13.7.9. Content-Based Router

Content-based routers send messages that do not have destination addresses to their correct end-points. Content-based routing works by applying a set of rules (which can be defined within XPath or Drools notation) to the body of the message. These rules ascertain which parties are interested in the message. This means the sending application does not have to supply a destination address.

A typical use case is to serve priority messages in a high priority queue. The advantage here is that the routing rules can be changed on-the-fly while the service runs if it is configured in that way. (However, this has significant performance drawbacks.)

Other situations in which a content-based router might be useful include when the original destination no longer exists, the service has moved or the application simply wants to have more control over where messages go based on its content of factors such as the time of day.