In my chat application based on Firebase, I wanted the ability for a user to know if another user is online on any one of the devices (browser / iOS / Android).
I referred to the sample shown on this page. But using this example, I noticed multiple connection keys getting created, but not getting deleted properly. So I ended up enhancing the example like this:
function _managePresence(uid) {
// top level presence node
var ref = coreService.presence.child(uid);
// stores connections from various browsers or devices
var myConnectionsRef = ref.child('connections');
// stores the timestamp of my last disconnect (the last time I was seen online)
var lastOnlineRef = ref.child('lastOnline');
// this one is special, it tells locally to the device, if I'm connected or not
var connectedRef = coreService.connection;
// add this device to my connections list
var addConnection = function(myConnectionsRef) {
// TODO: this value could contain info about the device or a timestamp too
var con = myConnectionsRef.push(true);
// save the connection key (con.key) locally also
console.log("saving connection key", con.key);
localStorage.setItem('currentConnectionKey', con.key);
// when I disconnect, remove this connection key (from firebase)
con.onDisconnect().remove();
};
connectedRef.on('value', function(snap) {
if (snap.val() === true) {
// We're connected (or reconnected)! Do anything here that should happen only if online (or on reconnect)
// retrieve connection key from local storage
var connectionKey = localStorage.getItem('currentConnectionKey');
console.log("connection key found", connectionKey);
if (connectionKey) {
// connection key already exists locally, lets check firebase
// NOTE: the use of once here, we don't want on('value')
// because when the connection is removed, on('value') will get called
// with snap.val() being null and we dont want to create a new connection key in that case
// new connection key should only be created when we see a change in connectedRef.on('value')
myConnectionsRef.child(connectionKey).once('value', function (snap) {
if (snap.val() === true) {
// connection key already exists in firebase also, we wont add a new connection key
console.log("key already exists locally and in firebase", connectionKey);
} else {
// this connection key does not exist in firebase, lets create a new connection
console.log("key not found in firebase, lets add a new one");
addConnection(myConnectionsRef);
}
});
} else {
console.log("First time, lets addConnection");
addConnection(myConnectionsRef);
}
// when I disconnect, update the last time I was seen online
lastOnlineRef.onDisconnect().set(firebase.database.ServerValue.TIMESTAMP);
} else {
console.log("disconnecting...");
}
});
}
To know if someone is online or not, I just look at the num of children for /presence/uid/connections
_isOnline() {
var ref = coreService.presence.child(this.uid);
var myConnectionsRef = ref.child('connections');
var self = this;
myConnectionsRef.on('value', function (snap) {
if (snap.hasChildren()) self.isON = true;
else self.isON = false;
});
}
_lastOnline() {
var ref = coreService.presence.child(this.uid);
var lastOnlineRef = ref.child('lastOnline');
var self = this;
lastOnlineRef.on( 'value', function (snap) {
self.lastOnlineTime = snap.val();
});
}
Is this the correct way to go about determining if a user is online? This may be too much of code to read, but I'll appreciate if someone can help me verify it.