Call frontend methods from external meteor application - meteor

I am making a dockerized services-based application. Some of the services will be written in meteor, some won't.
One of the services is a registration service, where users can register for the platform.
When doing microservices, normally I do the following:
var MyService = DDP.connect(service_url);
var MyOtherService = DDP.connect(other_service_url);
var RegistrationService = DDP.connect(registration_service_url);
What I want to do is use the loginWithFacebook method. The issue is that using Meteor.loginWithFacebook on the frontend will invoke its backend methods on the main frontend server.
However, I want to invoke its backend methods on the RegistrationService server (which has the relevant packages). The reason is because I am using the Accounts.onCreateUser hook to do extra stuff, and also because I want to keep the registration service separate from the frontend.
Just for clarity, even though it is not correct, imagine I have this:
'click #facebook-login': function() {
Meteor.loginWithFacebook(data, callback)
}
However, I want the loginWithFacebook method to use the server-side methods from RegistrationService when calling the client-side method .loginWithFacebook, so I actually want to do something to the effect of the following:
'click #facebook-login': function() {
RegistrationService.loginWithFacebook(data, callback)
}
Any help on this will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I believe you are looking for DDP.connect. Basically underneath meteor all calls to the server from the client and all communication from the server to the client use Distributed Data Protocol. (https://www.meteor.com/ddp) As the documentation points out by default a client opens a DDP connection to the server it is loaded from. However, in your case, you'd want to use DDP.connect to connect to other servers for various different tasks, such as a registration services server for RegistrationService. (http://docs.meteor.com/#/full/ddp_connect) As a simplified example you'll be looking to do something like this:
if (Meteor.isClient) {
var registrationServices = DDP.connect("http://your.registrationservices.com:3000");
Template.registerSomething.events({
'click #facebook-login': function(){
registrationServices.call('loginWithFacebook', data, function(error, results){ ... }); // registration services points to a different service from your default.
}
});
}
Don't forget that you can also have various DDP.connect's to your various microservices. These are akin to web service connections in other applications.

You can maybe achieve connection through your other service by specifying the service's remote connection to Accounts and Meteor.users:
var RegistrationService = DDP.connect(registration_service_url);
Accounts.connection = RegistrationService;
Meteor.users = new Meteor.Collection('users',{connection: RegistrationService});
Then would call Meteor.loginWithFacebook and it should use the other app's methods for logging in.

Related

Creating a service worker that can run in background, using signalr for asp.net site

I'm playing with different ways to create push notifications in asp.net core, since my boss asked me to research it.
So i just set up a barebones project that uses signalr to send messages from a hub to the client, and conversely for the client to the hub.
Currently, I have a button on a certain page where this javascript is used:
function receive() {
$.ajax({
url: '/msg/SendToClient',
type: 'get',
});
}
var connection = new signalR.HubConnectionBuilder()
.withUrl("/NotificationHub")
.build();
connection.on("ReceiveMessage", function (user, message) {
alert(message);
});
connection.start();
Where the receive() is called everytime the button is pushed, that means that a corresponding controller action is called, which sends a message from server -> client.
But what I want is that I would like the javascript file to be laying on the client, and just run once in a while to check for new available push notifications.
A few scenarios are available, and I would like to know about all of them:
Push notifications when browser is closed. I'm guessing this is not possible with a "regular" service worker?
Push notification when browser is open, but site is not open. For this, I guess I will need to somehow have a javascript file/service worker on the clients computer just always running. This I really have no idea how to achieve this.
A push notification that can work when the site is open in the browser. All I think I need for this is to have the javascript included always when the user is on the site, and then somehow make a request every few minutes.
Any inputs on these three things will be greatly appreciated. Is any of them easily achieveable/advisable? Is there any "normal" mode of operation for these three approaches to push notifications?
For any of these three scenarios, is there a case where signalr is parhaps not the best resource?

Durandal and ASP.Net - Interrupting the routing

I am using Durandal in an asp.net application which is all working well. What I would like to achieve is to put something into the routing of it so if required I can stop the current route and redirect.
The reason for this is I want to permission base some routes where the permissions are stored in a database. So during the routing I want to check the route, use web api accordingly to check if they have access to that route and redirect if so OR use a method on the viewmodel to check this and redirect accordingly. I do use the activate function on the viewmodel, I wondered if the route can be redirected here perhaps?
Has anyone done this before?
EDIT:
Following the great answer below the following is the code I eventually used on a test route to get this working. The web api function HasAccessToRoute part returns a bool:
define(['durandal/http', 'plugins/router', 'knockout', 'durandal/app'], function (http, router, ko, app) {
function viewModel() {
var self = this;
self.canActivate = function () {
return http.ajaxRequest("get", "/api/route/hasaccesstoroute?route=test")
.done(function (result) {
if (!result) {
app.showMessage("Test area cannot be accessed");
}
});
};
}
var model = new viewModel();
return model;
});
Yes, it is possible. Take a look at canActivate here. You can return a promise in your canActivate handler and fetch your authorization profiles asynchronously. Once you have the authorization profile, you can then resolve your canActivate with either true or false, accordingly. This is what we do.
Also, the routes in Durandal are client-side, not server-side. Or are you doing server-side rendering with, say, Razor? If not, then the only time you would be going out to the server, essentially, is to obtain data, usually through a RESTful Web API (although you can do this with action-based routes as well).
This is an important point since canActivate is a client-side handler.

WCF Service with SignalR

I have a web application which has few charts on dashboard. The data for charts is fetched on document.ready function at client side invoking a WCF service method.
What i want is now to use SignalR in my application. I am really new to SignalR. How can i call WCF methods from SignalR Hub or what you can say is that instead of pulling data from server i want the WCF service to push data to client every one minute.
Is there a way of communication between signalR and WCF service.
Also another approach can be to force client to ask for data from WCF Service every minute.
Any help will be really appreciated.
I have done following as of yet.
Client Side Function on my Dashboard page
<script src="Scripts/jquery.signalR-2.0.3.min.js"></script>
<!--Reference the autogenerated SignalR hub script. -->
<script src="/signalr/hubs"></script>
<a id="refresh">Refresh</a>
$(function() {
var dashboardHubProxy = $.connection.dashboardHub;
$.connection.hub.start().done(function() {
// dashboardHubProxy.server.refreshClient(parameters);
$("#refresh").click(function() {
dashboardHubProxy.server.refreshClient(parameters);
});
});
dashboardHubProxy.client.refreshChart = function (chartData) {
debugger;
DrawChart(chartData, 'Hourly Call Count For Last ' + Duration + ' Days', '#chartHourly', 'StackedAreaChart');
};
});
and my Dashboard Hub class is as follows
public class DashboardHub : Hub
{
private readonly ReportService ReportService = new ReportService();
public void RefreshClient(string parameters)
{
var chartData = ReportService.GenerateHourlyCallsTrendGraphicalReport(parameters);
Clients.All.refreshChart(chartData);
}
}
My SignalR startup class is as follows
[assembly: OwinStartup(typeof(CallsPortalWeb.Startup), "Configuration")]
namespace CallsPortalWeb
{
public static class Startup
{
public static void Configuration(IAppBuilder app)
{
ConfigureSignalR(app);
}
public static void ConfigureSignalR(IAppBuilder app)
{
app.MapSignalR();
}
}
}
When i click on refresh button and a debugger on RefreshClient method on hub the debugger doesn't get to the method which means i am unable to call server side method of SignalR.
Is there anything needs to be done in web.config?
I agree with AD.Net's comment. To elaborate slightly more though, the SignalR hubs can be hosted directly in your web project kinda the same way controllers are used. There is also a package out there so you can host the SignalR library on its own so it can act as a service all on its own. Either way you will need to hit the SignalR hub first as that is how it communicates then you would call your WCF service methods from within the hubs.
Brief explanation
Your HUB will have methods used by both your USER Client and your WCF Client. You may use something like UserConnected() for the user to call in and setup your logging of the connection. Then the WCF service may call your HUB with an UpdateUserStats(Guid connnectionId, UserStats stats) which would in turn call the USER client directly and provide the stats passed in like so Clients.Client(connectionId).updateStats(stats) which in turn would have a method on the USERS client named updateStats() that would handle the received information.
Initial page landing
What AD.Net provided is basic code that will be called when the user lands on the page. At this point you would want to log the ConnectionId related to that user so you can directly contact them back.
First contact with your hub touching WCF
From your Hub, you could call your WCF service as you normally would inside any normal C# code to fetch your data or perform action and return it to your user.
Method of updating the user periodically
SignalR removes the need for your client code to have to continually poll the server for updates. It is meant to allow you to push data out to the client with out them asking for it directly. This is where the persistence of the connections come into play.
You will probably want to create a wrapper to easily send messages to the hub from your application, since you are using WCF I would assume you have your business logic behind this layer so you will want the WCF service reaching out to your Hub whenever action X happens. You can do that by utilizing the Client side C# code as in this case your client is actually the user and the WCF service. With a chat application the other user is basically doing what you want your WCF service to do, which is send a message to the other client.
Usage example
You are running an online store. The dashboard displays how many orders there have been for the day. So you would wire up a call to the hub to send a message out to update the products ordered when a user places a new order. You can do this by sending it to the admin group you have configured and any admins on the dashboard would get the message. Though if these stats are very user specific, you will more then likely instead reach into the database, find the ConnectionId that the user has connected with and send the update message directly to that connectionid.
WCF Client Code Example
Just incase you want some code, this is directly from MS site on connecting with a .net client. You would use this in your WCF service, or wherever in your code you plan on connecting and then sending an update to your user.
var hubConnection = new HubConnection("http://www.contoso.com/");
IHubProxy stockTickerHubProxy = hubConnection.CreateHubProxy("StockTickerHub");
stockTickerHubProxy.On<Stock>("UpdateStockPrice", stock => Console.WriteLine("Stock update for {0} new price {1}", stock.Symbol, stock.Price));
await hubConnection.Start();
Here is a link directly to the .Net Client section: http://www.asp.net/signalr/overview/signalr-20/hubs-api/hubs-api-guide-net-client
I am sure you have seen this link but it really holds all the good information you need to get started. http://www.asp.net/signalr
Here is a more direct link that goes into usages with code for you. http://www.asp.net/signalr/overview/signalr-20/hubs-api/hubs-api-guide-server
ADDED: Here is a blog specific to Dashboards with SignalR and their polling.
http://solomon-t.blogspot.com/2012/12/signalr-and-interval-polling-for.html
ADDED: Here is a page on managing users signalR connections.
http://www.asp.net/signalr/overview/signalr-20/hubs-api/mapping-users-to-connections
Update for your code update
The .Net Client library (in NuGet) gives your .net code access to the hub. Since you are a client you will need to connect to the hub just like the User who is also a client. Your hub would act as the server for this. So with the .Net Client I am assuming you would setup a windows service that would internally poll, or something event based that would call the .Net Client code portion of it which would reach out to your hub. Your hub would take the information provided, more than likely a ConnectionId or GroupId and broad cast the User (which is perhaps on a website so it would be the JS client) a method that would update the front end for the user client. Basically what I mention under "Brief Explanation".
Now, to directly respond to the code you posted. That is Javascript, I would expect a connect like you have done. Updating the chart on initial connection is fine as well. If this is all the code signalR wise though you are missing a client side method to handle the refresh. Technically, instead of calling Clients.Caller.RefreshChart() you could just return that data and use it, which is what your javascript is doing right now. You are returning void but it is expecting a your date.
Now, I would actually say correct your javascript instead of correcting the hub code. Why? Because having a method in JS on your client that is called "refreshChart()" can be reused for when you are having your server reach out and update the client.
So I would recommend, dropping anything that is related to updating the dashboard in your JS done statement. If you want to do a notification or something to the user that is fine but dont update the grid.
Now create a JS client function called "refreshChart", note the lower case R, you can call it with a big R in c# but the js library will lowercase it so when you make the function have it will receive your dashboard information.
Now, on the server polling, or executing on some action, your WCF would call a method on the hub that would be say "UpdateDashboar(connectionId,dashInfo)" and that method would then inside of it call the "refreshChart" just like you are doing in your RefreshClient method, accept instead of doing Clients.Caller you would use Clients.Client(connectionId).refreshChart(chartInfo).
Directly the reason your code is not working is because you need to turn that Void into the type you expect to be returned. If the rest is coded right you will have it update once. You will need to implement the other logic I mentioned if you want it constantly updating. Which is again why I asked about how you are persisting your connections. I added a link to help you with that if you are not sure what I am talking about.
You should use the SignalR Hub to push data to the client. Your hub can consume a WCF service (the same way your client can) to get the data.
from client:
hub.VisitingDashBoard();
on the hub in the VisitingDashBoard method:
var data = wcfClient.GetDashboardData()//may be pass the user id from the context
Clients.Caller.UpdateDashboard(data)
Of course your client will have a handler for UpdateDashboard call

Connect to different Hubs on different pages

I am building a single page app which uses sammy.js, knockout.js and SignalR. The main page (index.html) loads additional html pages into a div based upon the client side route.
I have 2 SignalR hubs, one is connected to by the initial page for server side push data and this works fine. However one of the pages which are loaded when the user navigates to it should also connect to a different hub.
In the main page I am doing the following:
window.hubReady = $.connection.hub.start()
var hub1 = $.connection.hub1;
hub1.updateReceived = function () {
alert('data from server');
}
window.hubReady.done(function() {
hub1.server.start();
});
In the second page I have:
var hub2 = $.connection.hub2;
hub2.updateReceived = function () {
alert('data from server');
}
window.hubReady.done(function() {
hub2.server.start();
});
However I never receive any updates in the second page.
Any idea where I am going wrong?
In order to receive updates from a hub you must have at least 1 client side function declared for that hub when the connection is started. Judging from the libraries you are using I'm assuming you have a single page application and therefore don't instantiate your hub2 data until the connection has already started.
So an easy fix would be to just declare a hub2 client side function alongside your hub1 client side function before start is called. If you want to add more client side functions after the connection has started you'll have to use the .on method.
AKA:
hub2.on("updateReceived", function () {
alert("data from server");
});
I have created a lib called SignalR.EventAggregatorProxy.
it proxies between server side domain events and client side code. Its designed with MVVM and SPA in mind and takes care of all the hub plumbing. Check the wiki for how to set it up.
https://github.com/AndersMalmgren/SignalR.EventAggregatorProxy/wiki
once its configured all you need to subscribe to a event is
ViewModel = function() {
signalR.eventAggregator.subscribe(MyApp.Events.TestEvent, this.onTestEvent, this);
};
MyApp.Events.TestEvent corresponds to a server side .NET event. You can also constraint which event should go to which usera

WebTest for SignalR possible?

if I send a request, and I expect the response to come trough SignalR, is it possible to test this using a LoadTest or PerformanceTest in Visual Studio?
Short answer: Yes
I've done this several times in CodedWebTests but it would also be possible to do in a declarative WebTest. You can use a custom PreWebTest Event Handler to create your signalR client and connect to your SignalR hub. What you choose to do with the signalR notification is up to you but I like to save it to the WebTestContext as well as display it on the test results screen using the AddCommentToResult method.
The method below creates a hubConnection invokes the "addToGroup" function on the hub and then tells the client what to do when it receives a message.
using Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.Client;
public class SignalRPlugin : WebtTestPlugin
{
public override void PreWebTest(object sender, PreWebTestEventArgs e)
{
var hubConnection = new HubConnection("yourSignalRUrl");
var hubProxy = hubConnection.CreateHubProxy("notifications");
hubConnection.Start().Wait();
hubProxy.Invoke("addToGroup", "me");
hubProxy.On<string>("message", s =>
{
e.Webtest.AddCommentToResult(s);
e.Webtest.Context.Add("signalRMessages", s);
});
}
}
Use it by attaching the event handler in your test constructor.
public MyWebTest()
{
PreWebTest += new SignalRPlugin().PreWebTest;
}
Then once you have the signalR messages you can use a custom validation rule to validate that the response was received. Just have a while loop checking the WebTestContext for the "signalRMessages" key. I strongly suggest making sure you add a timeout feature so you are not waiting forever if the messages never come in.
The other option if you are writing CodedWebTests is to create a WaitForNotifications method that basically does the same thing as the validation rule. The advantage with this is that you can use an extraction rule to get data out of the last response and then use that data in validating your signalR messages. If you still need to fail a test in your WaitForNotification method use WebTest.InternalSetOutcome(Outcome.Fail);
The best way to load test a SignalR application is by building on the crank project included in the source.
This is a simple ramp up solution built with the .Net client but it is relatively easy to modify to call whatever hub methods you require and to analyse the responses.
You can always attach the Visual Studio profiler to your iis express instance to get detailed profiling data if required.

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