The mp command line utility is like curl or ncat for Message Ports (and ZeroMQ connections in general). It's a convenient way to experiment with different kinds of inter-process messaging patterns from the comfort of your shell.
Here's an example of request/reply messaging:
First we open a reply socket on port 2000
$ mp reply 2000
- started reply socket on port 2000
- waiting for request
Lines beginning with a - are log messages from the system. Now let's open another terminal and start a request socket connected to the same port.
$ mp request 2000
- started request socket on port 2000
<
When you see a < that means that mp is waiting for you to type a message that will transmitted to the other end of the connection. Type anything and press enter.
$ mp request 2000
- started reply socket on port 2000
< sup?
- request sent
- waiting for reply
Now switch back to the reply terminal and you should see
$ mp reply 2000
- started reply socket on port 2000
- waiting for request
- request received:
> sup?
<
Type a response and switch back to the other terminal
$ mp request 2000
- started reply socket on port 2000
> sup?
- message sent, waiting for response
- reply received:
> nm, u?
<