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diff --git a/guides/source/action_controller_overview.md b/guides/source/action_controller_overview.md index f2abd833aa..ecaee02cce 100644 --- a/guides/source/action_controller_overview.md +++ b/guides/source/action_controller_overview.md @@ -907,6 +907,92 @@ Now the user can request to get a PDF version of a client just by adding ".pdf" GET /clients/1.pdf ``` +### Live Streaming of Arbitrary Data + +Rails allows you to stream more than just files. In fact, you can stream anything +you would like in a response object. The `ActionController::Live` module allows +you to create a persistent connection with a browser. Using this module, you will +be able to send arbitrary data to the browser at specific points in time. + +#### Incorporating Live Streaming + +Including `ActionController::Live` inside of your controller class will provide +all actions inside of the controller the ability to stream data. You can mix in +the module like so: + +```ruby +class MyController < ActionController::Base + include ActionController::Live + + def stream + response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'text/event-stream' + 100.times { + response.stream.write "hello world\n" + sleep 1 + } + ensure + response.stream.close + end +end +``` + +The above code will keep a persistent connection with the browser and send 100 +messages of `"hello world\n"`, each one second apart. + +There are a couple of things to notice in the above example. We need to make +sure to close the response stream. Forgetting to close the stream will leave +the socket open forever. We also have to set the content type to `text/event-stream` +before we write to the response stream. This is because headers cannot be written +after the response has been committed (when `response.committed` returns a truthy +value), which occurs when you `write` or `commit` the response stream. + +#### Example Usage + +Let's suppose that you were making a Karaoke machine and a user wants to get the +lyrics for a particular song. Each `Song` has a particular number of lines and +each line takes time `num_beats` to finish singing. + +If we wanted to return the lyrics in Karaoke fashion (only sending the line when +the singer has finished the previous line), then we could use `ActionController::Live` +as follows: + +```ruby +class LyricsController < ActionController::Base + include ActionController::Live + + def show + response.headers['Content-Type'] = 'text/event-stream' + song = Song.find(params[:id]) + + song.each do |line| + response.stream.write line.lyrics + sleep line.num_beats + end + ensure + response.stream.close + end +end +``` + +The above code sends the next line only after the singer has completed the previous +line. + +#### Streaming Considerations + +Streaming arbitrary data is an extremely powerful tool. As shown in the previous +examples, you can choose when and what to send across a response stream. However, +you should also note the following things: + +* Each response stream creates a new thread and copies over the thread local + variables from the original thread. Having too many thread local variables can + negatively impact performance. Similarly, a large number of threads can also + hinder performance. +* Failing to close the response stream will leave the corresponding socket open + forever. Make sure to call `close` whenever you are using a response stream. +* WEBrick servers buffer all responses, and so including `ActionController::Live` + will not work. You must use a web server which does not automatically buffer + responses. + Log Filtering ------------- |