Dialogs

Before you begin

1. Register a QuickBlox account. This is a matter of a few minutes and you will be able to use this account to build your apps.
2. Configure QuickBlox SDK for your app. Check out our Setup page for more details.
3. Create a user session to be able to use QuickBlox functionality. See our Authentication page to learn how to do it.
4. Connect to the Chat server. See our Connection page to learn how to do it.

Visit our Key Concepts page to get an overall understanding of the most important QuickBlox concepts.

Dialog types

All chats between users are organized in dialogs. There are 3 types of dialogs:

• private dialog - a dialog between 2 users.
• group dialog - a dialog between the specified list of users.
• public dialog - an open dialog. Any user from your app can be added to it.

You need to create a new dialog and then use it to chat with other users. You also can obtain a list of your existing dialogs.

Create dialog

To create a private dialog, you need to set the ID of the opponent you want to create a chat with.

const createDialogParam = {
  type: QB.chat.DIALOG_TYPE.CHAT,
  occupantsIds: [12345]
};

QB.chat
  .createDialog(createDialogParam)
  .then(function (dialog) {
    // handle as neccessary, i.e.
    // subscribe to chat events, typing events, etc.
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

To create a group dialog for a predefined number of occupants, you need to set IDs of opponents you want to create a chat with.

const createDialogParam = {
  type: QB.chat.DIALOG_TYPE.GROUP_CHAT,
  name: 'Group Chat',
  occupantsIds: [12345, 12346, 12347],
  photo: "some photo url"
};

QB.chat
  .createDialog(createDialogParam)
  .then(function (dialog) {
    // handle as neccessary, i.e.
    // subscribe to chat events, typing events, etc.
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

It's possible to create a public dialog, so any user from your application can be joined to it. There is no list of occupants. This dialog is open for everybody.

const createDialogParam = {
  type: QB.chat.DIALOG_TYPE.PUBLIC_CHAT,
  name: 'Awesome Public Chat'
};

QB.chat
  .createDialog(createDialogParam)
  .then(function (dialog) {
    // handle as neccessary, i.e.
    // subscribe to chat events, typing events, etc.
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

The createDialog() method accepts one argument of the object type that has the following fields:

Create dialog with custom parameters

A dialog can be extended with additional parameters. These parameters can be used to store additional data. Also, these parameters can be used in dialogs retrieval requests.

To start using additional parameters, create an additional schema of your parameters. This is a custom objects class. Just create an empty class with all fields that you need. These fields will be additional parameters in your dialog. See this section to learn how to create a schema using Custom Objects. Then, specify the parameters defined in the schema in a new dialog.

const createDialogParam = {
  type: QB.chat.DIALOG_TYPE.GROUP_CHAT,
  occupantsIds: [12345, 12346, 12347],
  name: 'My friends',
  customData: {
    "class_name":"CoolDialog",
    "category":"friends"
  }
};

QB.chat
  .createDialog(createDialogParam)
  .then(function (dialog) {
    // handle as neccessary, i.e.
    // subscribe to chat events, typing events, etc.
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Join dialog

Before you start chatting in a group or public dialog, you need to join it by calling the joinDialog() method. If you've successfully joined the dialog, you can send/receive messages in real-time. See this section to learn how to send/receive messages.

const joinDialogParam = { dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2' };

QB.chat
  .joinDialog(joinDialogParam)
  .then(function () { /* joined successfully */ })
  .catch(function (e) { /* handle error */ })

Let's see, how the join() method is used with regard to the dialog type.

📘

You can join a group dialog only if your user ID is present in the occupantsIds array, in the dialog model.

Your user ID is added to the occupantsIds array if you create a dialog or you are added to the dialog by the other user. See this section to learn how to add/remove occupants to the group dialog.

Leave dialog

You can leave the group and public dialog by calling the leaveDialog() method. If the dialog is left, you can't send/receive messages. To be able to receive/send messages, you need to join it.

const leaveDialogParam = { dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2' };

QB.chat
  .leaveDialog(leaveDialogParam)
  .then(function () { /* left successfully */ })
  .catch(function (e) { /* handle error */ })

Let's see, how the leaveDialog() method is used with regard to the dialog type.

📘

When a group dialog is left, your user ID is removed occupantsIds array, in the dialog model. As a result, the dialog is removed from the list of dialogs and you won't have access to the chat history.

To remove a dialog for all users, use the deleteDialog() method. See this section to learn how to delete the dialog completely for all users.

Retrieve list of dialogs

It's common to request all your dialogs or only a number of recently updated dialogs on every app login. The request below will return a list of private, group, and public dialogs containing chat in their names, sorted by the QB.chat.DIALOGS_SORT.FIELD.LAST_MESSAGE_DATE_SENT field in ascending order, and limited to 10 dialogs on the page.

/**
 * @param {Object} result
 * @param {Dialog[]} result.dialogs
 * @param {number} result.skip
 * @param {number} result.limit
 * @param {number} result.total
 */
function processDialogs(result) {
  // dialogs found matching filter and sort
}

// get dialogs with 'chat' in name
const filter = {
  field: chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.FIELD.NAME,
  operator: chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.OPERATOR.CTN,
  value: 'chat'
};
// sorted ascending by "last_message_date_sent"
const sort = {
  field: QB.chat.DIALOGS_SORT.FIELD.LAST_MESSAGE_DATE_SENT,
  ascending: true
};

const getDialogsQuery = {
  filter: filter,
  sort: sort,
  limit: 10,
  skip: 0
};

QB.chat
  .getDialogs(getDialogsQuery)
  .then(processDialogs)
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

The method getDialogs() accepts one (optional) argument of the object type that has the following fields:

If you want to retrieve only dialogs updated after some specific date time and order the search results, you can apply operators. This is useful if you cache dialogs somehow and do not want to obtain the whole list of your dialogs on every app start. Thus, you can apply search and sort operators to list dialogs on the page so that it is easier to view specific dialogs.

Search operators

You can use search operators to get more specific search results. The request below will return all private and group dialogs excluding public dialogs.

function processDialogs(result) {}

// get dialogs excluding public chats
const filter = {
  field: QB.chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.FIELD.TYPE,
  operator: QB.chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.OPERATOR.NE,
  value: QB.chat.DIALOG_TYPE.PUBLIC_CHAT.toString()
};

const getDialogsQuery = {
  filter: filter,
};

QB.chat
  .getDialogs(getDialogsQuery)
  .then(processDialogs)
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Here are the search operators that you can use to search for the exact data that you need.

Sort operators

You can use sort operators to order the search results. The request below will return dialogs sorted in ascending order by the QB.chat.DIALOGS_SORT.FIELD.LAST_MESSAGE_DATE_SENT field.

function processDialogs(result) {}

const sort = {
  field: QB.chat.DIALOGS_SORT.FIELD.LAST_MESSAGE_DATE_SENT,
  ascending: true
};

const getDialogsQuery = {
  sort: sort,
};

QB.chat
  .getDialogs(getDialogsQuery)
  .then(processDialogs)
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Here are the sort options that you can use to order search results.

Retrieve dialogs by ID

You can get a list of dialogs by their IDs using the getDialogs() method. The request below will return the specified dialogs limited to 5 dialogs per page with 2 dialogs skipped at the beginning of the page.

const dialogsIds = [
  '1234567890',
  '1234567891',
  '1234567892',
  '1234567893',
  '1234567894',
  '1234567895',
  '1234567896',
  '1234567897',
  '1234567898',
  '1234567899',
];

const filter = {
  field: QB.chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.FIELD.ID,
  operator: QB.chat.DIALOGS_FILTER.OPERATOR.IN,
  value: dialogsIds.join()
};

const getDialogsQuery = {
  filter: filter,
  limit: 5,
  skip: 2
};

QB.chat
  .getDialogs(getDialogsQuery)
  .then(function (result) {
    // dialogs found matching filter and sorted
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Update dialog

You can update the information for a private, group, and public dialog.

const updateDialogParam = {
  dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2',
  name: 'Team room'
};

QB.chat
  .updateDialog(updateDialogParam)
  .then(function (updatedDialog) {
    // handle as necessary
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Let's see what capabilities a particular user role has with regard to the dialog type.

Add occupant

Set the addUsers field to add occupants to the dialog. As a result, the occupant ID will be added to the occupantsIds array.

const updateDialogParam = {
  dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2',
  addUsers: [12340],
};

QB.chat
  .updateDialog(updateDialogParam)
  .then(function (updatedDialog) {
    // handle as necessary
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

The updateDialog() method accepts one argument of the object type that has the following fields:

Let's see what capabilities a particular user role has with regard to the dialog type.

Remove occupant

Set the removeUsers field remove occupants from a group dialog. As a result, the occupant ID will be removed from the occupantsIds array.

const updateDialogParam = {
  dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2',
  removeUsers: [12345],
};

QB.chat
  .updateDialog(updateDialogParam)
  .then(function (updatedDialog) {
    // handle as necessary
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

The updateDialog() method accepts one argument of the object type that has the following fields:

Let's see what capabilities a particular user role has with regard to the dialog type.

Delete dialog

Use the deleteDialog() method to delete a dialog for all users. When deleting a group dialog, all user IDs will be removed from the occupantsIds array in the dialog model. You can also delete multiple dialogs in a single request.

To delete a dialog for yourself, just leave the dialog. See this section for more information.

const deleteDialogParam = { dialogId: 'dsfsd934329hjhkda98793j2' };

QB.chat
  .deleteDialog(deleteDialogParam)
  .then(function () {
    // dialog was removed successfully
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    // handle error
  });

Let's see what capabilities a particular user role has with regard to the dialog type.

Resources

A sequence of steps a user takes to start a dialog by moving through the application lifecycle.