The behaviour of standard input's readable event in Node JS - node.js

I wrote a UDP client to send lines from standard input to an UDP socket:
var PORT = 12000;
var HOST = '127.0.0.1';
var dgram = require('dgram');
var client = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
process.stdin.on("readable",
function() {
var chunk = process.stdin.read();
if (chunk !== null) {
client.send(chunk, PORT, HOST);
}
}
);
client.on("message",
function (message, remote) {
process.stdout.write(message);
}
);
Now, the readable event fires on the first time but stops working afterwards.
I successfully used this on a TCP chat client and server before: I got a readable event infinitely.
What could cause the problem here?

The code works if I subscribe to the data event on standard input. That fires every time I type a new line into the standard input.
See data event documentation at Stream class.

Related

variable no longer in scope within a socket message fuction?

This is a file that listens to messages on port 5000.
The console.log(status) within the function listen seems to be printing true and false
However when exporting status to other files , I still get "none" instead of true and false ... Any suggestions?
var dgram = require('dgram');
var net = require('net');
var status="none";
var num=0;
var LOCAL_UDP_PORT=5000;
exports.listen=function(){
// TCP and UDP listeners
var sock = dgram.createSocket('udp4');
sock.on('message', function(msg, rinfo) {
try{
var obj = JSON.parse(msg);
if (obj.class == ".Announce") {
if(obj.dev.id == "BLA") {
status=true;
}
else
status=false;
}
console.log(status);
}
} catch(e){
// do nothing an err
}
});
sock.bind(LOCAL_UDP_PORT);
}
//Initialize
exports.status=status;
listen();
I guess the reason is, status take a string object, and when you do status=true/false, the reference changes, but exports.status would hold the original reference
try
var status={val:"none"};
...
status.val = true;
...
// in the module reading the value,
var status = status.val;
The incoming socket messages are asynchronous. That means they arrive sometime in the future. If you want to notify another module when they come in, then you will need to create a notification system and export the notification system so the other module can register an interest in getting notified.
You could create the notification system using an eventEmitter, using callbacks, using promises, etc... Why technique you choose would determine exactly what you would export and how the caller would register their interest.

nodejs xbee not receiving message

I want nodejs to send and receive messages with xbee. I know that the xbee setup works because I tested it on x-ctu. I tried the following but can't receive the message. It says it's open.
var util = require('util');
var SerialPort = require('serialport').SerialPort;
var xbee_api = require('xbee-api');
var C = xbee_api.constants;
var xbeeAPI = new xbee_api.XBeeAPI({
api_mode: 1
});
var serialport = new SerialPort("COM7", {
baudrate: 9600,
parser: xbeeAPI.parseRaw(1000)
});
serialport.on("open", function() {
console.log("open");
});
// All frames parsed by the XBee will be emitted here
//I think this is the problem
xbeeAPI.on("frame_object", function(frame) {
console.log(">>", frame);
});
I figured it out a few day ago. I relized I could just use serial port library.
You need to listen to the serial port first and then parse the data with xbee-api
serialport.on('data', function (data) {
try {
xbeeAPI.parseRaw(data);
} catch (e) {
console.error(e);
}
xbeeAPI.on("frame_object", function (frame) {
console.log(frame);
// do what do you want with the frame
}
}
You need to process the frame switch his frame.type, is case of ZIGBEE_RECEIVE_PACKET you need to convert data to string frame.data.toString(), i don't know why using API1 mode but please try to use 57600 baud-rate or higher to avoid the checksum mismatch problems Good luck.

Emulate server in Node.js - stream delimited file with 1-second pauses

I'm new to Node.js and I am writing a client to consume a text-based TCP stream from a server. For testing purposes, I want to simulate the server in Node so I can test with no other dependencies.
I have a file of captured data that looks like:
$X,... <-- broadcast every second
$A,...
$A,...
$B,...
$X,... <-- broadcast every second
$A,...
$A,...
$C,...
$X,... <-- broadcast every second
The server emits a line starting with $X every second. The other records are broadcast as events happen. How can I modify my network server below to broadcast this data and throttle it so it emits one line at a time and pauses for one second every time it encounters a line starting with $X?
Here is my code so far which reads in the data and broadcasts it over a port:
var http = require('http')
, fs = require('fs')
;
var server = http.createServer(function (req, res) {
var stream = fs.createReadStream(__dirname + '/data.txt');
stream.pipe(res);
});
server.listen(8000);
console.log('server running on 8000');
This works but obviously just streams out the whole file at warp speed. What I want is to spit out all of the lines from one $X to the next, pause for one second (close enough for testing purposes) and then continue to the next $X and so on like:
> telnet 127.0.0.1 8000
$X,...
$A,...
$A,...
$B,...
(output would pause for one second)
$X,...
$A,...
$A,...
$C,...
(output would pause for one second)
$X,...
...
In my example above, the broadcast always starts from the beginning of data.txt when I connect with a client. Ideally, this server would keep broadcasting this data in a loop, allowing clients to disconnect and reconnect at any time and start receiving data wherever the server simulator was currently at.
(PS - data.txt is a relatively small file, < 1MB in most cases)
UPDATE -
Thanks to Laurent's pointer, I was able to get it working with the following:
var net = require('net'),
fs = require('fs'),
async = require('async');
var server = net.createServer(function (socket) {
var lines = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/data-small.txt').toString().split(/\n+/);
async.whilst(
function () {
return lines.length > 0;
},
function (done) {
var line = lines.shift();
socket.write(line + '\r\n');
setTimeout(done, /^\$X,/.test(line) ? 1000 : 0);
},
function (err) {
// no more lines present
socket.end();
});
});
server.listen(8000);
console.log('server running on 8000');
I'm now getting a blast of lines until an $X, a 1s pause, and then it continues! Thanks!
Drilling into my 2nd part: is there a way to synchronize output of this faux server so all clients see the same output regardless of when they connect?
If you want to keep all clients in sync, you need to do something entirely different. Here's a starting point. Also, it seems like the net module would be a better fit.
var net = require('net'),
fs = require('fs'),
_ = require('underscore');
var current = 0,
sockets = [];
// dirty parser for blocs
var data = fs.readFileSync(__dirname + '/data.txt').toString(),
blocs = _.chain(data.split(/\$X,/)).compact().map(function (bloc) {
return '$X,' + bloc;
}).value();
function streamBloc() {
console.log('writing bloc #' + current + ' to ' + sockets.length + ' sockets');
_(sockets).each(function (socket) {
socket.write(blocs[current]);
});
current = (current + 1) % blocs.length;
setTimeout(streamBloc, 1000);
}
var server = net.createServer(function (socket) {
console.log('incoming connection');
// immediately write current bloc
socket.write(blocs[current]);
// add to sockets so that it receive future blocs
sockets.push(socket);
// cleanup when the client leaves
socket.on('end', function () {
sockets = _(sockets).without(socket);
});
}).listen(8000, function () {
console.log('server listening on port 8000');
});
streamBloc();

Send out real time data to webclients error trapping

Trying to send data from a serial device to web clients. I am using a serial to network proxy, ser2Net to make the data available to a server that acts on the data and sends a manipulated version of the data to web clients. The clients specify the location of the ser2net host and port. The core of this action is coded in node.js as shown here:
function getDataStream(socket, dataSourcePort, host) {
var dataStream = net.createConnection(dataSourcePort, host),
dataLine = "";
dataStream.on('error', function(error){
socket.emit('error',{message:"Source not found on host:"+ host + " port:"+dataSourcePort});
console.log(error);
});
dataStream.on('connect', function(){
socket.emit('connected',{message:"Data Source Found"});
});
dataStream.on('close', function(){
console.log("Close socket");
});
dataStream.on('end',function(){
console.log('socket ended');
dataConnection.emit('lost',{connectInfo:{host:host,port:dataSourcePort}});
});
dataStream.on('data', function(data) {
// Collect a line from the host
line += data.toString();
// Split collected data by delimiter
line.split(delimiter).forEach(function (part, i, array) {
if (i !== array.length-1) { // Fully delimited line.
//push on to buffer and emit when bufferSendCommand is present
dataLine = part.trim();
buffer.push(part.trim());
if(part.substring(0, bufferSendCommand.length) == bufferSendCommand){
gotALine.emit('new', buffer);
buffer=[];
}
}
else {
// Last split part might be partial. We can't announce it just yet.
line = part;
}
});
});
return dataStream;
}
io.sockets.on('connection', function(socket){
var stream = getDataStream(socket, dataSourcePort, host);
//dispense incoming data from data server
gotALine.on('new', function(buffer){
socket.emit('feed', {feedLines: buffer});
});
dataConnection.on('lost', function(connectInfo){
setTimeout(function(){
console.log("Trying --- to reconnect ");
stream = getDataStream(socket, connectInfo.port, connectInfo.host);
},5000);
});
// Handle Client request to change stream
socket.on('message',function(data) {
var clientMessage = JSON.parse(data);
if('connectString' in clientMessage
&& clientMessage.connectString.dataHost !== ''
&& clientMessage.connectString.dataPort !== '') {
stream.destroy();
stream = getDataStream(socket,
clientMessage.connectString.dataPort,
clientMessage.connectString.dataHost);
}
});
});
This works well enough until the serial device drops off and ser2net stops sending data. My attempt to catch the end of the socket and reconnect is not working. The event gets emitted properly but the setTimeout only goes once. I would like to find a way to keep on trying to reconnect while sending a message to the client informing or retry attempts. I am node.js newbie and this may not be the best way to do this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Ok I think I figured it out in the dataStream.on('data' ... I added a setTimeout
clearTimeout(connectionMonitor);
connectionMonitor = setTimeout(function(){doReconnect(socket);}, someThresholdTime);
The timeout executes if data stops coming in, as it is repeatedly cleared each time data comes in. The doReconnect function keeps trying to connect and sends a message to the client saying something bad is going on.

Writing data to a socket in Node

I'm getting a weird result when writing to a socket. I wrote a simple experiment with a client and a server:
server.js
var net = require('net');
net.createServer(function (connection) {
connection.on('data', function (data) {
console.log('data: ' + data);
});
}).listen(1337);
client.js
var net = require('net');
var client = net.connect({port: 1337}, function () {
var i = 0;
function send() {
client.write('a');
if (++i < 100) {
process.nextTick(send);
} else {
client.end();
}
}
send();
});
I expected the server to show 100 lines of data: a, but I ended up getting a smaller number of data: aaaaaaa lines. There's socket.setNoDelay() that seems to be what I want, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.
What am I missing?
Thanks a lot,
The TCP protocol only sends exactly the bytes you write in the socket. They will not be separated into messages, that's up to you. If you would like to get 100 lines of a then you would have to define 100 separate messages, and choose a delimiter for them. Usually people delimit messages sent to a TCP socket by \r\n.
So you would need to change your server to
var net = require('net');
net.createServer(function (connection) {
connection.on('data', function (buffer) {
var data = buffer.toString();
if (data.indexOf('\r\n') > -1) { // If there's more than one line in the buffer
var lines = data.split('\r\n'); // Split the lines
var i = lines.length;
while (i--) { // This will read your lines in reverse, be careful
console.log(lines[i]); // Print each line
}
} else {
console.log(data); // If only one line came through, print it
}
});
}).listen(1337);
And your client to
var net = require('net');
var client = net.connect({port: 1337}, function () {
var i = 0;
function send() {
client.write('a\r\n'); // Notice the \r\n part. This is what will help you separate messages on the server
if (++i < 100) {
process.nextTick(send);
} else {
client.end();
}
}
send();
});
And then I believe you would get 100 lines of a.
This module also provides a very interesting way to do it, and of course ZeroMQ would also shine in this because it already has a nice protocol that puts things in envelopes and sends them.
Also interestingly but out of the scope of your question, the messages you send write to the socket on one side will not arrive in the same order on the server. If you change your send function to
function send() {
if (++i < 100) {
client.write('a'+i+'\r\n');
process.nextTick(send);
} else {
client.end();
}
}
you can see them arriving not in the order you sent them.
By "The TCP protocol only sends exactly the bytes you write in the socket" I mean that if you do socket.write("1"); socket.write("2"), you will receive "12" on the server, because that's what you wrote on the socket. You have to explicitly separate your messages by something so that the server can know when a message starts and when a message ends.
About receiving things in order or not, you'll notice that if you remove the process.nexTick and have your client like:
var net = require('net');
var client = net.connect({port: 1337}, function () {
var i = 100;
while (i--) {
client.write('a'+i+'\r\n');
}
});
you'll get two messages on the server (at least I got): first numbers 83 - 99 and then 0 - 82, despite having wrote them in order.
Its because TCP splits it in packets in some magic way. The first package was actually larger than the second one, so it got there last. You can read more about how TCP works in the wikipedia page of course, and this video is probably going to say more than what you need to hear but its good to understand everything you're working with.

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