How to implement bidirectional channel using camel netty4 - sockets

Question

Here is my use case:
I have two endpoints: one with MQ and the second with TCP/IP
I have to replace a legacy server which accepts queries from remote TCP/IP clients. Once the socket is open with the client, data is exchanged in both sides. the server sends asynchronously MQ data through TCP/IP and receive data from clients asynchronously also. Each data message sent has to be acknowledged. The constraint here is that I have to use the same socket.
I created two routes
from("netty4:tcp://ipAddress:port?sync=true").to("wmq:queue:toQueue")
from("wmq:queue:fromQueue").to("netty4:tcp://ipAddress:port?sync=true")
I start the first queue to receive session open request from clients and then I start the second route to start sending data but I cannot use the same channel.
I tried to get the remote port of the first route and used it in the second route but I have a ConnectException because netty4 tries to open a new socket which is already open.
I found that netty4 can be used asynchronously using the AsyncProcessor but I didn't find any example dealing with my use case.
The only idea I found is that I have to create a standalone server which open the sockets with the clients and make it communicate with the two endpoints.
Is there any way to implement this situation using camel only?
any help on this subject is really appreciated.

Answer 1

Your code won't be able to run as it is for your use case. I also suspect you are trying to use Camel as IP server framework and not an integration in this case.
Lets review Apache Camel's concept of producers and consumers. In the integration world we talk about client and servers as consumers and producers. This might seem like a language difference until you realise a consumer(typically a client) can also be a producer(server).
Some helpful definitions:
1. Producer: A producer is an entity capable of creating and sending a message to an endpoint. A typical example would be code like .to("file:data/outbox") as this produces a file.
2. Consumer: A consumer is an entity that receives messages produced by a producer, it wraps these messages in an exchange and sends them to be processed. A typical example would be code like from(jms:topic:xmlOrders)
A rule of thumb is that typically consumers are the source of the messages being routed.
BIG NOTE:
These two definitions are not set in stone a producer can also be an endpoint using the from and a consumer can be an endpoint using the to.
So in your case let's break up the route:
from("netty4:tcp://ipAddress:port?sync=true").to("wmq:queue:toQueue")
In this route you are creating a Netty server that sends a message to a queue. Here your netty endpoint acts as a consumer(yes it is in the from clause) however this creates a Netty4 Server at the IP address and endpoint you specified. This then send a message to another consumer which is the MQ client which act as a consumer again. So two consumers? Where is the producer? The client connecting to the netty server will act as producer.
Let's look at the second piece of the route:
from("wmq:queue:fromQueue").to("netty4:tcp://ipAddress:port?sync=true")
Here you are creating a client/consumer for the MQ services and then creating a client/producer to the netty server. Essentially you are creating a NEW client here that connects to the SERVER you created in the first route.
So in short your route creates a Netty server that send a message to MQ then creates a MQ client that sends a message to a Netty client which connects to the server you have created. It wont work like this.
Go read about message exchange patterns for further reading, but I would suggest that if you are just using Netty and MQ then maybe Camel is a bit overkill as it is a integration platform and not a IP server platform.