    • One-to-many abilities carry messages that can reach potentially many subscribers.
    • One-to-one abilities carry messages that can reach one specific inbox subscriber.
  • Direction
    • Receive abilities carry messages inbound to an application.
    • Send abilities carry messages outbound from an application.
Endpoint Abilities Matrix
  Inbound Outbound
One-to-Many Receive Send
One-to-One Receive Inbox Send Inbox

Administrators can configure these abilities in the FTL server GUI (see "Endpoint Details Panel" in TIBCO FTL Administration).

In this book, explanatory diagrams represent an endpoint and its abilities with the following shape. The rectangular body represents the endpoint. The bulges on the right side represent its four abilities.

Related concepts