Commit e0c10acd authored by Juliusz Chroboczek's avatar Juliusz Chroboczek

Improve README.FRONTEND.

parent 33bfb433
# Writing a new frontend
The frontend is split into two javascript files:
The frontend is written in JavaScript and is split into two files:
- `protocol.js` contains the low-level functions that interact with the server;
- `protocol.js` contains the low-level functions that interact with the
server;
- `sfu.js` contains the user interface.
If you wish to develop your own frontend, I recommend using `protocol.js`,
which is likely to remain reasonably stable as the protocol evolves. This
file can be processed with JSDoc or Typescript (a sample `tsconfig.json`
is provided).
is provided), but is otherwise plain Javascript (ES6).
## Data structures
The class `ServerConnection` encapsulates a connection to the server as
well as all the associated streams.
The class `Stream` encapsulates a set of associated audio and video
tracks; your frontend will probably associate each stream with a video
component.
The class `Stream` encapsulates a set of related audio and video tracks;
your frontend will probably associate each stream with a `video` or
`audio` component.
## Connecting to the server
First, create a `ServerConnection` and set up all the callbacks:
```
```javascript
let sc = new ServerConnection()
serverConnection.onconnected = ...;
serverConnection.onclose = ...;
serverConnection.ondownstream = ...;
serverConnection.onuser = ...;
serverConnection.onusermessage = ...;
serverConnection.onpermissions = ...;
serverConnection.onuser = ...;
serverConnection.onchat = ...;
serverConnection.onclearchat = ...;
serverConnection.onusermessage = ...;
serverConnection.ondownstream = ...;
```
You may now connect to the server:
```
The `onconnected` callback is called when we connect to the server;
`onclose` is the opposite of `onconnected`. `onusermessage` indicates
a message from the server that should be displayed to the user.
The other callbacks will only be called after you join a group. `onuser`
is used to indicate that a user has joined or left the current group.
`onchat` indicates that a chat message has been posted to the group, and
`onclearchat` indicates that the chat history has been cleared. Finally,
`ondownstream` is called when the server pushes a stream to the client;
see the section below about streams.
You may now connect to the server.
```javascript
serverConnection.connect(`wss://${location.host}/ws`);
```
You log-in, join a group and request media in the `onconnected` callback:
```
You log-in, join a group and request media in the `onconnected` callback.
```javascript
serverConnection.onconnected = function() {
this.login(username, password);
this.join(group);
this.request('everything');
}
```
The `onpermissions` callback will trigger when the server informs us about
the permissions that were granted; you should probably reflect the
permissions in the user interface.
## Managing groups and clients
You should not attempt to push a stream to the server until it has granted
you the `present` permission through the `onpermissions` callback.
## Managing groups and users
The `groupaction` and `useraction` methods perform actions such as kicking
users or locking groups. Most actions require either the `Op` or the
......@@ -59,10 +74,13 @@ users or locking groups. Most actions require either the `Op` or the
## Sending and receiving chat messages
You send a chat message with the `chat` method:
```
Once you have joined a group, you send chat messages with the `chat`
method. No permission is needed to do that.
```javascript
serverConnection.chat(username, '', 'Hi!');
```
You receive chat messages in the `onchat` callback. The server may
request that you clear your chat window, in that case the `onclearchat`
callback will trigger.
......@@ -70,17 +88,26 @@ callback will trigger.
## Accepting incoming video streams
When the server pushes a stream to the client, the `ondownstream` callback
will trigger; you should set up the stream callbacks here. It is
premature to set up a video component --- do that in `ondowntrack`.
```
serverConnection.ondownstream = function(stream) {
stream.onclose = ...;
stream.onerror = ...;
stream.ondowntrack = ...;
stream.onlabel = ...;
stream.onstatus = ...;
}
will trigger; you should set up the stream's callbacks here.
```javascript
serverConnection.ondownstream = function(stream) {
stream.onclose = ...;
stream.onerror = ...;
stream.ondowntrack = ...;
stream.onlabel = ...;
stream.onstatus = ...;
}
```
The `stream.labels` dictionary maps each track's id to one of `audio`,
`video` or `screenshare`. Since `stream.labels` is already available at
this point, you may set up an `audio` or `video` component straight away,
or you may choose to wait until the `ondowntrack` callback is called.
The server will usually invoke the `onlabel` callback in order to set
a user-readable label on the stream; this is currently just the
originating client's username.
After a new stream is created, `ondowntrack` will be called whenever
a track is added. If the `MediaStream` passed to `ondowntrack` differs
from the one previously received, then the stream has been torn down and
......@@ -88,14 +115,22 @@ recreated, and you must drop all previously received tracks; in practice,
it is enough to set the `srcObject` property of the video component to the
new stream.
The `onstatus` callback is invoked whenever the client library detects
a change in the status of the stream; states `connected` and `complete`
indicate a functioning stream; other states indicate that the stream is
not working right now but might recover in the future.
The `onclose` callback is called when the stream is destroyed by the
server.
## Pushing outgoing video streams
If you have the `present` permission, you may use the `newUpStream` method
to push a stream to the server. Given a local stream `localStream`, do
something like the following:
```
let stream = serverConnection.newUpStream;
stream.kind = 'local';
to push a stream to the server. Given a `MediaStream` called `localStream`
(as obtained from `getUserMedia` or `getDisplayMedia`).
```javascript
let stream = serverConnection.newUpStream();
stream.onerror = ...;
stream.onabort = ...;
stream.onstatus = ...;
......@@ -104,13 +139,10 @@ localStream.getTracks().forEach(t => {
c.pc.addTrack(t, c.stream);
});
```
You should set `c.labels[t.id]` to one of `audio`, `video` or `screenshare`.
## Stream status and statistics
See above for information about setting up the `labels` dictionary.
The `onstatus` callback can be used to give users feedback about whether
a stream is working. You should probably treat states `connected` and
`completed` as good, and all other states as bad.
## Stream statistics
For outgoing streams only, the `setStatsInterval` and `onstats` callback
can be used to determine the data rate in real time. This is currently
......
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