The Routing Switches page
Lesson 11 of 25 6 min read
The emergency switches that stop a whole service, one message type for one service, or a message type everywhere, and when you should and shouldn't use them.
The Routing Switches page is the big red button of routing. Each switch affects every integration type at once. This lesson shows you what each switch does, how to use one safely, and why you should almost always reach for the Routing tab instead.
Emergencies only
Each switch on this page affects all integration types at the same time. To pause one integration type, use its Routing tab and set Enabled to off on the row.
Open Administration → Routing → Routing Switches.
The Services table
One row for each service.
| Service | The name and id of the service. |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Turns the service on or off. When it is off, the service stops getting all its messages within about 10 seconds. |
| Create, Parse, Receive, Send | Turns on or off the link between the service and that message type. When it is off, the service stops getting that message type only, for all integration types. |
A link that is switched off and a link that doesn't exist look the same: both show as off. For example, the Create and Parse cells of AS2 Service are off because AS2 can't do those message types. If you try to turn on a link that doesn't exist, this message shows: This service doesn't handle that message type. That's expected; there's nothing to fix.
The Message types table
One row for each message type.
| Message type | The name and id of the message type. |
|---|---|
| Enabled | Turns the message type on or off. When it is off, no service gets that message type, for any integration type. |
How wide is each switch?
When any of these is off, affected Routing tabs show Off with the reason, for example Off: AS2 Service is disabled.
Use a switch
- Select the switch.
- A dialog tells you what the change does. Read it.
- Select Switch off or Switch on to confirm. Select Cancel to stop.
Pause, don't discard
Use these switches to pause work, not to discard work.
What happens to messages while a switch is off is not yet known
It isn't yet known what happens to messages that arrive while a switch is off. Don't tell users that their messages will be kept, and don't tell them they will be lost. Say that the work is paused, and that you'll confirm the effect.
You can't add or delete services, message types or the links between them. Those come from the system itself.
An AS2 problem across many partners
An AS2 certificate problem means outbound files to every AS2 partner are being rejected. Hilltop Coffee and several other organisations are affected. Pausing each AS2 partner type one by one would take too long.
You open Routing Switches, set Enabled off for AS2 Service, read the dialog and select Switch off. Within about 10 seconds the AS2 partner types' Routing tabs show Off: AS2 Service is disabled. When customers ask, you say the AS2 work is paused while the problem is fixed, without promising that files are being kept. When the problem is solved, you switch the service on again.
Recap
- Routing Switches affect every integration type. Use them for emergencies only.
- A service's Enabled stops all its messages. Its message type cells stop one message type on that service. A message type's Enabled stops it on every service.
- An off cell can mean the link doesn't exist, as for AS2 Create and Parse.
- Always read the confirmation dialog.
- It isn't known what happens to messages that arrive while a switch is off, so don't promise users either way.
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