puranzhang / chat-app

chat-app

This is a html-base chatting app that has various features for communivation researches. It is mainly powered by socket.io and Node.js. Please follow the instructions to set up experiment computers (assuming mac for developments, any other platforms should be compatible with client end).

• Installing on server end

  • Make sure Node.js is installed on your computer;
  • Do npm install express --save (npm should come with Node.js) in your terminal to have the framework express installed;
  • Do npm install socket.io --save to have socket.io installed;

• Running on server end

  • Open the application open chat (script available here) in the folder that displays your IP address (server's IP) and run the server automatically;
  • In this case, Terminal will be launched with your IP address on the first line (after the command) and a message Server listening at port 3000 on the second line that indicates a successful server setup;
  • Remain this window open until the experiment is finished. When finished, open the application stop chat (script available here) to close the server;
  • Log file will be generated as data.csv in the folder (you should save the file somewhere else after each experiment since it's going to be overwritten once you restart the server);

• Runing on client end

  • Open a blank web page with any browser;
  • Point the browser to the server IP address (plus :3000 to the port) by typing, for example, 10.123.1.321:3000 in address bar;
  • The welcome/ID input page should pop up;

• TODO:
  • m - m connection
  • export log file in .csv
  • UI design
  • installing on lab comps
  • log msg data with senders' name
  • start displaying msg from bottom
  • instructions for experimenters
  • "keep talking and nobody explodes" extensions (menu parse helper; modkit to have same bomb for experiment)