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connecting two apps using socketIO

I have implemented a user interface to do some wizard of oz testing. I have a user-side page (Page A), and a second page, the wizard page (Page B). They use the same data and page B receives some information from page A to load the correct data. When the user asks questions on page A, the question is sent to page B, and an answer should be sent back to page A. The problem is that Page A is open on device A and page B is open on Device B (both are on the same server).
I am trying to implement the communication between page A and page B using socketIO. I searched for hours and didn't find a complete example of connecting two apps using socketIO. They usually open the same app in multiple windows. That won't help me. My understanding so far is that I should create a server for each app, and then have the two servers communicate with each other. What I have so far doesn't work and no communication is happening. What I have is as follow:
for page A (index.html):
I added a index.js server file:
// Import packages
const express = require("express");
const socketIO = require("socket.io");
const path = require("path");
// Configuration
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;
//const INDEX = path.join(__dirname, 'index.html');
const INDEX = path.join(__dirname, 'index.html');
console.log("INDEX", INDEX);
//const WIZARD = path.join(__dirname, 'wizard.html');
// Start server
const server = express()
//.use((req, res) => res.sendFile(INDEX), (req, res) => res.sendFile(WIZARD))
.use((req, res) => res.sendFile(INDEX))
.listen(PORT, () => console.log("Listening on localhost:" + PORT));
// Initiatlize SocketIO
const io = socketIO(server);
var other_server = require("socket.io-client")('http://localhost:4000');
other_server.on("connect",function(){
other_server.on('message',function(data){
// We received a message from Server 2
// We are going to forward/broadcast that message to the "Lobby" room
io.to('lobby').emit('message',data);
});
});
io.sockets.on("connection",function(socket){
// Display a connected message
console.log("User-Client Connected!");
// Lets force this connection into the lobby room.
socket.join('lobby');
// Some roster/user management logic to track them
// This would be upto you to add :)
// When we receive a message...
socket.on("message",function(data){
// We need to just forward this message to our other guy
// We are literally just forwarding the whole data packet
other_server.emit("message",data);
});
socket.on("disconnect",function(data){
// We need to notify Server 2 that the client has disconnected
other_server.emit("message","UD,"+socket.id);
// Other logic you may or may not want
// Your other disconnect code here
});
});
For the same app, to the index.html I added the following script:
<script type="text/javascript">
// Get WebSocket
var socket = io.connect('http://localhost:3000');
// Client
socket.on('connect', function(){
socket.emit("message","This is my message");
socket.on('message',function(data){
console.log("We got a message: ",data);
});
});
// Join a channel
var room = "test";
socket.emit("join", room);
let msg = "hello helloo helloooo from index.html";
socket.emit("new_message", msg);
socket.on("new_message", function (msg) {
console.log("sending a message through server from index.html", msg);
});
</script>
For the second app, wizard.html I added a server file, index.js:
// Import packages
const express = require("express");
const socketIO = require("socket.io");
const path = require("path");
// Configuration
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 4000;
//const INDEX = path.join(__dirname, 'index.html');
const INDEX = path.join(__dirname, 'wizard.html');
console.log("INDEX", INDEX);
//const WIZARD = path.join(__dirname, 'wizard.html');
// Start server
const server = express()
//.use((req, res) => res.sendFile(INDEX), (req, res) => res.sendFile(WIZARD))
.use((req, res) => res.sendFile(INDEX))
.listen(PORT, () => console.log("Listening on localhost:" + PORT));
// Server 2
const io = socketIO(server);
io.sockets.on("connection",function(socket){
// Display a connected message
console.log("Server-Client Connected!");
// When we receive a message...
socket.on("message",function(data){
// We got a message. I don't know, what we should do with this
});
});
and to the wizard.html, I added the script below:
<script type="text/javascript">
// Get WebSocket
//var socket = io();
var socket = io.connect('http://localhost:4000');
// Join a channel
var room = "test";
socket.emit("join", room);
let msg = "hello helloo helloooo from wizard";
socket.emit("new_message", msg);
socket.on("new_message", function (msg) {
console.log("sending message through server from wizard", msg);
});
/*
*/
</script>
I also added <script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script> to both apps, index.html, and wizard.html.
In wizard.html I get this error:
POST http://localhost:4000/socket.io/?EIO=3&transport=polling&t=OAp7bZr 400 (Bad Request)
and in index.html I get this error:
Access to XMLHttpRequest at 'http://localhost/socket.io/?EIO=3&transport=polling&t=OAp7k5w' from origin 'http://localhost:3000' has been blocked by CORS policy:
If you can help me figure out what I am missing or if you know of any complete working example similar to what I am trying to accomplish, I would very much appreciate it if you let me know.
It would be even more helpful if someone could use the code and scenario I provided here and write a minimum working example in which the two apps, a.html, and b.html, can communicate through socketIO.

Working with multiple tabs with Socket.io

I've the following code working in my server-side, it's all ok. But, I want to keep the same connection between n tabs, because when I open a new tab, looks like I've disconnected from the first tab... So, how can I keep the same connection?
client.js
socket.emit("connected", {user: inputUser.val()};
app.js
var express = require("express"),
app = express(),
http = require("http").Server(app),
io = require("socket.io")(http),
users = {};
io.on("connection", function(socket) {
socket.on("connected", function(data) {
socket.user = data.user;
users[socket.user] = socket;
updateUsers();
});
function updateUsers() {
io.emit("users", Object.keys(users));
}
socket.on("typing", function(data) {
var userMsg = data.user;
if(userMsg in users) {
users[userMsg].emit("typing", {user: socket.user});
}
});
socket.on("disconnect", function(data) {
if(!socket.user) {
return;
}
delete users[socket.user];
updateUsers();
});
});
var port = Number(process.env.PORT || 8000);
http.listen(port, function() {
console.log("Server running on 8000!");
});
Update:
The typing event above works fine... So I tried the typing event according to the answer:
var express = require("express"),
app = express(),
http = require("http").Server(app),
io = require("socket.io")(http),
users = {};
io.on("connection", function(socket) {
socket.on("connected", function(data) {
socket.user = data.user;
// add this socket to the Set of sockets for this user
if (!users[socket.user]) {
users[socket.user] = new Set();
}
users[socket.user].add(socket);
updateUsers();
});
function updateUsers() {
io.emit("users", Object.keys(users));
}
socket.on("typing", function(data) {
var userMsg = data.user;
if(userMsg in users) {
users[userMsg].emit("typing", {user: socket.user});
}
});
socket.on("disconnect", function(data) {
if(!socket.user) {
return;
}
// remove socket for this user
// and remove user if socket count hits zero
if (users[socket.user]) {
users[socket.user].delete(socket);
if (users[socket.user].size === 0) {
delete users[socket.user];
}
}
updateUsers();
});
});
var port = Number(process.env.PORT || 8000);
http.listen(port, function() {
console.log("Server running on 8000!");
});
But it is giving the following error:
users[userMsg].emit("typing", {user: socket.user});
^
TypeError: users[userMsg].emit is not a function
Update²:
To fix the typing event error, I just changed to:
socket.on("typing", function(data) {
var userMsg = data.user;
if(userMsg in users) {
for(let userSet of users[userMsg]) {
userSet.emit("typing", {user: socket.user});
}
}
});

There is no simple way to share a single socket.io connection among multiple tabs in the same browser. The usual model for multiple tabs would be that each tab just has its own socket.io connection.
The opening of a new tab and a new socket.io connection should not, on its own, cause your server to think anything was disconnected. If your code is doing that, then that is a fault in your code and it is probably easier to fix that particular fault.
In fact, if you want to explicitly support multiple tabs and be able to recognize that multiple tabs may all be used by the same user, then you may want to change your server side code so that it can keep track of multiple sockets for a single user, rather than how it is currently coded to only keep track of one socket per user.
If your server code is really just trying to keep track of which users online, then there's probably an easier way to do that by referencing counting each user. I will post a code example in a bit.
var express = require("express"),
app = express(),
http = require("http").Server(app),
io = require("socket.io")(http),
users = {};
io.on("connection", function(socket) {
socket.on("connected", function(data) {
socket.user = data.user;
// increment reference count for this user
if (!users[socket.user]) {
users[socket.user] = 0;
}
++users[socket.user];
updateUsers();
});
function updateUsers() {
io.emit("users", Object.keys(users));
}
socket.on("disconnect", function(data) {
if(!socket.user) {
return;
}
// decrement reference count for this user
// and remove user if reference count hits zero
if (users.hasOwnProperty(socket.user)) {
--users[socket.user];
if (users[socket.user] === 0) {
delete users[socket.user];
}
}
updateUsers();
});
});
var port = Number(process.env.PORT || 8000);
http.listen(port, function() {
console.log("Server running on 8000!");
});
If you need the users object to have the socket object in it, then you can change what is stored in the users object to be a Set of sockets like this:
var express = require("express"),
app = express(),
http = require("http").Server(app),
io = require("socket.io")(http),
users = {};
io.on("connection", function(socket) {
socket.on("connected", function(data) {
socket.user = data.user;
// add this socket to the Set of sockets for this user
if (!users[socket.user]) {
users[socket.user] = new Set();
}
users[socket.user].add(socket);
updateUsers();
});
function updateUsers() {
io.emit("users", Object.keys(users));
}
socket.on("disconnect", function(data) {
if(!socket.user) {
return;
}
// remove socket for this user
// and remove user if socket count hits zero
if (users[socket.user]) {
users[socket.user].delete(socket);
if (users[socket.user].size === 0) {
delete users[socket.user];
}
}
updateUsers();
});
});
var port = Number(process.env.PORT || 8000);
http.listen(port, function() {
console.log("Server running on 8000!");
});

For anyone still having this issue. here is how i fixed it.
let me explain.
once the page refreshes or a new tab is opened, socket dosen't really care so it opens a new connection every time . this is more of a advantage than disadvantage. the best way to tackle the issue is on the server side, once a user logs in with his or her user name , you can send that name along with the query options on the client so it can be used as a unique identifier. in my case i used a token
this.socket = io.connect(`${environment.domain}` , {
query: {token: this.authservice.authToken}
});
then on the server side you can create an empty array to a key and an array of values. the username of the user will be used as a key and the corresponding array of socket as the value. in my own case like i said i used a token
const users = [ ]
socket.nickname = (decoded token username);
users[socket.nickname] = [socket];
then you can perform a simple logic to check if a user already exists in an array, if it does, push the new socket to the array of the user
if ( user.username in users) {
console.log('already exists')
users[user.username].push(socket);
}
if it dosent, just create a new key and add the socket as the key.(make sure its an array because a user can always refresh or open a new tab with the same account and you dont want the chat message to deliver in one tab and not deliver in another)
else {
socket.nickname = username;
users[socket.nickname] = [socket];
}
then to emit a message you simply loop through the array and emit the message accordingly. this way each tab gets the message
socket.on('chat', (data) => {
if (data.to in users) {
for(let i = 0; i < users[data.to].length; i++) {
users[data.to][i].emit('chat', data)
}
for(let i = 0; i < users[data.user].length; i++) {
users[data.user][i].emit('chat', data)
}
}
})
you can add a disconnect logic to remove the socket from the users array too to save memory, so only currently open tabs acre active and closed tabs are removed. i hope it solved your problem

My solution is joining socket to a room with specific user Id.
io.on('connection', async (socket) => {
socket.join('user:' + socket.handshake.headers.uid) // The right way is getting `uid` from cookie/token and verifying user
})
One advantage is sending data to specific user (sending to all tabs)
io.to('user:' + uid).emit('hello');
Hope it's helpful!

I belive the best way is create a channel for the user and unique it by their ID, so, when you need to receive or send something you use the channel and every socket connected to it will receive.

Another solution is to save the flag to localStorage and use eventListener to change localStorage.
Do not connect when another connection exists.
and save message in local storage for send with master tab.

Match websocket with http request when user connects

The issue that I'm having is http request happen independently or at different time as a web socket connection. The idea is that when a user connects I can store a session id and a web socket within the same pair in var allConnectionsMatches = [];and use this information later in a post request to find out which socket is calling the request so I can emit to that particular socket. The code below shows my attempt. What I wrote does work to an extent but It has a few issues such as when you refresh it sometimes doesnt emit messages anymore, or when you exit out the browser and connect again there is no message emitted by socket io. Any ideas?
var allConnectionsMatches = [];
var sessionID;
app.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
sessionID = req.session.id;
res.render('index.ejs')
});
function findDuplicates(data, sessionID, socket) {
var isPositive = data.lastIndexOf(sessionID);
if (isPositive === true) {
var socketLocation = allConnectionsMatches.indexOf(sessionID);
socketLocation + 1;
allConnectionsMatches.splice(socketLocation, 1, socket)
} else if(isPositive === -1) {
data.push(sessionID, socket);
} else {
}
}
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
findDuplicates(allConnectionsMatches, sessionID, socket)
});

How to push notification to specific user Node + AngularJS + Laravel

I need help how to push notification to specific user. I can now push notifcation but all user will get that notification. I can filter it on clinet side but I think it is unsecure...
First I send data with laravel 5:
$redis = Redis::connection();
$redis->publish('update.answer', json_encode($events));
here is my node.js i emite data:
var app = require('express')();
var http = require('http').Server(app);
var io = require('socket.io')(http);
var Redis = require('ioredis');
var redis = new Redis();
redis.subscribe('update.group', function(err, count) {
});
redis.subscribe('update.question', function(err, count) {
});
redis.subscribe('update.answer', function(err, count) {
});
redis.subscribe('update.comment', function(err, count) {
});
redis.on('message', function(channel, message) {
message = JSON.parse(message);
console.log(message);
io.emit(channel, message);
});
http.listen(3000, function(){
console.log('Listening on Port 3000');
});
and with angularjs I take data and push to the client.
socket.on('update.answer',function(data){
if($scope.remove){
$scope.remove = false;
}
$scope.feed = $("#feed").val();
if(parseInt($scope.feed) === parseInt(data.userID)){
$scope.answers.push(data);
$scope.$digest();
}
});
WIth this part:
$scope.feed = $("#feed").val();
if(parseInt($scope.feed) === parseInt(data.user_id) && data.admin_id !== null){
}
I check if client should get notification but it is unsecure...
Any way to improve this?

To push message to specific user , you must store his/her reference somewhere.
for ex
io.on('connection', function(socket) {
socket.on('add-user', function(data){
clients[data.username] = socket;
});
});
now to push message to specific user just use his username to retrive his socket
clients[data.username].emit(channel, message);
Update : Explanation
This Assume that each user who uses you web app is having some sort of authentication.
As soon as user login into your application , let him join on the nodejs backend socket.
on client side
socket.emit('add-user',userObj);
});
userObj is object that contains user details,you can send the username alone too
socket.emit('add-user',username);
in your nodejs first decalre one array that contains the socket of all the users who joins the website
var clients = [];
now in your nodejs application write this additional code
io.on('connection', function(socket) {
socket.on('add-user', function(data){
clients[data.username] = socket;
});
});
up to this moment the user who login into your website will call add-user event from client side which will in turn call add-user on nodejs and there socket will be added into the clients array
now to send message to any particular user you must know there username,so if you know the username of the user then you can simply emit message to them using
clients[data.username].emit(channel, message);

Socket.io: First Client disconnecting on Second connection

I am creating a socket.io app. When I create a connection to the socket on firefox, it established just fine. When I am using chrome to init another connection to the socket, the first client gets disconnected and then the two clients reconnect again (with the same socket.id)
This is the code I have been working with:
app.post('/auth', function(req, res){ // routes.auth(hash, db, io, pseudoArray, connections, Session));
var username = req.body.username,
password = req.body.password;
if (username != "" && password != ""){
authenticate(username, password, db, hash, function(err, user){
if (user) {
// Regenerate session when signing in
// to prevent fixation
console.log('user authenticated');
req.session.regenerate(function(){
req.session.user = user.name;
req.session.success = 'Authenticated as ' + user.name
+ ' click to logout. '
+ ' You may now access /restricted.';
var Session = connect.middleware.session.Session;
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
var hs = socket.handshake;
console.log('A socket with sessionID ' + hs.sessionID + ' connected!');
socket.set('pseudo', req.session.user, function(){
pseudoArray.push(req.session.user);
socket.emit('pseudoStatus', req.session.user);
console.log("user " + req.session.user + " connected");
});
socket.on('pseudoOk', function(data){
// connections[data] = socket;
connections[data] = socket.id; // connected user with its socket.id
connectedUsers[socket.id] = socket;
console.log('----CONNECTIONS----');
console.log(connections);
console.log('++ USERS ++ ');
console.log(connectedUsers);
console.log('----END CONNECTIONS----');
});
socket.on('disconnect', function () {
console.log('A socket with sessionID ' + hs.sessionID + ' disconnected!');
// clear the socket interval to stop refreshing the session
// clearInterval(intervalID);
});
});
res.cookie('rememberme', '1', { maxAge: 900000, httpOnly: true });
res.redirect('home');
});
} else {
console.log('auth failed');
req.session.error = 'Authentication failed, please check your '
+ ' username and password.'
+ ' (use "tj" and "foobar")';
res.redirect('login');
}
});
} else {
res.redirect('connect');
}
});
Any clues?
The main question is: Will a socket connection on a single computer (localhost) work within two different browsers on the same machine? What I am thinking is that since I am using two browsers on a single machine, I am getting the same socket id for both the browsers. Is that the case?

You're creating an event listener on the socket.io connection event for every POST request to /auth. That's going to result in undefined behaviour and possibly memory leaks. Express and socket.io are two separate subsystems running within the same server application. As such, they shouldn't be mixed like that.
A 'normal' Express/socket.io setup looks like this:
// your Express routes
app.post('/auth', function(req, res) { ... });
...
// socket.io setup (completely separate)
io.sockets.on('connection', function(socket) {
...
});
If you want to share session objects between Express and socket.io: that isn't trivial. Like I said before, both systems should be considered separate from each other. However, there have been some clever people that got it to work. I don't know how up-to-date that blogpost is, though, and it requires quite in-depth knowledge of both Express and socket.io.