Draining Messages Before Disconnect

This feature is the ability to drain connections or subscriptions and then close the connection. Closing a connection (using close()), or unsubscribing from a subscription, are generally considered immediate requests. When you close or unsubscribe the library will halt messages in any pending queue or cache for subscribers. When you drain a subscription or connection, it will process any inflight and cached/pending messages before closing.

Drain provides clients that use queue subscriptions with a way to bring down applications without losing any messages. A client can bring up a new queue member, drain and shut down the old queue member, all without losing messages sent to the old client. Without drain, there is the possibility of lost messages due to delivery timing.

The libraries can provide drain on a connection or on a subscriber, or both.

For a connection the process is essentially:

1. Drain all subscriptions

2. Stop new messages from being published

3. Flush any remaining published messages

4. Close

The API for drain can generally be used instead of close:

As an example of draining a connection:

Go

wg := sync.WaitGroup{}
wg.Add(1)

errCh := make(chan error, 1)

// To simulate a timeout, you would set the DrainTimeout()
// to a value less than the time spent in the message callback,
// so say: nats.DrainTimeout(10*time.Millisecond).

nc, err := nats.Connect("demo.nats.io",
    nats.DrainTimeout(10*time.Second),
    nats.ErrorHandler(func(_ *nats.Conn, _ *nats.Subscription, err error) {
        errCh <- err
    }),
    nats.ClosedHandler(func(_ *nats.Conn) {
        wg.Done()
    }))
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

// Just to not collide using the demo server with other users.
subject := nats.NewInbox()

// Subscribe, but add some delay while processing.
if _, err := nc.Subscribe(subject, func(_ *nats.Msg) {
    time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
}); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

// Publish a message
if err := nc.Publish(subject, []byte("hello")); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

// Drain the connection, which will close it when done.
if err := nc.Drain(); err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

// Wait for the connection to be closed.
wg.Wait()

// Check if there was an error
select {
case e := <-errCh:
    log.Fatal(e)
default:
}

Java

Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://demo.nats.io:4222");

// Use a latch to wait for a message to arrive
CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);

// Create a dispatcher and inline message handler
Dispatcher d = nc.createDispatcher((msg) -> {
    String str = new String(msg.getData(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
    System.out.println(str);
    latch.countDown();
});

// Subscribe
d.subscribe("updates");

// Wait for a message to come in
latch.await();

// Drain the connection, which will close it
CompletableFuture<Boolean> drained = nc.drain(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

// Wait for the drain to complete
drained.get();

JavaScript

const nc = await connect({ servers: "demo.nats.io" });
const sub = nc.subscribe(createInbox(), () => {});
nc.publish(sub.getSubject());
await nc.drain();

Python

import asyncio
from nats.aio.client import Client as NATS

async def example(loop):
    nc = NATS()

    await nc.connect("nats://127.0.0.1:4222", loop=loop)

    async def handler(msg):
        print("[Received] ", msg)
        await nc.publish(msg.reply, b'I can help')

        # Can check whether client is in draining state
        if nc.is_draining:
            print("Connection is draining")

    await nc.subscribe("help", "workers", cb=handler)
    await nc.flush()

    requests = []
    for i in range(0, 10):
        request = nc.request("help", b'help!', timeout=1)
        requests.append(request)

    # Wait for all the responses
    responses = []
    responses = await asyncio.gather(*requests)

    # Gracefully close the connection.
    await nc.drain()

    print("Received {} responses".format(len(responses)))

C#

// dotnet add package NATS.Net
using NATS.Net;

var client = new NatsClient();

var subject = client.Connection.NewInbox();

// Make sure to use a cancellation token to end all subscriptions
using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();

var sync = false;
var process = Task.Run(async () =>
{
    await foreach (var msg in client.SubscribeAsync<int>(subject, cancellationToken: cts.Token))
    {
        if (msg.Data == -1)
        {
            sync = true;
            continue;
        }
        Console.WriteLine($"Received: {msg.Data}");
        await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(300));
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Subscription completed");
});

// Make sure the subscription is ready
while (sync == false)
{
    await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(100));
    await client.PublishAsync(subject, -1);
}

for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    await client.PublishAsync(subject, i);
}
Console.WriteLine("Published 5 messages");

// Cancelling the subscription will unsubscribe from the subject
// and messages that are already in the buffer will be processed
await cts.CancelAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Cancelled subscription");

// Ping the server to make sure all in-flight messages are processed
// as a side effect of the ping, the server will respond with a pong
// making sure the connection all previous messages are sent on the wire.
await client.PingAsync();

// Disposing the NATS client will close the connection
await client.DisposeAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Disposed NATS client");

Console.WriteLine("Waiting for all messages to be processed");
await process;

Console.WriteLine("Done");

Ruby

NATS.start(drain_timeout: 1) do |nc|
  NATS.subscribe('foo', queue: "workers") do |msg, reply, sub|
    nc.publish(reply, "ACK:#{msg}")
  end

  NATS.subscribe('bar', queue: "workers") do |msg, reply, sub|
    nc.publish(reply, "ACK:#{msg}")
  end

  NATS.subscribe('quux', queue: "workers") do |msg, reply, sub|
    nc.publish(reply, "ACK:#{msg}")
  end

  EM.add_timer(2) do
    next if NATS.draining?

    # Drain gracefully closes the connection.
    NATS.drain do
      puts "Done draining. Connection is closed."
    end
  end
end

C

static void
onMsg(natsConnection *conn, natsSubscription *sub, natsMsg *msg, void *closure)
{
    printf("Received msg: %s - %.*s\n",
           natsMsg_GetSubject(msg),
           natsMsg_GetDataLength(msg),
           natsMsg_GetData(msg));

    // Add some delay while processing
    nats_Sleep(200);

    // Need to destroy the message!
    natsMsg_Destroy(msg);
}

static void
closeHandler(natsConnection *conn, void *closure)
{
    cond_variable cv = (cond_variable) closure;

    notify_cond_variable(cv);
}

(...)


natsConnection      *conn      = NULL;
natsOptions         *opts      = NULL;
natsSubscription    *sub       = NULL;
natsStatus          s          = NATS_OK;
cond_variable       cv         = new_cond_variable(); // some fictuous way to notify between threads.

s = natsOptions_Create(&opts);
if (s == NATS_OK)
    // Setup a close handler and pass a reference to our condition variable.
    s = natsOptions_SetClosedCB(opts, closeHandler, (void*) cv);
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Connect(&conn, opts);

// Subscribe
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Subscribe(&sub, conn, "foo", onMsg, NULL);

// Publish a message
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_PublishString(conn, "foo", "hello");

// Drain the connection, which will close it when done.
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Drain(conn);

// Wait for the connection to be closed
if (s == NATS_OK)
    cond_variable_wait(cv);

(...)

// Destroy objects that were created
natsSubscription_Destroy(sub);
natsConnection_Destroy(conn);
natsOptions_Destroy(opts);

The mechanics of drain for a subscription are simpler:

1. Unsubscribe

2. Process all cached or inflight messages

3. Clean up

The API for drain can generally be used instead of unsubscribe:

Go

    nc, err := nats.Connect("demo.nats.io")
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    defer nc.Close()

    done := sync.WaitGroup{}
    done.Add(1)

    count := 0
    errCh := make(chan error, 1)

    msgAfterDrain := "not this one"

    // Just to not collide using the demo server with other users.
    subject := nats.NewInbox()

    // This callback will process each message slowly
    sub, err := nc.Subscribe(subject, func(m *nats.Msg) {
        if string(m.Data) == msgAfterDrain {
            errCh <- fmt.Errorf("Should not have received this message")
            return
        }
        time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
        count++
        if count == 2 {
            done.Done()
        }
    })

    // Send 2 messages
    for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
        nc.Publish(subject, []byte("hello"))
    }

    // Call Drain on the subscription. It unsubscribes but
    // wait for all pending messages to be processed.
    if err := sub.Drain(); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    // Send one more message, this message should not be received
    nc.Publish(subject, []byte(msgAfterDrain))

    // Wait for the subscription to have processed the 2 messages.
    done.Wait()

    // Now check that the 3rd message was not received
    select {
    case e := <-errCh:
        log.Fatal(e)
    case <-time.After(200 * time.Millisecond):
        // OK!
    }

Java

Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://demo.nats.io:4222");

// Use a latch to wait for a message to arrive
CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);

// Create a dispatcher and inline message handler
Dispatcher d = nc.createDispatcher((msg) -> {
    String str = new String(msg.getData(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
    System.out.println(str);
    latch.countDown();
});

// Subscribe
d.subscribe("updates");

// Wait for a message to come in
latch.await();

// Messages that have arrived will be processed
CompletableFuture<Boolean> drained = d.drain(Duration.ofSeconds(10));

// Wait for the drain to complete
drained.get();

// Close the connection
nc.close();

JavaScript

const sub = nc.subscribe(subj, { callback: (_err, _msg) => {} });
nc.publish(subj);
nc.publish(subj);
nc.publish(subj);
await sub.drain();

Python

import asyncio
from nats.aio.client import Client as NATS

async def example(loop):
    nc = NATS()

    await nc.connect("nats://127.0.0.1:4222", loop=loop)

    async def handler(msg):
        print("[Received] ", msg)
        await nc.publish(msg.reply, b'I can help')

        # Can check whether client is in draining state
        if nc.is_draining:
            print("Connection is draining")

    sid = await nc.subscribe("help", "workers", cb=handler)
    await nc.flush()

    # Gracefully unsubscribe the subscription
    await nc.drain(sid)

C#

// dotnet add package NATS.Net
using NATS.Net;

await using var client = new NatsClient();

var subject = client.Connection.NewInbox();

// Make sure to use a cancellation token to end the subscription
using var cts = new CancellationTokenSource();

var sync = false;
var process = Task.Run(async () =>
{
    await foreach (var msg in client.SubscribeAsync<int>(subject, cancellationToken: cts.Token))
    {
        if (msg.Data == -1)
        {
            sync = true;
            continue;
        }
        Console.WriteLine($"Received: {msg.Data}");
        await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(300));
    }

    Console.WriteLine("Subscription completed");
});

// Make sure the subscription is ready
while (sync == false)
{
    await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(100));
    await client.PublishAsync(subject, -1);
}

for (var i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    await client.PublishAsync(subject, i);
}
Console.WriteLine("Published 5 messages");

// Cancelling the subscription will unsubscribe from the subject
// and messages that are already in the buffer will be processed
await cts.CancelAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Cancelled subscription");

Console.WriteLine("Waiting for subscription to complete");
await process;

Console.WriteLine("Done");

Ruby

# There is currently no API to drain a single subscription, the whole connection can be drained though via NATS.drain

C

natsConnection      *conn      = NULL;
natsSubscription    *sub       = NULL;
natsStatus          s          = NATS_OK;

s = natsConnection_ConnectTo(&conn, NATS_DEFAULT_URL);

// Subscribe
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Subscribe(&sub, conn, "foo", onMsg, NULL);

// Publish 2 messages
if (s == NATS_OK)
{
    int i;
    for (i=0; (s == NATS_OK) && (i<2); i++)
    {
        s = natsConnection_PublishString(conn, "foo", "hello");
    }
}

// Call Drain on the subscription. It unsubscribes but
// wait for all pending messages to be processed.
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsSubscription_Drain(sub);

(...)

// Destroy objects that were created
natsSubscription_Destroy(sub);
natsConnection_Destroy(conn);

Because draining can involve messages flowing to the server, for a flush and asynchronous message processing, the timeout for drain should generally be higher than the timeout for a simple message request-reply or similar.