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<h1 class="lined-header"><span>Websocket</span></h1>
<p>This chapter describes how to use the Gun client for communicating with a Websocket server.</p>
<!-- @todo recovering from connection failure, reconnecting to Websocket etc.-->
<h2 id="_http_upgrade">HTTP upgrade</h2>
<p>Websocket is a protocol built on top of HTTP. To use Websocket, you must first request for the connection to be upgraded. Only HTTP/1.1 connections can be upgraded to Websocket, so you might need to restrict the protocol to HTTP/1.1 if you are planning to use Websocket over TLS.</p>
<p>You must use the <code>gun:ws_upgrade/2,3,4</code> function to upgrade to Websocket. This function can be called anytime after connection, so you can send HTTP requests before upgrading to Websocket.</p>
<div class="listingblock"><div class="title">Upgrade to Websocket</div>
<div class="content"><!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><tt><b><font color="#000000">gun:ws_upgrade</font></b>(<font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#FF0000">"/websocket"</font>)<font color="#990000">.</font></tt></pre>
</div></div>
<p>Gun will set all the necessary headers for performing the Websocket upgrade, but you can specify additional headers if needed. For example you can request a custom sub-protocol.</p>
<div class="listingblock"><div class="title">Upgrade to Websocket and request a protocol</div>
<div class="content"><!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><tt><b><font color="#000000">gun:ws_upgrade</font></b>(<font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#FF0000">"/websocket"</font>, [
{<font color="#990000"><<</font><font color="#FF0000">"sec-websocket-protocol"</font><font color="#990000">>></font>, <font color="#FF0000">"mychat"</font>}
])<font color="#990000">.</font></tt></pre>
</div></div>
<p>You can pass the Websocket options as part of the <code>gun:open/2,3</code> call when opening the connection, or using the <code>gun:ws_upgrade/4</code>. The fourth argument is those same options.</p>
<p>When the upgrade succeeds, a <code>gun_upgrade</code> message is sent. If the server does not understand Websocket or refused the upgrade, a <code>gun_response</code> message is sent. If Gun couldn't perform the upgrade due to an error (for example attempting to upgrade to Websocket on an HTTP/1.0 connection) then a <code>gun_error</code> message is sent.</p>
<p>When the server does not understand Websocket, it may send a meaningful response which should be processed. In the following example we however ignore it:</p>
<div class="listingblock"><div class="content"><!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><tt><b><font color="#0000FF">receive</font></b>
{<font color="#FF6600">gun_upgrade</font>, <font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#009900">StreamRef</font>, [<font color="#990000"><<</font><font color="#FF0000">"websocket"</font><font color="#990000">>></font>], <font color="#009900">Headers</font>} <font color="#990000">-></font>
<b><font color="#000000">upgrade_success</font></b>(<font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#009900">StreamRef</font>);
{<font color="#FF6600">gun_response</font>, <font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#990000">_</font>, <font color="#990000">_</font>, <font color="#009900">Status</font>, <font color="#009900">Headers</font>} <font color="#990000">-></font>
<b><font color="#000080">exit</font></b>({<font color="#FF6600">ws_upgrade_failed</font>, <font color="#009900">Status</font>, <font color="#009900">Headers</font>});
{<font color="#FF6600">gun_error</font>, <font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#009900">StreamRef</font>, <font color="#009900">Reason</font>} <font color="#990000">-></font>
<b><font color="#000080">exit</font></b>({<font color="#FF6600">ws_upgrade_failed</font>, <font color="#009900">Reason</font>})
<i><font color="#9A1900">%% More clauses here as needed.</font></i>
<b><font color="#0000FF">after</font></b> <font color="#993399">1000</font> <font color="#990000">-></font>
<b><font color="#000080">exit</font></b>(<font color="#FF6600">timeout</font>)
<b><font color="#0000FF">end</font></b><font color="#990000">.</font></tt></pre>
</div></div>
<h2 id="_sending_data">Sending data</h2>
<p>Once the Websocket upgrade has completed successfully, you no longer have access to functions for performing requests. You can only send and receive Websocket messages.</p>
<p>Use <code>gun:ws_send/2</code> to send messages to the server.</p>
<div class="listingblock"><div class="title">Send a text frame</div>
<div class="content"><!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><tt><b><font color="#000000">gun:ws_send</font></b>(<font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, {<font color="#FF6600">text</font>, <font color="#FF0000">"Hello!"</font>})<font color="#990000">.</font></tt></pre>
</div></div>
<!-- @todo Implement sending of N frames-->
<!-- -->
<!-- .Send a text frame, a binary frame and then close the connection-->
<!-- [source,erlang]-->
<!-- ------>
<!-- gun:ws_send(ConnPid, [-->
<!-- {text, "Hello!"},-->
<!-- {binary, BinaryValue},-->
<!-- close-->
<!-- ]).-->
<!-- ------>
<p>Note that if you send a close frame, Gun will close the connection cleanly but will attempt to reconnect afterwards.</p>
<h2 id="_receiving_data">Receiving data</h2>
<p>Gun sends an Erlang message to the owner process for every Websocket message it receives.</p>
<div class="listingblock"><div class="content"><!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><tt><b><font color="#0000FF">receive</font></b>
{<font color="#FF6600">gun_ws</font>, <font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#009900">StreamRef</font>, <font color="#009900">Frame</font>} <font color="#990000">-></font>
<b><font color="#000000">handle_frame</font></b>(<font color="#009900">ConnPid</font>, <font color="#009900">StreamRef</font>, <font color="#009900">Frame</font>)
<b><font color="#0000FF">end</font></b><font color="#990000">.</font></tt></pre>
</div></div>
<!-- @todo auto ping has not been implemented yet-->
<!-- -->
<!-- Gun will automatically send ping messages to the server to keep-->
<!-- the connection alive, however if the connection dies and Gun has-->
<!-- to reconnect it will not upgrade to Websocket automatically, you-->
<!-- need to perform the operation when you receive the `gun_error`-->
<!-- message.-->
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