Why isn't the server sending or the client receiving data via socket.io in my express app? - ajax

Question

My node app posts an object (consisting of data collected in a form on the client) to Salesforce via their API. On receiving a success or error message, I would like to send it to the client-side, then display it. Socket.io seemed like the tool for this in my simple node/express3 app, but beyond the simple demo I'm not able to get data to pass between my server and my client.
My relevant server side code:
var express = require('express');
var port = 5432;
var app = module.exports = express();
var server = require('http').createServer(app);
var nforce = require('nforce');
var org = nforce.createConnection({
clientId: 'MY_CLIENT_ID',
clientSecret: 'MY_CLIENT_SECRET',
redirectUri: 'http://localhost:5432/oauth/_callback'
});
var io = require('socket.io').listen(server);
// here I authenticate with Salesforce, this works fine
app.post('/salesforce', function(req, res){
var lead = nforce.createSObject('Lead');
// here I construct the lead object, which also works fine
org.insert(lead, oauth, function(err, res) {
if (err === null) {
console.log(res);
leadSuccessMessage(res);
}
else {
console.log(err);
var error = {
errorCode: err.errorCode,
statusCode: err.statusCode,
messageBody: err.messageBody
};
console.log(error);
leadErrorMessage(error);
}
});
}
function leadSuccessMessage(res) {
var resp = res;
console.log('called success message from server');
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
socket.emit('sfRes', resp);
socket.on('thanks', function (data) {
console.log(data);
});
});
}
function leadErrorMessage(error) {
var err = error;
console.log('called error message from server');
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
console.log("socket is: " + socket);
socket.emit('sfRes', err);
socket.on('thanks', function (data) {
console.log(data);
});
});
}
And my relevant client side scripts:
<script src="/socket.io/socket.io.js"></script>
<script>
current.page = document.URL;
console.log("current page is: " + current.page);
var socket = io.connect(current.page);
socket.on('sfRes', function (data) {
console.log("client received: " + data);
fst.showLeadStatus(data);
socket.emit('thanks', {message: "received server feedback"});
});
</script>
When I post the form containing valid data using a spicy little AJAX call:
postToSF: function(){
$('#submitLead').on('click', function(e){
e.preventDefault();
var formData = $('#lead_form').serialize();
$.ajax({
type: 'POST',
url: '/salesforce',
data: formData,
success: function(){
fst.log('success!');
},
error: function(xhr, ajaxOptions, thrownError){
console.error(xhr.status); // 0
console.error(thrownError);
}
});
});
}
All I get are tears, and these in the server-side console:
// the result of `console.log(res)`
{ id: '00Qa000001FZfhKEAT', success: true, errors: [] }
// and proof that `leadSuccessMessage()` got called
called success message from server
Instead of calling this function from a client-side object as it's supposed to:
showLeadStatus: function(response){
if (response.success) {
fst.log("showing lead status as: " + response);
$('#leadStatus').addClass('success').removeClass('error').fadeIn().delay(4000).fadeOut();
}
else {
fst.log("showing lead status as: " + response);
$('#leadStatus').text(response.messageBody).addClass('error').removeClass('success').fadeIn().delay('4000').fadeOut();
}
$('#startOver').click();
}
Which works fine if I call it in the console passing it the data the server is supposed to be socketing over:
// this works, gosh darn it
fst.showLeadStatus({ id: '00Qa000001FZfhKEAT', success: true, errors: [] });
The Salesforce post error case doesn't surface anything to the client either. And there are no errors in the client or server console to contend with.
I'm stumped. Please help!

Answer 1

I would do something like this -
var mysocket = null;
var io = require('socket.io').listen(server);
io.sockets.on('connection', function (socket) {
mysocket = socket;
socket.on('thanks', function (data) {
console.log(data);
});
});
app.post('/salesforce', function(req, res){
....
....
})
function leadSuccessMessage(res) {
var resp = res;
console.log('called success message from server');
if(mysocket)
mysocket.emit('sfRes', resp);
}
function leadErrorMessage(error) {
var err = error;
console.log('called error message from server');
if(mysocket)
mysocket.emit('sfRes', err);
}