QueueExplorer is Cogin’s desktop tool for inspecting, modifying, and testing messages in Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, MSMQ, and ActiveMQ Classic. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Standard and Professional editions use commercial licenses, with a trial for evaluation.
Connections and destinations
Connections form a tree of servers and their queues, topics, or other messaging objects. Users enter broker details and credentials, then organize connections into groups and open destinations in tabs. A project file saves the connection and group list for reuse elsewhere.
Azure connections accept a shared-access connection string, Microsoft Entra ID login, or an emulator host. RabbitMQ settings identify the broker and virtual host. ActiveMQ connections combine Jolokia management settings with OpenWire messaging. QueueExplorer supports Classic rather than Artemis. Its live topic view shows messages as they arrive.
Direct MSMQ access uses Windows. Mac and Linux clients can reach remote MSMQ through QueueProxy, a separate Windows service. QueueProxy also removes limitations that direct remote MSMQ connections impose.
Payloads and working lists
Opening a queue loads messages progressively. A row selection previews the body and properties, while a message window exposes further details. Users choose JSON, XML, text encodings, hexadecimal data, or WCF viewers according to the payload.
Column selection brings message IDs, headers, timestamps, and application properties into the grid. Column filters match individual fields, while the filter builder combines conditions across several fields. Sorting, searching, grouping, and filtering operate on messages the client has loaded. They change the display without changing broker processing order.
Automatic refresh updates queue and message lists at a chosen interval and briefly highlights changes. ActiveMQ policies can limit how many messages the broker returns, regardless of the client’s loading selection.
Body compression settings let viewers decompress GZip, Deflate, and single-file ZIP content. QueueExplorer can compress outgoing messages after creation or editing. Changing the viewing setting alone leaves existing queue contents unchanged.
Repair, move, and replay
Users can create a message from typed text or a file, choose its encoding, and set editable properties. Editing an existing message provides a destination selector and an option to keep the original. Sending normally creates a replacement message, so broker-generated IDs, timestamps, and queue position can change.
Clipboard commands and drag and drop copy or move selections between suitable queues and servers. Delete removes individual messages; Purge removes all available messages from a queue. Requeue operations return supported dead-letter or journal messages to their original destination.
Files for transfer and testing
Three file paths preserve different parts of a message:
- MQ files hold multiple complete messages, including available properties and binary bodies, in a compressed format.
- Body files preserve individual payloads. Import creates messages with default metadata and can use filenames as labels.
- CSV exports selected fields for reading or modification and supports message import. UTF-8 conversion can alter binary content.
Saved message selections provide reusable test inputs rather than a complete broker backup. Bulk Paste multiplies clipboard messages using a copy count and an interval between sends. Cancel stops further sending and leaves copies that already reached the destination.
Broker-specific traffic
Azure views expose scheduled, deferred, and dead-letter messages alongside ordinary queue traffic. Users can schedule a message for a future processing time or reschedule it. Selecting a topic lists its subscriptions for creation or deletion. Deferring moves a message into the Deferred view until another operation handles it. Some operations on messages inside a queue receive earlier deliveries first, which can increase delivery counts and trigger dead-lettering.
RabbitMQ stream browsing accepts an offset or starts at either end, then moves through pages. Users can append stream entries, but cannot edit, move, or delete individual existing entries. Ordinary queue browsing temporarily receives and returns deliveries, which can hide them from other consumers and increase quorum delivery counts.
Definitions and routing
QueueExplorer creates and manages supported queueing objects. RabbitMQ binding panels add, edit, or delete exchange connections and navigate to their source or destination.
Professional schema operations copy or export definitions, then compare them with a target environment. Users select objects, preview proposed changes, and explicitly run them. Import can create or modify compatible objects; it does not delete existing objects.
Professional inspection layouts
Custom columns extract business values through JSON expressions, XPath, or regular expressions. Users test an expression against sample content and choose a text or numeric column type. Those values then support sorting, filtering, and grouping.
Queue Views retain columns, filters, sorting, grouping, encodings, and viewer settings for particular queues. Custom folders collect destinations through manual selection, wildcards, or regular expressions. Both features require Professional, alongside schema operations and custom columns. Both Windows editions offer a read-only mode that disables commands for modifying messages or broker configuration.
