ZK Developer's Reference/Event Handling/Event Queues

Overview

An event queue is an event-based publish-subscribe solution for application information delivery and messaging. It provides asynchronous communications for different modules/roles in a loosely-coupled and autonomous fashion.

By publishing, a module (publisher) sends out messages without explicitly specifying or having knowledge of intended recipients. By subscribing, a receiving module (subscriber) receives messages that the subscriber has registered an interest in, without explicitly specifying or knowing the publisher.

The purpose of event queues are two folds:

1. Simplify the many-to-many communication.
2. Make the application independent of the underlining communication mechanism. The application remains the same, while the event queue can be implemented by use of Ajax, server push and even message queue.

Identification of an Event Queue

An event queue is identified by a name and a scope. The scope represents the visibility of an event queue. For example, a desktop-scoped event queue is visible in the same desktop, while application-scoped event queue is visible in the whole application.

Locate an Event Queue

You could locate an event queue by invoking one of the lookup method of EventQueues. For example,

EventQueues.lookup("myQueue"); //assumes the desktop scope
EventQueues.lookup("anotherQueue", EventQueues.SESSION);
EventQueues.lookup("anotherQueue", session);

Notice that if you want to locate an event queue in a working thread (rather than an event listener), you have to use EventQueues.lookup(String, Session) or EventQueues.lookup(String, Application), depending on your requirement.

The Scope of an Event Queue

There are currently four different scopes: desktop, group, session and application. In additions, you add your own scope, such as message queue to communicate among several servers.

Name	API	Description
desktop	EventQueues.lookup(String, String) EventQueues.lookup(String, String, boolean)	The event queue is visible only in the same desktop.
group	EventQueues.lookup(String, String) EventQueues.lookup(String, String, boolean)	[since 5.0.4][ZK EE] The event queue is visible only in a group of desktops that belongs to the same browser. It is formed if iframe or frameset is used. Some portal container might cause a group of desktops to be formed too. Unlike the session and application scope, the group scope doesn't require the server push, so the communication is more efficient.
session	EventQueues.lookup(String, String) EventQueues.lookup(String, String, boolean) EventQueues.lookup(String, Session) EventQueues.lookup(String, Session, boolean)	The event queue is visible only in the same session. The server push will be enabled automatically if it subscribes a session-scoped event queue. Notice that the server push is disabled automatically if the current desktop doesn't subscribe to any session- or application-scoped event queue. Also notice that the locating and creating of an event queue and publishing an event won't start the server push. When a server push is enabled, a working thread is instantiated and started. It means this feature cannot be used in the environment that doesn't allow working threads, such Google App Engine.
application	EventQueues.lookup(String, String) EventQueues.lookup(String, String, boolean) EventQueues.lookup(String, Application) EventQueues.lookup(String, Application, boolean)	The event queue is visible only in the whole application. The server push will be enabled automatically. Notice that the server push is disabled automatically if the current desktop doesn't subscribe to any session- or application-scoped event queue. Also notice that the locating and creating of an event queue and publishing an event won't start the server push. When a server push is enabled, a working thread is instantiated and started. It means this feature cannot be used in the environment that doesn't allow working threads, such Google App Engine.

Publish and Subscribe

Publish an Event

To publish, just invoke one of the publish methods of EventQueue (returned by lookup). For example,

EventQueues.lookup("my super queue", EventQueues.APPLICATION, true)
  .publish(new Event("onSomethingHapping", null, new SomeAdditionInfo()));

The message used to communicate among publishers and subscribes are the event instances, so you can use any event you prefer.

Subscribe to an Event Queue

The event being published will be sent to each subscriber by calling the event listener the subscriber subscribe. To subscribe, just invoke one of the subscribe methods of EventQueue (returned by lookup). For example,

EventQueues.lookup("my super queue", EventQueues.APPLICATION, true).subscribe(
  new EventListener() {
    public void onEvent(Event evt) {
       //handle the event just like any other event listener
    }
  });

The event listener is invoked just like a normal event. You can manipulate the component or do whatever as you want.

An Example: Chat

Here is an example: chat.

<window title="Chat" border="normal">
	<zscript><![CDATA[
	import org.zkoss.zk.ui.event.*;
	EventQueue que = EventQueues.lookup("chat", EventQueues.APPLICATION, true);
	que.subscribe(new EventListener() {
		public void onEvent(Event evt) {
			new Label(evt.getData()).setParent(inf);
		}
	});	
	void post(Textbox tb) {
		String text = tb.value;
		if (text.length() > 0) {
			tb.value = "";
			que.publish(new Event("onChat", null, text));
		}
	}
	]]></zscript>

	Say <textbox onOK="post(self)" onChange="post(self)"/>
	<separator bar="true"/>
	<vbox id="inf"/>
</window>

Then, you can chat among two or more different computers.

Asynchronous Event Listener

By default, the subscribed event listeners are invoked the same way as invocation of the listeners for a posted event. They are invoked one-by-one. No two event listeners belonging to the same desktop will be invoked at the same time. In additions, it is invoked under an execution (i.e., Executions.getCurrent is never null). It is allowed to manipulate the components belonging to the current execution. For sake of description, we call them synchronous event listeners.

On the other hand, the event queue also supports the so-called asynchronous event listener, which is invoked asynchronously in another thread. There is no current execution available. It is not allowed to access any component. It is designed to execute a long operation without blocking the user.

An Example

A typical use case is to subscribe an asynchronous event listener for doing the long operation, and to subscribe a synchronous event listener to update the user interface. Then, when starting a long operation, an event is posted to the asynchronous event listener for processing. Since the invocation is asynchronous, the user can still interact with ZK smoothly. At the end of the invocation of the asynchronous event listener, it published an event to the synchronous event listener to update the result of the long operation back to the browser.

For example,

<window title="test of long operation" border="normal">
	<html><![CDATA[
	<ul>
	<li>Click the button it will start a long operation.</li>
	<li>With this implementation, you can press the button again even if
	the long operation is still being processed</li>
	</ul>
	]]></html>
	<zscript>
	void print(String msg) {
		new Label(msg).setParent(inf);
	}
	</zscript>
	<button label="async long op">
		<attribute name="onClick"><![CDATA[
   if (EventQueues.exists("longop")) {
     print("It is busy. Please wait");
     return; //busy
   }

   EventQueue eq = EventQueues.lookup("longop"); //create a queue
   String result;

   //subscribe async listener to handle long operation
   eq.subscribe(new EventListener() {
     public void onEvent(Event evt) {
       if ("doLongOp".equals(evt.getName())) {
         org.zkoss.lang.Threads.sleep(3000); //simulate a long operation
         result = "done"; //store the result
         eq.publish(new Event("endLongOp")); //notify it is done
       }
     }
   }, true); //asynchronous

   //subscribe a normal listener to show the resul to the browser
   eq.subscribe(new EventListener() {
     public void onEvent(Event evt) {
       if ("endLongOp".equals(evt.getName())) {
   	     print(result); //show the result to the browser
   	     EventQueues.remove("longop");
   	   }
   	 }
   }); //synchronous

   print("Wait for 3 seconds");
   eq.publish(new Event("doLongOp")); //kick off the long operation
  		]]></attribute>
 	</button>
 	<vbox id="inf"/>
</window>

An asynchronous event listener is not allowed to access the desktop, but it is allowed to invoke EventQueue.publish(Event) to publish an event.

A Simpler Approach

<window title="test of long operation" border="normal">
	<zscript>
	void print(String msg) {
		new Label(msg).setParent(inf);
	}
	</zscript>
	<button label="async long op">
		<attribute name="onClick"><![CDATA[
   if (EventQueues.exists("longop")) {
     print("It is busy. Please wait");
     return; //busy
   }

   EventQueue eq = EventQueues.lookup("longop"); //create a queue
   String result;

   //subscribe async listener to handle long operation
   eq.subscribe(new EventListener() {
     public void onEvent(Event evt) { //asynchronous
       org.zkoss.lang.Threads.sleep(3000); //simulate a long operation
       result = "done"; //store the result
     }
   }, new EventListener() { //callback
     public void onEvent(Event evt) {
       print(result); //show the result to the browser
   	   EventQueues.remove("longop");
   	 }
   });

   print("Wait for 3 seconds");
   eq.publish(new Event("whatever")); //kick off the long operation
  		]]></attribute>
 	</button>
 	<vbox id="inf"/>
</window>

More About Scopes

Here is a summary of the differences.

	desktop	group	session	application
visibility	desktop	group	session	application
publish	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.	no limitation	no limitation
subscribe	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.	only in an event listener, or the current execution is available.
multi-thread	Not used	Not used	Used (transparent)	Used (transparent)
server-push	Not used	Not used	Used (transparent)	Used (transparent)

Extend Event Queue: Add a Custom Scope

The location and creation of an event queue is actually done by a so-called event queue provider. An event-queue provider must implement the EventQueueProvider interface.

To customize it, just provide an implementation, and then specify the class name in the property called org.zkoss.zk.ui.event.EventQueueProvider.class.

For example, let us say we want to introduce the JMS scope, then we can implement as follows (only pseudo-code):

public class MyEventQueueProvider extends org.zkoss.zk.ui.event.impl.EventQueueProviderImpl {
  public EventQueue lookup(String name, String scope, boolean autocreate) {
    if ("jms".equals(scope)) {
      //create an event queue based on JMS's name
    } else
      return super.lookup(name, scope, autocreate);
  }
  public boolean remove(String name, String scope) {
    if ("jms".equals(scope)) {
      //remove the event queue based on JMS's name
    } else
      return super.removename, scope);
  }
}

Then, specify the property in WEB-INF/zk.xml

<library-property>
	<name>org.zkoss.zk.ui.event.EventQueueProvider.class</name>
	<value>MyEventQueueProvider</value>
</library-property>

Event Queues and Server Push

When an application-scope event queue is used, the server push is enabled for each desktop that subscribers belong to. In additions, a thread is created to forward the event to subscribers.

ZK has two kinds of server push: client-polling and comet. The client-polling server push is implemented with an implicit timer at the client. The interval of the timer depends on the loading of the server. For example, the interval becomes longer if the time to get a response has become longer.

On the other hand, the comet server push is implemented with a pre-established and 'virtual' permanent connection. It is like sending a taxi to the server, and waiting in the server until there is data to send back. Meanwhile, the client-polling server is like sending a taxi periodically to the server, and leave immediately if no data is available.

By default, the comet server push is used. If you prefer to use the client-polling approach, just specify the following in WEB-INF/zk.xml.

<device-config>
	<device-type>ajax</device-type>
	<server-push-class>org.zkoss.zk.ui.impl.PollingServerPush</server-push-class>
</device-config>

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Version History

Version	Date	Content
5.0.4	August 2010	The group scope was introduced to allow the communication among inline frames without Server Push (minimizing the network bandwidth consumption).