Better documentation

[ferndot]

This project needs comprehensive documentation. Optimally, it would be stored on ReadTheDocs.

[gabriel-gn]

+1 this. How to integrate it effectvely in django? How can I replace the default channels tutorial with channels-handlers? Thanks!

[ferndot]

@gabriel-gn thanks, those are great ideas. Do you need anything in particular to get started?

[gabriel-gn]

Where do I create pydantic models for channels handlers in my custom channels app and where do I call them? (assuming I have a "routing.py" and "consumers.py" files)

How can I send a message with what I have without needing to use
channel_layer = get_channel_layer(); async_to_sync(channel_layer.group_send)("some_channel", {"type": "channel_message", "message": message_content} )?

[ferndot]

@gabriel-gn

1. I like to use either models.py or pydantic_models.py. You would then import the pydantic models from there and use them in the MessageHandler.models configuration option.
2. This is definitely a part that I would like to improve on more. This particular setup depends on how you wish to model your channel groups.

For instance, I chose to have a single channel that each user would listen on (an inbox of sorts). Consequently, I designed the interface to be the following:

class ChatConsumer(AsyncConsumerHandlerMixin, AsyncJsonWebsocketConsumer):
    handler_classes = [ChatHandler]

   ...
 
    async def send_message(self, message, user_ids):
        # Serialize message
        serialized_message = self.serialize_message(message)

        # Send message to room group
        for user_id in user_ids:
            await self.channel_layer.group_send(
                f"inbox_{user_id}",
                {"type": "message.outgoing", "content": serialized_message},
            )

    async def message_outgoing(self, event):
        """
        Sends a message to the participant
        """

        # Deserialize message
        message = self.deserialize_message(event["content"])

        # Send message to WebSocket
        await self.send_json(content=message)

This can be used in the following manner from within the handler:

# Send typing notification to all participants
output_message = self.serialize_message(
  "chat.typing",
  {"thread": message.thread, "sender": self.get_current_user().pk},
)
participants = await retrieve_thread_participants(message.thread)
await self.consumer.send_message(output_message, participants)

Does that help?

[gabriel-gn]

Thanks a lot! I will try those 😄