In a world where remote collaboration is increasingly common, having a real-time collaborative document editor can greatly enhance productivity and efficiency. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to build a collaborative document editor using Redux and SocketCluster.

Setting up the Backend with SocketCluster

SocketCluster is a powerful JavaScript framework that allows for real-time communication between the server and the client. We’ll start by setting up the backend using SocketCluster.

First, let’s install the SocketCluster server:

npm install socketcluster-server

Next, we’ll create a file called server.js and add the following code:

const SocketCluster = require('socketcluster-server');

const agServer = SocketCluster.agServer.attach({
  wsEngine: 'ws',
  workers: 1,
  brokerOptions: {
    port: 8000,
    host: 'localhost',
  },
});

agServer.on('connection', (socket) => {
  console.log(`Client ${socket.id} connected.`);

  socket.on('disconnect', () => {
    console.log(`Client ${socket.id} disconnected.`);
  });
});

In the code above, we initialize a SocketCluster server and listen for client connections. We also handle the “disconnect” event to log when a client is disconnected.

Implementing the Client with Redux

Now that we have our backend set up, let’s move on to the client-side implementation using Redux.

First, let’s install the necessary dependencies:

npm install redux react-redux socketcluster-client

Next, we’ll create a file called client.js and add the following code:

import { createStore } from 'redux';
import { Provider } from 'react-redux';
import socketCluster from 'socketcluster-client';

const initialState = {
  document: '',
};

const reducer = (state = initialState, action) => {
  switch (action.type) {
    case 'UPDATE_DOCUMENT':
      return {
        ...state,
        document: action.payload,
      };
    default:
      return state;
  }
};

const store = createStore(reducer);

const socket = socketCluster.create({
  hostname: 'localhost',
  port: 8000,
});

socket.on('connect', () => {
  console.log('Connected to SocketCluster server.');

  socket.subscribe('documentChannel').watch((data) => {
    store.dispatch({
      type: 'UPDATE_DOCUMENT',
      payload: data.document,
    });
  });
});

function App() {
  return (
    <Provider store={store}>
      {/* Your App components here */}
    </Provider>
  );
}

export default App;

In the code above, we create a Redux store and a reducer to manage the state of our document. We also set up a connection to the SocketCluster server and subscribe to the “documentChannel”. Whenever a document update event is received, we dispatch an action to update the document state in the Redux store.

Conclusion

By combining Redux and SocketCluster, we can easily build a powerful and efficient collaborative document editor. With real-time updates and seamless integration between multiple clients, remote collaboration becomes a breeze. We hope this blog post has given you a good starting point for building your own collaborative document editor.

#TechBlog #Redux #SocketCluster