have been trying to create a chat app with node.js and socket.io, but have been stuck for a while and heres why, i succeeded in implementing sending of private messages between connected users by clicking on the username of the person u want to chat privately with, but the problem i now face is that, for example let say there are 3 connected users in the chat app(say joy, grace,shanel) when joy decides to chat with grace, the chat app handles this quite well,but if joy decides to chat with shanel after first chatting with grace, joy's private messages that are meant for shanel ends up being sent to grace, (i.e both grace and shanel recieves this private message for grace), this is the problem have been facing. my codes are below, sorry for the essay, i want anyone trying to help understand my situation :)
server.js code
var express = require('express');
var app = require('express')();
var http = require('http').Server(app);
var io = require('socket.io')(http);
var usernames={};
var sockets = {};
var names= {};
app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
app.get('/', function(req, res){
res.sendfile('index.html');
});
io.on('connection', function(socket){
socket.on('send_msg', function(msg){
console.log('a user connected');
io.emit('chat message', msg);
//console.log(msg);
});
socket.on('new_user',function(user){
console.log('new user:'+user);
names[socket.id] = user;
socket.nickname= user;
usernames[socket.nickname] = socket;
sockets[user]=socket.id;
socket.emit('update_personal', "you are now online");
io.emit('update_users',names);
});
socket.on('disconnect', function(){
io.emit('update_personal', usernames[socket.id]+' is now offline');
//delete usernames[socket.id];
delete names[socket.id];
delete usernames[socket.nickname];
// io.emit('update_users',usernames,usernames[socket.id]);
io.emit('update_users',names);
//console.log(usernames+'specific user id'+usernames[user]);
});
socket.on('private_msg', function(msg,recipient,sender){
console.log('you are trying to send '+msg+' to '+recipient+ ' from '+sender);
var id = sockets[recipient];
console.log(sockets[recipient]);
io.to(id).emit('received_p_msg', msg,sender,recipient);
recipient = '';
console.log('value in recipient:'+recipient);
});
});
http.listen(3000, function(){
console.log('listening on *:3000');
});
client.html
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
<title>my chat app</title>
<!------------------
<style>
<!-----------
* { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }
body { font: 13px Helvetica, Arial; }
form { background: #000; padding: 3px; position: fixed; bottom: 0; width: 100%; }
form input { border: 0; padding: 10px; width: 90%; margin-right: .5%; }
form button { width: 9%; background: rgb(130, 224, 255); border: none; padding: 10px; }
#messages { list-style-type: none; margin: 0; padding: 0; }
#messages li { padding: 5px 10px; }
#messages li:nth-child(odd) { background: #eee; }
#chat_msg{
}
</style><!-------!>
</head>
<body>
<!---username login here----->
<div id="login">
<form id="chat_msg">
<label>Enter Username:</label>
<input type="text" id="username"/>
<input type="button" id="join" value="Create Username"/>
</form>
</div>
<div>
<div id="online_users"><li>List of online users:</li></div>
</div>
<!---public room chat begins here----->
<div id="chat" style="display: none;">
<ul id="messages"></ul>
<form action="">
<input id="msg" autocomplete="off" />
<button id="send" >Send</button>
</form>
</div>
<!---private chat begins here----->
<div id="private_chat" style="display: none;">
<p id="private_user">Private chat with: </p>
<div id="private_msg"></div>
<form action="">
<input id="p_msg" autocomplete="off" />
<button id="p_send" >Send private msg</button>
</form>
</div>
<script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
<script src="jquery-2.1.0.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).ready(function(){
var socket = io('http://192.168.173.1:3000/');
$('#chat').hide();
$('#username').focus();
$('form').submit(function(e){
e.preventDefault();
});
var username = $('#username').val();
$('#join').click(function(){
var username = $('#username').val();
console.log('entered username '+username);
if(username !=''){
socket.emit('new_user', username);
$('#login').detach();
$('#chat').show();
$('#msg').focus();
}
});
$('#send').click(function(){
socket.emit('send_msg', $('#msg').val());
$('#msg').val('');
});
socket.on('chat message', function(msg){
$('#messages').append($('<li>').text(msg));
});
socket.on('update_personal', function(status){
$('#messages').append($('<li>').text(status));
});
socket.on('update_users', function(names){
console.log(names);
if(true) {
$("#online_users").empty();
$.each(names, function(clientid, name) {
$('#online_users').append("<li><a href='#' id='"+name+"' name='"+name+"' class='private'> " + name + "</a></li>");
});
// $('#online_users').html("<li><a href='#' id='"+name+"' name='"+name+"' class='private'> " + name + "</a></li><br/>");
$('a.private').click(function(){
$('#private_chat').hide();
$('#private_chat').show();
var sender = username;
var recipient = $(this).attr('name');
console.log('name gotten is:'+recipient);
$('p#private_user').html('private chat with :'+ recipient);
$('#p_send').click(function(){
msg = $('#p_msg').val();
if(msg!=''){
recipient=recipient;
socket.emit('private_msg', msg,recipient,sender); // msg from sender, username of the sender, username of recipient
$('#p_msg').val('');
}else{$('#p_msg').val('please enter a valid msg');}
});
});
}
});
socket.on('received_p_msg', function(msg,sender,recipient){
$('#private_chat').show();
console.log('received privatemsg: '+msg);
$('#private_user').html('privatE chat with : '+ sender);
$('#private_msg').append($('<div>').html(msg+'</div>'));
//to continue chat after receiving initial private msg
$('#p_send').click(function(){
msg = $('#p_msg').val();
if(msg!=''){
socket.emit('private_msg', msg,sender,recipient); // msg from sender, username of the sender, username of recipient
$('#p_msg').val('');
}else{$('#p_msg').val('please enter a valid msg');}
$('#p_msg').val('');
});
});
socket.on("disconnect", function(){
$("#msgs").append("The server is not available");
});
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
Regarding your issue I noticed that if you want to open multiple private chats you can't because there is only one username and so it isn't possible to choose more than one client to send the chat message to. You need to extend the username variable into an array of usernames for example.
I found a possible bug in your client.html file, in which username was taken from $("#username").val() but it was undefined. I suggest you this fix if I understood correctly your code (3 different lines):
// the line below differs
var username = null;
var socket = io('http://192.168.173.1:3000/');
$('#chat').hide();
$('#username').focus();
$('form').submit(function(e){
e.preventDefault();
});
// the line below differs
//var username = $('#username').val();
$('#join').click(function{
// the line below differs
username = $('#username').val();
console.log('entered username '+username);
if(username !=''){
socket.emit('new_user', username);
$('#login').detach();
$('#chat').show();
$('#msg').focus();
}
});