ajax chatbox question.

For all coding issues - MODers and programmers, HTML and more.

Moderators: Jeff250, fliptw

Post Reply
User avatar
Isaac
DBB Artist
DBB Artist
Posts: 7649
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 am
Location: 🍕

ajax chatbox question.

Post by Isaac »

How often should I have a chatbox use ajax to check for new comments? Is every second too often?
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-★ ·:*¨༺꧁༺ :E ༻꧂༻¨*:·.★-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
User avatar
fliptw
DBB DemiGod
DBB DemiGod
Posts: 6458
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 1998 2:01 am
Location: Calgary Alberta Canada

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by fliptw »

if once a second is too much you have a seriously bad connection.
User avatar
Isaac
DBB Artist
DBB Artist
Posts: 7649
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 am
Location: 🍕

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Isaac »

So twice a second won't bother people?

I might not have been clear. I'm wondering if people's machines might go slower because of an ajax module constantly calling out.
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-★ ·:*¨༺꧁༺ :E ༻꧂༻¨*:·.★-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
User avatar
fliptw
DBB DemiGod
DBB DemiGod
Posts: 6458
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 1998 2:01 am
Location: Calgary Alberta Canada

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by fliptw »

as long as you don't let the chat box get too large it shouldn't be an issue. Keep each request to a maximum number of bytes and it should be good.
User avatar
Isaac
DBB Artist
DBB Artist
Posts: 7649
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 am
Location: 🍕

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Isaac »

gotchya! Thanks!
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-★ ·:*¨༺꧁༺ :E ༻꧂༻¨*:·.★-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
User avatar
Jeff250
DBB Master
DBB Master
Posts: 6511
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 1999 2:01 am
Location: ❄️❄️❄️

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Jeff250 »

You could just have the client ask the server to poll every second for the next 30 seconds for you, returning either 1) the first newly discovered comment(s) or 2) nothing after the 30 second timeout, without the constant chatter between the client and server.
User avatar
Isaac
DBB Artist
DBB Artist
Posts: 7649
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 am
Location: 🍕

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Isaac »

I'm not too clear on that first line. It sounds like the server can forward info to the browser, with the client just waiting. We can do that? The browser can just sit there, requesting nothing, and expect to get data from the server when the server has something to send? Normally, I imagine we're pulling data from the server, normally. You're saying we can push data from the server?

Sorry, for not understanding. Thanks for your comment!
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-★ ·:*¨༺꧁༺ :E ༻꧂༻¨*:·.★-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
User avatar
Jeff250
DBB Master
DBB Master
Posts: 6511
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 1999 2:01 am
Location: ❄️❄️❄️

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Jeff250 »

No, the client still makes a request, but the server just doesn't have to respond immediately. It can wait up to, say, 30 seconds before having to give its "no new comments" response. Otherwise, if it finds new comments before then, then all the better--it just immediately returns those comments instead of checking for new ones for the whole 30 seconds.
User avatar
Thenior
DBB Captain
DBB Captain
Posts: 667
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 9:40 am

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Thenior »

I wonder how you'd do that though? Seems like default timeouts would get in the way.
User avatar
Jeff250
DBB Master
DBB Master
Posts: 6511
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 1999 2:01 am
Location: ❄️❄️❄️

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Jeff250 »

I've found a good summary:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_%28programming%29

The "long polling" approach is basically what I was describing.

I think something like 30 seconds should be safe, but timeouts might not even be a problem as long as you handle them properly.
User avatar
Isaac
DBB Artist
DBB Artist
Posts: 7649
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:47 am
Location: 🍕

Re: ajax chatbox question.

Post by Isaac »

I'll be doing this during Christmas break.
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-★ ·:*¨༺꧁༺ :E ༻꧂༻¨*:·.★-⎽__⎽-⎻⎺⎺⎻-⎽__⎽--⎻⎺⎺⎻-
❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉⊱•═•⊰❉
Post Reply