workbox-range-requests

What is workbox-range-requests?

The workbox-range-requests npm package is a module that makes it easy to add support for efficiently handling partial content requests in service workers. It's part of the Workbox suite of tools, which are designed to make it easier to build offline-first Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). This package specifically deals with range requests, which are HTTP requests that include a Range header indicating which part of the content the client wants to receive. This is particularly useful for large files, like videos or audio, where the client might only need a portion of the file at a time.

What are workbox-range-requests's main functionalities?

Creating a range request handler

This code sample demonstrates how to create a route that handles .mp4 files using the RangeRequestsPlugin. When a range request is received for an MP4 file, the plugin will take care of slicing the appropriate chunk of the file and returning it to the client.

workbox.routing.registerRoute(
  /\.mp4$/,
  new workbox.rangeRequests.RangeRequestsPlugin()
);

Using RangeRequestsPlugin with a custom handler

This code sample shows how to use the RangeRequestsPlugin within a custom handler function. When a range request is received, the plugin's createPartialResponse method is used to generate the partial response from the cachedResponse.

workbox.routing.registerRoute(
  /\.mp4$/,
  async ({request, event}) => {
    // Assume `cachedResponse` will be the Response from the cache.
    const rangeRequestPlugin = new workbox.rangeRequests.RangeRequestsPlugin();
    return rangeRequestPlugin.createPartialResponse(request, cachedResponse);
  }
);

Other packages similar to workbox-range-requests

http-range-fetcher

This package is similar to workbox-range-requests in that it also handles HTTP range requests. However, it is not specifically designed for service workers or offline-first PWAs. It's a more general-purpose library for node.js environments.

shaka-player

While not a direct alternative to workbox-range-requests, shaka-player is an open-source JavaScript library for adaptive media playback in HTML5. It handles network requests, including range requests, for media segments in the context of adaptive streaming. It's more complex and serves a broader purpose than workbox-range-requests.

README

This module's documentation can be found at https://developers.google.com/web/tools/workbox/modules/workbox-range-requests