Streaming data in node.js with ws and websocket-stream - node.js

Question

I'm trying to stream data from a server to a client using websockets -- in particular, ws and websocket stream. However, the stream seems to be closing too early, and I only receive two chunks worth of data. Here is the simple example.
I have a server:
var WebSocketServer = require('ws').Server;
var websocketStream = require('websocket-stream');
var wss = new WebSocketServer({port: 8098});
var fs = require('fs');
var util = require('util');
wss.on('connection', function connect(ws) {
var stream = websocketStream(ws);
var rs = fs.createReadStream('foo.big');
rs.pipe(stream);
});
and a client that connects and streams foo.big to a local file using pipe():
var fs = require('fs');
var util = require('util');
var websocket = require('websocket-stream');
var rs = fs.createWriteStream('big.out');
rs.on('open', function () {
var ws = websocket('http://localhost:8098');
ws.on('open', function () {
ws.pipe(rs);
}).on('error', function (err) {
console.log(err);
}).on('close', function (err) {
console.log("Closing");
});
});
Any ideas why I would only be getting a few packets of data? If I remove the call in the client to pipe, and just receive the data in chunks, it seems to receive all the data.

Answer 1

There is a couple of things wrong with the above (as of 2017).
You would rather want to listen for the fs.readStream() close event
You should not be listening to the websocket-stream open event, as you can assume it to be open
Also, performance: ws is likely not suited for server to server communication. Consider alternatives, like net, like here, or various other lower than ws level ways.
Find a full example here on my GH.
const fs = require('fs')
const websocket = require('websocket-stream')
const writeStream = fs.createWriteStream('big.out')
writeStream.on('open', () => {
let ws = websocket('http://localhost:8098')
ws.pipe(writeStream)
ws.on('error', (err) => {
if (err) throw err
}).on('close', (err) => {
if (err) throw err
console.log(`Closing ws with: ${fs.statSync('big.out').size} bytes`)
})
writeStream.on('close', () => {
console.log(`Closing file stream with: ${fs.statSync('big.out').size} bytes`)
})
})