Wildcard Subscriptions

There is no special code to subscribe with a wildcard subject. Wildcards are a normal part of the subject name. However, it is a common technique to use the subject provided with the incoming message to determine what to do with the message.
For example, you can subscribe using * and then act based on the actual subject.
Go
Java
JavaScript
Python
Ruby
TypeScript
C
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nc, err := nats.Connect("demo.nats.io")
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if err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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defer nc.Close()
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​
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// Use a WaitGroup to wait for 2 messages to arrive
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wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
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wg.Add(2)
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​
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// Subscribe
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if _, err := nc.Subscribe("time.*.east", func(m *nats.Msg) {
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    log.Printf("%s: %s", m.Subject, m.Data)
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    wg.Done()
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}); err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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​
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// Wait for the 2 messages to come in
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wg.Wait()
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1
Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://demo.nats.io:4222");
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​
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// Use a latch to wait for 2 messages to arrive
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CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(2);
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​
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// Create a dispatcher and inline message handler
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Dispatcher d = nc.createDispatcher((msg) -> {
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    String subject = msg.getSubject();
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    String str = new String(msg.getData(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
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    System.out.println(subject + ": " + str);
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    latch.countDown();
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});
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​
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// Subscribe
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d.subscribe("time.*.east");
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​
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// Wait for messages to come in
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latch.await();
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​
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// Close the connection
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nc.close();
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let nc = NATS.connect({
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    url: "nats://demo.nats.io:4222"});
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​
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nc.subscribe('time.us.*', (msg, reply, subject) => {
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    // converting timezones correctly in node requires a library
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    // this doesn't take into account *many* things.
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    let time = "";
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    switch (subject) {
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        case 'time.us.east':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/New_York"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.central':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Chicago"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.mountain':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Denver"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.west':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Los_Angeles"});
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            break;
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        default:
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            time = "I don't know what you are talking about Willis";
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    }
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    t.log(subject, time);
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});
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1
nc = NATS()
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​
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await nc.connect(servers=["nats://demo.nats.io:4222"])
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​
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# Use queue to wait for 2 messages to arrive
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queue = asyncio.Queue()
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async def cb(msg):
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  await queue.put_nowait(msg)
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​
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await nc.subscribe("time.*.east", cb=cb)
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​
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# Send 2 messages and wait for them to come in
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await nc.publish("time.A.east", b'A')
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await nc.publish("time.B.east", b'B')
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​
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msg_A = await queue.get()
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msg_B = await queue.get()
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​
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print("Msg A:", msg_A)
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print("Msg B:", msg_B)
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require 'nats/client'
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require 'fiber'
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​
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NATS.start(servers:["nats://127.0.0.1:4222"]) do |nc|
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  Fiber.new do
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    f = Fiber.current
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​
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    nc.subscribe("time.*.east") do |msg, reply|
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      f.resume Time.now
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    end
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​
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    nc.publish("time.A.east", "A")
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    nc.publish("time.B.east", "B")
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​
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    # Use the response
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    msg_A = Fiber.yield
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    puts "Msg A: #{msg_A}"
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​
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    msg_B = Fiber.yield
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    puts "Msg B: #{msg_B}"
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​
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  end.resume
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end
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1
await nc.subscribe('time.us.*', (err, msg) => {
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    // converting timezones correctly in node requires a library
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    // this doesn't take into account *many* things.
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    let time = "";
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    switch (msg.subject) {
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        case 'time.us.east':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/New_York"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.central':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Chicago"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.mountain':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Denver"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.west':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Los_Angeles"});
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            break;
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        default:
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            time = "I don't know what you are talking about Willis";
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    }
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    console.log(msg.subject, time);
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});
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static void
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onMsg(natsConnection *conn, natsSubscription *sub, natsMsg *msg, void *closure)
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{
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    printf("Received msg: %s - %.*s\n",
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           natsMsg_GetSubject(msg),
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           natsMsg_GetDataLength(msg),
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           natsMsg_GetData(msg));
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​
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    // Need to destroy the message!
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    natsMsg_Destroy(msg);
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}
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​
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​
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(...)
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​
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natsConnection      *conn = NULL;
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natsSubscription    *sub  = NULL;
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natsStatus          s;
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​
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s = natsConnection_ConnectTo(&conn, NATS_DEFAULT_URL);
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if (s == NATS_OK)
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    s = natsConnection_Subscribe(&sub, conn, "time.*.east", onMsg, NULL);
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​
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(...)
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​
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​
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// Destroy objects that were created
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natsSubscription_Destroy(sub);
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natsConnection_Destroy(conn);
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or do something similar with >:
Go
Java
JavaScript
Python
Ruby
TypeScript
C
1
nc, err := nats.Connect("demo.nats.io")
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if err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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defer nc.Close()
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​
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// Use a WaitGroup to wait for 4 messages to arrive
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wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
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wg.Add(4)
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​
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// Subscribe
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if _, err := nc.Subscribe("time.>", func(m *nats.Msg) {
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    log.Printf("%s: %s", m.Subject, m.Data)
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    wg.Done()
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}); err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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​
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// Wait for the 4 messages to come in
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wg.Wait()
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​
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// Close the connection
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nc.Close()
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1
Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://demo.nats.io:4222");
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​
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// Use a latch to wait for 4 messages to arrive
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CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(4);
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​
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// Create a dispatcher and inline message handler
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Dispatcher d = nc.createDispatcher((msg) -> {
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    String subject = msg.getSubject();
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    String str = new String(msg.getData(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
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    System.out.println(subject + ": " + str);
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    latch.countDown();
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});
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​
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// Subscribe
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d.subscribe("time.>");
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​
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// Wait for messages to come in
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latch.await();
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​
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// Close the connection
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nc.close();
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1
let nc = NATS.connect({
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    url: "nats://demo.nats.io:4222"});
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​
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nc.subscribe('time.>', (msg, reply, subject) => {
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    // converting timezones correctly in node requires a library
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    // this doesn't take into account *many* things.
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    let time = "";
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    switch (subject) {
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        case 'time.us.east':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/New_York"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.central':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Chicago"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.mountain':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Denver"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.west':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Los_Angeles"});
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            break;
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        default:
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            time = "I don't know what you are talking about Willis";
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    }
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    t.log(subject, time);
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});
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1
nc = NATS()
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​
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await nc.connect(servers=["nats://demo.nats.io:4222"])
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​
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# Use queue to wait for 4 messages to arrive
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queue = asyncio.Queue()
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async def cb(msg):
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  await queue.put(msg)
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​
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await nc.subscribe("time.>", cb=cb)
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​
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# Send 2 messages and wait for them to come in
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await nc.publish("time.A.east", b'A')
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await nc.publish("time.B.east", b'B')
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await nc.publish("time.C.west", b'C')
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await nc.publish("time.D.west", b'D')
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​
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for i in range(0, 4):
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  msg = await queue.get()
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  print("Msg:", msg)
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​
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await nc.close()
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1
require 'nats/client'
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require 'fiber'
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​
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NATS.start(servers:["nats://127.0.0.1:4222"]) do |nc|
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  Fiber.new do
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    f = Fiber.current
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​
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    nc.subscribe("time.>") do |msg, reply|
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      f.resume Time.now.to_f
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    end
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​
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    nc.publish("time.A.east", "A")
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    nc.publish("time.B.east", "B")
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    nc.publish("time.C.west", "C")
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    nc.publish("time.D.west", "D")
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​
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    # Use the response
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    4.times do 
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      msg = Fiber.yield
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      puts "Msg: #{msg}"
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    end
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  end.resume
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end
Copied!
1
await nc.subscribe('time.>', (err, msg) => {
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    // converting timezones correctly in node requires a library
3
    // this doesn't take into account *many* things.
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    let time = "";
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    switch (msg.subject) {
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        case 'time.us.east':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/New_York"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.central':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Chicago"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.mountain':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Denver"});
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            break;
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        case 'time.us.west':
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            time = new Date().toLocaleTimeString("en-us", {timeZone: "America/Los_Angeles"});
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            break;
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        default:
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            time = "I don't know what you are talking about Willis";
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    }
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    t.log(msg.subject, time);
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});
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1
static void
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onMsg(natsConnection *conn, natsSubscription *sub, natsMsg *msg, void *closure)
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{
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    printf("Received msg: %s - %.*s\n",
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           natsMsg_GetSubject(msg),
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           natsMsg_GetDataLength(msg),
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           natsMsg_GetData(msg));
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​
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    // Need to destroy the message!
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    natsMsg_Destroy(msg);
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}
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​
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​
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(...)
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​
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natsConnection      *conn = NULL;
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natsSubscription    *sub  = NULL;
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natsStatus          s;
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​
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s = natsConnection_ConnectTo(&conn, NATS_DEFAULT_URL);
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if (s == NATS_OK)
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    s = natsConnection_Subscribe(&sub, conn, "time.>", onMsg, NULL);
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​
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(...)
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​
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​
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// Destroy objects that were created
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natsSubscription_Destroy(sub);
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natsConnection_Destroy(conn);
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The following example can be used to test these two subscribers. The * subscriber should receive at most 2 messages, while the > subscriber receives 4. More importantly the time.*.east subscriber won't receive on time.us.east.atlanta because that won't match.
Go
Java
JavaScript
Python
Ruby
TypeScript
1
nc, err := nats.Connect("demo.nats.io")
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if err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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defer nc.Close()
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​
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zoneID, err := time.LoadLocation("America/New_York")
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if err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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now := time.Now()
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zoneDateTime := now.In(zoneID)
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formatted := zoneDateTime.String()
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​
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nc.Publish("time.us.east", []byte(formatted))
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nc.Publish("time.us.east.atlanta", []byte(formatted))
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​
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zoneID, err = time.LoadLocation("Europe/Warsaw")
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if err != nil {
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    log.Fatal(err)
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}
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zoneDateTime = now.In(zoneID)
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formatted = zoneDateTime.String()
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​
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nc.Publish("time.eu.east", []byte(formatted))
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nc.Publish("time.eu.east.warsaw", []byte(formatted))
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1
Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://demo.nats.io:4222");
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ZoneId zoneId = ZoneId.of("America/New_York");
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ZonedDateTime zonedDateTime = ZonedDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.now(), zoneId);
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String formatted = zonedDateTime.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_ZONED_DATE_TIME);
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​
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nc.publish("time.us.east", formatted.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
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nc.publish("time.us.east.atlanta", formatted.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
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​
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zoneId = ZoneId.of("Europe/Warsaw");
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zonedDateTime = ZonedDateTime.ofInstant(Instant.now(), zoneId);
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formatted = zonedDateTime.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_ZONED_DATE_TIME);
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nc.publish("time.eu.east", formatted.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
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nc.publish("time.eu.east.warsaw", formatted.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
14
​
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nc.flush(Duration.ZERO);
16
nc.close();
Copied!
1
nc.publish('time.us.east');
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nc.publish('time.us.central');
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nc.publish('time.us.mountain');
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nc.publish('time.us.west');
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1
nc = NATS()
2
​
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await nc.connect(servers=["nats://demo.nats.io:4222"])
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​
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await nc.publish("time.us.east", b'...')
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await nc.publish("time.us.east.atlanta", b'...')
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​
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await nc.publish("time.eu.east", b'...')
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await nc.publish("time.eu.east.warsaw", b'...')
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​
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await nc.close()
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1
NATS.start do |nc|
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   nc.publish("time.us.east", '...')
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   nc.publish("time.us.east.atlanta", '...')
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​
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   nc.publish("time.eu.east", '...')
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   nc.publish("time.eu.east.warsaw", '...')
7
​
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   nc.drain
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end
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1
nc.publish('time.us.east');
2
nc.publish('time.us.central');
3
nc.publish('time.us.mountain');
4
nc.publish('time.us.west');
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Replying to a Message

Queue Subscriptions

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