NodeJS: Code to execute when server starts - node.js

I'm using a MEAN.JS framework (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS and NodeJS) to build an app.
Using Socket.IO; I'm keeping in MongoDB User schema if the user is connected or not.
//Connect
io.on('connection', function(socket){
connectToChat(true);
//Disconnect
socket.on('disconnect', function(){
connectToChat(false);
});
function connectToChat(isConnect){
var user = socket.request.user;
var numberOfSocketClients = Object.keys(io.sockets.adapter.rooms[user.id] || {}).length;
if(isConnect || (!isConnect && numberOfSocketClients===0)) {
User.findOne({_id: mongoose.Types.ObjectId(user.id)})
.exec(function (err, doc) {
if(!err && doc){
doc.isConnected = isConnect;
doc.save(callback);
}
});
}
});
This works well in all cases except when server is stopped... When server is restarted all the user should be not connected by default but there are some connected users saved in MongoDB User schema.
Okey, I understand that stop the server is a rare case because I'm using Forever... But, is there a good methodology to execute a code in ExpressJS only when the server is restarted? I tried to execute a code in server.jsfile but all the sessions execute this code and it's not that I want.
Thank you very much!

Listen to the ExpressJs listening event. It is fired on boot, once the server is ready to accept connections.
app.on('listening', function () {
// server ready to accept connections here
});
Where app is your express server.

Related

Trigger `socket.io` event from server(`node.js`), not from client

I am trying to make a game server with node.js, socket.io.
The basic idea likes below.
Initialize socket.io instance when the server starts
Store instance in global scope, so controllers can access it
When API calls, we trigger some socket.io event in the controller or some other points
Here is the implementation I made ...
First, in server.js - entry point
let GlobalVars = require('./state/GlobalVars');
const apiRouters = require('./router');
...
app.use('/api', apiRouters);
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.sendFile(`${__dirname}/test/simpleClient.html`)
});
const httpServer = http.createServer(app);
let socketIOInstance = socketIO(httpServer);
socketIOInstance.on('connection', (socket) => {
console.log('SOCKET.IO A USER CONNECTED');
socket.on('create', (data) => {
console.log('SOCKET.IO create called', socket);
socket.join(data.room);
socketIOInstance.emit('message', 'New people joined');
});
socket.on('join', (data) => {
console.log('SOCKET.IO join called', data);
})
socket.emit('message', 'Hi');
});
GlobalVars.socketIO = socketIOInstance;
// Add to global, so the controllers can manage own actions like create, join ...
httpServer.listen(port, () => {
console.log(`Server Listening on the port ${port}`);
})
...
When I access from a client, I am able to see SOCKET.IO A USER CONNECTED and Hi in the browser console.
Second, In api controller.
let GlobalVars = require('../state/GlobalVars');
...
router.post('/create', (req, res) => {
console.log('GenerateGameSokect');
let game = new Game();
let gameId = game.gameId;
// console.log('Global vars ', GlobalVars.socketIO);
GlobalVars.socketIO.emit('create', {
room: gameId
});
res.json({
result : 'SUCCESS',
game : game
})
});
I imported GlobalVars which contains socketIO instance. So what I expected was, socket create event triggered from the statement GlobalVars.socketIO.emit('create', Object) but could not find message in the server logs.
I got no clue what I was missing.
The final form I pursue is something like...
When user call create API, I creates socket connection and room
API will called in HTTP protocol, but in the API, the server publishes some events. - pubsub like.
Thanks for reading my questions b. Here is full source code till now(bitbucket public)
================== EDIT ====================
I got understood (maybe...)
The user-flow I wanted was ...
The client call API
(In the server) Checking validation in API and if valid emit to socket.io
If event accepted send new status to all clients
However, creating socket.io connection in the server looks strange for me, the solution is up to the client.
New user-flow I will change
The client call a validation API
If return is valid, the client emit socket.io event. This time server only do validation, not emit socket.io
In socket event, send new status to all other users
================== EDIT #2 ====================
This is a kind of conclusion. It looks I just misunderstanding the concept of socket communication. Like answer and replies say, Socket and HTTP are totally different channels, there is no way to connect both. (At least, without open new connection from http server to socket)
If this is wrong, you could add reply, Thanks
Now I understand you. Or at least I think!
Let's put it this way: there are two (asymetric) sides on a socket, server and client. What I called, respectively, "global manager" and "socket" in my comment to your post.
const server = require('socket.io')(yourHttpServer);
// client is installed as well when `npm i socket.io`
const client = require('socket.io-client')('http://localhost:' + yourServerPort);
// `socket` is the server side of the socket
server.on('connection', (socket) => {
// this will be triggered by client sides emitting 'create'
socket.on('create', (data) => {
console.log('a client socket just fired a "create" event!');
});
});
// this will be triggered by server side emitting 'create'
client.on('create', (data) => {
server.emit('create', {content: 'this will result in an infinite loop of "create" events!'});
});
In your /create route, when you GlobalVars.socketIO.emit('create', ...), the server-side socket handler isn't triggered, however if you have clients connected through a browser (or, like I showed above, if you connect a client socket directly from the server) then these will trigger their 'create' listener, if any.
Hope this helps you get on the right tracks!

Defer all requests until database is connected

My Restify server is dependent on a database connection which is established through an asynchronous function and a callback. I'm hosting it on Azure, where the server turns off after a period of inactivity, but when it wakes up, it restarts Node.js.
This is causing an error where a request wakes up the server, which crashes because the DB connection hasn't been established yet. What's the best way to handle this?
I found a solution that seems to work although I don't understand why:
You start by immediately calling any use functions in Restify and then later calling the listen function after the DB is connected. Here's an example:
var server = restify.createServer({
name: 'Example',
});
server.use(restify.bodyParser());
server.use(restify.queryParser());
function initializeServer() {
server.listen(80);
console.log("The server is now active.");
}
var database = new sql.Connection(function (err) {
if (err) {
console.log(err);
} else {
initializeServer();
}
});

Why is my connection of a NodeJS server (Sails) to another NodeJS Server (Express4) using Socket.IO failing?

I am trying to connect my Node.JS (written using Sails.JS) app to another Node.JS server (Express4 / Socket.io) using socket.io-client.
My Sails Service app/services/Watcher.js looks like
var client = require('../../node_modules/sails/node_modules/socket.io/node_modules/socket.io-client');
// callback of the form function(socket)
exports.connect = function(callback) {
sails.log.debug("will connect socket to", sails.config.watcher.uri, "with Socket.io-client version", client.version);
var socket = client.connect(sails.config.watcher.uri);
socket.on('connect', function(){
sails.log.debug("connected");
socket.on('disconnect', function(){
sails.log.debug("Disconnected");
});
socket.on('error', function(err){
sails.log.debug("Could not connect", err);
});
callback(socket);
});
};
This is invoked from config/bootstrap.js as follows:
Watcher.connect(function(socket){
sails.log.debug("Connected watcher to relay with socket", socket);
});
On the Express side my server relay.js is as simple as:
var app = require('express')(),
http = require('http').Server(app),
io = require('socket.io').listen(http),
port = process.env.RELAY_PORT || 8000;
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
var response = {message: "some response"}; // to be implemented.
res.json(response);
});
http.listen(port, function () {
console.log("Relay listening on port " + port);
});
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
console.log("Connection opened", socket);
socket.on('disconnect', function () {
console.log("Socket disconnected");
});
});
When I run node relay it dutifully reports
Relay listening on port 8000
When I sails lift my other server it dutifully reports
will connect socket to http://localhost:8000 with Socket.io-client version 0.9.16
But I never see an actual connection.
If I point a browser at localhost:8000 I get the {"message":"some response"} JSON response I expect.
Why isn't my relay server accepting a connection from my socker.io-client app?
The issue here is probably that you're trying to re-use the
socket.io-client from inside of Sails. In general, if you're require()-ing dependencies of Sails directly in your project, you're heading in the wrong direction. In this case, socket.io-client caches configurations and connections, so your require isn't getting a fresh copy.
Instead, do
npm install socket.io-client#~0.9.16 --save
in your project and require with
var client = require('socket.io-client');
that'll give you a fresh copy of the socket client to work with, and avoid any conflicts with the Sails core's version.

Why does socket.io require a new listener

I know this ia probably a stupid question, but i sure hope i get the noob pass but I'm using the express framework with node js and mongo db. Why do you always have to create a new server in order for you to connect it from the client side.
1. server side:
var app = express();
var server = http.createServer(app);
var io = require('socket.io').listen(server);
server.listen(8000);
2. Client side:
var socket = io.connect('`http://localhost:8000`');
socket.on('connect', function () {
socket.emit('set nickname', confirm('Connected'));
});
Normally i would use localhost:/3000 now in order for me to connect to the server i have to use localhost:/8000 isnt there a way to use the default 3000 but this always throw an err:
events.js:72
throw er;
Regards
p.s i am very new to this and i am also reading tutorials but i cant seem to understand why this is please someone explain!
Do you require somewhere in your code http, express ?
Maybe another app running on :8000 ?
Also, maybe missing some listeners:
io.on('connection', function (socket) {
console.log('a user connected');
socket.emit('connect');
});

How do I connect two Socket.io servers/apps?

I'm trying to build an application that has two components. There's a public-facing component and an administrative component. Each component will be hosted on a different server, but the two will access the same database. I need to set up the administrative component to be able to send a message to the public-facing component to query the database and send the information to all the public clients.
What I can't figure out is how to set up a connection between the two components. I'm using the standard HTTP server setup provided by Socket.io.
In each server:
var app = require('http').createServer(handler)
, io = require('socket.io').listen(app)
, fs = require('fs')
app.listen(80);
function handler (req, res) {
fs.readFile(__dirname + '/index.html',
function (err, data) {
if (err) {
res.writeHead(500);
return res.end('Error loading index.html');
}
res.writeHead(200);
res.end(data);
});
}
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
socket.emit('news', { hello: 'world' });
socket.on('my other event', function (data) {
console.log(data);
});
});
And on each client:
<script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
<script>
var socket = io.connect('http://localhost');
socket.on('news', function (data) {
console.log(data);
socket.emit('my other event', { my: 'data' });
});
</script>
I've looked at this question but couldn't really follow the answers provided, and I think the situation is somewhat different. I just need one of the servers to be able to send a message to the other server, and still send/receive messages to/from its own set of clients.
I'm brand new to Node (and thus, Socket), so some explanation would be incredibly helpful.
The easiest thing I could find to do is simply create a client connection between the servers using socket.io-client. In my situation, the admin server connects to the client server:
var client = require("socket.io-client");
var socket = client.connect("other_server_hostname");
Actions on the admin side can then send messages to the admin server, and the admin server can use this client connection to forward information to the client server.
On the client server, I created an on 'adminMessage' function and check for some other information to verify where the message came from like so:
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
socket.on('adminMessage', function (data) {
if(data.someIdentifyingData == "data") {
// DO STUFF
}
});
});
I had the same problem, but instead to use socket.io-client I decided to use a more simple approach (at least for me) using redis pub/sub, the result is pretty simple. My main problem with socket.io-client is that you'll need to know server hosts around you and connect to each one to send messages.
You can take a look at my solution here: https://github.com/alissonperez/scalable-socket-io-server
With this solution you can have how much process/servers you want (using auto-scaling solution), you just use redis as a way to forward your messages between your servers.

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