NachoMan/BLWebSocketsServer

BLWebSocketsServer is a lightweight websockets server for iOS built around libwebsockets. The server suports both synchronous requests and push.

Here's how easy it is to start a Websockets server in your iOS app:

//every request made by a client will trigger the execution of this block.
[[BLWebSocketsServer sharedInstance] setHandleRequestBlock:^NSData *(NSData *data) {
  //simply echo what has been received
  return data;
}];
//Start the server
[[BLWebSocketsServer sharedInstance] startListeningOnPort:9000 withProtocolName:@"my-protocol-name" andCompletionBlock:^(NSError *error) {
    if (!error) {
        NSLog(@"Server started");
    }
    else {
        NSLog(@"%@", error);
    }
}];
//Push a message to every connected clients
[[BLWebSocketsServer sharedInstance] pushToAll:[@"pushed message" dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];

Installation

From CocoaPods

Add pod 'BLWebSocketsServer' to your Podfile or pod 'BLWebSocketsServer', :head if you're feeling adventurous.

Manually

Important note if your project doesn't use ARC: you must add the -fobjc-arc compiler flag to BLWebSocketsServer.m in Target Settings > Build Phases > Compile Sources.

Copy the BLWebSocketsServer folder into your project.
Add libz.dylib.
Import BLWebSocketsServer.h

Usage

See the sample Xcode project for an example of implementation with both synchronous and asynchronous messaging.

Reference

//Access the BLWebSocketsServer singleton
[BLWebSocketsServer sharedInstance]
//To handle a request, use a block that receives as arguments the data in the request and returns the response data
typedef NSData *(^BLWebSocketsHandleRequestBlock)(NSData * requestData);
//Add the block that'll handle the request and the corresponding response with this
- (void)setHandleRequestBlock:(BLWebSocketsHandleRequestBlock)block;
//Method to start the server
- (void)startListeningOnPort:(int)port withProtocolName:(NSString *)protocolName andCompletionBlock:(void(^)(NSError *error))completionBlock;
//Get the status of the server with this
@property (atomic, assign, readonly) BOOL isRunning;
//Push data to all the connected clients
- (void)pushToAll:(NSData *)data;
//Well...method to stop the server
- (void)stopWithCompletionBlock:(void(^)())completionBlock;

Contribute

When there is a change you'd like to make (if you don't feel inspired you can check the Todo below):

Fork the repository
Send a pull request
I'll happily merge it in the master !

Todo

Add the ability to listen simultaneously on multiple ports for different protocols.
Use dispatch sources instead of an infinite loop.
Add a session store.
Implement per user push.

Keep working on the documentation, it is a never ending task anyway ;-)

Contact

Benjamin Loulier

License

BLWebSocketsServer is available under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.

NachoMan / BLWebSocketsServer