Message Queuing Queues

Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server Technical Preview, Windows Vista

Queues are logical containers that Message Queuing uses to store and later forward messages, providing the bases for the loosely coupled aspects of Message Queuing. For example, sending applications and Message Queuing can send messages to queues without needing to know when the messages are delivered or when the receiving application will process the messages in the queue. The act of sending messages to a queue is independent of when the message reaches the queue and when the receiving application reads the messages in the queue.

Applications can create queues, locate existing queues, open queues, send messages to queues, read messages in queues, set and retrieve queue properties, and set and retrieve the security descriptors of queues. For information on how an application references a queue when performing these operations, see Referencing a Queue.

Queues can be created by applications and by Message Queuing. Queues created by applications or by users in an MMC snap-in are referred to as application queues. Queues created by Message Queuing are referred to as system-generated queues.