PHP WebSockets with Ratchet - example doesn't work

Question

Here's some background first.

1. My aim is to use Ratchet WebSockets to create two-way client-server communication.

2. I have installed ratchet and accompanying software, as described here .

3. I have successfully created a Hello World application as described here .

4. Now I am trying to create Push functionality using this tutorial. I have copied the code, modifying it slightly (modifications noted in code comments below), installed the ZMQ library (latest version, added it to php.ini, show up in php -m - in short, it's installed correctly). But the WebSockets don't work.

I will give my testing process with real live links to my domain below, so you can check it yourself.

1. My push server is exactly the same as the one in their tutorial, with the IP changed to my server's IP. I run this through SSH and it seems to connect correctly.

2. My Pusher class is in the MyApp namespace, same code and same relative location as in their tutorial.

3. My post.php is slightly modified because there's no need to bother with MySQL queries:

$entryData = array(        //hard-coded content of $entryData for simplicity
    'cat'     => "macka"
  , 'title'   => "naslov"
  , 'article' => "tekst"
  , 'when'    => time()
);

// This is our new stuff
$context = new ZMQContext();
$socket = $context->getSocket(ZMQ::SOCKET_PUSH, 'my pusher');
$socket->connect("tcp://light-speed-games.com:5555");       //my domain, still using port 5555 as in their example

$socket->send(json_encode($entryData));

This file is located here .

4. My client.php is the same as theirs, except I had to add a little fix for IE to work with when.js . My problem is browser-independent and the same as it was before the fix was added.

<script>
    window.define = function(factory) {    //my addition
        try{ delete window.define; } catch(e){ window.define = void 0; } // IE
        window.when = factory();
    };
    window.define.amd = {};
</script>
<script src="/apps/scripts/when.js"></script> 
<script src="http://autobahn.s3.amazonaws.com/js/autobahn.min.js"></script>
<script>
    var conn = new ab.Session(
        'ws://light-speed-games.com:8080' // The host (our Ratchet WebSocket server) to connect to
      , function() {            // Once the connection has been established
            conn.subscribe('kittensCategory', function(topic, data) {
                // This is where you would add the new article to the DOM (beyond the scope of this tutorial)
                console.log('New article published to category "' + topic + '" : ' + data.title);
            });
        }
      , function() {            // When the connection is closed
            console.warn('WebSocket connection closed');
        }
      , {                       // Additional parameters, we're ignoring the WAMP sub-protocol for older browsers
            'skipSubprotocolCheck': true
        }
    );
</script>

This file is located here .

In theory, what should happen is this (for example): I open client.php in Chrome with console switched on; then I open post.php in Firefox; Chrome's console should show the message 'New article published...' etc (from the conn.subscribe function in client.php ). However, when I do this, nothing happens. The connection remains open (doesn't show the 'connection closed' error until I switch off push-server.php through SSH). The console remains empty.

I think that's all the relevant info from the last couple of days, a large portion of which I've spent on trying to figure this out. However, I've been unable to even make sure if the problem is with the code or with some server configuration setting I may be unaware of. So, I come to you hoping someone will point me in the right direction.

Important edit

I'm pretty sure the problem is with the Autobahn.js method conn.subscribe not working properly. The connection is being established. When I change the code to:

function() {            // Once the connection has been established
            console.log('Connection established');
            conn.subscribe('kittensCategory', function(topic, data) {
                // This is where you would add the new article to the DOM (beyond the scope of this tutorial)
                console.log('New article published to category "' + topic + '" : ' + data.title);
            });
        }

Then Connection established is shown in the console correctly. So I believe we need to troubleshoot the subscribe method. If someone can explain to me how it works, and what exactly "topic" and "data" are supposed to be, it would be of great help. The Autobahn documentation uses a URL as an argument for this method (see here ).

Answer 1

Your client is looking for an article in kittensCategory , but you are sending category macka . Try this:

$entryData = array(
    'cat'     => "kittensCategory",
    'title'   => "naslov",
    'article' => "tekst",
    'when'    => time()
);

Answer 2

Is it correct to see your host light-speed-games.com on port 8080 is not functioning? If not, I would suggest to fix this as it is likely its causing your issues.