Best Practice for Multiple Subscribe Methods in React / Ratchet / ZMQ - php

Question

I try to build a little realtime websocket use-case, where users can login and see all other users logged in, get notified when a new user signs in or an existing user logs out.
For this scenario i use the ZMQ PUSH Socket in my UserController when a user logs in or logs out.
UserConstroller
public function login() {
//... here is the auth code, model call etc...
$aUserData = array();// user data comes from the database with username, logintime, etc....
$context = new \ZMQContext();
$oSocket = $context->getSocket(\ZMQ::SOCKET_PUSH, 'USER_LOGIN_PUSHER'); // use persistent_id
if($oSocket instanceof \ZMQSocket) {
$oSocket->connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:5555"); //
$oSocket->send(json_encode($aUserData));
}
}
public function logout() {
//... here is the logout code, model call etc ....
$aUserData = array();// user data comes from the SESSION with username, logintime, etc....
$context = new \ZMQContext();
$oSocket = $context->getSocket(\ZMQ::SOCKET_PUSH, 'USER_LOGOUT_PUSHER'); // use persistent_id
if($oSocket instanceof \ZMQSocket) {
$oSocket->connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:5555"); //
$oSocket->send(json_encode($aUserData));
}
}
Then i've got a Pusher class like in the Ratchet docs: link
In this class there are two methods: onUserLogin and onUserLogout and of course all the other stuff like
onSubscribe, onOpen, onPublish
UserInformationPusher
public function onUserLogin($aUserData) {
//var_dump("onUserLogin");
$sUserData = json_decode($aUserData, true);
$oTopic = $this->subscribedTopics["user_login"];
if($oTopic instanceof Topic) {
$oTopic->broadcast($sUserData);
} else {
return;
}
}
public function onUserLogout($aUserData) {
//var_dump("onUserLogout");
$entryData = json_decode($aUserData, true);
$oTopic = $this->subscribedTopics["user_logout"];
if($oTopic instanceof Topic) {
$oTopic->broadcast($entryData);
} else {
return;
}
}
The last piece is the WampServer/WsServer/HttpServer with a Loop that listens to the incoming connections. There is also my ZMQ PULL socket
RatchetServerConsole
public function start_server() {
$oPusher = new UserInformationPusher();
$oLoop = \React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
$oZMQContext = new \React\ZMQ\Context($oLoop);
$oPullSocket = $oZMQContext->getSocket(\ZMQ::SOCKET_PULL);
$oPullSocket->bind('tcp://127.0.0.1:5555'); // Binding to 127.0.0.1 means the only client that can connect is itself
$oPullSocket->on('message', array($oPusher, 'onUserLogin'));
$oPullSocket->on('message', array($oPusher, 'onUserLogout'));
$oMemcache = new \Memcache();
$oMemcache->connect('127.0.0.1', 11211);
$oMemcacheHandler = new Handler\MemcacheSessionHandler($oMemcache);
$oSession = new SessionProvider(
new \Ratchet\Wamp\WampServer(
$oPusher
),
$oMemcacheHandler
);
//$this->Output->info("Server start initiation with memcache!...");
$webSock = new \React\Socket\Server($oLoop);
$webSock->listen(8080, '0.0.0.0'); // Binding to 0.0.0.0 means remotes can connect
$oServer = new \Ratchet\Server\IoServer(
new \Ratchet\Http\HttpServer(
new \Ratchet\WebSocket\WsServer(
$oSession
)
),
$webSock
);
$this->Output->info("Server started ");
$oLoop->run();
}
In this example, the call from login() or logout() would always call both methods(onUserLogin and onUserLogout).
I was not able to find some docs, which describe what events i can use in the on($event, callable $listener) method, does anyone have a link/knowledge base?
What is the best approach to check which method from the UserController was fired?
I could add some information to the $sUserData in the Controller and check this in the Pusher
I could bind an other socket to a different port (e.g. 5554 for PULL and PUSH) and use the on() method on this one
I could... is there another best practice to solve this?
No Client code needed cause it works fine

Answer 1

In your RatchetServerConsole,
Remove,
$oPullSocket->on('message', array($oPusher, 'onUserLogin'));
$oPullSocket->on('message', array($oPusher, 'onUserLogout'));
Add,
$oPullSocket->on('message', array($oPusher, 'onUserActionBroadcast'));
.
In your UserInformationPusher,
Remove onUserLogin() and onUserLogout().
Add,
public function onUserActionBroadcast($aUserData)
{
$entryData = json_decode($aUserData, true);
// If the lookup topic object isn't set there is no one to publish to
if (!array_key_exists($entryData['topic'], $this->subscribedTopics)) {
return;
}
$topic = $this->subscribedTopics[$entryData['topic']];
unset($entryData['topic']);
// re-send the data to all the clients subscribed to that category
$topic->broadcast($entryData);
}
.
Your UserConstroller (add the topic in $aUserData),
public function login() {
//... here is the auth code, model call etc...
$aUserData = array();// user data comes from the database with username, logintime, etc....
$aUserData['topic'] = 'USER_LOGIN'; // add the topic name
$context = new \ZMQContext();
$oSocket = $context->getSocket(\ZMQ::SOCKET_PUSH, 'my pusher'); // use persistent_id
if($oSocket instanceof \ZMQSocket) {
$oSocket->connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:5555"); //
$oSocket->send(json_encode($aUserData));
}
}
public function logout() {
//... here is the logout code, model call etc ....
$aUserData = array();// user data comes from the SESSION with username, logintime, etc....
$aUserData['topic'] = 'USER_LOGOUT'; // add the topic name
$context = new \ZMQContext();
$oSocket = $context->getSocket(\ZMQ::SOCKET_PUSH, 'my pusher'); // use persistent_id
if($oSocket instanceof \ZMQSocket) {
$oSocket->connect("tcp://127.0.0.1:5555"); //
$oSocket->send(json_encode($aUserData));
}
}
.
Finally in your view file,
<script>
var conn = new ab.Session('ws://yourdomain.dev:9000', // Add the correct domain and port here
function() {
conn.subscribe('USER_LOGIN', function(topic, data) {
console.log(topic);
console.log(data);
});
conn.subscribe('USER_LOGOUT', function(topic, data) {
console.log(topic);
console.log(data);
});
},
function() {
console.warn('WebSocket connection closed');
},
{'skipSubprotocolCheck': true}
);
</script>
.
NOTE: The basic idea was to use a single broadcast function in the pusher class.

Answer 2

After one month of intensive handling with PHPs best practice in websockets i changed from my approach to the Crossbar.io, voryx/Thruway in the PHP Backend and Autobahn|JS in the Frontend.
All of these componentes support the WAMP V2 Websocket Standard and are able to handle my requirements.
If there are some requests i can post the solution to my problem above, with the usage of the mentioned components.