The switchboard

The switchboard is subsystem that moves messages between queues. Each instance of a switchboard is responsible for one queue directory.

>>> msg = message_from_string("""\
... From: aperson@example.com
... To: _xtest@example.com
...
... A test message.
... """)

Create a switchboard by giving its queue name and directory.

>>> import os
>>> queue_directory = os.path.join(config.QUEUE_DIR, 'test')
>>> from mailman.core.switchboard import Switchboard
>>> switchboard = Switchboard('test', queue_directory)
>>> print(switchboard.name)
test
>>> switchboard.queue_directory == queue_directory
True

Here’s a helper function for ensuring things work correctly.

>>> def check_qfiles(directory=None):
...     if directory is None:
...         directory = queue_directory
...     files = {}
...     for qfile in os.listdir(directory):
...         root, ext = os.path.splitext(qfile)
...         files[ext] = files.get(ext, 0) + 1
...     if len(files) == 0:
...         print('empty')
...     for ext in sorted(files):
...         print('{0}: {1}'.format(ext, files[ext]))

Enqueing and dequeing

The message can be enqueued with metadata specified in the passed in dictionary.

>>> filebase = switchboard.enqueue(msg)
>>> check_qfiles()
.pck: 1

To read the contents of a queue file, dequeue it.

>>> msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
>>> print(msg.as_string())
From: aperson@example.com
To: _xtest@example.com
<BLANKLINE>
A test message.
<BLANKLINE>
>>> dump_msgdata(msgdata)
_parsemsg: False
version  : 3
>>> check_qfiles()
.bak: 1

To complete the dequeing process, removing all traces of the message file, finish it (without preservation).

>>> switchboard.finish(filebase)
>>> check_qfiles()
empty

When enqueing a file, you can provide additional metadata keys by using keyword arguments.

>>> filebase = switchboard.enqueue(msg, {'foo': 1}, bar=2)
>>> msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
>>> switchboard.finish(filebase)
>>> dump_msgdata(msgdata)
_parsemsg: False
bar      : 2
foo      : 1
version  : 3

Keyword arguments override keys from the metadata dictionary.

>>> filebase = switchboard.enqueue(msg, {'foo': 1}, foo=2)
>>> msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
>>> switchboard.finish(filebase)
>>> dump_msgdata(msgdata)
_parsemsg: False
foo      : 2
version  : 3

Iterating over files

There are two ways to iterate over all the files in a switchboard’s queue. Normally, queue files end in .pck (for ‘pickle’) and the easiest way to iterate over just these files is to use the .files attribute.

>>> filebase_1 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=1)
>>> filebase_2 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=2)
>>> filebase_3 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=3)
>>> filebases = sorted((filebase_1, filebase_2, filebase_3))
>>> sorted(switchboard.files) == filebases
True
>>> check_qfiles()
.pck: 3

You can also use the .get_files() method if you want to iterate over all the file bases for some other extension.

>>> for filebase in switchboard.get_files():
...     msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
>>> bakfiles = sorted(switchboard.get_files('.bak'))
>>> bakfiles == filebases
True
>>> check_qfiles()
.bak: 3
>>> for filebase in switchboard.get_files('.bak'):
...     switchboard.finish(filebase)
>>> check_qfiles()
empty

Recovering files

Calling .dequeue() without calling .finish() leaves .bak backup files in place. These can be recovered when the switchboard is instantiated.

>>> filebase_1 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=1)
>>> filebase_2 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=2)
>>> filebase_3 = switchboard.enqueue(msg, foo=3)
>>> for filebase in switchboard.files:
...     msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
...     # Don't call .finish()
>>> check_qfiles()
.bak: 3
>>> switchboard_2 = Switchboard('test', queue_directory, recover=True)
>>> check_qfiles()
.pck: 3

The files can be recovered explicitly.

>>> for filebase in switchboard.files:
...     msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
...     # Don't call .finish()
>>> check_qfiles()
.bak: 3
>>> switchboard.recover_backup_files()
>>> check_qfiles()
.pck: 3

But the files will only be recovered at most three times before they are considered defective. In order to prevent mail bombs and loops, once this maximum is reached, the files will be preserved in the ‘bad’ queue.

>>> for filebase in switchboard.files:
...     msg, msgdata = switchboard.dequeue(filebase)
...     # Don't call .finish()
>>> check_qfiles()
.bak: 3
>>> switchboard.recover_backup_files()
>>> check_qfiles()
empty

>>> bad = config.switchboards['bad']
>>> check_qfiles(bad.queue_directory)
.psv: 3

Clean up

>>> for file in os.listdir(bad.queue_directory):
...     os.remove(os.path.join(bad.queue_directory, file))
>>> check_qfiles(bad.queue_directory)
empty

Queue slices

XXX Add tests for queue slices.