Angular Net Sockets

A simple Angular.JS module that provides a cross-vendor-compatible interface for using TCP/UDP sockets.

Setup

1. Do one of the following:
   • Place net-sockets.js somewhere in your app (e.g. "lib/angular-net-sockets/").
   • Install using bower (bower install angular-net-sockets).
2. Include the net-socket.js file in your HTML using a <script> tag (or however you are currently getting your scripts loaded into the page).
3. Add stepheneisenhauer.netsockets to the list of dependencies in your app module.

Usage

Inject the NetSocket object as a dependency in your controller/service/etc. and instantiate it using new:

angular.module('myApp.services', []).
  factory('MyService', function(NetSocket) {
    var socket = new NetSocket({...});
    ...
  });

The NetSocket constructor takes an "options" object which must be present, though it can be empty. In practice you will most likely want to listen for callbacks from the socket, which you define in the options object. For example:

var socket = new NetSocket({
  protocol: "tcp",
  onCreate: onSocketCreate,
  onConnect: onSocketConnect,
  onReceive: parseMessages,
  onSend: onSocketSend,
  onError: onSocketError,
  onDisconnect: onSocketDisconnect,
  onClose: onSocketClose,
});

These options are described in further detail in the following section.

Options/Callbacks

• protocol: A string, either "tcp" or "udp". Note that UDP support is mostly nonexistent in this version. Defaults to "tcp" if not specified.
• onCreate: A function that is called when the socket is finished being created. The function will receive a boolean parameter indicating if the creation was successful.
• onConnect: A function that is called when the socket is finished connecting (after connect(...) is called). The function will receive a boolean parameter indicating if the connection attempt was successful.
• onReceive: A function that is called when the socket receives some data. The function will receive an ArrayBuffer object as a parameter.
• onSend: A function that is called when a write operation (using write(...) has completed. The function will receive a boolean parameter indicating if the write was successful.
• onError: A function that is called when the socket has reported some kind of error. The function will receive a string parameter describing the error.
• onDisconnect: A function that is called when the socket has disconnected.
• onClose: A function that is called when the socket is finished being closed.

Methods

• connect(host, port): Connect to the host on the specified port using the protocol that was specified when the socket was created. The onConnect callback will tell you whether the connection attempt succeeded or failed.
• send(data): Write the contents of data (which should be an ArrayBuffer) to the socket.
• disconnect(): Disconnect the socket from its current connection.
• close(): Closes the socket, removing it from the OS and rendering it no longer usable.

Status

TCP socket connections are supported on all platforms and appear to work reliably. UDP is not yet completely supported.

Supported Platforms

• Node-WebKit (using the node.js net module)
• Chrome Packaged Apps (using the sockets API)
• Firefox Packaged Apps (using the mozTCPSocket API)

License

MIT