FairMQ/fairmq/README.md
Alexey Rybalchenko 19afacb504 FairMQ Examples cleanup
- Rename Tutorial3 MQ files for uniform naming.
  - Add search for dylib in FindDDS.cmake (OSX).
  - Add more detail to the DDS example readme.
  - MQ Example 3 (DDS): choose network interface via command line option.
  - Give FairMQ examples their own CMakeLists.txt for clarity.
  - Remove C++11 checks in Tutorial3 from the code (they are now in CMake).
  - Add Serializer for device properties (FairMQDevice::ListProperties()).
2015-10-05 18:06:55 +02:00

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Markdown

# FairMQ
The standard FairRoot is running all the different analysis tasks within one process. The FairMQ ([Message Queue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_queue)) allows starting tasks on different processes and provides the communication layer between these processes.
## Devices
The components encapsulating the tasks are called **devices** and derive from the common base class `FairMQDevice`. FairMQ provides ready to use devices to organize the dataflow between the components (without touching the contents of a message), providing functionality like merging and splitting of the data stream (see subdirectory `devices`).
## Topology
Devices are arranged into **topologies** where each device has a defined number of data inputs and outputs.
Example of a simple FairMQ topology:
![example of FairMQ topology](../docs/images/fairmq-example-topology.png?raw=true "Example of possible FairMQ topology")
Topology configuration is currently happening via setup scripts. This is very rudimentary and a much more flexible system is now in development. For now, example setup scripts can be found in directory `FairRoot/example/Tutorial3/` along with some additional documentation.
## Communication Patterns
FairMQ devices communicate via the communication patterns offered by ZeroMQ (or nanomsg): PUSH-PULL, PUB-SUB, REQ-REP, PAIR, [more info here](http://api.zeromq.org/4-0:zmq-socket).
## Messages
Devices transport data between each other in form of `FairMQMessage`s. These can be filled with arbitrary content and transport either raw data or serialized data as described above. Message can be initialized in three different ways:
- **with no parameters**: This is usefull for receiving a message, since neither size nor contents are yet known.
- **given message size**: Initialize message body with a size and fill the contents later, either with `memcpy` or by writing directly into message memory.
- **given message size and buffer**: initialize the message given an existing buffer. This is a zero-copy operation.
After sending the message, the queueing system takes over control over the message body and will free it with `free()` after it is no longer used. A callback can be given to the message object, to be called instead of the destruction with `free()`.
## Transport Interface
The communication layer is available through an interface. Two interface implementations are currently available. Main implementation uses the [ZeroMQ](http://zeromq.org) library. Alternative implementation relies on the [nanomsg](http://nanomsg.org) library. Here is an overview to give an idea how interface is implemented:
![FairMQ transport interface](../docs/images/fairmq-transport-interface.png?raw=true "FairMQ transport interface")
## Examples
A collection of simple examples in `examples` directory demonstrates some common usage patterns of FairMQ.
A number of devices to handle the data from the Tutorial3 FairTestDetector of FairRoot are provided as an example and can be found in `FairRoot/base/MQ` directory. The implementation of the tasks run by these devices can be found `FairRoot/example/Tutorial3`. The implementation includes sending raw binary data as well as serializing the data with either [Boost Serialization](http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/release/libs/serialization/), [Google Protocol Buffers](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/) or [Root TMessage](http://root.cern.ch/root/html/TMessage.html). Following the examples you can implement your own devices to transport arbitrary data.