
var express = require('express')
,   app     = express.createServer()

var lactate = require('lactate')

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
  return lactate.file('index.html', req, res)
})

app.listen(8080)

var transmit = require('transmit')()
transmit.listen(app, function(socket) {
    socket.on('request', data, cb) {
        cb('Greetings')
    })
})

Client

index.html


<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Transmit example</title>
    <script src='/transmit'></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <script>
    var $t = transmit()
    $t.on('open', function() {
        $t.send('request', 'asdf', function(res) {
            alert(res) /* 'Greetings' */
        })
    })
    </script>
  </body>
</html>

Integrating with express sessions

To integrate express sessions with Transmit, first make sure you have node_redis and connect-redis modules installed.

npm install redis hiredis connect-redis

Then simply set sessions to true in the Transmit options.

var express = require('express')
var app = express.createServer()

var RedisStore = require('connect-redis')(express)

app.use(express.cookieParser())
app.use(express.session({
    store:new RedisStore()
    secret:'somn'
})

app.get('/', function(req, res) {
    req.session.user = Math.random().toString(36).substring(2)
    res.end(landingPage)
})

app.listen(8080)

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    sessions:true
})

transmit.on('connection', function(socket) {
    var user = socket.session.user
})

transmit.listen(app)

Transmit parses incoming connection headers to find the connect session ID, queries Redis for the session data, and JSON parses it. Transmit is then loosely-coupled to your express app.

To query Redis for sessions after the client has connected:

transmit.on('connection', function(con) {
    transmit.getSession(con, function(err, session) {

    })
})

Grouping clients

Transmit allows you to group clients any way you like, by exposing a mapping function. Combined with Express sessions this can be quite convenient. Example.


function attachURL(req, res, next) {
    req.session.url = req.url
    return next()
}

app.get('/', attachURL, function(req, res) {
    /* Send landing page with Transmit script */
})

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    sessions:true
})

transmit.group(function(client) {
    return client.session.url
})

transmit.listen(app, function(client) {
    client.peers(function(peer) {
        peer.send('greet', 'Greetings')
    })
})

Server methods

on (event string, callback function)

Applicable events

connection socket
error error
close

listen (server http(s).Server, callback function)

Callback function is executed for every connection with one argument: the connecting socket

broadcast (event string, message stringifiable)

group (fn function)

This method will map your clients into groups, using fn. In the following example your clients will be grouped by the someProperty property of their session object (assuming sessions have been enabled). To access a group you may use either Transmit's of method or the peers method attached to Transmit clients.


transmit.group(function(client) {
    return client.session.someProperty
})

of (group string)

Returns an array of clients by group name.

close

Close the server

Socket methods

These methods exist on both the client and server-side.

on (event string, callback function)

Applicable events

error error
close

send (event string, message stringifiable, callback function)

The send method automatically stringifies your second argument. An optional third argument is for callback function.

Transmit's stringification format is: JSON.stringify([event, data])

Server

    socket.on('requestMilk', function(req, res) {
        res('Try again soon')
    })

Client

    transmit.send('requestMilk, 'please', function(res) {
        alert(res === 'Try again soon') /* true */
    })

sendBinary (data buffer)

peers (fn function)

Without a callback this function returns an array containing the client's peers. Otherwise, your callback will be executed for every peer.

While using a callback to broadcast to a peer group, note that to avoid Transmit's automatic stringification you may use the native send method attached to the socket property. At this level Transmit behaves just like the ws module. However, note also that Transmit stringifies in the format described above.

    var ids = socket.peers().map(function(i) { return i.clientId })

    var dataString = JSON.stringify([
        'someEvent',
        'someData'
    ])

    socket.peers(function(peer) {
        peer.socket.send(dataString)
    })

close

Close the client

Options

Transmit options

The client_name option refers to the name with which to expose our client script. By default, the client script is accessed from /transmit.

var id = 'to_defy_the_laws_of_tradition_is_a_crusade_only_of_the_brave'

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    'client_name':id
})

/*
    The script can now be accessed from 
    /to_defy_the_laws_of_tradition_is_a_crusade_only_of_the_brave
*/

To prevent the client script from being served, use no_client

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    no_client:true
})

To integrate with express sessions using connect-redis, set sessions to true. This will automatically fetch sessions from connect-redis and attach the session property to incoming sockets.

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    sessions:true
})

ws options

To set ws options, you may pass them to the initialization function like so

var transmit = require('transmit')({port:2112})

You can find all of the available ws options here

node_redis options

Transmit uses Redis (node_redis) to fetch sessions from a connect-redis session store. If you don't care about sessions, these options don't apply to you. If you do care about integrating sessions, see the section above on that topic.

You may pass options to node_redis by way of the redis property. See available options here

var transmit = require('transmit')({
    redis: {

    }
})

Lactate options

For serving the client script, Transmit relies on Lactate. You may set Lactate options using lactate like so

var _transmit = require('transmit')({
    lactate: {
        expires:'one year'
    }
})

A complex options example:


var options = {
    port:2112,
    client_name:'MyScript',
    sessions:false,

    lactate: {
        expires:'two days',
        cache:false
    },

    redis:{
        parser:'javascript',
        no_ready_check:true
    }
}

var transmit = require('transmit')(options)

Keywords

websocket

FAQs

What is transmit?

Is transmit well maintained?

Package last updated on 31 Aug 2012

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Install

transmit

Transmit

Basic example

Server

Client

Integrating with express sessions

Grouping clients

Server methods

on (event string, callback function)

listen (server http(s).Server, callback function)

broadcast (event string, message stringifiable)

group (fn function)

of (group string)

close

Socket methods

on (event string, callback function)

send (event string, message stringifiable, callback function)

sendBinary (data buffer)

peers (fn function)

close

Options

Keywords

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