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.
| 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.
| 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).
Endpoint and its abilities are represented with the following shape. Here, Endpoint 1 has four abilities: Receive, Receive 1, Send, and Send 1.
Figure 40: Four Endpoint Abilities
