NAME

MQSeries - Perl extension for MQSeries support

SYNOPSIS

There are two interfaces provided by the MQSeries modules. The first is a straight forward mapping to all of the individual MQI calls, and the second is a value-added, OO interface, which provides a simpler interface to a subset of the full MQI functionality.

The straight MQI mapping is:

use MQSeries;

$Hconn = MQCONN($Name,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQDISC($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);

$Hobj = MQOPEN($Hconn,$ObjDesc,$Options,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQCLOSE($Hconn,$Hobj,$Options,$CompCode,$Reason);

MQBACK($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQCMIT($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);

$Buffer = MQGET($Hconn,$Hobj,$MsgDesc,$GetMsgOpts,$BufferLength,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQPUT($Hconn,$Hobj,$MsgDesc,%PutMsgOpts,$Msg,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQPUT1($Hconn,$ObjDesc,$MsgDesc,$PutMsgOpts,$Msg,$CompCode,$Reason);

($Attr1,...) = MQINQ($Hconn,$Hobj,$CompCode,$Reason,$Selector1,...);
MQSET($Hconn,$Hobj,$CompCode,$Reason,$Selector1,$Attr1,...);

If the perl5 API is compiled with the version 5 headers and libraries, then the following MQI calls are also available:

MQBEGIN($Hconn,$BeginOpts,$CompCode,$Reason);
$Hconn = MQCONNX($Name,$ConnectOpts,$CompCode,$Reason);

There are also some additional utility routines provided which are not part of the MQI, but specific to the perl5 API:

($ReasonText,$ReasonMacro) = MQReasonToStrings($Reason);
($ReasonText) = MQReasonToText($Reason);
($ReasonMacro) = MQReasonToMacro($Reason);

The OO interface is provided in several optional modules. Three of these make up the core OO interface:

MQSeries::QueueManager
MQSeries::Queue
MQSeries::Message

There are several subclasses of MQSeries::Message which handle special message formats:

MQSeries::Message::Storable
MQSeries::Message::Event
MQSeries::Message::PCF
MQSeries::Message::RulesFormat
MQSeries::Message::XML-Dumper
MQSeries::Message::DeadLetter

There is also a set of modules which provide an interface to the optional Publish/Subscribe system, which is available as a support pack for the distributed platforms using Version 5 of MQSeries.

MQSeries::PubSub::Broker
MQSeries::PubSub::Stream
MQSeries::PubSub::Command (docs only, not used directly)
MQSeries::PubSub::Message
MQSeries::PubSub::AdminMessage

There is also a module which provides an interface to the command server PCF messages for MQSeries administration:

MQSeries::Command

There are two sets of classes that help you follow (tail -f style) and parse the two kinds of log-files written by MQSeries: the FDC files and the error-logs. These classes allow you to write a log monitoring daemon that feeds into syslog or your system management tools.

MQSeries::ErrorLog::Tail
MQSeries::ErrorLog::Parser
MQSeries::ErrorLog::Entry
MQSeries::FDC::Tail
MQSeries::FDC::Parser
MQSeries::FDC::Entry

There is a set of classes that parses configuration and authority files (/var/mqm/mqs.ini, /var/mqm/qmgrs/*/qm.ini, /var/mqm/qmgrs/*/auth/*/*).

MQSeries::Config::Authority
MQSeries::Config::Machine
MQSeries::Config::QMgr

Some internal helper functions are stored in the module:

MQSeries::Utils

See the documentation for each of these individual modules for more information.

DESCRIPTION

This module provides a perl language interface to MQSeries functions. It uses the standard MQSeries interface except where a perl convention is required or just more useful.

Where data structures are required, this interface uses a hash reference. The keys in the hash are structure element names. If an element is not specified in the hash, a default value will be used. Output elements are updated in the hash as necessary.

SUBROUTINES

For complete details on each of the following subroutines, please consult the "MQSeries Application Programming Guide" and "MQSeries Application Programming Reference". This documentation will merely document how the perl API and the underlying C API calling and return code conventions vary.

One way in which all of these calls are identical to the C API is in the use of the '$CompCode' and '$Reason' conventions. All of the API calls take these as positional arguments, and the completion code and reason code are written to those variables, respecitively.

In general, all of the C data structures used to pass or return values to each API call are passed or returned as a perl hash reference, specified as a positional argument in the relavent API call.

MQCONN

$Hconn = MQCONN($Name,$CompCode,$Reason);

This call returns the Hconn value, to be used in subsequent MQI calls. The C API took the $Hconn as a positional parameter, whereas the perl API returns it.

MQCONNX

$Hconn = MQCONNX($Name,$ConnectOpts,$CompCode,$Reason);

NOTE: This MQI call is only available if the perl5 API is compiled against MQSeries version 5 headers and libraries.

This call returns the Hconn value, to be used in subsequent MQI calls. The C API took the $Hconn as a positional parameter, whereas the perl API returns it.

The $ConnectOpts value is a hash reference, with keys corresponding to the fields of the MQCO structure. This is an input value only.

MQDISC

MQDISC($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);

The calling convention of this subroutine is identical to the C API.

MQOPEN

$Hobj = MQOPEN($Hconn,$ObjDesc,$Options,$CompCode,$Reason);

In the same way that MQCONN loses one positional parameter, and returns it to the caller, so does MQOPEN remove the $Hobj parameter from the argument list and returns the value.

The $ObjDesc parameter should be a hash reference, for example:

$ObjDesc = {
            ObjectName 	=> 'SOME.MODEL.QUEUE',
            DynamicQName 	=> 'FOOBAR*',
           };

The $Options parameter should be a set of ORed options, for example:

$Options = MQOO_INPUT_AS_Q_DEF | MQOO_FAIL_IF_QUIESCING;

If a distribution list is being opened, then the list of queues can be specified in one of three ways. The list is given via a new key "ObjectRecs", used to identify the list. This is different from the C-centric approach in the C API, namely to specify the list using the RecsPresent, ObjectRecPtr, etc.

The first method is to specify an array of plain queue names:

$ObjDesc = {
            ObjectRecs	=> [qw( QUEUE1 QUEUE2 QUEUE3 )],
           };

The second method is to specify an array or array references, each giving the QName and QMgrName:

$ObjDesc = {
            ObjectRecs	=> [
                                  [qw( QUEUE1 QM1 )],
                                  [qw( QUEUE2 QM2 )],
                                  [qw( QUEUE3 QM3 )],
                                 ],
           };

Finally, an array of hash references can be specified, each giving the QName and QMgrName via specific keys:

$ObjDesc = {
            ObjectRecs	=> [
                                  {
                                   ObjectName		=> 'QUEUE1',
                                   ObjectQMgrName	=> 'QM1',
                                  },
                                  {
                                   ObjectName		=> 'QUEUE2',
                                   ObjectQMgrName	=> 'QM2',
                                  },
                                  {
                                   ObjectName		=> 'QUEUE3',
                                   ObjectQMgrName	=> 'QM3',
                                  },
                                 ],
           };

In the second and third cases, the queue manager names are always optional. Which method to use is largely a matter of style.

When the Reason Code returned by the API is MQRC_MULTIPLE_REASONS, then these are encoded into an array of hash references, and that array is returned as a new key in the ObjDesc hash, "ResponseRecs". The order of the CompCode/Reason pair in the array corresponds to the order of the queues listed in the ObjectRecs array.

This is best explained in an example. In this case, we used the first, simple list of queue names for our distribution list.

if ( $Reason == MQRC_MULTIPLE_REASONS ) {
    for ( $index = 0 ; $index <= scalar @{$ObjDesc->{ObjectRecs}} ; $index++ ) {
        next if $ObjDesc->{ResponseRecs}->[$index]->{Reason} == MQRC_NONE;
        print "QName: " . $ObjDesc->{ObjectRecs}->[$index] . "\n";
        print "Reason: " . $ObjDesc->{ResponseRecs}->[$index]->{Reason} . "\n";
        print "CompCode: " . $ObjDesc->{ResponseRecs}->[$index]->{CompCode} . "\n";
    }
}

MQCLOSE

MQCLOSE($Hconn,$Hobj,$Options,$CompCode,$Reason);

The calling convention of this subroutine is identical to the C API.

The $Options value is a set of ORed options, for example:

$Options = MQCO_DELETE_PURGE;

MQBEGIN

MQBEGIN($Hconn,$BeginOpts,$CompCode,$Reason)

NOTE: This MQI call is only available if the perl5 API is compiled against MQSeries version 5 headers and libraries.

The calling convention of this subroutine is identical to the C API.

The $BeginOpts value is a hash reference, with keys corresponding to the fields of the MQBO structure. This is both an input and output value.

MQBACK

MQBACK($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);

The calling convention of this subroutine is identical to the C API.

MQCMIT

MQCMIT($Hconn,$CompCode,$Reason);

The calling convention of this subroutine is identical to the C API.

MQGET

$Buffer = MQGET($Hconn,$Hobj,$MsgDesc,$GetMsgOpts,$BufferLength,$CompCode,$Reason);

One positional parameter, the $Buffer, is removed from the argument list. This is the return value of this subroutine. The $MsgDesc and $GetMsgOpts values are hash references. The $MsgDesc will be populated with the MQMD structure returned by the MQGET call. This is also an input value, and the $MsgDesc data can be populated, for example, with a specific 'CorrelId'.

$MsgDesc = {
            CorrelId => $correlid,
           };

The $GetMsgOpts hash reference contains the MQGMO data structure fields, for example:

$GetMsgOpts = {
               Options => MQGMO_FAIL_IF_QUIESCING | MQGMO_SYNCPOINT | MQGMO_WAIT,
               WaitInterval => MQWI_UNLIMITED,
              };

MQPUT, MQPUT1

MQPUT($Hconn,$Hobj,$MsgDesc,$PutMsgOpts,$Msg,$CompCode,$Reason);
MQPUT1($Hconn,$ObjDesc,$MsgDesc,$PutMsgOpts,$Msg,$CompCode,$Reason);

Both of these calls differ from the C API in the same way as MQGET. Likewise, the $MsgDesc and $PutMsgOpts values are hash references for the appropriate data structures.

If MQPUT1() is being used to put a message to a distribution list, then the $ObjDesc is used in the same way as documented above for MQOPEN(). In addition, there is a special key to the $PutMsgOpts hash which can be specified, and the rest of this discussion applies equally to both MQPUT() and MQPUT1().

The $PutMsgOpts->{PutMsgRecs} value must be an array of hash references, one for each queue opened in the distribution list, interpreted in the same order. Each individual hash reference is interpreted as a single put message record. The keys of each record can be any of:

MsgId
CorrelId
GroupId
Feedback
AccountingToken

For example, the following sets the CorrelId the same across all of the messages in a distribution list of three queues.

$PutMsgOpts = {
               PutMsgRecs => [
                              {
                               MsgId		=> MQPMO_NEW_MSG_ID,
                               CorrelId       => $SomeCorrelId,
                              },
                              {
                               MsgId		=> MQPMO_NEW_MSG_ID,
                               CorrelId       => $SomeCorrelId,
                              },
                              {
                               MsgId		=> MQPMO_NEW_MSG_ID,
                               CorrelId       => $SomeCorrelId,
                              },
                             ],
              };

Note that the following fields of the $PutMsgOpts hash do not need to be specified:

PutMsgRecFields (calculated automatically)
PutMsgRecOffset
PutMsgRecPtr
ResponseRecPtr
ResponseRecOffset

For the MQPUT() call, if the Reason code returned is MQRC_MULTIPLE_REASONS, then these are returned as part of the $PutMsgOpts hash, in the key ResponseRecs. For the MQPUT1() call, these are returned as part of the $ObjDesc hash.

See the MQOPEN() documentation above for the format of this value.

MQINQ

($Attr1,...) = MQINQ($Hconn,$Hobj,$CompCode,$Reason,$Selector1,...);

This call differs from the C API significantly. Rather than passing a list of pairs of selectors and attributes, only a list of selectors is passed. The return value is a list of attributed. The C API convention was simply to pass the address for each answer in the arguments, but in perl, it makes more sense to return this as a list.

MQSET

MQSET($Hconn,$Hobj,$CompCode,$Reason,$Selector1,$Attr1,...);

This call also differs from the C API significantly. The C API took a pointer to an array of selectors, with an argument indicating the length of the array, and a similar pair of values for the attribute values themselves. The perl convention is to list the selectors and attributes in pairs, rather than by passing in an array reference.

MQParseEvent (deprecated in 1.06)

This routine has been deprecated, and is no longer supported. The next release will remove it from the documentation altogether.

Equivalent functionality is available via the MQDecodePCF subroutine, which is optionally exported from the MQSeries::Message::PCF module.

The author highly recommends using the OO abstraction via MQSeries::Message::Event, and interface which is supported and will remain part of this API permanently.

MQReasonToStrings

($ReasonText,$ReasonMacro) = MQReasonToStrings($Reason);

This subroutine is specific to the perl API, although similar functionality is desperately needed in the other programming languages as well. This takes an MQSeries Reason code, and returns the English language text explaining the reason code, and the macro name. These strings are compiled into the perl module, encoded in the XS routines, after having been extracted from the IBM HTML documentation.

For example, a reason code of 2009 (MQRC_CONNECTION_BROKEN) will return:

"Connection to queue manager lost."

which looks a lot better in error logs and alerts than 2009.

The macro name itself is also returned as a string, so one could use "MQRC_CONNECTION_BROKEN" in logs, error messages, etc.

In this release, only English language text is returned, but in a future release, these messages will be locale specific. This will almost certainly be implemented with locale-specific DBM files, but you probably do not need to know this just yet....

MQReasonToText

($ReasonText) = MQReasonToText($Reason);

This is nothing more than a trivial interface to MQReasonToStrings, returning just the one value (the reason text).

MQReasonToMacro

($ReasonMacro) = MQReasonToMacro($Reason);

This is nothing more than a trivial interface to MQReasonToStrings, returning just the one value (the MQRC_* macro as a string).