Mimicking a message

When using a trace-route message to determine the route another message has taken through a queue manager network, it is important to mimic the original message. The more closely a trace-route message mimics the original message, the greater the chance that the trace-route message will follow the same route as the original message. Many characteristics can effect where a message is forwarded to within a queue manager network. The following are influential message characteristics:

Priority

The priority can be specified in the message descriptor of the message.

Persistence

The persistence can be specified in the message descriptor of the message.

Expiration

The expiration can be specified in the message descriptor of the message.

Report options

Report options can be specified in the message descriptor of the message.

Message size

To mimic the size of a message, additional data can be written to the message data of the message. For this purpose, additional message data can be meaningless. The WebSphere MQ display route application cannot specify message size.

Message data

Some queue manager networks use content based routing to determine where messages are forwarded. In these cases the message data of the trace-route message needs to be written to mimic the message data of the original message. The WebSphere MQ display route application cannot specify message data.

For details of all the fields available in the message descriptor of a trace-route message, see Trace-route message reference.