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48.

Mapping Messages to Classes in a Transport Serializer

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We've written our transport serializer to always expect only one type of message to be put into the queue: a message that tells our app to "log an emoji". Your app might be that simple, but it's more likely that this "external" system might send 5 or 10 different types of messages. In that case, our serializer needs to detect which type of message this is and then turn it into the correct message object.

How can we do that? How can we figure out which one type of message this is? Do we... just look at what fields the JSON has? We could... but we can also do something smarter.

Refactoring to a switch

Let's start by reorganizing this class a bit. Select the code at the bottom of this method - the stuff related to the LogEmoji object - and then go to the Refactor -> "Refactor This" menu, which is Ctrl+T on a Mac. Refactor this code to a method called createLogEmojiEnvelope.

Tip

To make sure "retries" work correctly, some of the code in this section has been tweaked. See the code blocks on this page for the updated examples!

79 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
public function decode(array $encodedEnvelope): Envelope
{
// ... lines 15 - 23
$envelope = $this->createLogEmojiEnvelope($data);
// in case of redelivery, unserialize any stamps
$stamps = [];
if (isset($headers['stamps'])) {
$stamps = unserialize($headers['stamps']);
}
$envelope = $envelope->with(... $stamps);
return $envelope;
}
// ... lines 35 - 63
private function createLogEmojiEnvelope($data): Envelope
{
if (!isset($data['emoji'])) {
throw new MessageDecodingFailedException('Missing the emoji key!');
}
$message = new LogEmoji($data['emoji']);
$envelope = new Envelope($message);
// needed only if you need this to be sent through the non-default bus
$envelope = $envelope->with(new BusNameStamp('command.bus'));
return $envelope;
}
}

Cool! That created a private function down here with that code. I'll add an array type-hint. Back in decode(), we're already calling this method. So, no big change.

47 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
// ... lines 13 - 31
private function createLogEmojiEnvelope(array $data): Envelope
{
// ... lines 34 - 44
}
}

Using Headers for the Type

The key question is: if multiple types of messages are being added to the queue, how can the serializer determine which type of message this is? Well, we could add maybe a type key to the JSON itself. That might be fine. But, there's another spot on the message that can hold data: the headers. These work a lot like HTTP headers: they're just "extra" information you can store about the message. Whatever header we put here will make it back to our serializer when it's consumed.

Ok, so let's add a new header called type set to emoji. I just made that up. I'm not making this a class name... because that external system won't know or care about what PHP classes we use internally to handle this. It's just saying:

This is an "emoji" type of message

Back in our serializer, let's first check to make sure that header is set: if not isset($headers['type']), then throw a new MessageDecodingFailedException with:

Missing "type" header

56 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
public function decode(array $encodedEnvelope): Envelope
{
// ... lines 15 - 23
if (!isset($headers['type'])) {
throw new MessageDecodingFailedException('Missing "type" header');
}
// ... lines 27 - 33
}
// ... lines 35 - 54
}

Then, down here, we'll use a good, old-fashioned switch case statement on $headers['type']. If this is set to emoji, return $this->createLogEmojiEnvelope().

92 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
public function decode(array $encodedEnvelope): Envelope
{
// ... lines 15 - 23
if (!isset($headers['type'])) {
throw new MessageDecodingFailedException('Missing "type" header');
}
switch ($headers['type']) {
case 'emoji':
$envelope = $this->createLogEmojiEnvelope($data);
break;
// ... lines 32 - 33
}
// ... lines 35 - 43
return $envelope;
}
// ... lines 46 - 90
}

After this, you would add any other "types" that the external system publishes, like delete_photo. In those cases you would instantiate a different message object and return that. And, if some unexpected "type" is passed, let's throw a new MessageDecodingFailedException with

Invalid type "%s"

passing $headers['type'] as the wildcard.

92 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
public function decode(array $encodedEnvelope): Envelope
{
// ... lines 15 - 27
switch ($headers['type']) {
case 'emoji':
$envelope = $this->createLogEmojiEnvelope($data);
break;
default:
throw new MessageDecodingFailedException(sprintf('Invalid type "%s"', $headers['type']));
}
// ... lines 35 - 90
}

Tip

To support retries on failure, you also need to re-add the "type" header inside encode():

92 lines | src/Messenger/ExternalJsonMessageSerializer.php
// ... lines 1 - 10
class ExternalJsonMessageSerializer implements SerializerInterface
{
// ... lines 13 - 46
public function encode(Envelope $envelope): array
{
// ... lines 49 - 53
if ($message instanceof LogEmoji) {
// ... lines 55 - 56
$type = 'emoji';
// ... lines 58 - 59
}
// ... lines 61 - 66
return [
// ... line 68
'headers' => [
// store stamps as a header - to be read in decode()
'stamps' => serialize($allStamps),
'type' => $type,
],
];
}
// ... lines 76 - 90
}

Kinda cool, right? Let's go stop our worker, then restart it so it sees our new code:

php bin/console messenger:consume -vv external_messages

Back in the Rabbit manager, I'll change the emojis key back to emoji and... publish! In the terminal... sweet! It worked! Now change the type header to something we don't support, like photo. Publish and... yea! An exception killed our worker:

Invalid type "photo".

Ok friends... yea... that's it! Congrats on making it to the end! I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did! I mean, handling messages asynchronously... that's pretty fun stuff. The great thing about Messenger is that it works brilliantly out of the box with a single message bus and the Doctrine transport. Or, you can go crazy: create multiple transports, send things to RabbitMQ, create custom exchanges with binding keys or use your own serializer to... well... basically do whatever you want. The power... it's... intoxicating!

So, start writing some crazy handler code and then... handle that work later! And let us know what you're building. As always, if you have some questions, we're there for you in the comments.

Alright friends, seeya next time!