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Resin's server-push (Comet) API lets server application push new data to the client as it becomes available. Administration and monitoring applications need to continually update the client when new information becomes available to the server.

The architecture in the picture uses two HTTP streams to the server application, one for normal client-server requests, and a second unidirectional stream to send updates from the server to the client. In this example, we're using a browser with JavaScript, but the same architecture applies to a more sophisticated Flash monitoring application sending Hessian packets to update the monitoring display.

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resin-web.xml configuration
web-beans.xml marker for class scanning
The Comet servlet.
Application service for timer/comet events.
The application's Comet controller state.
Main HTML page linking comet servlet.
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The example updates a comet.html page every two seconds with new data. In this case, just an updated counter.

The components of the Comet/AJAX application look like:

- Protocol: JavaScript function calls with a trivial argument.
- Client:
  - View: HTML updated by JavaScript AJAX
  - Controller: call server with an <iframe>
- Server:
  - Service: TimerService manages the comet connections and wakes them with new data.
  - Servlet: TestCometServlet generates <script> protocol tags from new data from the TimerService on each `resume`.
  - State: CometState encapsulates both the item's state (the timer count), and the CometController needed to wake the servlet and pass updated data.

The comet HTTP stream is a sequence of <script> tags containing JavaScript commands to update the browser's display. Because the browser executes the script as part of its progressive rendering, the user will see the updates immediately without waiting for the entire HTTP request to complete.

In our example, the packet is a JavaScript `comet_update(data)` call, which updates the text field with new data. Here's an example of the packet stream:

<script type="text/javascript"> window.parent.comet_update(1); </script> <!-- 2 second delay --> <script type="text/javascript"> window.parent.comet_update(2); </script> <!-- 2 second delay --> <script type="text/javascript"> window.parent.comet_update(3); </script>

More sophisticated comet applications will use a dynamic-typed protocol to update the client. Browser-based applications could use JSON to update the client and Flash-based applications might use Hessian. In all cases, the protocol must be kept simple and designed for the client's requirements. Design separate, simple protocols for Flash and JavaScript browsers, rather than trying to create some complicated general protocol.

The JavaScript command stream updates a parent HTML file which defines the JavaScript commands and launches the Comet servlet request with an <iframe> tag. Our `comet_update` function finds the HTML tag with `id="content"` and updates its HTML content with the new data from the server.

<html> <body> Server Data: <span id="content">server data will be shown here</span> <script type="text/javascript"> function comet_update(value) { document.getElementById('content').innerHTML = value; }; </script> <iframe src="comet" style="width:1px;height:1px;position:absolute;top:-1000px"></iframe> </body> </html>

The CometController is Resin's thread-safe encapsulation of control and communication from the application's service to the Comet servlet. Applications may safely pass the `CometController` to different threads, wake the servlet with `wake()`, and send data with `setAttribute`.

In the example, the `TimerService` passes the updated count to the servlet by calling `setAttribute("caucho.count", count)`, and wakes the servlet by calling `wake()`. When the servlet resumes, it will retrieve the count using `request.getAttribute("caucho.count")`. Note, applications must only use the thread-safe `CometController` in other threads. As with other servlets, the `ServletRequest`, `ServletResponse`, writers and output stream can only be used by the servlet thread itself, never by any other threads.

package com.caucho.servlet.comet; public interface CometController { public void wake(); public Object getAttribute(String name); public void setAttribute(String name, Object value); public void removeAttribute(String name); public void close(); }

The comet servlet has three major responsibilities:

1. Process the initial request (`service`).
2. Register the `CometController` with the service (`service`).
3. Send streaming data as it becomes available (`resume`).

Like other servlets, only the comet servlet may use the `ServletRequest`, `ServletResponse` or any output writer or stream. No other thread may use these servlet objects, and the application must never store these objects in fields or objects accessible by other threads. Even in a comet servlet, the servlet objects are not thread-safe. Other services and threads must use the `CometController` to communicate with the servlet.

Process the initial request: our servlet just calls `setContentType("text/html")`, since it's a trivial example. A real application would do necessary database lookups and possibly send more complicated data to the client.

Register the `CometController`: our servlet registers the controller with the timer service by calling `addCometState`. In general, the application state object will contain the `CometController` as part of the registration process.

Send streaming data:. The `TimerService` will set new data in the `"comet.count"` attribute and `wake()` the controller. When the servlet executes the `resume()` method, it will retrieve the data, and send the next packet to the client.

package example; import java.io.*; import javax.servlet.http.*; import javax.servlet.*; import javax.webbeans.*; import com.caucho.servlet.comet.GenericCometServlet; import com.caucho.servlet.comet.CometController; public class TestComet extends GenericCometServlet { @In private TimerService _timerService; @Override public boolean service(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response, CometController controller) throws IOException, ServletException { HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request; HttpServletResponse res = (HttpServletResponse) response; res.setContentType("text/html"); TestState state = new TestState(controller); _timerService.addCometState(state); return true; } @Override public boolean resume(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response, CometController controller) throws IOException, ServletException { HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request; HttpServletResponse res = (HttpServletResponse) response; PrintWriter out = res.getWriter(); String count = req.getAttribute("comet.count"); out.print("<script type='text/javascript'>"); out.print("comet_update(" + count + ");"); out.print("</script>"); return true; } }

The connection can close for a number of reasons. Either the `service()` or `resume()` methods may return false, telling Resin to close the connection. The service might call `CometController.close()` which will also close the connection. Finally, the client may close the connection itself.

The sequence of calls for the example looks like the following:

1. `servlet.service()` is called for the initial request
2. `_service.addCometState()` registers with the `TimerService`
3. after the `service()` completes, Resin suspends the servlet.
4. The `TimerService` detects an event, in this case the timer event.
5. The `TimerService` calls `controller.setAttribute()` to send new data.
6. The `TimerService` calls `controller.wake()` to wake the servlet.
7. `servlet.resume()` processes the data and sends the next packet.
8. After the `resume()` completes, Resin suspends the servlet again and we repeat as after step #3.
9. After the 10th data, the `TimerService` calls `controller.close()`, closing the servlet connection.

The sequence of comet servlet calls looks like the following state machine. After the initial request, the servlet spends most of its time suspended, waiting for the `TimerService` to call `wake()`.

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