socket.io-client-dart

Port of awesome JavaScript Node.js library - Socket.io-client v2._ ~ v4._ - in Dart

Version info

socket.io-client-dart	Socket.io Server
v0.9.* ~ v1.*	v2.*
v2.*	v3.* ~ v4.6.*
v3.*	v4.7.* ~ v4.*

Usage

Dart Server

import 'package:socket_io/socket_io.dart';

main() {
  // Dart server
  var io = Server();
  var nsp = io.of('/some');
  nsp.on('connection', (client) {
    print('connection /some');
    client.on('msg', (data) {
      print('data from /some => $data');
      client.emit('fromServer', "ok 2");
    });
  });
  io.on('connection', (client) {
    print('connection default namespace');
    client.on('msg', (data) {
      print('data from default => $data');
      client.emit('fromServer', "ok");
    });
  });
  io.listen(3000);
}

Dart Client

import 'package:socket_io_client/socket_io_client.dart' as IO;

main() {
  // Dart client
  IO.Socket socket = IO.io('http://localhost:3000');
  socket.onConnect((_) {
    print('connect');
    socket.emit('msg', 'test');
  });
  socket.on('event', (data) => print(data));
  socket.onDisconnect((_) => print('disconnect'));
  socket.on('fromServer', (_) => print(_));
}

Connect manually

To connect the socket manually, set the option autoConnect: false and call .connect().

For example,

Socket socket = io('http://localhost:3000',
    OptionBuilder()
      .setTransports(['websocket']) // for Flutter or Dart VM
      .disableAutoConnect()  // disable auto-connection
      .setExtraHeaders({'foo': 'bar'}) // optional
      .build()
  );
socket.connect();

Note that .connect() should not be called if autoConnect: true (by default, it's enabled to true), as this will cause all event handlers to get registered/fired twice. See Issue #33.

Update the extra headers

Socket socket = ... // Create socket.
socket.io.options['extraHeaders'] = {'foo': 'bar'}; // Update the extra headers.
socket.io..disconnect()..connect(); // Reconnect the socket manually.

Emit with acknowledgement

Socket socket = ... // Create socket.
socket.onConnect((_) {
    print('connect');
    socket.emitWithAck('msg', 'init', ack: (data) {
        print('ack $data') ;
        if (data != null) {
          print('from server $data');
        } else {
          print("Null") ;
        }
    });
});

Socket connection events

These events can be listened on.

const List EVENTS = [
  'connect',
  'connect_error',
  'disconnect',
  'error',
  'reconnect',
  'reconnect_attempt',
  'reconnect_failed',
  'reconnect_error',
  'ping',
  'pong'
];

// Replace 'onConnect' with any of the above events.
socket.onConnect((_) {
    print('connect');
});

Acknowledge with the socket server that an event has been received

socket.on('eventName', (data) {
    final dataList = data as List;
    final ack = dataList.last as Function;
    ack(null);
});

Usage (Flutter)

In Flutter env. not (Flutter Web env.) it only works with dart:io websocket, not with dart:html websocket or Ajax (XHR), so in this case you have to add setTransports(['websocket']) when creates the socket instance.

For example,

IO.Socket socket = IO.io('http://localhost:3000',
  OptionBuilder()
      .setTransports(['websocket']) // for Flutter or Dart VM
      .setExtraHeaders({'foo': 'bar'}) // optional
      .build());

Usage with stream and StreamBuilder in Flutter

import 'dart:async';


// STEP1:  Stream setup
class StreamSocket{
  final _socketResponse= StreamController<String>();

  void Function(String) get addResponse => _socketResponse.sink.add;

  Stream<String> get getResponse => _socketResponse.stream;

  void dispose(){
    _socketResponse.close();
  }
}

StreamSocket streamSocket =StreamSocket();

//STEP2: Add this function in main function in main.dart file and add incoming data to the stream
void connectAndListen(){
  IO.Socket socket = IO.io('http://localhost:3000',
      OptionBuilder()
       .setTransports(['websocket']).build());

    socket.onConnect((_) {
     print('connect');
     socket.emit('msg', 'test');
    });

    //When an event received from server, data is added to the stream
    socket.on('event', (data) => streamSocket.addResponse);
    socket.onDisconnect((_) => print('disconnect'));

}

//Step3: Build widgets with StreamBuilder

class BuildWithSocketStream extends StatelessWidget {
  const BuildWithSocketStream({Key key}) : super(key: key);

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Container(
      child: StreamBuilder(
        stream: streamSocket.getResponse ,
        builder: (BuildContext context, AsyncSnapshot<String> snapshot){
          return Container(
            child: snapshot.data,
          );
        },
      ),
    );
  }
}

Important Notice: Handling Socket Cache and subsequent lookups

There is a design decision in the baseline IO lookup command related to the caching of socket instances.

Lookup protocol

We reuse the existing instance based on same scheme/port/host.

It is important to make clear that both dispose() and destroy() do NOT remove a host from the cache of known connections. This can cause attempted subsequent connections to ignore certain parts of your configuration if not handled correctly. You must handle this by using the options available in the OptionBuilder during the first creation of the instance.

Examples

In the following example, there is a userId and username set as extra headers for this connection. If you were to try and create the same connection with updated values, if the host is the same, the extra headers will not be updated and the old connection would be returned.

_socket = io.io(
        host,
        io.OptionBuilder()
            .setTransports(['websocket'])
            .setExtraHeaders({'id': userId, 'name': username})
            .disableAutoConnect()
            .enableReconnection()
            .build());

In order to prevent this, depending on your application's needs, you can either use enableForceNew() or disableMultiplex() to the option builder. These options would modify all connections using the same host, so be aware and plan accordingly.

An additional option, if it fits your use case, would be to follow the usage mentioned above in Update the extra headers. By updating the extra headers outside of the building of the options, you can guarantee that your connections will have the values you are expecting.

Troubleshooting

Cannot connect "https" server or self-signed certificate server

• Refer to dart-lang/sdk#34284 issue. The workaround is to use the following code provided by @lehno on #84

class MyHttpOverrides extends HttpOverrides {
  @override
  HttpClient createHttpClient(SecurityContext? context) {
    return super.createHttpClient(context)
      ..badCertificateCallback =
          (X509Certificate cert, String host, int port) => true;
  }
}

void main() {
  HttpOverrides.global = MyHttpOverrides();
  runApp(MyApp());
}

Memory leak issues in iOS when closing socket

• Refer to #108 issue. Please use socket.dispose() instead of socket.close() or socket.disconnect() to solve the memory leak issue on iOS.

Connect_error on MacOS with SocketException: Connection failed

• Refer to flutter/flutter#47606 (comment) issue.

By adding the following key into the to file *.entitlements under directory macos/Runner/

<key>com.apple.security.network.client</key>
<true/>

For more details, please take a look at https://flutter.dev/desktop#setting-up-entitlements

Can't connect socket server on Flutter with Insecure HTTP connection

• Refer to https://flutter.dev/docs/release/breaking-changes/network-policy-ios-android

The HTTP connections are disabled by default on iOS and Android, so here is a workaround to this issue, which mentioned on stack overflow

Notes to Contributors

Fork socket.io-client-dart

If you'd like to contribute back to the core, you can fork this repository and send us a pull request, when it is ready.

If you are new to Git or GitHub, please read this guide first.

Contribution of all kinds is welcome. Please read Contributing.md in this repository.

Who Uses

• Quire - a simple, collaborative, multi-level task management tool.
• KEIKAI - a web spreadsheet for Big Data.

Socket.io Dart Server

• socket.io-dart

Contributors